Day 34: Dark Souls 3 Fan Art

Aldrich, Devourer of Gods

Need to find a better way to shade, maybe toning paper. Killed two pens with this. Didn't want to include the slug part as I rather liked the grace of Gywndolin...rip :(

Day 33: Cat Portrait

Cat Portrait

Request done for a friend. This is his cat. Reference from photo. I watched a bunch of tutorial videos on youtube for a crash course on how to render fur, but ended up yoloing. I think it turned out alright. I haven't drawn animals in a long time so this was very fun.

On the side note, I have been playing Dark Souls 3 for the past week. The game is amazing! More specifically, the environment and architecture design in the game is awesome. I'm about 75% done with my first play through, running DEX/INT sorcerer build (it was a pain in the ass until I got the invisibility spell lolol). Will maybe take some screenshots later before I move onto NG.

Day 32: George Done!

George

Finished! Next up is a cat portrait in pencil. I have been watching some videos on how to render fur in pencil but we'll see.

Day 31: George WIP Con't

George WIP

I think his sword should be slightly bigger. It looks like a 1-hand sword rather than a 2-hand sword. I might make some adjustments in Photoshop.

In other news, I ordered another set of Copic markers for the first time in six years...I know, that's a long time... I picked the 72B Sketch set, and they arrived earlier this week. I was able to find an open-box/un-used set on Amazon.com. The total came down to $478 CAD ($360 USD), shipping included. I think this price is pretty good since Curry's price is around $520 after tax and that's the absolute cheapest price you can find within Canada. However, Too's Copic factory is currently under renovation so they have a serious production shortage, so most places currently do not have sets in stock and won't expect restocking until the later half of 2016.

I purchased my first Copic set (a 36C Ciao set) back in 2010 for $120 CAD. Now those goes for $160  on average. I still highly recommend the 36C for beginners on a budget because it has the nicest colour range. You just need to purchase a E00 and E000 on the side to cover the skin tones and you are good to go.

I picked up some acrylic cases by Muji on the weekend at a local mall. Now everything's organized. ^_^

Copics...must have moar.....

Review: Santa Lilio Sangre - Ayami Kojima Art Works

Book Details:

Hardcover
Title: Santa Lilio Sangre
ISBN-10: 4870319233
ISBN-13: 978-4870319233
ASIN: B005C25DN0
Cover Price: 3400 Yen (approx. $40.00 CAD)
# of Pages: 200
Printed In Japan
1st Print - 2010/11/25
3rd Print - 2013/2/26

Dust Cover Jacket

Inner Cover

Front Page

Some coloured artwork

 Each piece presented has a description showing the medium the artwork was done in, dimensions, and its Japanese title. If the artwork also have an English title, that is included as well. Half the book is filled with coloured paintings, the rest are like below, done in traditional ink.

Gorgeous ink, a piece of LOTR fan art on the right

More ink goodness

 There are some explicit pieces that are rated 18+ so I cannot share them here. Amount them also include a fair amount of artistic gore. You can see Ms. Kojima's knack towards dark fantasy, science fiction and horror, and she's damn good at drawing them!

Alucard and others

Book covers

More acrylic goodies

 Larger paintings span two pages. The colours are very vivid and you can see the textures very well.

Castlevania concepts

 This is my favourite section. Ms. Kojima's character portraits are simply amazing. Most of these are from Castlevania and its various games. But other series are also included. From what I can tell, this book does not contain all the art from her collection, but only the selective majority. For example, portraits of Lisa were not included.

More concepts

Drafts and brainstorms

At the end of the book there is a half page thank you note from the artist. This is in both Japanese and English. This is the only reading content in this book. Everything else is full art.

Summary:
"+" Pros: Gorgeous artwork, hard cover, good printing quality, colour, and paper. A fairly large collection, 200 pages and hundreds of pieces. Great readability because content are in English and Japanese.
"-" Con: Doesn't include everything from her collection. Beware of overpricing on the cover price.

