On April 8th there was a twitter challenge to redraw the character from a “How to draw Manga” book. The book they were talking about was a different one that I didn’t use my self. When I grew up, I used a the version distributed here in North America by Digital Manga Distribution. I know that the whole point of the challenge was to try and redraw that character, which is… well look at him yourself:
But I was thinking more in terms of retrying to draw a cover that I had once tried to draw when I was a kid. I didn’t quite get the contents of the book themselves, I was more interested in the cover art done by Kazuaki Morita.
In the end, I actually ended up finding that drawing I made years ago:
Man, that reversed hand is just…
Here is the current attempt:
The background music/sounds are from old trailers that I tended to hear from anime that I rented from my local library. People from my generation will know exactly what I’m talking about. Luckily, there are people online that are uploading these now classic anime history. Much like how AnimeCollective is doing. Link to each of the songs used and their respective trailers are below.
“Yumemiru Ai Tenshi” by by Ai tenshi densetsu Wedding Peach Trailer from ADV Films:
Media Blasters Trailer from Twin Signal:
“Wake Up” by Chisato:
“Treat or Goblins” by Megumi Hayashibara:
“Soramimi Cake” by Oranges & Lemons:
“Yuzurenai Negai” by Naomi Tamura:
“Carnival Babel” Takada Band:
I ended up only watching two of these anime. Blue Seed and Azumanga Daioh. I’m surprised I still haven’t seen Magic Knight Reyearth.
A bit of a late upload. I was planning on uploading some of the work I had lined up but when I was on twitter I noticed that #HowToDrawMangaRedraw was trending. The one being redrawn is from a book done by Katy Coope. But the one I grew up with was by Ryo Toudo. Looking inside the book, the cover artist is Kazuaki Morita. I really love his style. Man, this cover really brings back memories of when I was first getting into anime and was amazed by the selection of media that our local library carried. I won’t lie, I didn’t quite get the contents of the book back in the day. I mainly got it for the cover and tried to draw them. Thinking about it now, I might have that drawing stored in backpack that contains all my old work. If I remember correctly, I put the thumbs in the wrong positions. I’ll upload it tomorrow. There was another cover that I really liked, maybe I’ll give that one a try as well (also tomorrow).
Update (4/9/21) – Couldn’t find that old drawing I was talking about, I did find a lot of rather embarrassing ones though… If I find it though I’ll post it here.
(Update 4/19/2021) – Found it, you can see it here: ( •̀ᄇ• ́)ﻭ✧
Time spent: 8 hours 59 minutes
Materials used: Sakura 0.7 mechanical pencil, Faber Castell Perfection 7056 pencil eraser, eraser,
Sakura Pigma Micron set Black,
Sakura gellyroll White,
Sakura Moonlight gellyroll: Light green, Dark purple, Blue, Yellow
Reeves Water Colours 18 set: Viridian hue, Phthalo Blue, Ultramarine,
Copic Markers: 0, E00, C1 C3, C5, C7, W1, W3, W5, W7, YR00, Y11, Y17, Y28, V01, G21, G24, G28, BG10, BG78, B0000, B01, B05, B21, B24, B26, B28, B32, B34, B39, B45, B69, B97
Sharpie Oil Based PAINT White Fine Point
And so we continue with the Sailor Senshi series. This time it is the second member to be revealed in the series Sailor Mercury, real name Ami Mizuno. So far, I like her more than Sailor Moon. Though she hasn’t really made a strong impression on me either. On another note, I still don’t quite understand what Sailor Moon’s attacks are based on, most likely they are just random attacks that Naoko Takeuchi thought were cool. But for all other members, it seems like they have an elemental affinity tied to them. For Ami Mizuno it is water, so since the start I wanted to incorporate that. In the end I was thinking about it being either ripples or waves. I never really made up my mind before starting the drawing, but in the end I just combined them together. And surprisingly, it worked quite well together.
In any case, I hope you guys enjoy and learn from this video.
There was no video last week because I bought a new scanner, but it would not arrive till after a couple of days later after I usually upload a video. So I decided to hold it back and wait for the scanner to arrive. It is a large scanner that allows me to scan areas up to A3 (which is a scanner I have been looking for for quite some time). Now I can get a good quality copy of my artwork here at home.
