First drawing, inking and painting of 2019

I took about a week off from Christmas to New Years but have been working on some new pieces during that time. On around January 3rd I started to work on the first artwork of 2019. Of course I decided to make a drawing/inking/painting of Sayumi Michishige. I had bought her new photobook “Dream” last year but didn’t open it till New Years. I really loved it. Some of the photos are quite magical and give a fairy tale feel.

What I ended up doing was choosing some photos from her “Dream” photobook, Instagram and some others I had stored up. I wasn’t too sure about how I would have done the background but it turned out to be a good opportunity to try out using some patterned papers that I have been collecting over the years. I have been stockpiling them but I haven’t actually used them in anything till now (I tried making one before with The Kubo artwork but it was a failed attempt). I did edit these patterned background, which makes me excited to see what I can do with them. Speaking of the background I wanted to draw the rabbit from the Haro Moni show where they had a segment going on amusement rides to promote merchandise. But I was afraid I would be a little too similar to an amazing painting done by koha . You can check it out here

I really love the way she was painted and the way the rabbit stands in the back. When I finished my painting and I went to look at Koha’s I was surprised at how different our styles and techniques were.

For the color selections I decided to scan my current Copic swatches that I use traditionally to choose colors. From there I used the colors I had closest to what I wanted and edited them as needed. (I would upload the swatches but as I was working with them I noticed that they were a bit off so I need to go through them and make sure the colors are correct).

Here is the final piece:

And just for you guys who stop by here some other versions (I liked the idea that I could change the tights design, heck even the color should be easy to change):

This one is with out any lightening of some lines from the original drawing-

And one with Sayu using a polkadot design instead of the bunnies-

Here are the references used:

This is the main one I used but I obviously edited her pose and added some different clothes (the one on the bottom) –

And here are the rest (the Usa Chan Peace pose being very important):

And this is the patterned paper I used as the base for background –

I didn’t really focus too much on documenting the process because I just wanted to paint without any distractions and just enjoy the process. Having said that, here are the few I pictures of the process I do have:

Sayu as a brunette:

I’ve gotten quite comfortable just painting it all on one layer, at least with these more realistic pieces. The background I do make another separate piece since I can work much faster that way without having to mess with the main subject. I do want to paint Sayu in a traditional medium, I have some Arches water color paper that I have been wanting to use for a couple of months now so hopefully that will be done soon.

And with that I end this first post of the year. Here’s to hoping we have a great year ahead of us, let’s keep working at it.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

Usa Chan Peace! V(⁎˃ᆺ˂)V

Merry Christmas Fubuki and Tatsumaki

I tried making a quick painting of Fubuki and Tatsumaki before Christmas. I contemplated adding a background but I’m not so sure, I just want to have some days off and just rest and have fun. Plus I want to finish all Kingdom Hearts games before I go back to school and Kingdom Hearts III comes out. I’m just about to finish the first game I just need to power up and beat all the secret bosses.

Now as for the painting it self. I’ve been wanting to make a piece with Fubuki and Tatsumaki. I want to make some more in the future. I tried a style that has a decent amount of details but is also simplistic. I only used the hard brush.

I wasn’t too sure about their outfits but I went with of course Christmas themed ones. At one point I had the idea to have Fubuki dressed as Santa and Tatsumaki as an elve. Maybe next year. I do wonder if Fubuki would wear anything like this though. She seems to have a mature womanly taste when it comes to her clothes.

The finished painting:

References:

The process (I’ll divide it into sections):

Fubuki Section –

Tatsumaki section –

Both together final touches –

Hope you guys have a great time during this holiday season, thank you for stopping by during the year.

“ヽ(´▽`)ノ”

That’s it for now.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

 

 

 

 

Misaka and Misaki’s Christmas 2018

How about a Christmas themed painting! (((o(*゚▽゚*)o)))

I really like the pairing of Misaka Mikoto and Misaki Shokuhou. The way they banter against each other is really cute, even more so when they have no choice but to work with each other. It was a smart idea to make them both rivals and allies at the same time. Definitely one of the best duos in the series. And seeing as they can hack into all security systems to delete their presence digitally and the power to also erase and manipulate peoples memories they really could get away with any crime. Whenever there are hints that they will pair up again I get really happy.

This painting was actually started last year. But I didn’t finish it on time. It still needed a background after all. So I decided to save it for this year’s Christmas. I was bogged down with other work but I managed to finish the background just in time to maybe even start a new Christmas piece. In any case I had to find a suitable reference picture. The one I found was in portrait mode so I had to make up the rest.

