Patbird!

I think I might be having too much fun with this.

Process!

In lieu of exciting new things to show you, I bring you... my mind! I finished a commission this week, and will now share how it went down.

1. "Well, it's for a Megaman RP. Could you draw a dark-magical-girl robot carrying her adopted eleven-year-old girl piggyback? I made a few images from an online face generator, if that helps."

So this is the part where I rough out a design for the robot character, since the human looks pretty generic, and try to think up some spiffy poses.



2. "Looks great! Just remember, she's pretending to be a dark magical girl... very dark. Kind of inspired by Fate Testarossa. I like the pose on the upper right, I feel like it really captures their character. Also, I know Megaman characters have huge feet, but I'm not really into that."

Sweet. I mourn the shoes briefly, and then start drawing. I only adopted this method recently, and mostly because of animation - grab cheap paper, sketch something out, flip it over, and then trace using a lightbox. (Repeat as necessary.) The robot's legs and the kid's head were really troublesome. I finally get it to a place I like, and then ink on Bristol board.



3. By this point, I am feeling pretty good, so I scan it in, fix up any goofy errors, and start coloring.



4. BAM. I have no idea what happened. Why are they in space? Don't ask me. I mean, you could, but I have no idea.

"I love it! But actually, the girl is multiracial."

Oh, cool!



Approved and paid! I originally meant for there to be more obvious dark-magical-girl elements (the ribbon was a nice start), but ended up favoring a sleeker look. Also, purple and pink.

Variety!

Every time I thought I had a terrible idea, P went and made it worse.

Me: Look! I made a barmaid! Get it? Get it?
P: Hmm, looks more like a bramaid to me. Ha haaaah!
Me: I loathe you.

Happy birthday, Mom!

♥

Life drawing! Bonus: old stuff.

No idea why, but I felt like something clicked this time. I was trying to focus on construction rather than the end result, and subsequently had a bit less trouble placing the torso and head together in difficult positions (her hair was so long and always over her face. GIRL WHERE DID YOUR NECK GO)

On the downside, I think she was a bit skinnier in person. Anyway! Let's check these out. Two minutes..


.
Ten minutes...

...and woooo! Twenty minutes!




In other news, I was cruising through an old sketchbook and found this gem from May 2009. The colors are less than incredible, but I like the idea.