In any case, for this weeks drawing, we will be doing Sailor Moon. I heard the new series would be broadcasted so I decided to give it a chance and see what it was about. I know I saw some episodes when I was younger but I only saw a few and don’t really remember much. So I said, what the heck, lets give it a chance. After all, I kept hearing good things from both females and males about it. My overall impressions at this point? Personally the old animation looks more appealing to me, but it definitely doesn’t look bad at all. I hear this series is following the manga better so I will see this through to the end to see how good it is. I gotta say, Usagi is rather dumb… But I guess that’s a common feature among Shoujo heroines (as well as Shonen heroes of course). We’ll see how this goes.
Materials used: Mechanical pencil, ruler, eraser, Faber Castell eraser pencil
Colored Pencil: water color PrismaColor – peacock blue, ultramarine blue, french grey 20%, true blue, violet, black, crimsom red, lilac, white, blush pink
PrismaColor – ginger root, peach, beige, cream, sand, light peach, 20% french grey, lilac, parma violet, dark purple, mulberry, carmine red, pink, process red, yellowed orange, crimson lake, 50% warm grey, 70% cool grey, 70% warm grey, 50% gold Grey, White, Black
Crayola – pale rose, violet, brown, taupe, lemon yellow, jade green, harvest gold, magenta
Rose Art – violet, orchid
Verithin – dahlia purple
Ultra Color – purple
We have made it to the second video, this time the objective is Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail. A good series (that relies on way too much fan service…). For this drawing I thought I would only use color pencils and nothing else. I figured I would try to show different techniques that can be implemented with different tools. The most common one that people can easily get their hands on are color pencils. They are rather versatile and can leave some really good effects, but only if used right. I’m mainly a pencil type of artist so I’m a bit shaky when it comes to coloring. But I have been practicing and coming up with new methods ever since I decided to go pro. I’ve actually been starting to understand how to fully utilize the full potential that color pencils possess. And that is what this video will be about.
Hope you guys enjoy the new format, and learn much more this way. Till next time.
I missed posting on Monday again. But just like last time I was working on another contest that appeared right after I had finished writing last Friday. This time the theme was for the new film The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu), which will be Hayao Miyazaki’s last film. It still requires that weird format, but this time I had last competition’s experience under my belt. This is what I assumed would happen if I kept joining contests since it forces one to produce quality artworks in a small amount of time that requires one to keep a deadline in mind at all times. I felt I could do even better, but this was a big leap from the last entry. With this format (2000 x 550) it was still a bit annoying but surprisingly I did better. I decided on a theme that touched upon the harsh past that flowed to a brighter future because of their meeting each other (sadly judging by the trailers the woman protagonist will most likely die from tuberculosis). I could only come up with so much by seeing the trailers and reading the extremely short synopsis given by deviantart.
This time I decided to work with my small collection of Copic markers I bought a couple of years ago, I was hesitant in using them because of how expensive they were. As well as my struggling ability to work with color (though I have been getting much better). To my surprise, using them was extremely intuitive. Mixing, blending and just coloring was much faster and effortless than with color pencils, which require a lot of work to have the colors stay on the paper and meld with the picture it self. There is this new technique I have been thinking of using for quite some time now, and seeing just how much I can bring out of the markers and color pencil (though I still need to work more on the color pencils) I can see the vast possibilities I can bring to my work.
The drawing and design for this piece was definitely better than last times, sadly my camera was not able to capture all of it’s greatness. The end sides got distorted because they bend up, making the drawing and colors blur. I just might have to invest on a big scanner. It’s a pain but it will be worth it if it shows my work in it’s original intended form.
Originally I was planning on ending this year round project by drawing Ai last but things didn’t turn out that way. But, in a way I am glad that it happened this way. After all Gaki was an important member of the group that sadly many seem to overlook. Her voice is definitely powerful but can also be tuned to sound extremely cute. Her versatility is quite astonishing. I felt that as a whole, the two main vocalists (Ai and Reina) needed someone to fill in the places where their weaknesses might reside. And that is where Gaki came in. She filled in the really deep parts that others couldn’t, and she did it extraordinarily.
