Yahoo! My first vector for 2013! So yeah, it's not a chibi (Gomen nasai!) and it is (once again) a screenshot but to be honest I just couldn't resist (her look kinda reminds me of the way I look in the morning when I haven't had my first cup of coffee.) Truth be told, I am working on a chibi from a scan but the color details kinda have me stumped so I decided to fall back to something I know I can do just to get my spirits up again and to practice the skills I need.
For this vector I really went all out. My ability to trace the lines seems to have improved (it was done in about a week and a half with only minor error corrections) and I spent a lot of time on the coloring (Around 3 to 4 week although I wasn't working full time of course.) At first I wanted to make all the shadows gradients but as that was way to light I settled for blending the gradients into the hair tips and putting "hard" shadows over that. Overall I think it turned out quite nice.
The cheeks had me stumped for a while but I finally found a tutorial that pointed me in the right direction although it still took some experimentation to get it right. I will admit that I left the blush lines out as I couldn't find a practical way to add them without making it look silly. The face is composed of a few gradients over a base layer (this is actually true for all parts of the image) which in my opinion gives it a nice look.
It took me ages to decide on a color for the jacket (the original is a pinkish-white color which I tried to emulate) and I finally settled on this color. It's not quite as light as the original but I think it looks better as the white is just too boring.
The tray and bowls were quite challenging, and I ended up using some of the tricks I learned while vectoring the cup from my previous vector (Shameless plug, I know...) Personally I am rather fond of the look of their content (which uses radial gradients)
The fingers of the original was atrocious and I ended up rebuilding them into what you see now. As it looked weird with just thumbs hanging onto the top of the tray I added a little bit of hand (I wanted add more fingers, but that is above my skill level)
And there you have! Please let me know what you guys think, constructive criticism is always welcome! :D
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3 months, 4 weeks ago
The lack of chibis are making me go through withdrawal. Why must you to torture me so? =P Anyway, it seems that you've settled on another screenshot based vector. So first thing to point out is that it you have started implementing a lot more gradients into your vector now (applause!). The gradients used in for the tray is very much to my liking. Her blush could be a bit more subtle though. Oh and you seem to have missed a spot while filling the shadows of her hair (near the front). Now onto the line art [ because there isn't anything else in a vector to comment on...]! It has improved (mainly smoother with a lot less hiccups and such) but there are still the odd blunt ends existing here and there (mainly within her hair). My final complaint would be that of her mouth. While I can't pin down the exact reason as to why I dislike it, it just looks weird... it may be the colour, thickness, stuff... uh yeah... Regardless, good to see your skills steadily improving and I am very much looking forward to your chibi vector!
...can I get a sneak peek? D:
3 months, 3 weeks ago
Gomen nasai, gomen nasai! Don't mean to make you suffer just couldn't find a chibi that I really wanted to vector recently. Either chibis have become rare in shows or I'm just watching the wrong ones. I have recently found one that I like (It's queued for vectoring next, YAY!) so your withdrawal should be at an end. :D
Thank you! :D I am very glad you like it.
Yeah, that is true but by the time I got the blush so far I was kinda scared to fiddle with it any more. I actually really wanted to add the little squiggly lines as well, but that was just hell, so yeah. Whoops, I didn't notice (I always seem to forget something) that lock was actually unshaded in the original image and it seems that I just copied it over and never looked back. :$
Ah ha... I still find the lines tricky although I now try and do smoothing and error correction as I go along rather than afterwards. Often though I will find a line that I'm not quite sure what to do with and then it kinda ends up blunt. Will work on that in my next vector.
Mmm... the mouth was tricky. Didn't want to leave it as a line so expanded it a bit. Looking at it now I guess it's a bit too thin and the color seems off... too dark compared to the rest of the image.
A sneak peak... mmm why-ever not. My next vector will be Takanashi Rikka from Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! (Another screenshot, yes.)
My on hold vector: Lines only. Thinking this one will be on hold for a while still, the eyes are really tricky and I wanna do it right.
Thanks for your continued support, plz look forward to a chibi next! :D
3 months, 4 weeks ago
Oh man you know my feels, I was rather perplexed the last time I had to make those "blush lines". At first sight they are easy but as soon as you put on a few... they usually look ridiculous for one reason or another. Well I can't really point out anything thanks to Vesti. The mouth stands out because it's too vivid compared to the rest of the vector. You could tone it down, or better yet, make the other parts a bit stronger. I find the coloring a bit pale and light, the tray and the sweater above all. That bedhair is awesome by the way. Give us our chibis ASAP. Thanks for your work QD.
3 months, 3 weeks ago
Yeah, it's insane! So no real solution too the blush lines?? Mmm... this was really the only solution I could find but there must be a way. Mine just looked unnatural so I just left them out (all in all, I'm not sure that they would really fit with this image anyways)
I seem to really have an issue with pale colors. I'm wondering if my monitor isn't adjust too darkly (I had it more washed out, but that just hurt my eyes.) Really thinking of grabbing a colorimeter and fixing the problem once and for all. I actually find the jacket a bit too dark. The original looks far closer to white with this pale pink, but I just couldn't match it. Oh well...
Yeah, I'm guessing that is what drew me to this image most. Patience, a chibi is on it's way (see my post above)
Thank you very much for your comment, I really appreciate it. :D
3 months, 3 weeks ago
I agree with the others on the mouth. The colour is a bit strange which causes it to stand out against the moody atmosphere. The dull colours that GlassDemon pointed out I think help to set the mood to the whole early morning theme. The music note has a tendency to disappear due to being very light, perhaps a darker edge might make it stand out a bit.
You should definitely upload the alternative hair colour version you had at some point. That one will be a killer!
Otherwise it looks great! Keep it up! :D
3 months, 3 weeks ago
Yeah, it seems the mouth really did end up too dark. Might get around to fixing that at some point in time in the future and upload a revision, we'll see. Ah ha haa... each unto his own it seems. Really need to get my display properly calibrated, it sucks when I think it looks fine and everyone else says it is too pale. Oh well...
Mmm... that edition will need some work to bring it up to the same quality as this one, but it might be nice to do when I have some time.
Thanks for the support, I'm glad you like it! :D
2 months, 4 weeks ago
Its been a while that i have come across anime-papers cuz of personal reasons and Wow Cute you have improved a lot since the last time i saw your profile; keep it up i am looking forward to your next chibi vecs :)) .
2 months, 4 weeks ago
Arigatou! :D Really glad you like it. Yup, the current season is good besides the two mentioned here I have another two chibis I wanna do!