It was painted using my Kuratake Gansai Tambi watercolors and my Nicker Poster Colour paints.

Here is the final piece:

References used:

And here is the process:

drawing-

painting of Misaka Mikoto and Misaki Shokuhou-

process of the background:

And the process done digitally to combine both pieces:

 

Hope you guys like it. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

Suiryu JC stance

Since I finished that Fubuki painting I felt it would be good to draw Suiryu one of my favorite characters from One Punch Man. Definitely at the top (probably my favorite male character). It’s awesome to have another martial artist be a part of the story. I’m really interested to see what will become of him after the end of the tournament. Will he become even more powerful by training more diligently? It would be nice if at the end of One Punch Man someone would finally be able to put a decent fight against Saitama, and my money would be on Suiryu.

I really love his character design and fighting style. I don’t usually like cocky characters but he has a rather interesting arc. I really hope they continue to show his development as the story progresses.

The painting (done with a G pen and then shaded with Photoshop):

references used:

The pose was from this photo of Jackie Chan:

Process:

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

Fubuki CD Cover

Man, I started this piece a long time ago. I figure it was about time I went ahead and finished it now that I have a bit more time to work. I had a different version made during the summer but I was not satisfied. Not only did I decide to edit Fubuki herself but opted to redo the whole background. It took around three, five separate attempts over a couple of months till I was finally able to finish. I felt a lot more confident in my technique and color selection. Hopefully this means I will be able to create more paintings at a faster pace. I also noticed I knew a lot more shortcuts and time management techniques which allowed me to keep a steady workflow. As for whether the painting actually looks good I don’t know. I’ve been working on it for a bit so it’s hard to know.

Any way this piece was based on the chapter covers of One Punch Man where Fubuki is drawn like in a CD cover (this sentence is written weirdly).

The paintings:

references used:

Can’t find the chapter art covers I mentioned, if I do find them I will update this post.

 

 

Man that was long…

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

Kanzaki Kaori Fallen Angel

In episode 8 of To Aru Majutsu No Index III everyone was left hanging with the scene of Kanzaki Kaori wearing her Fallen Angel cosplay for Touma as a thanks for helping the Amakusa followers. So I figured I would draw her after finishing up the Kojiro painting. When I was done with the Fallen Angel painting I went ahead and watched episode 9 of To Aru today and much to my surprise they did show a bit more of Kanzaki with her cosplay (a lot more…) (#゚ロ゚#)

Hmmm… I made her outfit much less revealing but figured it would only take a couple of edits to change it to fit more closely to the one shown in the anime, though looking at it closely I’m amazed by how much of her cleavage is exposed (to the point it doesn’t make sense)! Σ(゚Д゚;)

So with that I decided to make two versions. This was done using a G Pen and then colored using Photoshop.

Original:

More exposed version based on the anime:

References used:

The image that made me make two versions:

Here is the process:

I am contemplating make another version that has more details to see how much I can push it but still have it look good. Personally I really like the way this version came out. I’ll keep practicing these simpler color versions. I need to be as versatile as possible to be a good artist all around.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

 

Kojiro Hyuga Tiger

So I don’t know exactly how it happened but I seemed to have missed the announcement of a new Captain Tsubasa anime. When Japan released the announcement of them hosting the olympics there was this really cool advert that really embraced their pop culture. Among the many animes that made an appearance was Captain Tsubasa. And let me tell you that animation was gorgeous. It seemed to have a lot of it’s aesthetics based on the manga which I felt had the best anime interpretation of Tsubasa that had been released at that point. I really wished that the prospect of there being a new anime would happen but alas there were no plans at that time.

Here is the video. Looking at it now I do wonder if the first segment was in fact from the original series, it looks really good (the whole video is pretty awesome so I recommend watching the whole thing, but if you only want to see the Tsubasa segment it starts at 0:32 and has another segment at 1:08):

Now jump to about two weeks ago and I just happened to stumble upon Captain Tsubasa 2018. It actually looks quite good (definitely better than the 2002 version which I really did not like their art style and coloring). I personally still prefer the effects and animation from the original but this one is great. Or at least it got that way as the series kept going. The second part is definitely superior. But I do have to say, the opening animation was absolutely amazing. It looks even more like manga artwork was being animated.

Not the best version of the opening but here it is (you’ll see the segments that I mention as the opening reaches the end):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkSxkm63GPE

I really love Captain Tsubasa, although I really don’t care much for Tsubasa and his team. Truthfully every other important character from the other schools around Japan are much more interesting and appealing to me. As this post and artwork will lead you to believe, of course Hyuga is my favorite character out of all of them, though I do have some more that I really like. But Hyuga is definitely my number one.

