sarracenian

(WIP) Sylia of the Knight-Sabers (BGC)

As voted by you guys, get to indulge in drawing Knight-Sabers, mainly Sylia. Just throwing down ideas which I could make into a full illustration. (Actually, if I did a proper fourth one and swapped out with the other Knight-Sabers, I could fill out the entire roster, hmmm...)

Also a bonus Priss, because I am about 97% certain this one shot of Priss in Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 has permanently embedded itself into my brain chemistry.
It was inevitable, really, being into Samus Aran and Kamen Rider for a long time could turn just about anyone into this kind of armor-freak. Its OK, I'm old enough to be into odd things now.

(Tokyo 2040 is otherwise kinda middling imo, but I get more Hardsuit content so can't complain)

Another Character Poll time!

Another character art poll. Have various ideas, we'll see who gets to be lucky. I've put up BGC so many times now that one of these days its gotta get lucky, right?

The options are as follows.

Taie civilian and legionary designs (Legionary Extraordinary)

Had some fashion ideas on how the Imperial Republic of Taie from my Legionary Extraordinary setting. I once had toyed with the idea of a small tactics game featuring various legionary units in the 2nd pic, but making games is a massive undertaking so for now its just various character designs.

I prob could go wilder with these but I like keeping things grounded for now. Plus I like the basic shapes of history.

Request: Tetsuya Tsurugi of Great Mazinger

As requested by my Tier 3 Patrons! This time just the one.

I've never watched too much Mazinger actually, but am familiar enough with some of its ideas. From what I gather Tetsuya apparently is the prototype for Asuka Langley, which is pretty funny. I wonder what instigated some of those Showa era scifi helmets having funky shapes to them. Mazingers, Ultraman's Defense Teams post-Return of Ultraman, whatever given new alien faction in shows up in Godzilla films etc.

a couple of howling banshee drawings

what it says

LE3 BEGIIN

Finally formally starting to work on Legionary Extraordinary episode 3!

I feel like I do wanna kinda start sharing some of my comics making process a bit. I've heard a lot of mixed opinions on whether or not sharing any info is actually better for creative work motivation, but since I've usually kept my comics on the down low, I think sharing it here might be a good exercise.

I hope this will be enjoyable to you guys.

I actually have had the plot outline done almost a year ago, this is just a method I learned from my friend Tuisku that supposedly helps out by mapping out comic in a more "physical" space using sticky notes. It does work, since I actually did catch a couple of problems as I was pasting it on the wall. Though her notes are much more abstract, mine might just actually spoil the entire story (if its even legible) lmao

btw its not gonna be this meme-y I'm just brain-poisoned and need to get the ideas out.

(ALSO remember to send in your request if you are a Tier 3 Patron! https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-request-103363323)

NEW REQUEST THREAD

Time for a new Request Thread! where you get to make an art request by commenting below! My apologies for not putting these up in a long while.

This time I will be accepting Two of my choosing! I liked the last time when we did some simple situations like characters doing stuff, so I'm gonna do one of those again

Please comment below!

Yue Ying again again

Finally finished that WIP. This was based on the promo art by Yasushi Yamaguchi AKA. Judy Totoya. Its pretty cool, that reminds me I should prob play Sonic Mania at some point.
Been thinking whether I should start doing some more elaborate drawings with Shanghai Combat Revue, but still undecided on what specifically. Maybe fake anime screencaps? Man the faux retro animefication is really taking over.

Banshee on the throne

As you can see my conception of elves is still greatly informed by Morrowind.
Its a shame they removed the detail of elves having a weird fucky ribcage structure different from humans after Morrowind.

guan and qin + shanghai combat revue Wind Division rkgk

(am I using it right? Is this what rkgk means?)

