Let me start off by saying I’m not happy with this picture. For some reason it never really clicked for me, and there were additional problems while working on it, but in the end the client was happy with it and that’s what counts. I’m still posting it here for those of you who will also like it like he did, because my taste isn’t the beginning and end of what people can enjoy. 🙂
I don’t want to get into the issues I had with this pic, in case doing so might spoil it for people who do like it, but I will say I like some of the characters used. I’ve never played a Persona game, but I’m pretty familiar with the Shin Megami Tensei brand and I typically like the characters. P4 has several female characters I really dig, but I also like Teddie (the blonde whose face is obscured) quite a bit, and wouldn’t mind doing a more concentrated picture some time featuring him. Kou (the bluish-grey-haired one with his feet sticking out) was also pretty cute in the anime episode focused on him, but I don’t know if I’ll ever draw him again. I don’t really care for the other two guys in this pic, though.
The real good news, though, is that this is the last of the commissions I had lined up. I can now focus more on my own things, as commissions will remain closed for a while yet. I still have some that will be coming around when the month rolls over, and I also I have a few special arrangements with friends that might crop up. Besides those, though, I’m looking forward to focusing on my comics, pumping out a few more Near Pokédex entries alongside a bunch more standalone pics. I’m really excited to getting back to deciding my own fate for a while until I’m desperate for money again.
Let me start off by saying that this is not a new ongoing comic. At this time all that’s been paid for is this single page, and it was paid for at the regular standalone price for an image. I included a number in the title because the commissioner implied that he might pay for a follow-up page at some point, but nothing is set in stone and even if he does I doubt it’ll ever come to much more than that.
This was an interesting image, as the client sent me panels from an existing doujin for reference. The reference images featured much more exaggerated proportions than I typically like to do, but in this case I used them, which is why Chi-Chi has a much more unrealistic body type here than in most of my drawings of her. I know some people like this sort of physique, so hopefully they can enjoy this.
I have one more commission left in my queue, which I’ll hopefully be able to get to work on over the weekend. After that, though, I think I’ll take a break from commissions for a while, as I really need to get to work on the next batch of comics. It seems other things keep getting in the way, haha.
So this month I did a test run on a concept I’m calling my “free commission raffle”. Basically, I took everyone whose payments went through at the start of the month, and used a randomizer to select one who then got a free $50 commission from me. This is what they asked for, a picture of Shōyō Hinata and Tobio Kageyama from the popular volleyball anime Haikyū!! This picture was fun to work on. I’m not terribly familiar with Haikyū!!, but the characters are cute and I can see why this ship is popular among yaoi fans.
Here’s a commission I recently finished, featuring Nanashi and Kotaro from a film called “Sword of the Stranger”. The basic set-up of the film is a pretty popular one in Japan, with a mysterious badass ronin (Nanashi, or “No Name”) taking on and protecting a cute kid (Kotaro) and his dog (Tobimaru). The idea for this pic was to have Nanashi and Kotaro keep each other warm on a snowy night with body heat.
I saw bits and pieces of this film while doing my research for the pic. It’s pretty violent and dark at points, but I think fans of samurai films will probably really enjoy it. The non-action parts with Nanashi and Kotaro are pretty cute, too. Kotaro’s adorable, I’m not sure this pic does him justice. If you guys like this one, the client’s hinted at a desire to commission more of these two in other settings, so it’s possible they’ll crop up around here again.
Here’s another commission I did recently, and the first straight pic I’ve had to share with you guys in a while. Here we see Kyoko Sakura having some fun at her favorite hangout, the arcade.
The client was wanting to see some interesting colors for this one due to the setting. While there was the temptation to have the pic be extremely dark with neon pinks and green or something, when looking at actual scenes in the show’s arcade they were usually brightly lit. I decided to go with that option (using the exact colors from the show) since, not only did I think it looked better, but it also made it easier to see the crowd that’s gathered around them.
It’s been a long time since I watched Madoka Magica, but at the time I enjoyed it (less so the movies that followed). Kyoko was one of my favorite characters, I thought she was a lot of fun and had a really cute design. I always thought I would draw either her or Sayaka eventually, but surprisingly it took a commission for me to actually get around to drawing one of them. Hopefully I’ll get around to more of the Madoka girls eventually, they’re all really cute in their own ways. Plus, it’s nice to see them getting to have some fun after all they went through in the series. ^_^
