Misaka-Chu

This drawing was done on the 29th day of inktober 2019. I really like Shiho So‘s artwork. I first discovered it when Night Tempo was using it for his cassette releases. With the linework done it was now just a matter of coloring it in. I really like playing around with these bright pastel colors. Although it looked good just painting Misaka, I wanted to make a background for it that fit. After playing around I started to get different ideas like making it like a manga page with panels. Then I thought I would put in a perverse beastly Kuroko ready to attack. And then things started to flow from there. I used Clip Studio for the manga effects like the screentone and effect lines (what were they called again?). Just when I was about to call it finished I decided to write Misakachu with magenta, and luckily it worked out quite well. The painting it self didn’t take too long to do, it was just the small details and ideas that I came up with along the way that added a couple of hours. Still though, overall it was around 5 hours I think. Not bad. Once I have more practice with this style I should be able to work faster. Which I will do at some point since I really like it.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

April 15, 2020 0

Misaki Shokuhou Bloomers

This was originally drawn for Inktober 2019 on the 8th day.

I really like pretty much everything about Misaki. Her design, personality and story are great. Plus her relationship with Misaka makes for some great stories. I’m really glad they are finally giving her some screen time in the anime. I really like the way they make her life comedic because of the characters and situations she has to deal with. The way Sogiita Gunha stole the spotlight was hilarious and Misakis’ response made it even better.

Of course Misaki just oozes sexiness so I wanted to do a piece emphasizing that.

The whole painting was progressing smoothly, I was quite surprised. The background was done in just a couple of minutes and Misaki just a couple of hours. But the hair was… I need to practice more with blonde hair, it took way too long.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

February 1, 2020 0

Inktober 2019 29 Misaka-Chu

Today’s Pixiv theme is “young girl”. Decided to draw Misaka Mikoto dressed with a Pikachu overall.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

October 29, 2019 0

Inktober 2019 08 Misaki Shokuhou Bloomers

Another Pixiv theme; Bloomers.

I really like Misaki Shokuhou so I chose her as the model.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

October 8, 2019 0

Misaka and Misaki’s Christmas 2018

How about a Christmas themed painting! (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

I really like the pairing of Misaka Mikoto and Misaki Shokuhou. The way they banter against each other is really cute, even more so when they have no choice but to work with each other. It was a smart idea to make them both rivals and allies at the same time. Definitely one of the best duos in the series. And seeing as they can hack into all security systems to delete their presence digitally and the power to also erase and manipulate peoples memories they really could get away with any crime. Whenever there are hints that they will pair up again I get really happy.

This painting was actually started last year. But I didn’t finish it on time. It still needed a background after all. So I decided to save it for this year’s Christmas. I was bogged down with other work but I managed to finish the background just in time to maybe even start a new Christmas piece. In any case I had to find a suitable reference picture. The one I found was in portrait mode so I had to make up the rest.

It was painted using my Kuratake Gansai Tambi watercolors and my Nicker Poster Colour paints.

Here is the final piece:

References used:

And here is the process:

drawing-

painting of Misaka Mikoto and Misaki Shokuhou-

process of the background:

And the process done digitally to combine both pieces:

Hope you guys like it. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

December 19, 2018 0

Kanzaki Kaori Fallen Angel

In episode 8 of To Aru Majutsu No Index III everyone was left hanging with the scene of Kanzaki Kaori wearing her Fallen Angel cosplay for Touma as a thanks for helping the Amakusa followers. So I figured I would draw her after finishing up the Kojiro painting. When I was done with the Fallen Angel painting I went ahead and watched episode 9 of To Aru today and much to my surprise they did show a bit more of Kanzaki with her cosplay (a lot more…) (#ﾟﾛﾟ#)

Hmmm… I made her outfit much less revealing but figured it would only take a couple of edits to change it to fit more closely to the one shown in the anime, though looking at it closely I’m amazed by how much of her cleavage is exposed (to the point it doesn’t make sense)! Σ(ﾟДﾟ;)

So with that I decided to make two versions. This was done using a G Pen and then colored using Photoshop.

