An updated version of my entry to the pixiv SUKI1 Ox 2021 contest.
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
Tag: stairs
pixiv SUKI1 Ox 2021
My entry to the pixiv SUKI1 Chinese Zodiac contest. My entry is for the Ox category (the other category is for the challenger animal). This took a bit longer than I thought it would… Although I did learn some new techniques that sped up my process though. But because of all the details I guess it was bound to take a while, specially since I had to research and come up with certain design elements that would fit the outfit I came up with and the contents of the basket. Hopefully it is pleasing to look at.
Happy Chinese New Year!
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
Blood stained gift for her future
This is based on a drawing I did way back in (at least from a quick search) 2016. At the time I was completely new to digital painting or using colors really. I was more into drawing and was really struggling with color. I seriously thought I could bypass that issue by focusing on the values using my pencil and then hoping that Photoshop would deal with the colors on it’s own. Of course, nothing is ever that easy.
You can see my past attempt here:
https://darkcloudxero.com/2016/08/06/traditional-x-digital-color-iv-ii-final/
https://darkcloudxero.com/2016/08/09/actual-final/
I can proudly say I have made some progress in the last 4 years.
I used the line art as a quick map of how I wanted to set up the painting, but overall the line art would be left out. Once I had some reference photos of how castles and the sky could look like I began painting. I started with the castle first and that took me a while since I kept working with the way I believed the shadows would look in my scenario. But I made the mistake of not painting the sky so I could figure out what colors I would eventually end up using. With a bit more experience I should be able to figure this out in a couple of minutes but setting up the lighting for the background took me a couple of hours. Once I was satisfied with what I had, I then began working on Lelouch. But since the colors for the background were dealt with, getting his colors was much easier. Dealing with him did have to be finished today though. I want to be fast enough to paint something like this in at least one day, but for now it is taking about two days. For this painting I decided to use the spray paint for the sun’s lighting and in some sections of the clouds and the castle. I seriously should use it more since it made the effect I wanted much easier.
My brother has recently started watching Code Geass for the first time, so when I asked him for a suggestion of course Code Geass would be the option. I figured that would be a good excuse to retry doing this painting.
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
Kenshin graveyard visit
Last week I started the line art for this painting (finally had some time to work on it a bit on Monday night and the rest on Tuesday night). I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do so I was just sketching whatever came out. I then had the idea of having Kenshin look up, which gave him a sorrowful feeling. I then wanted some movement so I made his hair to blow in the wind. I was surprised how quickly the drawing came out, I used to take hours just to draw something even if it was simple line art like this one. From there I was looking at reference pictures of what I could use as the background. I found this really cool one of a shrine (turned out to be one from Nagoya when I researched it) but then I started thinking that a shrine doesn’t mean it’s a graveyard (plus it wasn’t in Kyoto) so once I had to work on the space right behind Kenshin I looked around google and found some references of graveyards. I used the impressionist brush for the texture but it looked really weird compared to everything else. But it turned out to be an easy fix when I started glazing and blending the graveyard pillars and steps. I thought of adding writing on them but that would take too much time to research, come up with and paint the intricacies of the kanji. So I just made some brush strokes that from a distance might look like actual writing but they have no actual meaning, they are just scribbles. The overall look I wanted to go for was the style used in the 90s anime which I believe holds up very well. Specially during the Kyoto arc.
Just as I was about to upload this painting I noticed that I hadn’t painted in Kenshin’s iconic cross shaped scar. Good thing I was too tired yesterday to upload it or he would have gone with out it.
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
Kojiro Hyuga working towards one’s dream
Many of the side characters in Captain Tsubasa could’ve been very generic stereotypes but I really do believe almost every single one of the main rivals that Tsubasa encouters are not only very interesting but interesting enough to be main characters in their own series. Truthfully I prefer almost every one of those rival characters to Tsubasa who I find to be really boring (but I guess that is usually the case with most protagonists of shonen series.
In any case, I have said it before and I will say it again. The best character is Hyuga Kojiro who very easily could have been that cool bad character that one loves to hate but is usually very one dimensional for most of the series until they decide to flesh them out. But instead they decided to show just how much of a hard worker Kojiro is and how selfless he is as well right from the start. Aside from his rather combative and harsh personality in the field, he is a person that one could look up to and admire. His life is not easy, as he has to support his family who is struggling financially by both working and taking care of his siblings. He not only does it but he understands the situation and doesn’t hold a grudge against anyone for his predicament. And finally, despite all that going on, he decides to continue doing what he loves and works towards his dream of being a soccer player. He truly is the antithesis of Tsubasa who was born a genius soccer player with a whole family who not only loves him, and has financial security but they also do everything they can to allow Tsubasa to pursue his dream of becoming a pro soccer player. One has everything given to him and the other has to struggle to achieve his goals.
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
Sakuya Izayoi Pouring tea for the master
This was originally painted on August 9, 2019.
But I did edit quite a few details today.
I actually drew the underdrawing of Sakuya on May 10, 2012 with color pencils (video can be found here). The style is based on Banpai Akira’s style used for the Koumajou Densetsu: Scarlet Symphony game. I like the way I drew it at the time but wanted to repaint it when I had better skills. I also wanted to add a background.
It was about 7 years in the making but I finally gave it a shot. I used a reference picture of a mansion as the underpainting base. The photo only showed a section of the room so I had to learn and make up the rest of the room based on the information I could see. It took a lot of time to finish the background but I did learn a lot. By the time I had painted Sakuya and the background I was mentally drained and wanted to take a break and move on to another piece. I noticed I made her arms and hands quite long and the hair too big/long? But I decided to come back to it at a later date. I’ve been swamped with the end of the semester schoolwork and I’m pretty much almost done now, so I wanted to upload some more artwork.
This is the background used (awesome, seems I can post internet photos from pinterest here now):
I was about to just upload it as it was but decided to edit the defects today. I shortened her hair and changed the dimensions of her hand and arm. I also worked with the lighting on her body to try and have her fit more to the background.
Here is the final painting:
Hasta la proxima,
-NUBE
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