Black and White

Sometimes I will find black and white images like this one and - obviously - trace the outline, then by hand, I would color in the areas that require coloring. It's a lot of work and takes awhile to finish depending on the size of the image.

This picture is of Nana Osaki, she is the second main character in the manga/anime 'NANA', a series based on a real Japanese person. Nana is the lead vocalist in a punk band trying to make it big in Tokyo.

I highly recommend giving 'NANA' a read, or if you prefer, you can watch it instead, but it'll be in Japanese with English subtitles. Let me know what you think of it should you decide to watch/read it.

Anime 4-1-1

To those who do not know what anime (A-ne-may) is, it is a term for 'Japanese Animation.' They are what most people would call cartoons, and they basically are, but most have a more serious mood and are for older, more mature youths. Ever watch Sailor Moon many years back? Yes? No? Well, it's just an example.

Most anime start out as manga (Japanese graphic novels read from right to left) and - with the author's permission of course - it can become an anime made the same way regular kids cartoons are, like Bugs Bunny! Sometimes a manga will be made from an anime, but it's not done too often.

Anime images are what I usually work with, I trace the image of choice and add in the shading myself. I will sometimes 'modify' an image, change it around a bit, just like I did the image on the left.

It was a regular line art done by another artist (see original: http://endomorph-usagi.deviantart.com/art/Lineart-Of-Elf-62211197) It was my first time shading an image when the original wasn't already shaded and serving as my guide. The results turned out better than I had imagined. This is, by far, the one entry in my art binder that I am most proud of. Hope you like it as much as I do!