Y2K angel

I sorely miss the early 2000s anime art scene. You just had to be there! 

Angel's Egg

High flying Marisa, touched up

Touched up an old personal favorite. I always liked the colors of the original, but wanted to enhance it with a few extra details. The old version is from 2012.

Fushigi Yuugi group pic

April 3 is my DA anniversary (est. 2005), so I like to think of this artwork as a gift to my 12 year old self who loved Fushigi Yugi and Yuu Watase's art in general. Her art had a tremendous impact on me, especially as a young artist. 

One of my favorite things about Fushigi Yugi's artwork, especially in the manga, is the freedom with character designs. Did Miaka ever wear that in the actual story? Who knows? Who cares? It looks awesome and I do what I want. 

This is one of my more ambitious art projects as of late, and I would love to do more pictures with this level of detail and effort.

Sailor Moon redraw meme

 I've never actually watched Sailor Moon past the first episode (just recently, too)

It's really fun seeing so many different artists' takes on this screencap. My favorite are the humorous ones. But for those who take it seriously, it is a great exercise in understanding and drawing expressions. The challenge for some of us (cough me cough) is getting the expression right even without context. I hope I did her justice. If not, maybe I'll revisit this someday. I love redrawing anime screencaps in general tho. We'll see.

Anya practice

 

Used screencap for reference. Her design is so cute!!

Marco sketches

 Some sketches of Marco, one of my favorite characters from Attack on Titan. Half are from screencaps, but I also tried to draw him on my own. 

Red shimmer

 Vash is the Red Shimmer. He is the elusive mirage in the desert; sought by many, caught by none.

The man in the red coat is mysterious and elusive, much like his lofty ideals that the coat symbolizes.  He is only known through rumors and secondhand information. Nobody knows what to look for. By the time people realize it was him, he’s already gone.

This idea was originally meant for my OC but I feel this could be highly applicable to Trigun as well. Part of why I loved Trigun is because Vash encapsulates so many of my favorite character tropes.

Song comes from Akiko Shikata.

Kaze wa mirai ni fuku

 

I didn't watch Trigun when it aired on Adult Swim but I distinctly remember the ending sequence with its depressing post-apocalyptic imagery and eerie singing. The mood was jarringly different from what bits and pieces I saw of the actual show.

Berserk cinematography value studies

 

You were just tired

 

Colored one of the cinematography value studies. Now that I've completed the show it's nice to know what that line meant. Very cryptic.

Red Shimmer (Trigun)

Red Shimmer (Trigun)

What this idea means to me

• Vash is the Red Shimmer. 

• He is like an elusive mirage in the desert that is sought by many, but caught by none.

• The mysterious man in the red coat is mysterious and unreachable, much like his lofty ideals that the coat symbolizes.

• He is only known through rumors and secondhand information. 

• The actual man is mysterious and elusive. Nobody knows what to look for.

• By the time people realize it was him, he’s already gone.

• This idea was originally meant for my OC Apollow but I feel this could be highly applicable to Trigun as well. Part of why I loved Trigun is because Vash encapsulates so many of my favorite character tropes. 

• Song comes from Akiko Shikata. I believe it is from the Hanakisou soundtrack but I’m not sure which version (it was released for PC, PSP, and PS2)

Brainstorming thoughts

• Imagine that you’re spotting Vash through a spyglass telescope.

• I’m imagining a very blurry picture or impression of Vash. You can only make out a fuzzy red figure in the distance, but none of the details. 

• Unlike my OC version of this idea, Vash would be more prominent since he is the literal red shimmer. He’s still too far away to get a good look, but he would take up more of the frame.

Visual inspiration

• Artist: Andatsea

• Best example: Pink dunes

• Magical and surreal worlds

• Very background/scenery oriented

• Gorgeous color choice

• Dramatic lighting

• Heavy focus on shape and composition

• Trigun OP

• Reflective glow on gun

• Ominous figure approaching viewer

• Glowing sunglasses

• Serious expression; he looks very cool

• Long focal length

• Trigun ED

• Eerie post apocalyptic scenery 

• Strange, massive ruins in the distance

• Blowing winds

Suggested Elements

1. Vash the Stampede!

1. Coat blowing in wind

2. Desert rags

3. Facing forward

4. Glowing sunglasses

5. Heat distortion obscures detail

6. Reflective glow on gun

7. Serious, intense expression

8. Shimmering silhouette

9. Wind-swept figure

10. Vague and fuzzy

2. Setting

1. Endless horizon

2. Deep blue sky

3. Double suns

4. Dust clouds and blowing sands

5. Glittering particles

6. Heat shimmer

7. Heavy boulders

8. Massive ruins far off in the distance

9. Red sky

10. Red sunset

11. Ruins

12. Sharp rocks

13. Stark white desert

14. Triple moons

3. Composition

1. Horizontal orientation

2. Long focal length (i.e. viewing him from very far away)

3. Red and purple hues

 

Trigun value studies

 Obsessed with this anime right now.

