Hey everyone!
Recently time has seemed to be flying by.. and yet we’re still thoroughly enjoying the creative challenges that begin each Wednesday!
The theme for Week 11 was chosen again by Tri, new theme branching out from the League of Legends idea. We were tasked with the challenge of redesigning a pre-existing character/person, almost “re-skinning” them as if in a video game.
Let’s take a look at the results!
Materials: Coloured pencils, watercolour, ProMarker
I had so many options in mind for this week that I found it really hard to settle on just one character! After over-complicating everything in my mind, Ponyo immediately jumped to mind and so I decided to run with it.
I absolutely adore Ponyo and her story – but one of the charming things about the whole thing is that you don’t get much of a glimpse into her future with Sosuke. Her iconic red dress is so symbolic, I wondered if I could keep the essence of her character in new clothing. I took a little inspiration from “Barakamon” and the character of Naru (if you haven’t seen this anime, it’s an incredibly short and charming series I recommend!).
While working on the piece I tried to keep the gentle, bright palettes of the movie and the softness of the Ghibli style using gentle traditional mediums like water colours and pencils. I kept the harsh black outlines to a minimum too. It feels very much like a children’s book illustration – which is something I love!
I do feel like I am still playing it a little safe though, so next week I am thinking about mixing up the approach!
Materials: Water colour, fine liner
Su says: “I decided to reinvent Bayonetta because she is a no holds barred character that sits on one extreme of the scale, so exploring this in her reinvention was paramount.
In this illustration, Bayonetta is in the process of reinventing herself, her gun boots (or boot-guns?) are tossed aside and the sultry dark tones have been replaced with lighter hues. By cutting off her hair, she’s removing more than just an aesthetic part of herself but her costume and possibly her powers as well.
Her bodice is a bridal white; very anti-Bayonetta with her previous skin tight bodysuit costume. She is a highly sexualised character so instead of emulating this outright, I tried to replace it with a classic pose like the pin ups from the 50s.
I’d like to add more depth to the illustration next time.”
Thanks again for the theme suggestion, Tri! Next week we’ll be working on another reader suggestion from the list.. if you would like to make a suggestion for a future theme, please comment on the post and we’ll get to work on it in the future!
With Two Sugars, Please 