Tag: anime

Body Kun Alternatives?

Over on my YouTube channel I posted a review video of some knock-off Body Kun figures and later another for the most recent run of Figma Archetype figures. Someone commented on one of them asking if there were any other figures out there similar to Body Kun that have more manga-style proportions. The Figmas are great, but they have more superhero builds and that’s not everyone’s cup of tea. If you want manga proportions from Figma, you either need to track down an earlier run of figures, which will be more expensive, or wait and see what the next run will look like.

All that aside, I responded to that user’s question with what amounted to a shrug. I really haven’t seen anything else comparable, but I also haven’t been looking that hard. I’m happy with my Figma Archetypes!

About a week after I received that comment, I coincidentally came across some art reference models on Dick Blick. Pretty sweet, right? I really wanted them to be good because I get most of my supplies from Blick and I include affiliate links (at no cost to you) whenever I list materials. Unfortunately, the figures look… wacky. The proportions are wacky, the joints are wacky, and counting all the wacky things about them won’t make the wackiness go away. They’re so wacky that I’m almost willing to waste some money to get them. Almost. 🙂

Did I Mention Wacky?

One set is called the Manga Manikins and it looks like they are no longer made (bummer!). The product page is still live on Dick Blick if you want to read about them and here’s a screenshot to check out if you don’t. They were kind enough to include two versions of the female model with different sized boobs, because I guess that’s a thing that some people needed.

If ever can find these (for some sort of reasonable price) I’ll get one in a heartbeat. Please, please give me a heads up if you see one. If Hollywood is using them (like the description says), there must be something great about them!

Now for the ones you can get. These are the Art S. Buck Anatomical Models that are described as “anatomically proportional one-sixth scale models have over 30 points of articulation”. These figures are wacky, too. They have wacky joints and big wacky heads, but are they $35 each wacky? I might grab one if I catch it on sale, because judging these things from afar really isn’t fair, right?

Good News, Everyone!

Pretty soon I’ll have a new one to review because, *GASP*, I found a REAL Body Kun for a decent price ($38)! More specifically it’s a black Body Chan (the female model) and I’m 95% it’s legit. If it’s not, you can expect a pretty awesome rant where I swear I’ll never make the mistake again (i.e. a THIRD time), but eventually I will and you can all laugh at me.

Thanks for reading! Until next time!

UPDATE!!!

The review video is live and the figure is real! Aaaaaaand there’s a special guest! Pop on over to my YouTube channel to check it out or watch here:

March 9, 2019
My First Yupo!

Yupo paper is pretty amazing. It’s a synthetic (read: not made from trees), waterproof, recyclable paper that comes in white and translucent finishes. Because of that, you can’t treat Yupo paper like regular paper. I sort of knew this before I tried it, but rather than read all about the do’s and don’ts I jumped in straight away with a Micron and some markers.

**I have a few affiliate links in this post. A quick click helps me out at no cost to you. Thanks for stopping by!**

I started out with a sketch of the little cutie Pino from Ergo Proxy. It’s a pretty simple line drawing – perfect for tracing a bunch of times and experimenting!

So cute!

I used a .01 Micron to trace the line drawing onto computer paper. Normally, I draw lots of sketchy lines when I use pens. This time I went for long, smooth lines and regretted it about half way through. I grip the pen too hard, my hand shakes – it’s not me and it shows. So I switched to a .005 Micron and used shorter strokes on some cheapo marker paper and the Yupo paper.

I did another drawing on computer paper, but didn’t color that one. The bottom left is marker paper and the bottom right is the Yupo paper.

One thing I did read about Yupo paper was that you could use watercolor on it, pretty much wash it off after, and the paper would be fine. ~~Knowing this, I tried (SO HARD) not to drag my hand through the ink or touch it at all.~~ Knowing this, I used a super-secret technique to strategically place archival fingerprints all over the drawing.