When I first saw and heard her in Mikan I was quite amazed at how deep a voice she had. I had never really seen a group with so many different voice ranges before so hearing her singing voice was a surprise to me at the time. It soon became clear to me how vital her voice was to the group. This variations of voices are what really makes the Platinum Era so special. When hearing their songs, you could immediately tell who was who. And not only that but almost everyone had a really good voice (Koharu definitely had the weakest, and although it pains me to say this but so did Sayu but she can sing quite well when she puts all her effort into the song).
One of the reasons I am glad that I got to draw Gaki last is because she really seemed to be the member that loved Morning Musume the most out of all the members. I remember how she would like to talk about that whenever they asked why she joined, and also how she would boast of her collection of Morning Musume member postcards (is that what they are called?). She really seemed to care for the group. So much so that she gave up on her idea to leave alongside Ai (I do wonder if the gokkies all promised to graduate together? That didn’t happen of course, after Asami and later Makoto left, but still. That was the kind of vibe I got since they were all so close), to teach the newcomers for one year until finally deciding to graduate herself.
One thing I always remember was an episode of Yorosen where Gaki was the teacher and asked the members to write a letter to themselves, I believe it was 10 years later. Out of all them she was the only one to speak of Morning Musume. And not only that but she believed that they would still be in the group. What was most touching was that she was talking about the Platinum Era, not any other members. Hearing that just made me so happy. It just makes me very pleased when these members all speak so well of this lineup. Not the Golden Era, and not the colorful era (I believe that’s what the fans are calling them), but the Platinum Era. She isn’t the only one of course. I remember reading a interview with Ai where she felt that this lineup would be the ones to take Morning Musume to new heights for years to come, but then came the graduations that shook that thought. Then there were the comments of Reina in a recent interview? where she said she had wished that the Platinum Era was just as popular as Morning Musume is now.
Some day, some how I will reunite them all. I don’t know how, but I hope to show the world just how amazing they all are together, this legendary group that sadly was way to underrated.
This concludes my year long project. I probably won’t be doing any more Morning Musume drawings (on youtube). But I will go back to my old schedule of anime and manga drawings very soon.
The person who drew me in to Morning Musume, the one that captured my heart with her amazingly cute smile and heart wrenching voice, the leader who despite the massive backlash of fans after the departure of many old favorites still managed to keep the group together and created an ever reaching fan-base around the world. That is Ai Takahashi forever in my heart as the leader of the Platinum Era. She was left with Morning Musume when it was at it’s weakest state, she along with the other eight members managed to fight through it so that the name Morning Musume could eventually be passed off to the next generation.
To me, when Ai Takahashi joined, the group just became something magical. She was destined for greatness. Her voice, movement and emotion all drew people in. Such a combination of talents in one person, could that even be possible? This of course also had some repercussions. Because of her abilities she had to support the whole group, that, to some fans seemed unfair to the other members. Although I can see what they mean, I feel it was for the best and something the group needed. A voice and unreal girl that would draw in the crowd, that for some reason decided to leave or have never heard of the group before. Her voice and performances were that of a pro, and that is what was needed to break the chains that restrict many idol groups. Sadly not many seemed to appreciate the best vocal group in the history of Morning Musume and of all the idol groups. It seems that whatever resentment was still left, only kept accumulating to the point of trying to bring Morning Musume down in forums and such. But that only goes to show how great the Ai chan led era was. Despite so much going against them, the group managed to stay afloat and even gradually started to gain momentum to the top.
The first time I saw Ai was in Mikan ( I know I mentioned it before, but it was such an important moment for me). Right away, despite seeing many cute girls in the screen (I did not know them then) the one person who just had me looking for her throughout the whole MV was Ai. There was something unreal and just… special about her. Soon after I wanted to know more, her name and the names of the group members. I needed to learn as much as I could, specially about her. Luckily for me I entered the fandom almost as soon as the Platinum Era began (I missed Onna ni Sachi are). At the time I was in high school, so some days were rather rough and dull, but I always felt a sense of relieve that I could always head home and watch/hear Ai chan’s voice.