Guan Qinglang and Qin Bailing drawings again, as you do. Getting a bit indulgent with Qinglang there but I like that shirt I came up with.
Also sketches of the Shanghai Combat Revue's equivalent of the Wind Division: The "双重二童" (or their english localized title; Doppelgänger Double Gang); two girls from Tianjin and Beiping respectively who, in addition of being the support team, are also two novice xiangsheng performers (traditional Chinese stage comedy; if you know what rakugo or manzai is, its the same idea).
They look identical but are not actually related in anyway, they just happened to look alike. Hitting them up for intel will carry the unfortunate side-effect of having to hear them making it into part of their routine.

Hail and Kill, Howling Banshee

This one was fun. Maybe I should draw more Eldar stuff. I mean someone's gotta, there's enough Space Marine drawings already in the world to formulate its own art movement.

Howling Banshee masks really have that Tahu from Bionicle-like feel to them, don't they (its the "mouth" area, really).

Birthday poem (Shanghai Combat Revue short-comic)

This took way longer than I'd like aw man

Oh well, at least I did it. I've noticed though that I've gotten to that point in drawing these characters that it almost feels like second nature now, so that's cool.

I do wanna draw more stuff with only Yue Ying and Wu Shuang. I kinda like what they have going, probably 'cause I think I definitely subconsciously injected some of the old GohanxVidel dynamic, which I really enjoyed and am still Very miffed that Videl just quietly got ejected out of story relevancy and is now just a different type of character now in basically every later Dragon Ball media. Ah well.

I like to imagine for the hypothetical Sakura Wars game these characters are from, you think Guan Qinglang would be easy to win points with through flattery, but in actuality it has to go through some weird mind-games first (a la Sumire in ST1).
But then, I like to imagine Every character in this ST outsourced spinoff game are actually hard to deal with & require some mental gymnastic. Imagine ST1 Sumire, ST1 Remake Maria, ST3 Lobelia and ST5 Subaru all in one game. Just pure insanity, nobody has a good time.

EDIT:

OH I forgot to actually explain the last page;
The letter for Guan Qinglang is (roughly) based on the story of Guan Yu of the Three Kingdoms, when he was eager to challenge Ma Chao, so Zhuge Liang wrote a letter praising Guan Yu to stroke his ego a bit and to avoid any possible quarrel between Guan Yu and Ma Chao in the future. Guan Yu liked the letter so much he went to show it off to others for a bit. It was a funny story.

howling banshees but they rock (WIP)

this was going to be just a group pic (no. 2) but then I thought about glam & power metal today and "wait, Howling Banshees AS heavy metal singers, someone's GOT TO have done that right?! Right?!!"

I mean, Warhammer 40k is pre-built for that Battle of the Bands, prog vs. death metal aesthetic! God I have become weird media-boomer...

Ρωμανία & العباسيّة & 大唐

Wasn't it funny how, at the same time in this particular part of Eurasia, all three of these empires decided those Sogdians/Turkic peoples were the height of fashion?

Also learning that apparently turbans were also popular in the Byzantines, and the futou were arguably inspired by similar head-coverings... maybe that superweirdo whatifalthist is onto something (heavens, that felt awful to say out loud)

Wu Shuang's writing (Comic WIP2)

Wu Shuang's headscarf just keeps changing everytime I draw him lol

Its what happens when the reference I'm working from is that very specific headscarf specific Chinese generals used in Ming dynasty paintings. It was apparently pretty fashionable for military officials to use on the field.
Truthfully, Wu Shuang wears his like that only because he's also moonlighting as a janitor.

Moumou in different fashions... 2!

Once again got a little too much into drawing Moumou in different fits for fun, mostly from late 80s-early 90s sitcoms (see if you can recognize some of them!).

I thought for a moment "should Moumou wear a skirt?" before I decided against it and so it made for an extra drawing.

Ms. Guan's birthday gift (comic WIP)

OK so I didn't quite break my promise this time, since its mostly about someone other than Guan Qinglang.
Was overtook by the need to sketch this out as a comic, because the allure of kokuji and arcanely done historical gags is irresistible, which meant I didn't sleep very well last night (<- NOT GOOD; DO NOT IMITATE). 

