I want to try using the brushstrokes and colors that Alpay uses. They are amazing. But I also want to do ink drawings… Meaning that it would be a great if I transferred my line art to another paper. This calls for the use of a lightbox.
So I have a lightbox I built quite a while ago, but it takes a lot of space. It no longer works with my current setup. But, the desk I built has a place left open so that I would slide in a lightbox but I never built it. I think it might be time I scavenge the lights and built a smaller version that can dock into my desk.
Time was limited today so I drew a quick sketch. It has been snowing pretty consistently lately where I live, so I want to make more snow based artworks before we move into the spring season. This time I wanted to draw Momochi skiing from her time in Country Girls. She was really in her element it seemed when she was doing it in the DVD Magazine vol. 2. I wonder if she went skiing often?
I’m not sure what I will do with this line art. I could shade it with pencil, transfer it to another paper and paint it with watercolor or paint it digitally. We’ll see.
I thought it would take me longer to paint it but once I started, the flow just kept going. I need to make more watercolor paintings. It’s strange, I was wondering just how much my digital skills would translate to traditional. But they are quite different. One main thing that it has helped me is with layering. As in putting in the base colors and adding more details on top. I’m no longer second guessing my self anymore. But I guess that is more a matter of getting more experience in general. Only way to get better is to just keep painting and thinking about what each technique and stroke means.
As for why I decided to make this painting. I love Oosama Ranking. It is quite an emotional series. Everytime Bojji and Kage overcome obstacles and keep pushing forward, I feel this massive feeling of pride for believing in Bojji and motivation to keep trying my self. Not a lot of series can do that for me. On top of that, the author plays around with clichés and little by little let’s us in on a great mystery that embarks their family and kingdom. The anime really did a good job of elevating the manga to another level. I of course really recommend this series as well.
Just started to watch Oosama Ranking. In a way, I’m glad I started watching it late because I can just binge the episodes whenever I get the chance. All I’ll say for now is, Wow.
This is the line art for this piece. The plan is to make a traditional painting so that it looks like a picture book illustration.
I’m really loving what they are doing with the anime adaptation. Its so beautifully designed and has a lot of attention to detail when animating movements. Episode 3 made a really good job of showcasing the struggle of artist dealing with deadlines and encountering a wall (in terms of one’s current skill level). I feel that whoever is directing this anime is of course putting a lot of emphasis on the fan service aspects but also to a lot of emotional moments and the artistic aspects that comes from cosplaying and doll making. I really do feel that there is a lot of love and care put in this project.
This painting is dealing with Gojou’s comment on Marin’s beauty. The animation sequence and facial expressions were really impactful. So of course I wanted to make a painting of this moment. I really like Gojou. Most protagonists in these types of stories are a little too annoying for me. But even though Gojou has a bit of social deficiencies, he is still portrayed as what a normal person would be. That assertiveness and confidence when it comes to his craft is also quite refreshing. That’s why I believe Marin falling for Gojou is a lot more believable than other series where the protagonist has the most beautiful girl falling for him for no reason. If you haven’t given this series a try, I really recommend it. The anime is a really great addition that actually amplifies the series.
For this painting I first painted the background then Goujou and Marin. Then I added some lighting. Although it I felt it looked good, after playing around with the layers on one of the lighting layers I came upon the realization of editing the values and saturation of Marin and Goujou. The more vibrant colors I felt looked much better than the colors I had before. The background was also edited slightly to fit better with the changes. Now it looks so warm and cozy…
Current painting I’m working on at the moment. I’m actually almost done, but it’s gotten rather late and I need to eat and rest a bit. So I’ll finish it tomorrow. Bummer. Though I guess that will give me some time to rest my eyes from the painting. Perhaps some things will be improved because of it.
Thinking about it now, had it been a couple of years before it wouldn’t have happened huh? The trope was always to string the relationships along for ratings and continued readership. Luckily that has been changing and love triangles and feelings don’t have to go unexplored. It’s obvious that the author loves drawing the female characters since he puts so much detail into a lot of their drawings depicting their feelings and some of their actions. That was showcased quite well in Komi’s reaction to Tadano’s confession. I really loved those panels. Specially when when she was holding her face and stroking her hair. For that reason I decided to join both together in this interpretation. Happy Valentines everybody.
This is the painted version of my Manbagi line art. I made the lighting a bit more reddish and darker to showcase the passage of time since the last drawing.
The second part of my Komi san Valentine’s series.
Manbagi catching on and figuring out what happened with Komi and Tadano was a really nice touch by the artist. Those flashbacks to Komi holding back for Manbagi’s sake as Manbagi confessed to Tadano pretty much explained all her mixed feelings regarding what going out with Tadano would mean. I think, that having these feelings are quite common right? When you know someone else likes the same person, specially a friend. To top it off, she also knew that Tadano had feelings for Komi. In the end, she chose friendship. A really bitter sweet ending to this love and friendship part of the story.
With that in mind, those mixed emotions are what I wanted to emphasize in this drawing.
I painted the background and characters today. Since the scene took place after school, I went for a sunset theme. Since I haven’t seen the anime yet, I had to go and look for some of the colors of the classroom. Although the curtains are based on the first volume’s color scheme. When the background colors were set, I then began painting Tadano and moved over to Komi. Although I do feel that Komi would try and keep her tears till she was on her own, I came upon the idea of having her tear up.
This marks the first Valentine’s day painting for this year.
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