Here is the artpiece:

It was done first with dip pens and then colored using Photoshop.

References used:

Here is the process:

Do any of you guys like Captain Tsubasa? If so who is you’re favorite character?

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

Pixiv School Girl prompt

Hey, let’s keep playing around with the Pixiv prompts. This time it’s sailor uniform. I’m still trying out different simple coloring techniques. No matter how I look at it I prefer to add a bit more colors. Leaving it too simple just doesn’t seem right. I guess my style is starting to develop. (・∧‐)ゞ

I should be able to push it even more but I don’t want to spend too much time on one piece right now. I just have to keep drawing everyday and let my skills develop naturally. Once I get to a level I feel is good and also feel my speed is fast enough then I will start playing around with adding backgrounds.

Let’s see what happens.

The finished piece:

Reference used, altered to fit the theme among other things:

I drew it and inked it traditionally first. I truthfully prefer drawing this way though I have gotten used to doing it digitally.

This flat color style doesn’t look bad.

That’s it for now. I’ve been working on other pieces but I feel I should try to make and upload a piece a day so I can brute force my development.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

 

Quick drawing, Kamei Eri Mikan

Had to work at my other job today but after seeing the prompt for today’s theme on Pixiv I felt I couldn’t let the opportunity pass. And the prompt is Mikan (tangerine). Since that was the introduction song that got me interested in Morning Musume I decided to draw one of the members holding a tangerine. Since I have mostly been drawing Ai, Sayumi (specially) and Reina I felt it was only fair to draw Kamei Eri again.

I used a reference picture from her photo book “Thanks” and altered it to fit the theme. Could have played a bit more with the drawing but I am a bit tired and hope to rest for the hour I have before I need to call it a day.

Reference picture:

and that of the tangerine:

Just when I was about to post this post I noticed that WordPress did away with the tags, did they move them or are they now just gone? Will look into it when I have a chance.

Nevermind, it seems I’m more tired than I thought. I created a new page instead of a post so I had to redo it all again… (ー△ー;)

That will be all for now.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

 

 

Trying out different anime styles Takahashi Ai

I want to try out different styles, the quickest way is to do it digitally since I can redo every line and color as many times as I want.

It was a bit hard trying to contain my self and use simple color schemes, I just felt I could add more but it’s important to try and learn how and why these simplistic coloring styles work and hopefully will be able to create better works in the future. I was going for a 90s style.

reference used:

 

A more realist anime style:

Slightly more anime style:

Full anime:

That’s it for now.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

 

 

Miss X

I learned about Miss X a couple of year ago when I was looking at videos about the history of the King of Fighters. They briefly talked about SNK Gals where Miss X appeared. And now she… he? has appeared once again with the announcement for SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. I haven’t bought the game but it might be a good idea to do so just for the character model viewer. Though I’m tempted to get their special edition version… (≧д≦ヾ) Luckily I can record the things with the PS4 but I do wonder how well the quality would be.

Anyway I wanted to draw Miss X. After I was looking at the finished drawing, I noticed I made the feet too small so I will have to edit that digitally when I use it for the overall project I have in mind (more on that as it all comes together). Some of my Copics such as the darker purple I wanted to use ran out and I don’t have a refill bottle yet so it was a bit tough trying to get some of the shadows. Maybe I should have added some more values but that would have surely messed up the color scheme withe the colors I had (aside from the Copic that ran out).

This is the drawing done using Stabilo pens and Copic markers:

I wanted a rather dynamic pose (though those feet look so small…)

References used:

And this is the process:

This project will have more parts to it so look forward to it.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

 

Xochitl and her Macuahuitl from To Aru Majutsu no Index

Hey, another Mexican character in an anime! And what is this the second Mexican in the To Aru series? I really like her design and her powers. Sadly it was only for a few seconds. I wish there was a bit more screen-time between her and Etzali during episode 5… though it seems she has a run in with Saten at some point so I’m looking forward to that.

On another note, isn’t the pacing and editing of the third season of To Aru Majutsu a bit off? It seems to really be speeding through the story. And to make matters worse it seems like the characters have to really spit out a lot of exposition… cough, cough… that scene with Tsuchimikado going into that long explanation of what’s going on and how he defeated those robits … Σ(´д ` メ) Hopefully that all gets fixed as the story goes through but I am left a bit disappointed. It kinda reminds me of how they edited down Jackie Chan’s movies to only keep the action scenes

Anyway here is the drawing done using Stabilo pens and Copic markers.

references used:

 

And here is the process:

Hope you guys like it,

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

 

 

 

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