 

Day 30: Pen & Ink

Pen and Ink

Had a lot of fun designing her hairstyle and clothing. Main lines are done with the maru pen. Cross-hatching are done using Copic Multiliner 0.05.

Day 29: George WIP

George WIP

The second portrait commission in the set. Pairing up with Layna from previous week.

Day 28: Layna Complete

I finished colouring Layna.

Layna Coloured

In other news, I ordered a few more artbooks, will start putting out artbook reviews soon as I now have a sizable collection. Stay tuned!

Day 27: Layna WIP

Layna WIP

Inking in progress. Some drafts below:

Layna Pose

Layna facial feature concept

Day 26: Purchase Report - Manga Supplies!

I have a love for stationary goods so once in awhile I enjoy treating myself with a health amount of art supplies here and there. In fact, I enjoy window shopping at art stores in town a lot and those who knows me personally find it extremely unbearable because I can literally spent hours in those shops...

So with that in mind, I have decided to do a "Purchase Report" on my findings once in a while on this blog. I wouldn't call these reviews because I don't feel I have tried enough varieties in some of the category of goods to warrant weight on my opinions so let's keep this casual and fun.

I have been looking to try out some proper manga making supplies for awhile now and I finally put my foot down this week and made a purchase. I wanted to try inking pen because so far I have always used multi-liners and despite the fact that they are very easy and non-messy to use, the thickness of the lines are overly consistent and "flat". 

I can source these material from different places to Canada. My options were:

A) http://www.jetpens.com/ 

Free Shipping to US domestic locations for purchase over $25.00 USD. There are two options for shipping to Canada: $8.50 USD (International First Class) or $13.75 USD (Fedex International Priority). If you purchase any stacks of paper products (eg. manga paper), they only have the Fedex option. 

From what I can tell, the pricing here are medium to high. They have some good regular priced items like pen holders and nibs. But their A4 Deleter Manga Paper is priced at a hefty $11.00 USD when the Deleter website sales them for ~$6.00USD. However, they do have a very nice selection of items, so you can pretty much get everything you need in one place.

B) https://www.amazon.ca/

You can get most of your manga supplies from Amazon.ca through independent resellers. Shipping speed varies. Most stores ship their items within 4-5 days and the cost is based on the individual item and seller. You can go for the cheapest SAL shipping option and that usually takes 2 to 4 weeks. My issue with Amazon.ca (not .com) is that they don't have the greatest selection. It is possible to find everything you need, but be aware you will probably be paying 200% more for the rarer items the resellers don't regularly carry. For example, the Deleter Maru pen nib pack of 2 is listed at $30.00CAD when the retail price is around $5.00 CAD...and because most resellers don't carry everything, if you want to grab a bunch of different items, be prepared to pay separate shipping for all of them and your items will arrive one at a time.

C) http://www.ebay.ca/

This is similar to Amazon.ca. Again, you can technically get everything you need here, but unless a seller have multiple items you wish to purchase, be prepared to pay separate shipping for each item. Manga paper here is overpriced at anywhere between $20.00CAD to $30.00CAD depending on shipping. Pen nib prices look alright, if you buy them in bulk (~3 packs or more)

D) http://deleter-mangashop.com

This is Deleter's shop. You are buying your items directly from the manufacturer. They carry a good selection of products. Funny enough, they also carry other brands such as Zebra and Tachikawa, which is convenient. Their price is probably the best you can find online, a lot cheaper than the other places, by nearly half of other shops' listing price, so you do save a lot. But the shipping is hefty so depending on your region, you might have to calculate and see if it's worth the trade off.

I went with this website and picked DHL shipping (because for some reason, the slower shipping options charge more...??). The shipping for my total purchase was $19.00USD. Granted I did purchase two stacks of manga paper, so quite a bit of dimension and weight there. Unfortunately, in additional to this, DHL charges custom clearance. I'm not sure if this is a routine check or random, but I had to shield out an additional $25.00 CAD to clear my package at customs. But, DHL is very fast at delivering their packages. I ordered my items on Monday afternoon, and I got my package on Wednesday midday. The items were shipped directly from Japan. 

