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.
Hey, I’m finally catching up to the latest chapters of Komi-san. I really liked the way the love triangle wasn’t dragged out. Things are more interesting now that the relationship dynamics have changed. Having said that, what I love is the respect and obviously love that Komi and Manbagi have for each other. Despite being love rivals they also take each other’s feelings into account, which of course can be quite painful. I wanted to capture that moment of sacrifice and regret that Komi felt as she couldn’t bring herself to say her feelings and also hurt Manbagi. This whole scenario brought back memories. Ah… to be young.
It surprisingly didn’t take me too long to paint Shining Gundam and Domon, along with their reflections and snow. Checking mountains in parts of Japan, there are actually quite a lot of types of shapes. Including the pointy ones that are common where I’m currently at. So I just modified them a bit.
Shining Gundam was the main focus and what took the longest for this segment of the painting. The main form and base colors were easy to choose From there I tried to make out the form to showcase the most prominent forms. But since I wanted to emphasize that the Gundam is far away, I made sure to use more muted colors and as little value changes as I thought were needed. Then came the snow. I felt a bit bad about covering some areas with snow and water, but I feel that really ties it all together. As for the reflections I used the same techniques as with the torii, but I made sure to add highlights to create waves moving away from Shining Gundam as it rises up.
There were a couple of ideas about where to place Domon. Walking in the frozen ground, atop a small boat or standing on the torii. But ultimately I came upon the idea to have him leaping towards it. This I feel really fits the fantastical elements of G Gundam after all.
I made two versions, one where it’s all quiet and peaceful and another where snow is falling. Although I do like the snow, I think it looks better where it isn’t present.
I’m currently working on a new painting before I try to make one or two for Valentines. I’ve actually been planning to make a painting of this sort for… damn. A couple of years now. I’m surprised it took me this long to finally give it a shot. The background is mostly done. I’m actually quite a bit ahead of this but I quite like the atmosphere of where the painting is at this point. Although I can render the painting further, I wonder if that will detract from the focal subjects. So for now, I will leave it mostly as it is.
This is the reference photo of the background, modified to have snow of course:
I just did an image search to find the original creator and it seems to be from a photo manipulator that put different assets together to create this. I found it strange that the pine trees and mountains looked somewhat Western. Now I know why.
With that in mind, I will go back and edit a couple of the trees so that they fit Japanese ones. Among other changes. I wonder if there is a place in Japan that will actually fit this scenery?
The Toori is actually painted already, along with the reflection. I’m surprised at how easy it was to emulate. You guys will have to wait till next time to be the judges though. Luckily I won’t have to edit that part of the painting.
I think I drew this on Friday, it was a couple of days ago. I didn’t have a plan in mind really, I just drew and this came out. Then the idea of life punching us at the most random times came to mind. I have an idea of making this into a scene. We’ll see.
I went for an 80s anime painting style this time. Doing simple colors can really pop, I need to practice in more simplistic coloring styles. I have a couple of artists that I can learn from. As for this specific drawing, I want to try painting it in my style as well. That will be a future project.
The original drawing was done for Inktober 2021 day 29. I remember that I really wanted to emphasize the more round designs that Toriyama used to use back in the days, a style that much prefer. The painting really helped emphasize the curves which I love.
The colored version of the line art I did a couple of days ago. I wanted to convey the morning light, so I went for a warmer tone. Looking at the furniture, decorations and items on the anime, some of them were altered and yet others were kept quite faithful to the manga. I’m really impressed by the amount of details in this series. I really do feel the love for it by the animation studio.
For Marin’s outfit, I chose the look she had when Gojou visited her home in chapter 18-19. There’s quite a lot of details on the pillows/cushions and Marin’s shorts, which had me a bit worried. What I did was paint in the base colors and played with the lighting, and then added the details/patterns. Luckily I have enough experience now painting things like this so painting them in didn’t take that long. The posters and specially the Shizuku-tan body pillow were like painting a whole separate character.
Once I had the colors that would dictate the values and hue, Marin was painted last of course. While working though, I did have to modify things accordingly. This is definitely the biggest advantage of painting digitally. I had a slightly less saturated color scheme but I liked the warmer feel that I ended up with.
With this finished, I will reward my self with the two latest episodes of the anime.
I finally painted my Asuka Kato drawing. This was first drawn for Inktober 2021 day 15. I felt Asuka was too lonely so I added Hina and Uchi. Thinking back, I guess I was imagining Asuka eating in a Ramen Stall or something. But I really liked the Ramen chapter so I decided to have them go back this time in winter. I accidently painted Hina and Uchi in their summer uniforms. Luckily it was a quick fix since they were drawn digitally. Once I had the background and Hina/Uchi painted, I then finished the painting with Asuka.
In this scenario, Yuri actually did get a seat next to Tomoko this time (when I read that chapter, I felt that…). Uchi is of course fixated on Tomoko who is on Asuka’s right (our left). Nemoto being able to read the mood, has noticed us looking at the super cute Asuka eating some ramen. Hopefully this time Asuka doesn’t have any problems again finishing it. One of the reasons I really love Watamote is that even beautiful and I guess idealized people like Asuka are shown to be, well, human. Having to deal with the same problems we all face, be it physical or emotional.
I really quite liked Chinami’s 2022 photo so I decided to draw her. She always has such pleasing and cheerful expressions. That’s always really refreshing.
It was also a bonus that her hairstyle was specially cut for her end of the year °C-ute concert. I was just about finished yesterday painting Airi when my brother walked in and asked when I would make a painting that took longer. I was wondering if he meant that I was rushing through this painting and was leaving it too rough. But it seems he just meant that lately I have only been doing line art which takes only a couple of hours (Airi as well). That’s when I decided to add a background. Using the wall background would not do so I decided to make a winter scenery. I ended up mashing up a couple of reference photos (including some from Airi’s photobooks). It looks like the road crossing the train tracks is heading straight to the sea huh? I guess the idea is that there is a ramp for people to drive towards the beach.
I was a bit apprehensive about the details in the sweater when I was just about to start, but luckily with my current experience I know that it’s just a matter of painting and now stopping. Once that flow starts, it doesn’t take that long to finish. Once I added the background, I did have to tweak the saturation and values on Airi though.
Assuming I translated it correctly, this was for a January photoshoot. Having drawn a fortune during this shoot, she drew “Daikishi” (Super Good Luck). I really do wish her the best. I’m also really enjoying her Uruma city videos. I hope more cities invite her to be showcased.
The anime for Sono Bisque Doll is finally out! And… I love it. The voice actors chosen are great, the colors and art style really fit the beautiful art style of the manga. It really does feel like the actual manga is moving. Animation has gotten to an amazing level. Speaking of animation, one can really see how much effort has been given to this series. This can really be seen in the expressive way Marin moves when she and Goujou are talking in the sewing room. Those little movements in the eyes, lips and ocassional head movements make the animation that more expressive. I really hope this quality is kept throughout the whole season. I do wonder if this is all hand drawn or if 3d anime has gotten this good?
In any case, I have various ideas for this series that I really want to draw. For this piece though, I decided to go for Marin in her room. It really mixes the Gal and Otaku aesthetic. It’s quite fun. Luckily the anime opening has already shown me the colors so I won’t have to spend any time deciding on that.
There’s something I’m still wondering about where I want to take the finished piece though. It’s currently flu season so should I incorporate that as if Goujou went to visit her or should it just be a warm cozy feeling of chilling in bed? I’ll have to decide this once I paint it.
For now, I will be drawing a couple of pieces and leave them ready for painting in the coming days.
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