Despite there being a five year difference between us, and she might see me as a child, I would totally do what I could to make her happy (I know to many that seems like a hopeless dream, but I really feel serious about this). But before that I would have to get on her level. I’ll support her whenever she is down, at least, that is what I would do. After all she is my dream girl.
To many people I see talking about her, she can be either the best thing for Morning Musume or a good addition that also happened to “steal” the lines of other members. But I would like to point out to those people that she didn’t steal anything, and secondly, that was only in the singles. The other members had their chances in the other songs made for the album. And now that she is gone we can still hear her voice, so prominent and beautiful. Hopefully we will be getting a solo album of hers soon. Then a duet with Gaki that will eventually span more with LinLin and Reina. And this in turn will hopefull bring back the Platinum Era so that it can bring about heaven to the ears of many once again.
To me she was a great leader to be remembered. One that truly cared about the group, and that truly wanted to bring them all together as an actual family that could use each other as support in the harshest of times and also celebrate the great accomplishments they all happened to go through. She definitely was a caring leader that showed her love through action rather than empty words. Not seeing Morning Musume with Ai chan was just so foreign that it left a big hole within me when she left. Luckily she stays in contact with her fans and makes many appearances in the media. One other thing that makes me feel, yes, I did not make a wrongful judgement in making her my favorite member was when she took time to visit the Platinum Era members and allowing us fans to be a part of it. That type of dedication is just … lovable.
The story of me and Sayumi Michishige starts off quite simple, in fact this was probably the case for many Morning Musume fans as well. I really didn’t like her… Clearly it wasn’t because of her looks (she’s so cute and beautiful it almost seems too incredible to believe she is real). But her personality that she showed on variety shows made her seem really mean and stuck up. Although I mainly blame some of the “fans” who commented on Morning Musume videos for giving me that impression of hers (I’m to blame as well of course for listening to their thoughts). Of course, at the time I felt like this, I was very new to Morning Musume and was barely beginning to learn more about each individual member of the group. Like many had said Sayu was definitely giving the aura of a narcissist, but after a couple of weeks of cramming in as many videos of the members as I could find at the time, things began to change. I also started to pick up all the subtleties of how each member acted and I noticed that sometimes Sayu wasn’t so sure of herself and what she said. She was definitely quick to recover and change the subject or keep going with the original onslaught of remarks depending on the situation. At first I wasn’t too sure what to think about it, but I began to question whether she really was as bad as she made herself out to be.
Sure enough my suspicions were right, in fact I was entirely right. She was mostly playing the role of a narcissist, but I still didn’t quite understand, why? In the end it was very simple, the entertainment world definitely prefers someone who is fun to watch and listen to, and although many of Sayu’s comments could be deemed mean or hurtful it was obvious that she was really thinking about what she uttered so they weren’t too painful so people didn’t take it seriously. In fact after saying one of those “Shige mean” comments she seemed to leave it open so that others could react. By becoming, arguably, the most famous variety show ace of Morning Musume, she made sure to raise the name of Morning Musume as high up as she could. Even if people came to hate her, as long as they have heard of Morning Musume she didn’t mind it. And truthfully that is what made her so endearing. She didn’t mind getting hated as long as the group was to prosper. Truly a woman worthy of my love.
She truly is the perfect women in my eyes; cute, smart, and nice (believe it or not). Not only that but her code of honor and respect for the group and members is absolutely alluring. She definitely deserved to be the last leader of the Platinum Era and Sixth Generation.
Her beauty is just so … I can’t even comprehend how she could be blessed so much, and what makes her even more amazing is that she seems so humble (this is something I really like about Morning Musume, despite being so famous they don’t act stuck up and feel like they are better than everyone). What I specially like about her appearance is her long black hair, it just seems so natural that she kept it like that. I seriously can’t imagine her any other way. I’ve seen her with wigs of other colors but black was definitely better. And I’m glad she herself took note of that. Speaking of notes, I remember her talking about doing self study sessions of what she could do to improve whenever she made tv appearances to not embarrass the rest of the group, having heard that I just absolutely gained another level of respect and love for her.
