Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Bonkura Experiments Gankutsuou
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. Probably the most vivid and visual anime I have ever laid eyes upon. Never seen the actual series, but the artwork is simply gorgeous.
Inspired and also having Photoshop running, I decided to run a test. Now, I've tried coloring in PS before, and it sucks. But I seem to have found Gankutsuou-Style much easier and a lot more cooler.

So I started with some brushes and a picture of Shuichii from Gravitation - one of my absolute most favorite anime images ever - and began painting on a background. It turned out quite awesome.



Look familiar? The top section is my current avatar. ^^

The simple background of that image led to this one. The base image was made in MS Paint. Hairstyle is like Largo's of MegaTokyo. The original image was called "j00" in homage to Largo. XD

So I had down the basics. I was impressed with what I could do. I loved how you didn't have to show shadows - the texture of the brush pushed aside any doubt of artistic ability. Then I thought of something that blew my mind away:

This could replace using screentones.

Lorenza and I plan to enter Tokyopop's "Rising Stars Of Manga" contest sometime before we're outta high school, preferably within the next year. XD One of the big hurtles I saw was the fact that we have no idea how to use screentones, nor the money to buy all the ones that would've been nessicary.
With those thoughts in mind, I scanned an image of my supposed-pirate, Senka, and with two hours and nothing to lose, began to paint.
And paint.
And paint.
Then turn off the comp and sleep.
Wake up, go to school, come back.
And paint some more.

But in the end, I would have to say the end result is most certainly worth it.

Wha'cha think? You need to look at everything to get the full appreciation - the sword has two different texture. The shorts have a box texture. The coat, headband, and scarf have a continously flowing pattern.
How?
Easy, mundane fool (XD). You quite simply make a layer for each item you are painting. You glob on paint, then erase the parts that are covering things you don't want that color/texture covering.
The background is just more random spew. But if you turn off all the other layers, it has a perfect outline of Senka. XD

And now on to the articles!
Holy shitake mushrooms! I am the third most popular article writer! I'm gaining on Panda, just about 20+ more votes to go! Quite impressive, seeing as how she's written all those con reports and interviews, while I have just six...
Otaku on a budget...
Apart from the crowd..
The smash-hit "what-is" alchemy...
The classical elements of nature...
Sleeping positions and one's personality...
Blood reflecting who you are...
None of them have any official, really-big people.
I think...I'm just a kick-ass writer. XD

I LOVE YOU ALL~!
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