Lynn Minmay Update VIII FINAL?

I say final but I really think I have to do a couple of more touches a little later. In the end I ended up using all the ink in some of my markers and need to buy some refills. I will have to put this one on hold for a little while, I’d say it is at least 95% done. All that is left is a couple of more details really. I am considering adding a shadow behind her due to the lights lighting her from the front, but I am still over all undecided. What I find kind of irritating is that from afar the face (or maybe expression better describes it) I drew and wanted people to see changes quite a bit, if you look at it from a closer point then the real expression becomes more noticeable. I’ll have to look at it a bit more later when I have the markers ready to go again. I really want to emphasize movement as well… hopefully when I come back to it I can make it possible. For now I will leave this here, and as of yet unfinished piece.

Hasta la proxima,

-XERO

June 3, 2016 0

Lynn Minmay Update VII

I’ll be posting another update later today. Sorry for not posting on Wednesday, I actually decided to give the drawing a few days so that I could review it with fresh eyes and make a decision on whether the way I left it was ok or whether I would change it a bit later. Results of that will come with the second post, so please look forward to that. For now see what I have as of now.

Hasta al rato,

-XERO

June 3, 2016 0

Lynn Minmay Update VI

I actually had most of this done since Friday, except the last two scans but I kind of took the weekend off to think and rest a bit, so sorry for those who were awaiting the latest updates.

I’m quite surprised I was taking as long as I was to color the background. As expected dealing with darkness is quite tough, especially when not doing a stylistic approach to it. I had to really think before adding any colors and going over and over (repeating many times) till I had the right shades in place and then eventually adding darker areas around the parts that were supposed to have light both from the light sources and the light being reflected on the ground. I really wanted a shiny floor no matter what since I don’t really deal with such backgrounds due to knowing how hard they are but in the end I decided to go at it anyway. Over all despite the amount of time it took and cont less retouches I felt pretty confident on what I managed to bring forth. Now it is time to actually focus on Lynn Minmay herself which I had a hard time deciding on what color scheme her clothes would have. I actually did quite a couple before scrapping them and coloring them over with what she has now.

In the scans she looks quite darker than in real life, and the hair having no color surely doesn’t help things either. But trust me it shouldn’t look too weird once I have everything else in place. I’m hoping on finishing this tomorrow, here’s hoping it goes along well.

Hasta la proxima,

-XERO

May 30, 2016 0

Lynn Minmay Update V

I got quite busy these last few days again, but I did get to advance on this piece. It takes quite a bit of thought process to continue after finishing one area and moving to the next. And doing on area require one to go back to previous sections to make sure they compliment each other color wise. Don’t know how long this one will take but I have been learning quite a bit from it and am no longer afraid to work with darker colors. I used some previously learned techniques which made things easier but had to develop some new ones so that I could work with a dark setting. I’d say the hardest part is making the lights look like lights. I’ve added some more details to make it look better than the last scan shows but you guys will have to wait for that update. The scanning always takes away the real lighting of my work and I have to correct it afterwords so it feels really off when I see the scanned piece on the screen.

In any case I am making progress. Just a bit more and I can have the background done so I can actually start on the main focal point.

Hasta la proxima,

-XERO

May 24, 2016 0

Lynn Minmay Update IV

I think I have everything that I wanted drawn, now it’s just a matter of coloring… I really hope I can pull it off.

Hasta la proxima,

-XERO

May 17, 2016 0

Lynn Minmay Update III

I’m really contemplating on how to go about this piece. I need to stop overthinking it but I feel I can probably come out with a nice piece if I do this right and on top of that learn some new techniques… Anyway this is what I have so far.

I went back to basics and bought a pencil set so that I can start using H level pencils again. Since they are so light they give me less problems when erasing them and if I do it lightly they don’t leave a mark either. I should be able to get better and cleaner work this way. The drawing is almost done now, I think I will change the background lights and make them smaller so that it appears as though the stage is much bigger. The hair is rather tall and fluffy huh? I was thinking of making it a bit smaller but after modifying it a bit I decided to not alter it too much so that I can make it look as if it was bouncing as she was dancing so that it looked like she was in the middle of movement. After adding that and a couple other details I should be ready to color. Here’s hoping I can pull off what I am imagining.

Hasta la proxima,

-XERO

May 14, 2016 0

Lynn Minmay Update II

I had two final classes this week but I still have to do a couple more things until the 27th but over all I should have more time to focus on art (among other activities that will benefit my body and mind). Hmmm. I had a couple of days worth of searching for some more references of Macross and the main idols (Akina Nakamori and Seiko Matsuda) I will be using for this piece. Although I kept working on the piece throughout the week I didn’t really get much progress since I couldn’t decide on the outfit and the background.

Macross is quite interesting isn’t it? It has a very obvious 80s feel to it (it makes sense since it was made in the 80s) and yet is set around this time period. With that in mind I can actually modernize it if I felt like it. Though one can argue that the fall of the Macross on earth and the war that came from it might have stopped the progress of innovation when it comes to music and fashion. I think about things too much…

Anyway I decided to keep with the 80s feel so I set out to look at the concert performances during that time. I mostly focused on Akina Nakamori and after a couple of videos I came up with this:

I wonder if it even makes sense? I want to make this so 80s it brings nostalgia for those who actually lived it or saw the movies and music in the 90s.