Beatrice the golden witch

 

Beatrice the golden witch

A fun crossover request

Some artworks of Beatrice from Umineko. I have to admit I've never played through the VNs but I do appreciate that Akiko Shikata did some of the music. The second picture was an art request for a raffle winner. 

Yuri on Egg

A faberge egg music box featuring Yuuri and Victor from Yuri on Ice.

 

Stargazing

 The Attack on Titans are stargazing.

Homura and Madoka

 

Finding my art style: 2008

Things I miss about my art in 2008

I am still finding my art style which has changed in all sorts of ways over time. I want to remember what I like about my old art style that I can re-incorporate.

 I'm only focusing on things that I like about the art style that I want to bring back. Mistakes will only be addressed if there's something I can learn from it.

Art style characteristics

• Vivid tint under shading

• Careful attention to detail

• Enjoying the the novelty of Paint Tool SAI

• Blending technique and dramatic shading

• Tiny highlights

The crisp shading reminds me of Copic marker art.

This is one of the best examples of how I want my coloring style to look. I want my shading to be crisp, vibrant, and intentional, even if it means leaving other details out.

Some details are meticulously rendered, and while the artwork has many flaws, I think it shows a lot of love for the process. I have a lot of fond memories of working on this one.

I was still learning my way around Paint Tool SAI and enjoyed how much easier it was to use than Photoshop. The greenish yellow shading works surprisingly well.

Early artwork of Herrington. This is when she started to resemble her current design. I like the coloring on this one.

• Pale pastel colors. A warm tint
• Crisp but soft shading
• Shiny hair - a soft band of highlights, with thin white strands
• The very tiny shiny highlights. Lovingly detailed

Emily. Simple soft cel shading and I like the eyes. It's simple with just enough detail

Group portrait of my OCs.

I spent a lot of time working on this one. It gave me something to look forward to at the start of the school year.

• Mr Cass (guy with glasses)
• Herrington (white haired, upper left)
• Emily (top center)
• Unknown (center) I have no idea who this girl is.
• Mo (girl in black dress) Another unused OC
• Weston (blond guy)

I like how the coloring came out especially on Herrington in particular:

• Crisp distinct shading for the hair
• Very subtle soft highlights
• Minimal shading for the skin
• Neutral pastel color choice

Shigofumika

Fanart from an obscure anime called Shigofumi. It aired back in 2008. The character design was done by Kohaku Kuroboshi who is more known for his work on Kino's Journey. I fell in love with Fumika's character design especially! She is very cool and collected, but can still get flustered and it's adorable. I would totally love to draw her again someday.

Fullmeowtal Alchemist

Dude. I got 50 watchers on Deviantart now. I'm kind of a big deal.

Ed as seen through the eyes of a certain 13 year old fangirl

I was obsessed with Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 in middle school. This was peak middle school weebdom - drawing Ed as a kawaii cat boy, referring to everything by the Japanese version, omg, I'm so into Hagaren right now, Roy x Edo forever!

Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 was an absolute fever dream and looking back I can't believe it's real. But it is still one of the best anime series I've ever watched and I am biased to prefer it over Brotherhood. They made some really strange choices but I liked it, including the Shamballa movie. The final arc of 2003 made a tremendous impression on me. 

I especially loved how they incorporated Rose's character in the original anime series, and the dresses she wore. It is just very unfortunate what happened to her in 2003. This series was much darker than Brotherhood in my opinion. Very melodramatic, or deeply heartfelt, depending on who you ask.

I still sort of like this artwork, but my god, it is tacky. Why is she standing on a mirror? Where is she? What's with the clouds? Gotta love the overly prominent logo, in Japanese cuz I totally speak it. 

Even better is a WIP of above artwork, which is a total time capsule of the early 2000s. My favorite part is the Windows XP interface and the fact that I was currently logged into AIM. 

The obnoxious scribbling was a trend back then with the cool kids on early 2000s anime Deviantart, and I was desperate to be just like them. That would explain a lot of the tackiness of my art in 2006. I wanted to be like them but had no idea how, so I just did my best. It's a bittersweet feeling, looking back.