Guan Qinglang writer's block

Originally drawn as a gift for my roommate who helped me out with translating my comics. I haven't still decided whether I will colour these or not, would prob try to do it in the style of Hua Sanchuan, who was an inspiration for this one too. We shall see.

I promise the next time I draw anything Shanghai Combat Revue related (after the Guan Qinglang splash art one), it'll be a Qin Bailing one (or finish that Yue Ying drawing from way back). I just like drawing Guan Qinglang looking pretty (and getting owned lol) too much.

Eldar/Aeldari Aspects

Have I ever talked about that I like the Aesthetic of the Aeldar? It does make sense, doesn't it? When one is both a tokusatsu fan and a Morrowind fan, who also holds remnants of that bygone avid Bionicle enthusiasm, of course this is what happens.

Although, I've never really read any actual Eldar narrative story that 40k has produced.
Based on every hearsay and popular 40k thought, I have a feeling there aren't a whole lot worth delving into. Everyone loves the Imperium too goddamn much I suppose, no one wants to write the high drama of grand nigh-immortals with millennia old grudges ageing out of the world they occupied. I guess I'll just have to imagine a better story by just going back to Elric books and reading Chinese or other pantheistic folklore about gods hahaha.

Or maybe hunker down and get those Poison Elves comics my local used book shop has.

All new Space Cassette Moumou VHS cover

Man this one really expanded in scope this time, but its fun!

This ended up looking more like a Finnish style clamshell VHS than anything, but hey that is the look of hokey VHS releases hahahaha. Thus I imagine it sitting next to Finnish VHS releases of Patlabor and Plastic Little (yes, they got released in Finland, apparently, amazingly enough)

These screenshots are honestly not really meant to be looked up close, but I'm posting them here too as a bonus:

Its also fun to have more clothing color variations for Moumou. The second character there is actually based on one of the original sketches I had for the character that was to be Moumou.

Speaking of; Space Cassette Moumou was originally drawn for Dan Fingerman's collaborative VHS project A Strange Soup, which  It is now available to enjoy for all! If you like analog ambience and Adult Swim style bumps this is for you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXADmwZt5eg 

new Moumou poster WIP2

Time for another update on the Moumou Moment, slowly but surely.

I decided I do wanna make a back-cover for this faux-OVA anyway. She is the Moment after all. I really like drawing her shoes (Air Jordan V 1990 White Fire Red) and camera (JVC GR-60), invoking those good ol' madmen animators who lovingly rendered every technical detail on celluloid back in the day.
It's a little sobering though, realizing how technical progress has not actually enabled a linear progression of art so much as certain aspects of it improve or are at least easier to make, while other key parts are quietly atrophying and abandoned by the disruptive new pipeline. Personally speaking, it's probably why CG in anime always seems like a dangerous prospect in a way. [/boomermoment]

Anyway, onwards.

Some Guan sketches

Also in the mean time I remebered I had these sketches I had lying around actually for a while now. I quite like those splash arts a lot of the miHoyo/gacha games have, so tried to see if I can try drawing something like that of my own. The exact pose & BG. are still up in the air, partially because not too long after I got done with this a character called Dr. Ratio dropped on Honkai Star Rail, who had almost the exact same pose as Guan here, because I am huge Fraud lol. 

The other two is for paying back a debt I owed for my roommate, whose fav of the Shanghai team is Guan.

I will be done with one of these hopefully at some point, but who knows. 

A new Space Cassette Moumou poster (WIP)

As voted by the patrons, here's the WIP for a new Moumou poster! I guess Space Cassette Moumou is set, since there's a fun pun there that I like. 

Speaking of cassettes, had to cheat a bit since VHS tapes don't actually show pictures like film-reels do, so its a bit of multimedia approach here this time.

I was also thinking of making a "back-cover" to this, or maybe expand it to a spread like what you had for magazines. We'll see if I get to it.

