Mikoto Misakas and Tsuyu Asui Final

Finally done. This piece was done with a combination of both watercolor and Copic markers.

I wanted to make a drawing with a simple background, which I have a really hard time doing. So I want to now focus on these for a while so that I know how to do them. I was annoyed by how much time it took to come up with something. Keep in mind a design like this is quite easy, so finishing it in one day should be absolutely no problem. And yet the amount of time it took me to come up with something is excruciatingly slow. So really, it’s more of my mental capability to make up backgrounds that will need to be strengthened so that I can not only make backgrounds that fit with the drawing but are also interesting to look at.

Since it is done traditionally I have to rely on just my brushes and my markers. This is where I can run into problems if I want to make identical patterns. I could do it the dumb way of drawing it one by one, but that will take too long, it also wont be perfect recreations and really it would be really annoying to do it that way. So the best options are either making stencils or better yet make a stamp. Which is what I ended up doing.

And here it is (it’s made of an old eraser that I cut into shape with an e-xacto knife, sadly the eraser was too soft so it gave me problems when applying tint on it, and to make matters worse it started breaking off in the end):

So in the end I came up with a really simple design that was brush painted in a light green. From there I decided to make the Gekota stamp to make reference towards Misaka’s adoration to anything Gekota so that way I can connect why she seems to be entranced by Tsuyu Asui, definitely one of my favorite characters from Boku no Hero Academia.

Now, why are there other Misakas? To be honest my original plan was something a bit different. And that had to do with having the background filled with Misaka imoutos (younger sister, aka Misaka clones). For that idea I was originally thinking of making a stencil with the figure of an imouto, then reproducing it on the background to give it a somewhat cute/creepy mood overall. In the end I opted against it and went for a much simple design which funnily enough took me more time to come up with…

In any case along with that idea I wanted to have Last Order the smallest Misaka and Misaka 9982 (the most cheeky of all the Misaka sisters). I remembered Last Order having those goggles so I quickly came up with the scenario where she would have like to make a trade for Tsuyu’s goggles which look quite interesting and of course Misaka 9982 being the voice of reason when it comes to Misaka Mikoto’s obsession with anything Gekota. I also really loved the annoyed facial expression she makes so I really wanted to recreate it.

Now as for Misaka Mikoto I really wanted to capture this catlike expression she makes whenever her curiosity and infatuation comes into play. And of course not wanting to make the drawing too simplistic I also wanted to add some creepy/cute love aura around Misaka. I also thought making Tsuyu look a bit more worried would be a good idea, but I remember that she rarely changed her expression and going back through the manga I was right so I decided to keep this simple expression.

The drawing looking a bit too lonely on the left side I decided to add a speech bubble that emphasizes her worry about the situation. What do you guys think it says? (Hopefully I spelled it right)

Before I forget I should also give it a title. The title will be: “Misaka Mikoto’s PARADISE and Tsuyu Asui’s Confusion”

It will be up as a print in the gallery.

And that concludes this piece. What do you guys think?

Hasta la proxima,

-XERO

July 11, 2016 0

Mikoto Misakas and Tsuyu Asui II

Almost done, just one more detail (or maybe a couple more) and I should be done with this one.

Hasta la proxima,

-XERO

July 8, 2016 0

Mikoto Misakas and Tsuyu Asui

I’m sorry that it is a bit too light but hopefully you can see it.

It took me a while to start this piece due to some things I had to take care of and me actually going out to see Colorado. But now that I have actually finished that I can continue and finally finish it. Here are two updates. Although I plan to make this simple so it shouldn’t take too long to finish it.

July 1, 2016 0

Ideas and rough drafts for the next projects

I have quite a couple of projects I will be working on, the matter now is how long it will take… I have three different pieces I have in mind but for now here are two rough drafts.

The first is a drawing of Kaname and Messer from Macross Delta. Based on episode 10, but after seeing episode 11 I decided to change things. Especifically for Kaname.

If you haven’t seen the series skip the next part.

(spoilers)

I had hoped that there was more interaction between Messer and Kaname but in the end it all turned out to be one-sided huh? But in the end it at least managed to inspire and light a fire in Kaname (as well as everyone else) to be more assertive and increase one’s ambitions to be better at what they do.

(spoilers END)

Overall I think I will only use watercolors for this piece… we’ll see.

Now for the next one I decided to do a Boku no Hero Academia drawing. Truthfully this series is amazing, easily made it to one of my favorites (if you haven’t read or seen it, please do, it’s an amazing series). Anyway, all the characters are likable and very unique. One of my favorite characters (although to be blunt almost all the characters are) is Tsuyu Asui. It really didn’t take long for an idea to pop into my mind as for what I wanted to draw. If any of you guys have been checking this page and my work for a while then you all might know that I am a big fan of the To Aru series. So of course a crossover drawing becomes logical. It’s a bit rough but here you go.

The idea is there now. Getting an idea and looking for information and references for details takes quite a bit of time, but now that that has been done, hopefully the final drawings go without a hitch.

