Guts seeking the end of the darkness

I really like painting Guts. I had another idea of painting him traversing through a forest covered in snow. But that idea might get changed when I work on it once the snowy season starts this year. In it’s stead I decided to work on a piece where Guts is travelling through a forest at night, trying to reach the end and seek the warm safety of the light.

This time I’m working with blue as the background which I have yet to fully understand. All the colors work differently here so I had some setbacks at times. What I did in some cases was putting top layers of different shades of blue and used multiply on guts and some of the surroundings to darken areas around the background. After I felt the colors looked good together I then added some other layers to try and mesh Guts with the background. On top of all of that I then added more paint to add highlights and shadows so that I could try and integrate it more as a whole painting. For the end result I wanted to have it look like it is both painted but still has some aspects of the original manga art style. Hopefully I accomplished that.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

September 1, 2020 0

Misato Katsuragi Stylin at Work

While I was looking through some reference pictures last Friday, I came upon a picture of a model that looked a lot like Misato. While I was looking at the source of the photo it seems that the person in the photo is a model by the name Angela Yeung Wing, known as Angelababy. Seems like she is a Hong Kong based model, actor and singer. Here is the reference photo I used: https://www.instagram.com/p/BKQVP9NgAIs/

I was amazed at how fast I was going when I was painting her, but I then struggled with her face and hair. But after giving it a time to step away I noticed that some areas were just not in the right values. What helped was putting away the reference picture and just working with the painting I had. Not only did that help fix the issues but I also worked faster. I should probably try that out more later.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

August 31, 2020 0

Kojiro Hyuga working towards one’s dream

Many of the side characters in Captain Tsubasa could’ve been very generic stereotypes but I really do believe almost every single one of the main rivals that Tsubasa encouters are not only very interesting but interesting enough to be main characters in their own series. Truthfully I prefer almost every one of those rival characters to Tsubasa who I find to be really boring (but I guess that is usually the case with most protagonists of shonen series.

In any case, I have said it before and I will say it again. The best character is Hyuga Kojiro who very easily could have been that cool bad character that one loves to hate but is usually very one dimensional for most of the series until they decide to flesh them out. But instead they decided to show just how much of a hard worker Kojiro is and how selfless he is as well right from the start. Aside from his rather combative and harsh personality in the field, he is a person that one could look up to and admire. His life is not easy, as he has to support his family who is struggling financially by both working and taking care of his siblings. He not only does it but he understands the situation and doesn’t hold a grudge against anyone for his predicament. And finally, despite all that going on, he decides to continue doing what he loves and works towards his dream of being a soccer player. He truly is the antithesis of Tsubasa who was born a genius soccer player with a whole family who not only loves him, and has financial security but they also do everything they can to allow Tsubasa to pursue his dream of becoming a pro soccer player. One has everything given to him and the other has to struggle to achieve his goals.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

August 28, 2020 0

Miyabi Natsuyaki Birthday 2020

Have been super busy lately with school and work so I missed it by a day but happy birthday Miyabi. It’s still the 25th of August over here though. I really love the recent photos she uploaded with long hair and her white dress. It makes her look like a cute elf or fairy. So with that in mind I searched for a photo that incorporated foliage and summer together. Seems like the reference for the background I used is from the movie “Secret Garden”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it. I wonder if people will know just by looking at it though.

I hope you have a great year in these coming months Miyabi. It makes me really happy when I find out that you not only see my work but also like it. I hope you like this painting as well. I really loved doing it.

Miyabi references used: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEJsut9FIX1/

Reference picture of the background: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/586875395162024592/

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

August 25, 2020 0

Ranma beach onepiece anime

The painting of Ranma was solely based on a photo of Harumi Inoue.
Here’s the link.

Rumiko Takahashi had a very distintive way of drawing her female characters and making them look petite and cute. The proportions are actually amazing really.