Original:

More exposed version based on the anime:

References used:

The image that made me make two versions:

Here is the process:

I am contemplating make another version that has more details to see how much I can push it but still have it look good. Personally I really like the way this version came out. I’ll keep practicing these simpler color versions. I need to be as versatile as possible to be a good artist all around.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

December 7, 2018 0

Xochitl and her Macuahuitl from To Aru Majutsu no Index

Hey, another Mexican character in an anime! And what is this the second Mexican in the To Aru series? I really like her design and her powers. Sadly it was only for a few seconds. I wish there was a bit more screen-time between her and Etzali during episode 5… though it seems she has a run in with Saten at some point so I’m looking forward to that.

On another note, isn’t the pacing and editing of the third season of To Aru Majutsu a bit off? It seems to really be speeding through the story. And to make matters worse it seems like the characters have to really spit out a lot of exposition… cough, cough… that scene with Tsuchimikado going into that long explanation of what’s going on and how he defeated those robits … Σ(´д ` ﾒ) Hopefully that all gets fixed as the story goes through but I am left a bit disappointed. It kinda reminds me of how they edited down Jackie Chan’s movies to only keep the action scenes

Anyway here is the drawing done using Stabilo pens and Copic markers.

references used:

And here is the process:

Hope you guys like it,

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

November 11, 2018 0

DarkCloudXERO Let’sDraw Episode 1 Misaka MIkoto cool eyes

Video is finally up.

School and work sure dragged things out longer than it should have…

Plus all the new opening and closing animations were pretty time consuming. But that was all groundwork that I can now just edit for the new videos. One thing that will probably set me back still is recording commentary for the videos. That I’m not used to at all. Hopefully I learn to relax when recording so that I can do it faster and with little mistakes. We’ll see…

These are the reference pictures:

cosplayer:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/40792752271/in/dateposted-public/

“cool eyes”:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/40792752651/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/40792753391/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/39897964515/in/dateposted-public/

hair:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/39897965105/in/dateposted-public/

I tried a couple new things for the way I presented the video such as having the reference pictures appear as needed and zooming in and out of the sections that I would be drawing. Hopefully that becomes useful for those who use my videos to learn how to draw (and entertaining for those who just enjoy watching these types of videos).

I think I will just draw for this videos (there may be special exceptions from time to time, it depends on how good and fast I become) so that I can make them quickly and specially so that I can work on my own projects on the side, which I haven’t really had much time to do (though I do have some that I want to show you guys soon).

As for music, I’m really into Vaporwave and Future Funk (specially City Pop which is where Vaporwave/Future Funk sampled their songs from). Just as this video was uploaded I got a couple of copyright claims for the music used in the videos. Which I expected. I’m not really going to rely on Youtube monetarily, I already got denied that ability since my videos and subscriber count weren’t high enough according to their new guidelines. So these videos are really more of a hobby. Hopefully people do learn from them, because I know I have doing them (in more ways than one).

In any case, the music can be found here (formated as Artist – Album):

Yung Bae – BAE :
https://yungbaebae.bandcamp.com/album/bae

Yung Bae – Japanese Disco Edits :
https://yungbaebae.bandcamp.com/album/japanese-disco-edits

Nanidato – Mobile Sailor Gundam :
https://nanidato.bandcamp.com/album/mobile-sailor-gundam

Night Tempo – Pure Baby Maker [Rewind] :
https://neoncityrecords.bandcamp.com/album/pure-baby-maker-rewind

Name of the songs are in the video itself.

That should be it for now, I’m currently working on a new project for school which requires me to read another book. But at least I don’t have to do another powerpoint presentation again so it shouldn’t be too bad (though I still have to write another paper about it). Aside from that I am going to be working on another video as well. I already recorded so it’s just a matter of editing which should’nt be too bad, it’s the recording of my voice that really gets me. But if I don’t do it I wont get better, so I just have to grit my teeth and do it.

