Tag: snowing

Domon Winter

On By Nube ObscuraIn Artist Project, Chance!, UpdateLeave a comment

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

Airi Sweater

On By Nube ObscuraIn Artist Project, Chance!, UpdateLeave a comment

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

Matsuyama Hikaru snow training shot

On By Nube ObscuraIn Artist Project, Traditional X Digital, UpdateLeave a comment

I’ve been watching Captain Tsubasa 2018 and let’s say that it has been an amazing experience. I have seen the original series when I was in Mexico and then I saw the Road to 2002 version while I was in middle school (I think, it was quite a while ago)? That version was just ok although I did like the voice actors but the art style is really not my style at all. This new version is actually quite amazing. At first I wasn’t too sure about it since they were changing somethings from the original version, but they were mainly done because it was after all a version that is taking place in this time period. It was also a bit weird seeing an anime that goes from the old coloration to the new really bright and vibrant one we have today. But it does look quite amazing. One of the things I really like is that as the series kept going the quality also increased and to top it off they were paying more homage to the original manga. The second opening is definitely my favorite out of all the versions that have been released throughout the years. Of course my favorite sections are when they go into an animated version of the manga panels having Hyuga and Tsubasa going at it.

It looks so cool (I wanted to incorporate some of those speed/power lines into my artwork). I really hope they release it on blue ray over here in the States:

In any case I have done a piece based on Hyuga already, although he looks really stiff. I would like to make an updated version at some point. So now I wanted to make a piece on another one of my favorite characters, Matsuyama Hikaru. He has always been among my favorites, competing against Hyuga for my first place (which is funny because they have a rivalry within the series itself). In one of the most recent episodes he has finally unleashed his special shot. I’ve been watching it while I workout in the gym and that scene got me fired up and going even harder while I was doing my cardio. This series really helps as motivation to push me even harder. So with that in mind and the actual snowfall that has been hitting here in my city I wanted to make a piece of him training his special shot while it snowed.

One other element was having Yoshiko Fujisawa looking over him. There are many couples in this series but theirs is definitely among my favorites. The headband that is given to Hikaru is such a cute and tender moment that I feel it is quite iconic in the series. Must be nice having someone like you like that huh…

(〃￣ω￣〃)ゞ

Here is the final piece:

This is the main reference for the body posture (I wanted him to look like he was moving and not too stiff):

Here are the rest of the references (first two were to get an idea of the color scheme):

Here is the drawing process (at first I was going to have him training in his jersey but that would have been mean huh, so while getting screenshots for reference I came upon his tracksuit so I went with that instead):

And here is the digital painting process:

What I like most about Matsuyama Hikaru is that he is a hard worker. He might not have the genius ability of all the top aces from the series but he has the initiative and drive to push himself and in turn also his teammates in order to compete on even ground to the other teams. He truly is an inspiration for the many of us who might not have a natural talent but could still achieve great results based on pure hard work and tenacity. If you have something that you are passionate about don’t give up when you encounter setbacks, push through and achieve new limits by working hard.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE