Happy holiday!! Or it would be if I weren’t on a train headed to work. 

     You might be tempted to ask how that happened, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Anyway it’ll give me the chance to do some artwork in peace. So there’s that…

     Today’s image is from a manga/anime/live action movie, Rouroni Kenshin. It’s actually from a cosplay done by a new friend. And it allowed me to blend a few skills I recently acquired.

      As some of you know, backgrounds aren’t a major part of my art. I detest landscapes, probably stemming from having grown up in one. I’ve gotten better of course, but it isn’t an image of choice.

     Still, my work shouldn’t suffer because of personal bias. So I practice it occasionally, to keep my skills up. In this image I needed to give the feel of a snow covered forest; easy enough, but making it feel like a Shinto shrine clearing took a little research!

     I was happy with the result, and moved on to the character himself. Trying to create texture for his clothing wasn’t as easy as it first seem. I haven’t drawn a lot of silk in awhile. 

     After that my next big hurdle was his hair. Depending on the look of the scene, you can often get it completely wrong. There have been times when I needed a more realistic look and ended up with something out of a comic book. 

    And there’s the real issue. The great thing about talent is that you start out ahead. You can intuit things that others have to learn and practice. 

    However, the downside is that unless you really pay attention, you can easily become a creature of instinct. Getting simple things wrong because you didn’t think ahead can lead to disjointed images.

   If you’ve got the talents, congrats, but don’t forget to learn the skills.