As mentioned before I did work on some new art pieces, nothing really new, they are just practice pieces. I will upload and talk about them later.

Hasta la proxima,

– NUBE

March 3, 2018 0

End of another year 2017

So another year come’s to a close…

It sure was a rather trying one…

But I and all of you made it through, now lets push forward!

Just for the heck of it I made a quick piece using only pens with hatching and cross hatching.

The idea mainly came from watching this video:

So really I wanted to see what I could do. I wasn’t really trying to make a finished work, instead I wanted to see if I could make it look anything at all like the reference picture. It’s quite rough, but the general idea is there.

reference:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/27644882729/in/dateposted-public/

and the quick artwork:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/39391816822/in/dateposted-public/

Obviously my level compared to Ryoichi Ikegami is still quite low. The lines are nowhere as refined and the lines are quite rough and not uniform but! I was able to acquire the main idea. I was actually quite surpsided at how fast I could acquire the effects that I wanted. I feel confident even saying that it was quite easy. I wonder just how well it would look if I were to do so with cleaner and well thought out lines?

The best way to learn is by recreating pieces, so that is what I will try to do for this coming year (on all fronts).

Almost forgot to even mention this, but the people above are from a Mexican show called “El Chavo del 8”. A comedy show from the 70s that has trancended time and that each generation watches at some point or another. A true gem of Mexico. As for why I chose them, I mainly wanted to draw a guy since I have mainly been drawing females for quite a while. And well I just felt like it would be fun to do so.

Let’s focus a bit of time on the Christmas Misaka and Misaki artwork. I used a combination of Knicker poster paints (yes I made the plunge, I’ll explain this at some other time), kuretake gansai tambi (watercolor set) and pencils.

Here is the process:

rough draft-

clean lines for final artwork-

coloring process-

Such a shame about not showing the before and after of the frills on Misakas coat, it shows just how versatile Knicker Poster Colors are.

As stated before, I’m still not done with it but this is the last state as of this writing.

Hasta la proxima,

Nube

January 1, 2018 1

Merry Christmas (and happy holidays!)

So Christmas has finally arrived.

I was working on an artwork for this year and just now finally finished it. I will be making a background at some point but that will have to wait for next year. But for those who visit my site, here is a peek at it. (The print won’t be available till next year though).

Will talk and upload more photos at a later date.

My brother’s finished presents.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/39265906372/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/39265905482/in/dateposted-public/

Have a great time guys. Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

December 25, 2017 0

“Academy City’s Railgun”

I mostly finished the Misaka drawing in June 21 then came back to it on August 28 to make some minor changes. Moral of the story, I should have made this post a long time ago… Sorry about that.

The first artwork to get the honor of being the first in being painted with my new P.H. Martin’s paints is I believe Kaleido Star (assuming that the scanned date is correct, which says it was only by two days, weird). In any case, Ph. Martin’s are quite different and since I am still learnint to use watercolors in general they were a quite hard to understand at the point of making this art piece. But after learning a bit more about watercolors in general I should be able to do better next time I use them. (•̀o•́)ง

In any case, from what I have learned going slow is the best strategy when painting. Especially if one is covering large areas such as backgrounds (something I didn’t do). The reason I bring this up is because just like with the Kaleido Star artwork I mixed both traditional and digital. Mainly because I couldn’t get the color right from the beginining and well, ruined it really. Plus, because I didn’t stretch the paper (something I’m barely trying) the paper of course buckled creating even more problems. (*´Д｀)=з

After looking around my reference materials for To Aru Majutsu/Kagaku I came upon this cosplayer who did a spot on Misaka while doing a really interesting pose.

This is the cosplayer, which uploads her pictures on Weibo:

https://weibo.com/p/1005051873372180/home?from=page_100505&mod=TAB&is_hot=1#place

I would link the original picture but they get flagged and taken off. So to prepare for that I will upload it to my flickr (I hope that doesn’t become a problem).