I used Prismacolor, Copic, and Winsor & Newton (W&N) brush markers to color the line drawings. Keep an eye on the big art supply websites and every once in a while you can catch a good deal on a set! For the computer paper drawing I used a #2 cool gray W&N marker to map out the shadows, then colored it in.

I love gray tones though…

I liked the effect of doing it this way, but for some reason the W&N marker didn’t play nice with the other two brands. It created a strange edge, even after giving the first layer plenty of time to dry. I also noticed that the W&N markers don’t flow as well as the Prismacolor or Copics.

The brown was too dark and I messed up the pink on the bottom. Sssssh, don’t tell!

For the marker paper I used a lighter gray because I thought the other one was a little dark. As it turns out the W&N #1 cool gray was too light, but the effect was still nice.

When it came to the Yupo paper I had a decision to make between the lighter and the darker gray. Since the permanent, archival Micron smeared so much already, I figured the lighter gray would be better. Let’s be real, I had no delusions that the markers would blend on the Yupo paper. But I really wanted to see how this would work. Spoiler alert: it was a mess.

I need a little practice. 🙂

Not only did the colors not blend at all, but they picked up the permanent, archival Micron ink and smeared it all over! I wasn’t super surprised by this, since drawing on this stuff is kind of like drawing on plastic. The paper is not absorbent at all, so layering isn’t really an option.

The colors also came out a lot lighter!

Side note: the translucent version does give you the option of using both sides to add layers/colors/etc. Mab Graves does amazing work with Yupo paper and if you don’t know her, you do now. You’re welcome!

Yupo paper is pricey, but the good news is that you can play with it and wipe it pretty much clean if you don’t like the result. Obviously some media and colors will stain, but that just adds character, right? The flip side of that is if you want to preserve your masterpiece it will need to fixed properly – both to protect the work and to keep the paper from yellowing.

I’m super excited to keep playing around with Yupo paper. If there’s something you want me to try, let me know in the comments.

Thank you so much for reading! Happy New Year!

December 31, 2018
Roadblocks Don’t Have to be Roadblocks

Life has weird ways of interfering with the things we want to do. Roadblocks happen all the time. Sometimes they seem to be everywhere, sapping energy, joy, and inspiration. Ugh. That’s a bleak start to a blog isn’t it? But it’s kind of how the last week or so has been. Lots of effort (or maybe not nearly enough?) and not much to show for it. This first paragraph is even a stretch. I’m saying I’m sorry now because I know it’s not my best.

So what can we do when are just – blah?

I can tell you that a couple of days ago I was so tired I just lumped on the couch and binged a few episodes of Attack on Titan, occasionally glancing over at my sketchbook on the drafting table. It was a horrible feeling, like I just couldn’t handle getting up to do even a *little* bit of sketching. I knew physically I was capable, but it didn’t happen. I fell asleep early and woke up feeling… not at all better. Yeah, I know. You totally feel bad for me now. 🙂

Atsushi Nakajima referenced straight from the Bungou Stray Dogs manga!

This next day was different though. As icky blah as I was feeling the following evening (my only time to work on any art during the week), I did a little drawing. It was just a bit of work on a drawing of Atsushi Nakajima (Bungou Stray Dogs) I started the week before, but it was something! And I think that’s the key to these types of roadblocks – or at least part of it. Something is better than nothing. A squiggle, a few lines, a small start – something that could be built on later. Or not. But it’s something!

Got a bit more done on Atsushi. One more sitting should do it!

There’s something important to remember, though, and it deals with part two. We all have those days where stuff doesn’t get done for one reason or another. Sometimes being tired is a perfectly ok excuse! Feeling bad about it doesn’t change anything. Guilt doesn’t make roadblocks go away – moving on does. It can start with a small bit of progress on a tough day or by taking a little time to check out mentally. Neither one of those things is wrong!

The blah isn’t totally gone, but taking a day off from work definitely helped. Just thinking about having the better part of a day with the house to myself was super relaxing! The night before I worked on a bunch of jewelry and poured a painting and still had a little time to play some video games with my kid.

