Yor Berlint assasin

I was having a hard time deciding what to do with the background for this piece. After a couple of failed attempts I played around with a cloud background inspired by the official summer artwork by Tatsuya Endo. Although that was only as a placeholder for the painting process of Yor, I ended up liking it. But it felt empty so I decided to add something else. In the end I ended up painting the city hall building. Manga or anime only showcased one angle of the building though, but luckily it was enough to make out most of the features. Though most of it ended up being covered by Yor. Pretty much all of the painting was done with Toko Suzuki’s brushes.

https://tokosuzuki.gumroad.com/

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

Hot summer day Noriko Takaya

I wanted to try coloring in the anime style again. This time I chose Noriko Takaya from Gun Buster. The original line art was done for inktober 2021 day 18.

It can be seen here:

For that version of the drawing I was going for a fall scene, but since we are now in these sweltering heat. I changed it to a summer scene instead. I changed Noriko’s outfit and leaf to fit the new theme.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

Naoko Kawai Tennis

Line art originally drawn on April 7th of this year.

My drawing of Naoko has finally been painted. I went for an 80s anime style. I didn’t quite liked the way the eyes looked so I decided to edit them. I was thinking of adding a fence in the background but I think I’ll leave it like this for now. Maybe I’ll add it at a later date.

Hasta la proxima,

-Nube

Keep Standing Up, Bojji

I thought it would take me longer to paint it but once I started, the flow just kept going. I need to make more watercolor paintings. It’s strange, I was wondering just how much my digital skills would translate to traditional. But they are quite different. One main thing that it has helped me is with layering. As in putting in the base colors and adding more details on top. I’m no longer second guessing my self anymore. But I guess that is more a matter of getting more experience in general. Only way to get better is to just keep painting and thinking about what each technique and stroke means.

As for why I decided to make this painting. I love Oosama Ranking. It is quite an emotional series. Everytime Bojji and Kage overcome obstacles and keep pushing forward, I feel this massive feeling of pride for believing in Bojji and motivation to keep trying my self. Not a lot of series can do that for me. On top of that, the author plays around with clichés and little by little let’s us in on a great mystery that embarks their family and kingdom. The anime really did a good job of elevating the manga to another level. I of course really recommend this series as well.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

Domon Winter

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.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

Work in Progress I D Mountains

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.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

Airi Sweater

There was this photo recently uploaded by Airi Suzuki wearing a comfy looking brown sweater that I just had to draw/paint.

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.

I kinda wanna animate this painitng…

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

New Year 2022 1st Drawing/Painting

Happy New Year!

Feliz Año Nuevo!

あけましておめでとう!

Somehow I managed to finish it on time. This is the first drawing of the year. I decided to risk it and rest a bit after work yesterday and start the first drawing/painting of the year on the very first day of the year. Usually I start a day before and finish it on the second. I wasn’t too sure what the subject would be until I noticed that people were posting tiger themed photos on instagram. The tiger is my favorite animal so this actually made ideas flow much easier.

I had the idea of riding the tiger but felt that was a bit cruel. Then I had the idea of the tiger kinda hugging me like my dog does (well except he hugs from the front) and this concept was born. I drew it first without reference to come up with the pose and whatnot. I wanted a hopeful and determined theme, with the strength of the tiger behind our backs. Or something like that. As for the background I wanted to emphasize the winter weather and used a photo that I took years ago of a street where the mountains could be seen with a beautiful sunset.

Let’s do our best this year!

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

Goku and Chichi ‘Date Night’

This painting is done using the line art I made for this year’s inktober day 2. I didn’t really have a plan for how this painting would go but I eventually decided on setting it in twighlight and basing the color scheme through that. It felt a bit lonely with just the sky though, so I eventually started adding clouds and at some point some trees which are based on their home.

What would a date with Goku be? Would it just be like that episode where Homer from the Simpsons gets kicked out of the restaurant for eating all the food? I feel sorry for ChiChi.

Hasta la proxima,

-Nube