I’ve been wanting to paint Sayu in this outfit ever since it was uploaded. She kind of reminds me of a Team Rocket member.
This is the second Microsoft Surface Pro 5 painting. This time around working with the surface felt a lot smoother. The next test will consist of me working in portrait mode. I know it works since I tried to see what would happen if I tilted the whole screen, although it did make Corel crash… I’ll have to play with it a bit more.
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
I was wondering why my artwork was looking a bit blocky when I was resizing it to a smaller size so that I could post it online and just now remembered that I didn’t change my settings that I used for creating pixel art. Changing the resample option to automatic and that did the trick. I think I have about one or two weeks worth of artwork that have been resized using the wrong settings… What’s funny is that I already had a resized version up and ready to post, but I’m glad I forgot.
The line art for this painting is quite old now. Its from way back in June. I remember trying to paint it not long after drawing it but didn’t like what I was coming out with. I decided to go with a Copic/watercolor like style. Using Toko Suzuki’s brush is great since it has both texture and opacity control. I really like the amount of detail and control I can get with it. There’s many ways to paint this Momoko drawing but I have couple others that I can try that out with.
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
This is a painting of Momochi that I have been working on whenever I had some free time during the weekend. This time I used a couple of oil brushes from my collection. I will probably be making another version where I make it a bit more anime like. But first I wanted to go for a more realistic feel. The reference I used was a screenshot from “Off Momochi in Okinawa”. I think this will give me more options in terms of what I can study and paint as well as look closer at poses with movement. I’ve been wanting to also do some animations so this will really help.
Momochi looks freakin adorable as usual.
I have a couple of momochi ink drawings that I haven’t painted yet, I’ll have to think what coloring style I will use for them.
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
Updated version with some edits to the eye size and some slight tone edits to the mouth and lip areas.
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
I’m two days late, but happy birthday Sayumi! Wasn’t too sure what to paint this year, but I went with this. I used two reference photos from Sayu’s instagram.
References used: 7th photo and 9th photo (for the second link).
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
We are actually still getting snow where I live, so that inspired me to finally give this painting a try before the weather finally changes to a warmer one. I really love the colors of Airi in this cold weather and wanted to give it a try for a while now. It’s also been a while since I did a realistic painting so I opted to go for that. There are so many more photos I want to try painting so we’ll see when I get another chance.
This painting is based on Airi’s digital photobook vol. 92. I only used the real tapered wet flat brush for the whole piece. I like the brush but it can be hard to use because when I try to use the same paint color, I can’t quite get it back using the eyedrop tool since each bristle stroke is different and mixes together. I already have a number of paintings lined up where I kept trying out this brush and a new one that I believe is my new main brush, to be used with the oily bristle and tapered oils brush.
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
Time spent: 11 hours 48 minutes (total: 17 h 08 m)
Materials used: Sakura 0.7 mechanical pencil, Faber Castell Perfection 7056 pencil eraser, eraser,
Sakura Pigma Micron set Black 03,
Sakura gellyroll White,
Uniball Signo White
Reeves Water Colours 18 set: Ivory Black, Phthalo Blue
Copic Markers: 100, C1, C3, C5, C7, W1, W3, W5, W7, Y11, Y15, Y17, Y26, YR04, YR68, B0000, B01, B05, B21, B24, B32, B34, B45, B97, BG10, BG13, BG72, BG75, BV00, E04, R00, RV14, R27, V01, G21, G24, YG03, 0
I’ve finally gotten done with this drawing! It took quite a long time. It took a total of about 17 hours and 8 minutes. The longest so far (I think). In any case, I’ll probably make a couple of slight modifications like adding more details to it before I add it to deviant art.
I made the drawing with them at the start of the conflict but ready to go with their strongest attack. I also wanted to try out a couple of new techniques, so I decided to make the scene dark, something I rarely do. Over all I am satisfied with how it turned out, but I also feel that if I were to do this again it would look at least a bit better and cleaner since I have a better understanding of the process I have to take to make certain effects like on the water, or making light.
As for who I like more? Obviously Godzilla. I seriously enjoyed the Pacific Rim movie specially because it was done by a paisano but, Godzilla has a lot of sentimental value to it. And I enjoyed the Heisei movies more (even though they were a bit cheesy at times). This goes for who would win in a fight as well by the way.
-XERO
Time spent: 5 hours 20 minutes
Materials used: Sakura 0.7 mechanical pencil, Faber Castell Perfection 7056 pencil eraser, eraser,
I am actually about half way done painting the drawing, but I had two drawings to do this week so I had no choice but to break it into two parts. For this drawing I wanted to do something a bit different, so I decided to draw Godzilla vs Gypsy Danger. Surprisingly it wasn’t as tough as I thought it would be, but it did take quite a bit of time to draw. And since painting it has a lot of details plus I am also trying out new techniques along the way.
Over all, it looks quite bland without any color or even shading so it looks mediocre. But that will all be fixed on the next segment.
Hope you look forward to it.
-XERO
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.
In any case.
If you happen to see this message:
お誕生日おめでとうございます.
Happy Birthday.
FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS.
Hope you enjoy it,
– XERO
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.
In any case.
If you happen to see this message:
お誕生日おめでとうございます.
Happy Birthday.
FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS.
Hope you enjoy it,
– XERO
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