"A Hopeless Dream Chaser"
I wanted a fun and cute drawing today. Having a solid black background really helps it all pop out. Now because the night sky is solid black, I decided to hatch Marisa’s hat and clothes in order to fill them in but also have them contrast against the solid background.
Three more days to go…
Hasta mañana,
-NUBE
A piece I’m working one and this will be the background. Summer is finally ending, so I should do a couple of pieces before we finally enter autumn.
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
Was planning on having this work with the remake contest on Pixiv but the dates didn’t align. Oh well.
Here is the final piece for this painting. Attached will be the old version. I changed quite a few things and also the posture. I painted based on my current memory. Overall I feel pretty good with the end result. Brute forcing the acquisition of skill takes time, but I’m now finally seeing some of the result of my training. Making colors more vibrant really helps make the painting pop more than just trying to mimic reference photos. I know that’s obvious but I wanted to understand why that is the case.
I used to have a tough time blending colors for the sky but using the blending tool makes that super easy. It’s kind of hilarious it took me this long to figure that out.
I just noticed looking at the old painting and the new one, but I flipped the hand position…
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
Here is the background for another one of my RE:do paintings. Recently I started implementing a new technique into my paintings. I’m surprised it took me this long to do so though. I’ll speak more about that later. Perhaps adding more details to the sand would’ve added something more to the painting, but with the subject as the focal point that may not be necessary.
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
Almost ran out of time today to post an update. Here is the background for the 2B drawing I recently edited.
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Darkcloud Xero's Online Shop 