"A Hopeless Dream Chaser"
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Sorry for disappearing again, the end of the semester is coming upon me and things got a bit out of hand. I just need to finish a paper and I will pretty much be free of school obligations.
Anyway, after much thought I think it is finally time to make this piece go fully live. And like with all my previous works I have finally decided upon a name (although I had one a long time ago but I forgot), “Rebels vs the Empire – A fight between father and Son”. The theme of this piece is set in the 1940s when WWII took place. A lot of influences were drawn from Germany for the Empire after all, and of course there’s the whole Japanese influence (mainly the ideas of samurais, ki, etc.).
So with that in mind I had Darth Vader use a German uniform. I really liked the baggy pants which aviator divisions (among others) used. I thought of making his buttons different colors, but decided against it. The idea of making a communication device provide those light did come to mind, but the place I wanted to place it on would be covered by his arms so again I decided against it. I thought of making him go in all black, but I decided for a mainly three color scheme of black, gold and grey. I really wanted some more variation within Vader’s uniform. Plus I had the idea of having some type of armor beneath his jacket and pants (some of which can be seen on his arms). The idea is that the technology isn’t there for fully robotic prosthetics, so what if he just had his burnt skin replace with metallic armor?
As for Luke I wanted him to portray some influences of Japan, but also the Allies from WWII. I eventually decided on a combination of Yankis (specially since he represents the rebel forces) and some parts of the uniforms of the allied forces (which pretty much just ended up being the boots, undershirt and maybe, just maybe the pants). I could’ve gone for a camo pattern, but since he is supposed to be like a delinquent he wouldn’t follow the rules would he? So the decision was made to have him in all black like in the final movie (0f the original trilogy).The jacket I wanted to look like those that Yankis wear. They tend to put nonsensical (usually) kanji together that sounds cool and tough into a completely made up word or phrase. So I decided to do the same. It was actually quite fun to do and now understand why Yanki do this (and why they get some weird words and phrases that don’t make sense). I used Kanji for “Rebel + Alliance” on the right arm and “Defeat + Evil Spirit” on the back. I was going to add something else to the left arm but decided (mest up/forgot) to not put anything on it… The Rebel crest is also there. As for the red cloth on Luke’s left arm, I was thinking of the headbands used by Yanki, but I decided to put it on his arm.
Finally, as for the swords, I used the colors from their final confrontation.
The setting was originally going to be inside a battleship, much like in the movie. But after much thought I figured I could do more on a cliff where I could add air and sea battles to the background.
This was a bit of an annoying piece due to the amount of details and objects I had to keep in mind as I worked on it. Not only that, but as I added new objects and colors I had to go back to previously finished areas to have them meld well together…
But it’s now, finally, officially done.
-XERO
Man, I have been busy these past three months like crazy, because of that I haven’t been able to work on this piece except every once in a while. But now I have finally finished it. Here it is.
Now that I have finally finished it I can start focusing on other projects. Now the question is, what will that new project is.
Hasta la proxima,
XERO
I’m still working with my client on the work she has commissioned. I have already finished the first one, which took quite a bit of work since it had a lot of subjects and each one took quite a bit of time to color in. Right now I am working on the second commission which I have fully drawn out and am currently painting at the moment. All is going well. If things continue going this well I wouldn’t be surprised if I finish by tomorrow. Although I do have to do some homework and study for a quiz for my college class…
Anyway, after this I will have one more piece I have to draw and paint and I should be able to continue with my previous projects until the next commission comes along.
Hasta la proxima,
-XERO
Currently really busy working on a big commission with three different art pieces. One of them will finally be done today. Two more to go. I’m sorry I haven’t been posting much here in a while. anyway here is an update on what I have done so far on the Star Wars drawing. I’m almost done, I just need to finish coloring Luke and Vader then adding some finishing touches.
It’s not a finished drawing, but it will be the foundation for this years work. I’m surprised at how much I can do without references these days… my skills have definitely been improving, here’s hoping I can go even further. In any case, can you tell what this drawing is about, and who is in it? It’s only a rough draft right now, but it definitely captures my feelings and thoughts quite well. Since it’s so rough you guys might have a hard time seeing some things, but it is vivid inside of my head. It’s strange, I get all warm and fuzzy every time I see it, I just can’t help but smile…
The hardest part is to get the poses it seems… I have been wanting to do a piece for quite a while now, but I just couldn’t come up with a good concept. But now I feel really confident in making my art subjects do what I envision with out the need of references. Studying the way human bodies look and move has really helped. Every time I can I try to pay attention to the way a body looks and does things. I have much to learn of course, but it has made it easier to make movements/poses that make sense in an art piece. That is what I wish to impart in this drawing. Of course I will be using references to help make the drawing more lifelike. But that will be mainly focused on facial expressions and whatnot. This rough draft still needs a bit more teaks before I start adding more details. I want everyone to be “connected”. There’s three “connections” I need to make. I just have to think about it carefully so that it looks natural.
This drawing will be advanced as I see my skills up to par with what I have in mind… I get chills just thinking of me getting to that level…
Anyway this is a year round project, so I will be putting most of my effort on commissions and other projects. Right now I will be working on the three commissions I have at the moment and also work on the Star wars drawing I started last year (feels weird saying it).
So far this year has gotten off to a great start. Here’s hoping to make it better!
Ashita Mañana.
-XERO
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