Version one: Super-bright, Pop Art-ish.

I should have put this tone pattern on her skin for a better Lichtenstein-look, but it didn’t work with my style =< So I left it white instead xD This is very, very bright, I’m not sure if I like the strong contrast. >_>

Version two: Retro colors

This is a lot more sophisticated color-wise. Her skin is colored as well xD Personally, I can’t really decide =< Opinions are loved. Either way, I like the bold, black lines xD They are difficult as hell, but good practice |D

Yui and Haruki, pixelated gorgeous ; v ;

I got into pixeling and made two character sets for RPG maker XP xD I only did the hair and clothing though, the body is a free base~ It’s so much fun ;___; I can’t do good maps, though. Oh well, that’s what I have Onee-sama for xD

I started wasting so much time playing around with my pixels. But it’s fun ♥ Besides, I finished writing chapter 16 of Cobalt Blue yesterday and finished the first draft of the first scene for Paper Hearts >=> And bought two new Sherlock Holmes movies. They’ll probably never beat the version starring Rupert Everett as Holmes, I’m looking forward to watching them anyway! >=<

I don't even know.

I tried to create a brush in SAI that would simulate the lines of a mechanical pencil…but it didn’t work out so well =< Now I’m somewhat disappointed >3>

I suppose imitating traditional art on the PC is a rather hopeless journey >=< Once again, 10min doodle was done in 15 minutes 8D -SHOT-

This is me. Hello y'all.

As of today, I have ridiculously short side swept bangs. They look awful, but heck, my bangs have always looked awful. That’s why I usually wear them tucked up, like depicted here:

Sadly, my forehead is HUGE. It has...alien-like dimensions.

It’s even larger than on this picture. Seriously, that’s some huge sh*t. Either way, the problem with my bangs, my forehead and the fact that I like Feuer Frei by Rammstein (Bang, Bang! =D) has pushed me to write this blog post.

This is about bangs. Bangs are serious business. Most anime characters have them, and they are pretty common in actuality as well. Not only are they super-cute, especially the long ones and side swept bangs, they also work well with basically any hair style, face shape and body type. Bangs are awesome.

However, most anime style characters have one flaw: their bangs always look the same. This might not be a problem at all, as you can explain with something as: “The character likes his/her bangs the way they are and always styles them the same way”. True, but if your character’s bangs still look entirely the same after they’ve just woken up, been in a fight or violated, something is wrong. Hair changes.

This is Yui. Everyone should know Yui.

Yui’s bangs are fairly long, and she wears them parted in the middle, as depicted above. Whenever she wakes up, I usually draw her bangs to look exactly like this. Technically, this is a mistake. (Warning: NSFW image ahead)

This would be more accurate.

With this basic bang model, the styling possibilities are nearly unlimited. Most anime artists (including me, of course) don’t do this. Some even use the bangs as a way of differentiating their characters (along with hair and eye color), so variating those would be like shooting yourself in the leg. Instead, sticking to one bang styling, along with possibly even the same hairstyle is preferred.

I’m talking here. In a lot of bishoujo games and anime, where the characters are depicted first in child hood, then in their teenage years, you will notice that their hair never changes. Seriously, I don’t know anyone who has worn twintails (or any other style, really) like…10 years in row (from age 6 to 16 for example), without ever changing their hair once. Do you? I doubt it.

Just for the heck of it, another way of styling the "basic bang" type that Yui has.

Of course, this works best in theory. Personally, I’m going to stick with Yui’s standard bang styling for the most part, simply because it’s cute and suits her so well xD However, I think everyone should play around with their character’s hair every once in the while. At least with the rest of the hair, If you feel that nobody will recognize your character once you change their bang styling. (Which is a problem, btw. So fix it. >=< It’s what I’m working on, too.)

I wanted to show you another picture of Haruki with wet hair, but let’s save that for tomorrow. If you read everything until here, congratulations. Have a Yui-cookie.

Chibi-Yui is my favorite here. I liked regular-Yui's face until I zoomed out. >=<

Back to the routine! =D I stil have…a lot to practice. Thanks to my friend L-tan I’m listening to certain songs of KAT-TUN and Arashi all over right now x,D LIPS is great ;A; And truth~ ♥

I want the 45 minutes of my life back that I wasted with this. |D

Characters are random. Yes, I hate how they look as well, but I spent too much time on them to delete them…it’s a matter of principle >=< Now to proceed procrastinating on my homework 8D

Haruki sure is a pretty boy. >=>

They’re both asian, so I tried to make them appear that way xD Except for Haruki…because he isn’t supposed to look very asian 8D *SHOT*

As you can see, I’m mostly practicing different faces, since it’s the thing I have the most trouble with ^^; It’s fun fun fun =D Everyone should try semi-realistic! >=<

Practicing children ♥ Children are fun to draw =>

I’m not exactly happy with her face, she could be cuter xD But that’s okay => Still somewhat afraid of painting…it takes too long and I have no time Dx Been studying heads and feet today, though =D It was a lot of fun ♥ I used blue pencil leads just for the heck of it…they’re uber cool 8D *SHOT*

Edit: fixed her face a little ♥

It's not too horrible for a first try, I think x,D

Yui was my test subject for today => It will take getting used to, plus, it’s not exactly realistic yet…more semi-realistic x,D I tried to keep the main features of her face intact, her big eyes, hairstyle and overall body type. Yukata because I felt like it. Been studying eyes in class, it’s interesting to see how many different shapes there are =D Same goes for faces. I’ll practice hands and different poses for the rest of the day, let’s see how it turns out! ^_^b