March of 1997 started everything and I'm still an anime lover up to this day. As I celebrated my 25th anniversary for being an anime lover last year and I finished the last traditional drawings I promised to dedicate to four of my friends before I shifted to digital drawing. This first drawing, Lelouch from the anime, Code Geass is my dedication to one of my friends who is also his fan. I shipped it to him last month.
This is Lelouch Lamperouge, the main character from the anime, Code Geass. I watched this way back 2010. This is the first drawing I've done for my dedication. Lelouch is a rare case of a main character who is also a villain at the same time because of his rebellion. This is something unique for the show. He acquired a mind control power called geass and one of his eyes turns red each time he activates it like what you see in this drawing. He used to be a nice person until he had his rebellion. He met a woman who gave him the mind control abilities of geass. Later on, he started to turn into a villain. he abused the power and he manipulated people. He even betrayed those who love him for the sake of his rebellion and that's the sad part of the story. I don't remember how this anime ended since I was not able to complete all the episodes of this show.
I've done all of the four drawings in a hybrid traditional and digital way. I've done the lineart and base colors digitally. I did the blending and all the details and finishing touches with colored pencils. I used matte board paper for all the four drawings
PENCIL
I start my traditional drawing with a pencil version. I drew this on a clean bond paper. I chose this pose to show his commanding character that matches his menacing expression. I put the shades so I have a guide once I proceed to coloring.
LINEART
I usually do the lineart a fine pointed drawing pen and a sign pen to overwrite the pencil then I erase the pencil. But I want smoother lines and less erasures so I did this digitally.
BASE COLORS
My initial plan for this is to blend the colored pencils with colored pens but I came up with a better idea to do the base colors digitally. It saves a lot of time since the base colors are even.
BACKGROUND AND HIGHLIGHTS
In digital drawing, background is the last thing I do, but since this is a partially traditional art, I put the background and highlights first before printing. Colored pencils will not be effective for doing highlights if I apply it over the base colors of the printout so I must include the light colors of the highlights before printing then that's the time I will apply a light colored pencil.
THE FINAL RESULT
I printed the drawing after putting the base colors, highlights, and the background. I applied colored pencils to the base colors first since the colors of the printout look a bit dull. I made adjustments to the colors by applying colored pencils to capture the same color with the reference and to fix the inaccurate colors of the printout. I did the blending and all the details and shading afterwards. For the finishing touches, I smoothen and spread the colored pencils evenly with eraser and tissue. Now the final result has shown the full details of the drawing. I like it when Lelouch wears this menacing smile just like other anime characters. Evil face is very appealing to anime characters. I'm glad that my friend loves smirking face too.
READY FOR SHIPPING
I put the drawing in a certificate holder for protection, especially while it is being shipped. I shipped it last month and my friend received it. He's so happy. He will look for a frame that suits the drawing. The certificate holder will be its protection while my friend is looking for a frame. I would love to see it framed. I'm waiting for my friend's update. I'm glad that he loves the drawing. It's a pleasure to dedicate drawings to friends for my remembrance. I will show the other three drawings I've done. This week will be a series of anime dedications as well as the last set of traditional drawings I've done before turning into a digital artist.