Hasta la proxima,

-XERO

June 16, 2016 0

Yukinoshita Touma

There was a contest going on in Youtube where the objective is to combine two of my current favorite anime/manga characters into one. After much thought I came to a realization that I had way to many favorite characters so I took “current” to heart. In which case I chose Kamijou Touma from the To Aru series’. I like him a lot because despite being a “normal” human in a world where everyone is pretty much stronger than you, he does what he can to stand up for others and go into danger no matter the situation if it means justice. The second character is Yukino Yukinoshita from the “Yahari ore no seishun love comedy wa machigatteiru” series which is one of my favorite new animes. It’s just such a great series that really touches the human element of what happens at the high school age, and what our choices can bring to us. Yukino is definitely my favorite female character from the series. The writer really thinks about the elements that make her, well, her. She is really deep, despite having the qualities that we all know from most animes, she really stands out because of her character. Despite having her own problems and having strong thoughts about what people should do in order to do better in life, she does what she can to help them out in any situation.

In that way both Yukino and Touma are a lot alike. But of course they do have some differences where Touma is a bit more true to his feelings and Yukino is a bit more conservative with them. This creates a great character that has depth and secrets but will open up to hearing about your problems anytime.

For the character I noticed that they both used dark uniforms so I tried to blend some elements from both (can you find them?). I added a couple of details that showmark some of their interests and special skills. Also since Kamijou is known for his MISFORTUNE, I have Yukinoshita Touma with scraped knee socks. Both are very sure of themselves but not cocky. So I wanted a very serene and reassuring gaze coming from her (my character). The hair was something I really had to think about. I wanted Touma’s spiky hair, but since it is a girl I also wanted the silky hair of Yukino. So I went with a combination of both that makes her both really cute and like a bit of a tomboy that can get into action at any time.

I seriously like the way she came out. I might use this design for something else at a future date.

Hope you guys like it,

-XERO

July 10, 2015 0

RESTORATION PROJECT

I have been restoring some of my old drawings now that I have acquired some more copic marker colors and have also just recently obtained a couple of sets of pens. This will greatly give me control of my drawings. I want to make a small segment of that as soon as I get some more items being shipped as we speak. In any case I will be replacing these pieces with their counterparts. And I will be taking the kill bill/game of thrones drawing off since it isn’t such a good quality print. I have an A3 scanner but this will require something bigger, and looking for a place to scan them was rather expensive… I will have to find a remedy for that at some point. Anyway here they are.

As a side note, I learned that restoring the drawing made with color pencils were the toughest to make touch ups on. Copics are really hard to to use on them since they are quite slippery for them.

June 3, 2015 0

I’m back!

I was gone longer than expected. I had to take care of somethings, I didn’t expect to be gone this long though. What was that, a bit over a month? that took a while huh?.

Anyway, I do not come empty handed. I was working on some artwork, both new and old. I will post them below.

The first one is the To Aru Majutsu No Index drawing I had shown before. I made some modifications to it, and tried to get the actual color from the scan (for some reason whenever I scan my drawings they come out rather faded so I have to correct that). I added a bit more contrast in some areas with my color pencils by adding darker areas and lighter ones. I had originally planned to make this a valentines drawing, but I decided to instead take my time with it and bring forth a good piece. So, here it is.

The only regret I have is that I made Touma’s hair a bit too long. If you can believe it it was actually longer than it is now. By the time I realized it was too late. But I made the best of it. It’s still a bit too tall but it doesn’t look bad.

Aside from that, I was also working on a couple of rough drafts on the next possible artwork that I will be working on. But here is a peek at the current piece I want to work on right now. I actually started this rough draft yesterday upon hearing news about what the theme of the second Dragon Ball movie will be about. I’m actually really forward to what they will be doing with this one now that they have re-introduced the characters to us in the first one and given us hopes about stronger foes in the future. Anyway, before I get even more sidetracked here is the rough draft.

This is what I am working on at the moment. I’m thinking of trying out a different style with this one though. Minimum colors. That’s all I can think about to describe it. I have used this technique a lot when I first got the hang of drawing with color pencils. I just didn’t know how to use it with backgrounds. But I feel I can finally do it. Anyway, I also have another drawing I want to show off that has already been finished just recently actually. But I will post that tomorrow.

In any case thanks for stopping by, and sorry for disappearing for a while.

-XERO

March 7, 2015 0

Misaka and Touma – ‘… What’s wrong BiriBiri?’

It took me quite a bit of time. There was a lot of details and characters I had to take care of… but I was finally able to finish it. I will add some more details later.

January 31, 2015 0

To Aru Majutsu no Index Project Update II

I’ve finally finished the final drawing for the To Aru Majutsu No Index drawing. I had to change a couple of things and add a couple of other details. I have to be very careful drawing this because otherwise I will leave indentations on the paper which in turn will ruin the drawing as a whole. So of course the process takes a bit longer and requires quite a bit of effort. But now that it is drawn, I can finally start coloring it. I will get back to you guys soon when I have that ready.

January 23, 2015 0

To Aru Majutsu No Index Project rough draft

Here’s the next project. Will add more details later.

January 19, 2015 0

XERO Drawing OPERATION – Misaka Mikoto ( Railgun )

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?

Hope you enjoy it,

– XERO

June 24, 2013 0