Now as for the background I went through the episodes in To Aru Majutsu and screen captured locations of Academy City. I’ll put the screen captures on flickr in case any of you guys need them. But for now, these are the reference pictures I used.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36449217334/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36449162454/in/dateposted-public/

I could have used the background on the cosplayer reference picture, but I wanted to set it in Academy City. Plus I had (at the point of starting this artwork) recently seen To Aru Kagaku no Railgun with my younger brother.

With that said, here is the process.

First Misaka Mikoto:

I’ll start with the rough drawing.

Then I define the lines I want.

First coats of paint.

Adding more details and color to the painting.

Then I try to match the intensity and colors as close as I can with the original painting (the scanner leaves the scanned pictures very dull and lacks the intensity so I have to edit them afterwords). I usually do this edits and then I make another copy and multiply the second copy of the scanned picture to increase the details and colors.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37178825826/in/dateposted-public/

But since the background is blue I tried to change the hues a bit to a cooler color.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36516617344/in/dateposted-public/

With that done I prepare the actual subject (in this case Misaka) so that I can merge it with the background. Of course that means cleaning up and erasing the background. It sure is very time consuming. But it’s worth the effort.

Next I try and match the colors as close as I can so that they merge better and that the subject looks like it actually is in the backgrounds environment. Now, just to make it clear, I made these changes after I merged it with the background.

Ok so Misaka is done and ready, now on to the background. Academy City. More especifically the bridge where Misaka and Touma met on very important ocassions (if you’ve seen the series than you’ll know what I’m talking about).

First are the outlines for the bridge and the city scape.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36516910564/in/dateposted-public/

I’m still having a hard time doine dark color so I want to do more of them in order to understand how to use the colors correctly.

I had a good deal of trouble due to my low expertise, though this was a couple of months ago now, and judging by the recent painting I’m currently working on I have gotten better and am understanding the process a bit more. What I did know at this time is that I had to add layers, though I was going too fast and not doing enough variation in colors.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36556799243/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36516910274/in/dateposted-public/

So this is one of the things I had a lot of problems with, which is caused by adding too much paint. The problem is that the paint starts caking and adds a layer of shiny paint. Not only does it not look good, but it makes adding more layers harder since the paints don’t meld well together at all.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36516909754/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36516909304/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36516909054/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36516908844/in/dateposted-public/

One other thing I wan’t to make a note of is the city scape. My understanding of going from dark to light and vise-versa still perplexed me. So I added colors way to dark and made my work harder when I wanted to add the light haze from the city scape. So because of my inexperience the colors were not coming out like I wanted.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36516908504/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37369420005/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37179363296/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37369418745/in/dateposted-public/

Having the city somewhat done, it’s time to start adding details. Starting with the structure of the bridge.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37179361936/in/dateposted-public/

Then I decided to change the color of the lights and add the rivots of the beams.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37179364656/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37369427445/in/dateposted-public/

And this is how it looks like with all the digital edits and addtitions. Making it truly Traditional x Digital.

Now that I am satisfied with how it looks, next is merging Misaka with the background.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36517240774/in/dateposted-public/

And to finish it off I added some more blue hues to Misaka so that they merge better.

And well that is the process of creating this art piece. Doing them seperate is interesting and gives me the possibility of doing a “2.5D” artwork if I so choose it. But on the other hand it does require more work and also needs a lot of thought, preperation and changes when merging them. I’ll try to do a “2.5D” piece to see if it’s worth it or not. Time will tell…

Bueno, hasta la proxima,

-NUBE

September 21, 2017 0

It’s been a stressful week… + NanDesuKan Report

This week has been full of tedious and time consuming obligations. I’m still not done but things have been progressing quite well. Of course I haven’t really stopped working and have some things to show you guys. One other thing to note is that last week was NanDesuKan so I’ll talk a bit about that.