Hasta la proxima,

-XERO

May 6, 2016 0

Next project 5/1/16: Lynn Minmay

I have decided upon the next project for my next piece, and that is non other than Lynn Minmay from Super Dimensional Fortress Macross (my all time favorite anime). When I first watched Macross I really came to dislike Minmay, she seemed to fickle and self-centered. But upon re-watching last year now that I am older I came to really like her. She was written in a way that doesn’t make her dislikeable, in reality she only saw Hikaru as a friend and nothing more (at least throughout most of the series) so seeing her not treat Hikaru as anything more than a friend is quite understandable (having experienced it myself).

Anyway, despite what people might think regarding her personality and actions she is quite cute making her a good model to draw. I went on a binge of downloading and searching for references. Eventually I got the idea to actually search for actual photos of idols from the 80s to serve as a firsthand visual reference to make something a bit different and more in tune to reality. That’s when I learned that Minmay was actually based on two of the most famous idols of the 80s in Japan. Those idols being Akina Nakamori and Seiko Matsuda. They are quite famous even now, I was actually quite surprised how much of a fanbase there still exists. And I’m glad because I found treasure troves of reference pictures to make my artwork come alive.

I can really see the influences in Minmay after looking through the photos. At first I was thinking about using a Chinese model for the drawing but after learning that these two were the influences I decided on just using them. And just before writing this I learned that Lynn Minmay is actually half Japanese from he mothers side so it’s ok if I just use Matsuda and Nakamori as the models.

I’ve written quite a bit so I will just leave it at that, here is a little taste of what I have done so far:

I know it doesn’t look like much yet, but I am quite happy with the base I have so far. I want to start incorporating movement into my work. And I truly think this is a good chance to do so. Drawing shouldn’t be hard anymore, what I worry is when I add color (which I still haven’t mastered).

Here’s hoping for the best.

Hasta la proxima,

-XERO

May 1, 2016 0

I’m finally free for the winter!

Finals are finally done, so I can start having more time to focus on my artwork again full time.

Of course, despite not posting things here, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been working on work behind the scenes. I have made some progress on the cosplay. here are the boots for Camus.

Now, as for the second armor, here it is. This time it is Gemini’s armor.

All that is left to finish is the shoulder plate (which is a bit tough) and the arms.

Aside from this, I got a new request for my youtube channel. This time I have to draw Levi Ackerman from Attack on Titan. Here is the rough draft of what I will be working with. It was requested that I use color pencils. It seems like the requester doesn’t have the funds to afford the more pricey art supplies, so I will be using my crayola brand color pencils. This will give a good indication of how much I have improved since the last artworks.

Here it is.

Well, I’m off to work. And since I have more time, I will try to post things more frequently.

December 10, 2015 0

I’m finally back, and some more updates on new projects

It took me quite some time to finish some work I had to do for school and some other things. But I am finally ready to start work again. I apologize for disappearing again, but the research paper took much longer than I thought. Now that is finally done and I will finally be able to work on some of my artwork, and some other projects such as some armor for a cosplay set me and my group plan to take for next years anime convention.

Here’s a sneak peek at what I am currently working on. This is Camus’ armor from Saint Seiya. There are about four more armors I will be working on. So I will not be saying what they are and let you guys take a guess as to what they will be.

I had to take this pile that I had all jumbled up and rebuild it back into the armor. That takes quite a bit of work, but I hope to take the template and finally make the cuts to the foam and build the actual armor. I currently have two armor templates done, next will be to build the next two.

What do you guys think?

November 23, 2015 0

I’m back!

I was gone longer than expected. I had to take care of somethings, I didn’t expect to be gone this long though. What was that, a bit over a month? that took a while huh?.

Anyway, I do not come empty handed. I was working on some artwork, both new and old. I will post them below.

The first one is the To Aru Majutsu No Index drawing I had shown before. I made some modifications to it, and tried to get the actual color from the scan (for some reason whenever I scan my drawings they come out rather faded so I have to correct that). I added a bit more contrast in some areas with my color pencils by adding darker areas and lighter ones. I had originally planned to make this a valentines drawing, but I decided to instead take my time with it and bring forth a good piece. So, here it is.

The only regret I have is that I made Touma’s hair a bit too long. If you can believe it it was actually longer than it is now. By the time I realized it was too late. But I made the best of it. It’s still a bit too tall but it doesn’t look bad.

Aside from that, I was also working on a couple of rough drafts on the next possible artwork that I will be working on. But here is a peek at the current piece I want to work on right now. I actually started this rough draft yesterday upon hearing news about what the theme of the second Dragon Ball movie will be about. I’m actually really forward to what they will be doing with this one now that they have re-introduced the characters to us in the first one and given us hopes about stronger foes in the future. Anyway, before I get even more sidetracked here is the rough draft.

This is what I am working on at the moment. I’m thinking of trying out a different style with this one though. Minimum colors. That’s all I can think about to describe it. I have used this technique a lot when I first got the hang of drawing with color pencils. I just didn’t know how to use it with backgrounds. But I feel I can finally do it. Anyway, I also have another drawing I want to show off that has already been finished just recently actually. But I will post that tomorrow.

In any case thanks for stopping by, and sorry for disappearing for a while.

-XERO

March 7, 2015 0

How to draw Misaki Ayuzawa’s Face I-IV

If you have any questions let me know in the comments.
I placed no audio track so please listen to your own music as you watch.
Hope this helps at least a couple of you guys.
I have a couple of other videos in store regarding Misaki Ayuzawa’s face. So please look forward to that.

On another note, tomorrow I will upload some rough drafts of my next artwork. So I hope you look forward to that.

-XERO

January 16, 2015 0