For this painting I decided to make it more 80s anime style.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

August 21, 2020 0

Ryūko Matoi Beach Yuki Saito

Seeing as Kill la Kill was influenced by series like Sukeban Deka I wanted to make a painting depicting that connection. I also wanted to make as many summer paintings as I can before the season ends (finally). This is an homage to Yuki Saito’s photo. Which can be seen here.

Using references from the anime it self, I did have to make various changes to the body type and the hair a bit so that it would look more like Ryuko. Seriously, Ryuko has a tiny waist. As for the hair I wasn’t sure if I should have left it down or pull it up into a ponytail like in the reference photo. In the end I decided to try and figure out how it would look if Ryuko decided to put it up.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

August 17, 2020 0

Grace Jones

Was looking at my Japanese vintage ads folder and came across one for Grace Jones advertising the New Celica. After that I learned that she was not only a model but also an actor (quickly found out about her role in the Conan movie) and a singer. My favorite song of hers is “I’ve Seen That Face Before”. I’ve never worked with such dark skin tones before so I really wanted to give it a try. There are more blue tones in the reference photo but since I used a red background I changed the tones accordingly. While I was at it I also changed the pose a bit.

80s, CorelPainter2020, darkskin, DARKCLOUDXERO, digitalart, GraceJones, pointingfinger, Pose, redlips, ShortHair, vogue, wink

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

August 14, 2020 0

Sayumi Michishige short hair

I attempted doing an ink drawing of Sayu with her short hair back in 2018 for inktober but wasn’t satisfied with the end result, so I decided to draw her again. This time I used a combination of both ink and digital hatching and some small manipulations to the diamonds below the table which were done in the wrong perspective.

Really love the way short hair compliments Sayumi.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

August 13, 2020 0

Miyabi Natsuyaki Mask

Really like Miyabi’s pink jumpsuit. And the way it matches with her mask really gives her a yankii look. When I was painting the drawing I decided to slightly change the background a bit so it looked more like a dance studio.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

August 12, 2020 0

Beach Soda Pose

It’s a bit late when I’m posting this so I will keep it short but this is based on the ad campaign called Yes Coke Yes. The reference used is one of the ads that Hayami Yu. I’ve been wanting to do some summer artwork and also utilize the 80s ads that I have. It has also been a while since I’ve done a simpler painting. It was a lot of fun painting this piece, luckily I managed to finish it in time.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

August 1, 2020 0

Godzilla and Miki Saegusa

Wasn’t too sure what direction I was going to take on this painting. At first I was thinking of doing an anime style piece but as I was working on it, it started to morph more towards a realistic style but still with a painterly style. As I kept working on it I just came to love with what I was able to do so I kept going at it. The idea of doing a Godzilla painting with Miki Saegusa the psychic from the Heisei era of the films (my favorite era). I wanted to do a painting where I superimpose Miki over the whole painting like in some anime transition or ending scenes. If you have seen anime especially those done in the 80s and 90s you probably know what I’m talking about.
You can see an example here.

I quite like the way it came out. Some sections can be refined a bit more but that loose application of strokes I think helps point the attention more to Miki then to Godzilla.I do wonder if I should have added some psychic waves emanating from Miki, though I really don’t know how I would go about it and make it look good.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

July 29, 2020 0

Robo Pirate behind Goku Aliens parody

One of the fun things of seeing original Dragon Ball are the references to other stories or media that Akira Toriyama likes. And now that my exposure to more media has expanded I can now see more of it whenever I rewatch Dragon Ball. One such character is the Robot Pirate that is a really cool reference to the Xenomorph from Alien. What I really like about the design is the obvious inspiration to Alien while still making an original and cool design. I knew that when I rewatched Dragon Ball about two years ago I wanted to make a parody painting. It took me two years to finally do it, but that’s just the way things work out sometimes. The scene is of course in reference to the iconic scene with Newt, moments before she was abducted by a Xenomorph.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

July 28, 2020 1