I’m really surprised that this drawing took me so long to draw, but I guess it is expected since I decided to add some background this time around. The time accumulated for this drawing was … 19 hours and 10 minutes. In a way I find that astonishing, but believable since I was making up techniques as I drew. I’m surprised I didn’t get stuck and end up ruining the drawing. One thing I have learned though is that adding various colors to a certain object or objects will make it more believable and realistic so I made sure to go in with that type of mentality.
I’m sure many fans of the To Aru Majutsu no Index and To Aru Kagaku no Railgun know that a new series is being aired at this moment, it seems to be focusing on Misaka and her involvement with her sisters/clones. And I have to say, it is absolutely amazing. Both the story and the animation. I seriously wish more anime’s put in that much effort at least into the animation. In any case, this drawing is inspired by the fight between Misaka and Mugino Shizuri ( no. 4 as the strongest level 5, known as the “Meltdowner”). Their confrontation ended last week and it was awesome, plus it also left it open for some more “encounters of the level 5 kind” (yeah… I know, stupid joke).
Throughout the drawing I really did not know what I wanted to do yet. I just had a goal to draw her in a pose I haven’t seen before. So I just made things up as I went along. As I was drawing I decided to have her injured but still willing to fight, and I also liked the idea of having her fight outside (meaning I would have to draw a background as well). One thing I did want to include was her shorts. Usually I don’t like upskirts in anime/manga but because she always has shorts I find her to be a really awesome character that doesn’t feel the need to flash in order to be popular. I seriously feel that more female characters need to be like that. Plus her shorts are pretty much her trademark (well that and electricity, gekota, etc.). I did feel kind of bad making her bleed, but I feel that makes her look more vulnerable and human like. As well as making the situation look dire. If anything I feel the drawing only needs a bit of rubbing/blending in order to make it smoother (mostly in the sky).
What do you guys think?
Any Questions/Comments?
This obsession with Morning Musume is almost over it seems…Now that one of the last two members that kept me interested in the group has finally reached the end of the line in terms of Morning Musume.
After about ten years of giving fans happiness and humor, Reina Tanaka makes her exit to her own rock band, LoVendoR. Although I will miss her being in Momusu, she will at least not totally disappear and continue to sing. No matter how one looks at it. This will be a big hit to Morning Musume since she was the main vocalist. Now Morning Musume will truly be entering the new era. The new members are cool, but I think that my own involvement in this group has also ended (at least until Sayu decides to graduate as well).
I know change is need, but I don’t necessarily enjoy when it happens. I’ll probably still hear Momusu’s new songs from time to time but it will definitely not be the same. Now I understand how long time fans felt when my favorite era (Platinum Era) took control of Morning Musume. It really is a different feeling and that connection is definitely minimized. All one can think about is the good old days. Luckily for fans they left a lot of material to remember them by.
I’m really at a loss for words, so I’ll end it soon.
This has to be one of my best drawing so far. I really tried to bring in all my techniques and effort in my arsenal. And I feel it really shows. I was extremely pleased when I was taking a picture of the drawing and the camera recognized the face as a real one. Although I know I can improve more, I’m definitely going in the right direction. I can only hope Reina happens to enjoy it as well. I’m kind of saddened that I did not do something like this for the past members of the Platinum Era. I’ll have to make it up to them someway sooner or later.
In commemoration of the new Dragon ball movie that has just recently been released in theaters (sadly only in Japan), I present to you my rendition of the newest Super Saiyan form… Super Saiyan God. I really like it, specially because of it’s simplicity. I had seen many renditions on the internet, some had Goku with really really long hair (probably taking Super Saiyan 3 and Super Saiyan 4 as inpirations). I wouldn’t doubt it if Toriyama sensei saw any of these, and because he likes to go against others and be different I’m sure really wanted to make a really simple design but still make it different from anything done before. And so with that we get a form that’s between Goku in his normal form and when he becomes Super Saiyan with the big difference that his hair, aura and eyes all becom red. Because of all the expectations many fans had, many were of course dissapointed with this design. But again to each his own. Its just how some hate Goku’s Japanese voice (which seems strange to me) and others love it (I have had the pleasure to grow up with the Spanish English and last but not least the original Japanese voice, and despite all the hate I absolute love the Japanese version). I really hope I can get my hands a copy of the movie soon. I’m sure it’s going to be great.
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