I was privileged to be part of @dotzines pris-M-agic Zine project, and this is my illustration for it! When picking a magical girl, I wanted to represent a series that was influential on me growing up but would be underrepresented in the zine. Despite other options having a more meaningful influence on me now, I knew they'd be (rightfully) more popular. However, Ground Defense Force Mao Chan was the anime that REALLY got 10 year old me into anime (and, down the line, magical girls!). Strange, right? With these two combined factors, it became an obvious decision.
As for the drawing itself, I wanted to highlight the titular character Mao. Despite being mostly pink in design, her representative color in the story is green. It was a fun challenge to balance that out appropriately while also finding a way to convey her role in protecting the land/ground/earth.