I decided to be a regular NFT artist in Spice, which is one of the projects in Smart BCH chain because I enjoyed my first experience there. The second time I joined the project, I submitted 12 artworks there. One of the drawings I submitted is princess Kaguya, which is the one I'm about to share here. Since I'm a solid anime lover, my artworks usually involve Japanese anime character designs using my own style. I also draw my own anime version of any Japanese folklore characters or mythical creatures I can think of. I recall some anime shows that mention princess Kaguya. This is how I came up with the idea to draw my own anime version of her teenage look. I use Krita drawing software for all the digital art I do.
BACKGROUND STORY
Princess Kaguya is a character from a Japanese folklore. The only thing I remember from the story are the beginning and the ending. The story starts with an old couple finding a miniature-sized child born inside a bamboo. They raised her and named her Kaguya. She grew into beautiful lady and she has always been treated like a princess. She has a lot of suitors. There is man she truly loves. Unfortunately, the story did not end happily. No matter how much they love each other, they didn't end up together because Kaguya had to return to the moon. I actually didn't get why she was born from a bamboo but she is actually a lunar princess. Still, I got interested so I drew her. Here's the drawing process.
SKETCH
I always delete my sketches once I'm done with the drawing to minimize its file size. Fortunately, I was able to at least retrieve this portion of my sketch. I remember sending some screenshots of my progress to my friends so I was able to retrieve this from our Messenger group chat. Basically, I start my sketch with basic shapes from head to foot then I put guide lines. I need it for right placements and proportions.
LINEART
Next step is the lineart. This is where I draw the final details of the sketch with clean lines. Not all lines are black for this one. The fan and the moon have a lineart that is close to their base colors. I figured they will look better rather than having a black lineart. Once I'm done with the lineart, I finalize it by flipping the drawing because this is the way to know if the proportions are correct. The drawing has the right proportions if the it doesn't look awkward and if nothing look looks misplaced when it is flipped. Lineart has the final say when it comes to proportions. This will determine when to proceed to the coloring process.
BASE COLORS
I use the bucket and gradient tools to fill the drawing with basic colors. Princess Kaguya is often portrayed as a beautiful lady with a long black hair, wearing a red kimono while holding a fan. This is the idea I came up with based on what I see in anime. I just had my experiment with the design of her kimono and fan. For her eyes, I decided to make it lavender for a change since I haven't done this one to my previous drawings. It suits her too since it's contrasting to her dark colored hair.
SHADING
Shading is the exciting part of coloring. It gives the final touches and volume to the drawing, making it look lively. This is also the part where I put the effects and the texture needed for the drawing. I use a smooth brush for the subject. I use a texture brush for the details of the moon to give it a rough texture. For the final touch, I put a glow effect on the moon. In Krita, it is called the Gaussian Blur effect.
THE FINAL RESULT
Background is always the last thing I do. I finish the basics and the final details of the subject first. It helps me gauge what background will suit the drawing. Since princess Kaguya was found inside a bamboo shoot, I decided to add bamboos in the background. I made it a starry night as well since she is a lunar princess and it is appropriate to the moon I included in the background. I basically included the elements that associate her.
So far, I had 6 drawings sold out of the 12 ones I did for Spice NFT project. This princess Kaguya is one of them. It was sold out last July. This is my entry for the #moon theme in this week's art challenge.