Since I went to two conventions earlier this year I was having convention fatigue. I didn’t really feel like going but I did want to take some artwork for the Art Gallery section of the event. This time I decided to take only some prints so that I could sell them for a lower price in hopes that I could sell them this time. This year I took the piñatas That I made all throughout the end of last year and the beginning of this year. Some have actually sold already, such as the Popplio and Eevee and have been comissioned to make another one. So for NanDesuKan I was offering Pikachu, Rowlette, Litten, Mimikyu, Totoro, Jiji, and I made two new ones for this convention. Goku and Kuririn. I made them as kids wearing their attire from their training days under Muten Roshi (I even decided to make their turtle shells the day before the convention).

Just in case you forgot or haven’t seen them before, here are the piñatas that I took with me.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32628223106/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32628014416/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32515650162/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32628204896/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31856433233/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32546322051/in/dateposted-public/

Here are Goku and Kuriring that I made especifically for NanDesuKan.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152283125/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36754812210/in/dateposted-public/

The construction of the turtle shells using foam board.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36963133466/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152447945/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316265314/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152441715/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316258924/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316255544/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152447945/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316265314/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152441715/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316258924/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316255544/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316265314/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152441715/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316258924/in/dateposted-public/

And here they are with them on and painted (painted using spray paint). Tied with some garden ropes to emulate the ones in the series.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36338391343/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152268315/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152251955/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316051194/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36754626810/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36754643650/in/dateposted-public/

This was the piñata side of things. But I prefer drawing more, so of course I took some of the new 2d art that I have been working on this year. Thinking back I was learning more than creating this year. But I feel it was worth it (I still have a ways to go, but I’m starting to understand things a bit more now).

My original plan was to show these pieces on their own and before the convention so that those who take the time to visit this site would get a sneak peak as a sort of special “reward” for visiting the site. But I got really busy preparing for the convention that I didn’t have the time (those two weeks before the convention were also quite stressful). Luckily I did get not only the new piñatas finished, but I also had two new artworks done in those weeks prior.

I took 4 art pieces in total this year.

I made a new piece with the prints of the legendary Pokemon from X/Y.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37153150535/in/dateposted-public/

I dumbly chose to do a Saber piece (from Fate Stay Night, I think). But that series can get rather complicated if you haven’t seen or played any of the games (which I haven’t). (There’s so many Sabers) So I really didn’t know what I was doing at all… This was one of the pieces I was doing right before the convention. Thinking back maybe I should have done something else, but oh well.

Done both traditionally and digitally.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37153226875/in/dateposted-public/

This piece I had been working with during the summer. I took a bit of a break and did some minor tweaks right before the convention though.

It is Misaka Mikoto from the To Aru series (will make a post especifically for it later).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36982080862/in/dateposted-public/

And the last piece that I offered this year is the other drawing that I made right before the convention.

This one is of Goku, Kuririn and Muten Roshi. (I will also make another post just for this one and talk about it more).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36982148692/in/dateposted-public/

So these are the pieces I took this year. Now for the results. Out of all the piñatas, only Rowlette and Mimikyu were sold. And of the 2d art, all of them were sold except for the Saber piece. And out of all the pieces only one went to the live auction, that being the Pokemon X/Y piece.

On top of selling a good amount of them this year, I also won an award again this year.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36982351652/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36982350522/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37153546725/in/dateposted-public/

Seems like I won the 3D category again this year. Plus I also won the Video Game Room Art Show award. Seems like the 3D award was for the piñatas, and the Video Game award was especifically for Rowlette. With that said, I assured another weekend pass for next year.

Not too bad.

Sorry I haven’t really been posting much, but it has gotten a bit stressful these days. And now the future is looking a bit shaky… Heck even the sun and moon were kind of ominous when the outcome of the future was put on jeapardy.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36340111293/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36756416450/in/dateposted-public/

A bit weird but won’t deny, they looked beautiful. (by the way, they look red because of the fires that were burning on the west coast.)

Nothing can be done except go forward I guess… ε- (￣､￣A) ﾌｩｰ

That should be all for now, I’ll get back to you guys later.

Hasta la proxima,

-Nube

September 10, 2017 0