I finally got the chance to paint the Yane line art. I decided to go for a cool spring setting and color. Somehow, the leaves without a more solid form looked weird so ended up making some line work for some of the leaves as well.
I came upon a photo of Yane wearing a yukata which I feel fits the spring quite well. I’m still not too sure how I will go about the next stage for this drawing, will I ink it, hatch it, or paint it? I haven’t quite decided that yet. I did add a bit of hatching already, but if I decide to do something different I could always edit it out later on.
I’ve been wanting to do some pixel art for a couple of months now… I recently got reminded again of ThorHighHeels video about the PC98 art style. I have an idea for a piece that I will be working on soon. For the first test I made a new Sayu piece using a photo from her instagram. It seems like there is a way to do pixel art using Photoshop but I would have to change quite a number of the settings so looked for other alternatives. Eventually I came upon Pro Motion which luckily has a free version. It seems that if I were to get a full version I would gain the ability to animate my art, but that will have to wait. After finishing this piece which surprisingly didn’t take too much time I exported the picture as a PNG. The resolution was of course tiny (64 pixels by 64 pixels). I figured I could just enlarge the piece with Photoshop. It worked quite well.
Continuing on with traditional work, I next moved on to using Copics. It’s been a couple of months since I last used them. I usually have trouble using darker colors because I’m afraid I will mess up in a way that I can’t reverse but this time I decided to push it woth some darker colors in the skin right from the start. Since I have been working with colors more I know how they will react once I add darker values such as with the hair so I felt a bit more at ease once I started working. I’m still not as fast as I would like to be though. This took me a couple of hours but I feel if I can probably do this in a bout an hour once I have a bit more experience. Looking at the reference photo and my version I could have added a bit more of the red tones on her skin but the overall idea was still portrayed which is good. The lips reacted with the ink since I might have overworked it a bit too much so I wasn’t able to portray a more natural lip color, I’ll have to be more careful next time.
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?
It has been quite a while since I last uploaded something. But I personally prefer it this way. I really do think that quality over quantity is much better. For this installment I have added another SPECIAL video to commemorate the birthday of another one of my favorite Morning Musume members… Kamei Eri, the sleepy turtle.
I found her to be extremely beautiful and cute when I first got into Morning Musume, and as I got to know her and the rest of the members more, I just could not get enough of her and her segments. She really made things so funny and interesting. I recently found some of her old appearances on some variety shows and couldn’t stop laughing when they declared her as the person who would most likely communicate with aliens. At times her expression really made me think she actually was.
It’s a shame I was only present to see her last year on Morning Musume (that’s what I get for learning about them late). Whatever she decides to do on her future, I can only hope her the best. I’m sure she is capable of forging a path just for her, whether we as fans are able to witness it or not.
As for the drawing, I’d say that I had the most trouble replicating her face. I really took quite some time to draw her out. I had to redo a lot of details. Even at the end, I question whether I was able to truly capture her essence. In any case it was really enjoyable. Now, for those of you who do not know, recently Ai Takahashi released a couple of pictures of the current Eri, who actually allowed her self to get pictures taken of her. And that is where I got my reference material. In other words you are looking at Kamei Eri as she looks in 2012. She really hasn’t changed much, the only difference is that she has her natural dark hair. Which I truthfully prefer, she looks extremely cute and natural.
This is not a request, nor is it for some contest. Instead it is actually something personal. As some of you may know, I am a Morning Musume fan. I’d say I’m pretty hardcore, although I learned about the group rather late. This was the time when the “Platinum Era” was taking place. I absolutely loved the song Mikan, which was my gate way song to becoming a Morning Musume fan.
Reina Tanaka has really caught my attention since then, and after getting to know her a little better thanks to interviews the the old shows of Hello! Morning and Haromoni she began to take a special place in my heart. As of now she and Michishige Sayumi are the only members of my favorite era, which makes me rather sad. But at least they still remain.
This video is to not only wish her a happy birthday but to also say thanks for all these years of happiness that she has given me and the rest of the world. This present may not be much but it is the best thing I can give her. I made sure to pour all my feelings in this one piece and hope they can reach her. Reina if you ever get the chance to see this, I really do hope I can convey some happiness upon you.
I really don’t know how to make sure she sees this, so if any of you have any ideas please let me know/help me out.
I actually started working on this piece on my birthday a couple of days ago, as a present to my self (I seriously loved drawing her). The only phrase that came out in my mind when drawing was “Un regalo para mi Reina”. Those who know Spanish will understand.