Now let's talk about the goodies I got. ^_^

Manga Supplies from Deleter Inc.

I haven't used a tablet for awhile, so my hand is very shaky, so please excuse the chicken scratch labeling. 

1. ZEBRA G-Pen Nib, 3pc ($4.92 USD) - This is packaged by Deleter but manufactured by Zebra. Lines drawn can be thin to thick depending on pen pressure and ink flow. The nib feels pretty stiff, probably because it is new, but I like it. I have trouble getting it to catch ink initially but that is probably because I didn't properly flame the nib. I'm too scared to use a lighter so I opt for hot water but I'm not sure how effective that is. If you need a guide on how to select pen nibs, Jetpen has a Guide on Nibs and Nib Holders.

2. Deleter Maru-Pen Nib, 2pc x 2 pack ($3.94 USD x 2) - This is manufactured by Deleter. It is also known as the mapping nib. It is used to draw very thin lines. I ordered more of this because I prefer thinner lines so this would be my default nib of choice. I did a sketch using the maru and it feels great. But because of its length, I find it a bit too flexible, but that's probably just me.  The nib catches ink very well and the flow is consistent. As the nib wears down, I can probably use this in place of the G to draw thicker lines.

3. Tachikawa Pen Nob Holder (T-40) ($6.56 USD) - Nothing much to say about this. Very good quality, very comfortable, and good length. This T-40 model fits most if not all nib sizes.

4. Deleter Manga Ink Black 4, 30mL ($8.86 USD)- The Black 4 is waterproof and extra dark. I chose this because it does not smudge with Copic or other alcohol based markers. This is very important because some of the other ink like Black 1 does smudge. So be sure to check the ink's property before you decide on what to buy. Jetpen has a Guide on Drawing Ink that gives a very detailed comparison of the different kinds of ink. The ink has a very faint chemical smell that doesn't linger. You can smell the ink if you really put your nose to the bottle.

5. Deleter Manga Paper A4 with Scale, 40 sheets x 2 pack ($6.23 USD x 2) - Ruled sheets with very faint frame mark, center mark, and ruler scale. The markings do not show through scanners or photocopiers. 135kg weight. The paper is very thick and of good quality. The texture on the sheet surface is similar to the back side of regular printing paper. It does not have teeth, which means inking nibs will not catch the paper fiber and block ink flow. Pencil shades smooth on this paper. Copic markers do bleed into this paper, but not too heavily. 

6. FREE SAMPLE: Deleter Neopiko Line 3 Brush - Very good brush marker, colour is black. This is slightly thinner than the Sakura PIGMA Brush, so it's better at colouring smaller details. Brush hair holds very well, brush end does not split. 

7. FREE SAMPLE: Deleter Neopiko Color Marker Brush & Fine Pale Pink - The brush tip feels the same as Copic's brush nib, very flexible. I quite like the fine tip, it makes for very clean touch up.

8. FREE SAMPLE: Deleter Screentones -  They packed a generous amount for me. I haven't tried these yet because I don't have a tone cutting knife. 

9. Product Booklets - Some of these are written in English, some are in Japanese. They have mini tutorials printed on them about how to colour using markers and how to use screen tones

And here's the test, quick try at inking. Needless to say, I need a lot of practice...

Ink Practice

Day 25: To do list

Haven't updated for awhile. But I'm back!

Just finished a request for a friend's wow character. Dazuvious, human death knight. Done in ink, shaded using pencil.

Dazuvious (World of Warcraft)

And finished this from my community art class that I attend every Monday. I tried my hand at designing cloth...

Kelisto

The colour of her hair is light violet but my scanner derped out...

The upcoming to-do-list include the following:

- Another wow character request for another friend, this time it is a gnome mage, exciting!

- A commission for a set of D&D character portraits that will translate into game tokens on the board. I have already sketched out the facial structures. I will be doing the main line art tomorrow night.