

Elven thief before and after being "sexy'd up"
My friend showed me this and I think it's a fascinating example of something some artists have told me on this blog in the past, which is that the weird poses/outfits/sexiness in a lot of commercial stuff are often changes (sometimes requested from higher-ups) from more interesting original designs.
Here, we can see what Linsara originally looked like and what the final "sexy'd up" version looks like. Not only did her top get a lot smaller but her design got a lot more generic imo because I think the hooded cloak and her pose adds more to her visual characterization.
From the first page, if you can't read it: "This is the original design for Linsara. Typical thief wardrobe that was later "sexy'd up" for the comic book by showing off more midriff."
(Pages from Tales of the Realm #5, CrossGen Comics)