You know, I kinda always imagined Moumou to be a very late 80s-early 90s kinda anime character, from like an OVA, sitting somewhere between VHS tapes of Ozanari Dungeon and All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, based on manga that never got scanlated past chapter 12 with Arial fonts.
Not to be too much of a crotchety boomer, but I do miss that old school kind of more plucky and unhinged anime heroines of those days. They're still kinda there but the flavour is lost! Ah well, I guess I'll just be the one weird guy drawing these now.

1st Poll of 2024!

Oh man haven't done one of these in a while. 

The drill is the same as before; I have plenty of ideas for bigger and elaborate illustrations, but can't decide what I wanna do specifically. 

Kinda fear I will end up being very tunnel-visioned with what I draw ("wow Aleksis  another Shanghai Combat Revue thing?"), so next time I shall open up to drawing more fanarts of things. I tend to always do those out of spontaneity now.

But for now, please allow me to indulge one more time with these poll options:

Legend of the Eight Immortals fan-poster

(Based on the film I've recently subbed!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJk7-Cm72xo)

I was actually supposed to post a colour-rough WIP before, but it didn't go through and by the time I've noticed I've already finished so might as well post the full piece now.
I've learned to find something relaxing about just chipping away at a piece. No idea if its always worth it or not but oh well.

BTW I just recently saw 30,000 Miles from Chang'an and you should too. If you ever like those  animated features about specific historical artists that's all about passion for the arts and culture, this is a great watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLQ-N8hWz4c

Qi Dandan being blue

I saw this fun wall deco that was in New Women 1935, hence this drawing.

Legend of Eight Immortals WIP + FILM ENGLISH FANSUBS

So, people who follow me on social medias for a while would know I also like to do fansubbing for various older Chinese historical media, namely films. 

Over the Christmas, I've subbed yet another film for fun, this time a movie called "Legend of the Eight Immortals" or 八仙的传说, about the titular Eight Immortals, or Xian.

LINK: https://youtu.be/CJk7-Cm72xo 

Out of all the ones so far, this is probably my favourite. Just a jolly family/kids movie about fun anarchistic trickster demigods pulling pranks on bullies. If you've seen some old-school Shanghai animations, or more fittingly some of the older non-American live-action kids media from the 70s-80s like some of BBC's old TV productions, or Astrid Lindgren adaptations, this is very reminiscent in the style of those.

I also drew this poster('s WIP version), one part because I liked the movie but also since tbh the two actual official posters that exist are kinda jank hahaha.
But I also got perhaps a little too impatient, so I wanted to share it to you guys first. I will put up the full film up to everyone with the finished poster too some later time.

Happy birthday Kanzaki Sumire

It is Sumire's time, or as she likes it, all the time.

Smoking Dandan

Finished one of the WIPs by continuing my Ruan Lingyu agenda, it seems.

I need to watch more black & white movies in the future. Maybe something with Lauren Bacall or Greta Garbo in them. Y'know, to continue the bit.

Legionary Extraordinary short - "Right Music"

A very specific joke that I came up with when reading 中国古代礼仪文明 by Peng Lin. It was a good read, though unfortunately has no English translation that I know of.

Zhou ritual culture (AKA traditional Confucianist) had a very particularly let's say interesting understanding of music, which is kinda funny when you think about it but also hmmm kinda cop behaviour ain't it? Then again, even I doubt even the most ardent late imperial Chinese neo-Confucianist could muster that much issue over music without raising some eyebrows.
I wonder if similar thoughts existed in any other pre-modern, ancient societies as much. Since complaining about the youths is often so universal, you have to think being mad about the wrong kind of music has to be also. I recall about Roman having a real fit about Egyptian or general "eastern" music too.

This is also inspired by a particularly famous poem from the Book of Poetry, because despite its status as one of the Holy Scriptures(tm) it is ultimately a compendium of folk songs too, but I'm already ruining the joke by explaining this too much hahaha