The day off is being spent working on whatever I feel like working on because it’s right now and the first thing I’m doing is finishing this blog post. I plan to finish Atsushi later this morning, but I’m not going to beat myself up if I don’t. Maybe I’ll take a nap or do a little painting. Whatever happens after I hit publish, I’m moving on from those roadblocks.

Thanks for reading! Until next time!

P.S. If you want to see my stuff as soon as it’s done, check out my Twitter. Thanks! You’re the best!

***UPDATE***

September 30:

I finished it. 🙂

Atsushi Nakajima is all done, but this won’t be the last time I draw him!

September 28, 2018
Confession Time!!

I’ve been a One Piece for a long time now. There. I said it. Not that it’s really admitting to anything, but I remember the days when liking any anime was a particularly nerdy thing. I guess that’s hard to shake… I remember watching Sailor Moon after school (as a teenager) and if anyone came home early I immediately turned it off because no one could ever find out. Looking back, I don’t know why I cared.

But that’s not the point of all this. I recently had a pretty serious realization. I’ve been drawing since I was a kid (that’s not the realization). That’s n years of experience playing with various media and styles. Up until a few weeks ago, I had never – not once – drawn anything in an anime or manga style. Not really sure why, but it just never occurred to me. Maybe I was perfectly happy just taking it all in!

Not too long before that epic realization, I had already started playing with the style. A book was totally necessary (because I like having a physical reference) and I started drawing along with the examples. I was bored after a few pages, but still flip through it here and there, just like all of my other art books.

I know it’s easy enough to find references for free online, but I like books!

So I have some quick doodles of floating heads with different expressions, some from the book and some from my brain. Some are sober art, some involved *a touch* of wine.

Can you tell which ones are from the book? Oh, and I can totally draw figures. For realsies! I just like faces…

I got bored with that, too. Have you noticed I get bored easily?? 🙂 The only thing is I don’t know if I was really bored with it or uninspired or worse – am I just not creative? At this point it made sense to start drawing from my favorite anime and manga characters, but it’s not creative if it’s copying, right? But the copying can lead to ideas, right? And who’s to say what’s creative and what’s not? *sigh* In the future I might reusing part of that first paragraph: Looking back, I don’t know why I cared.

At first I figured I’d start drawing some characters and they’d never see the light of day because they don’t fit in with anything else I’m currently doing and that. is. STUPID. Here’s the first few.Luffy from One Piece was first. He’s my *second* favorite from that series, but he’s pretty simple to draw. It was a nice warm up and I got to remember the subtle differences in how he looked pre-timeskip.

He’s having a serious moment, ok?

Who’s my all-time favorite? Zoro. Always has been and always will be. I fangirled over Law for a short time because lots of us did (and still do), but Zoro will always be my favorite. As someone who can get lost making only right turns, I guess I can relate to the guy. He was the next one I drew (obvs).

Floating Head Goggles Zoro. <3 I also drew a girl that was supposed to have the same expression as Luffy. Success?

The face came out a little too thin for Zoro and the floating head look isn’t a good one. The paper in that sketchbook is also total garbo (it’s the “junk” book). Now I have sketchbook dedicated to anime characters and guess who’s on the first page?

Maybe I’ll add some floating heads across the bottom… (no I won’t!)

I don’t want to flood entire sections of my sketchbook with just one character or one anime, so next up was Dazai from Bungou Stray Dogs, because Dazai. 🙂

I did a little extra shading because I like to shade. And Dazai has his dramatic moments, so he deserves it. 🙂

And that’s about where I’m at right now. It’s been a busy few days (excuses, I know!), so I haven’t had much extra time. Either puck or Guts from Berserk will be next. In the meantime, and in the interest of full disclosure, please enjoy some pages from my “junk” sketchbook! (I’m going to go hide in a corner now).

Eyes and a couple of profiles from the book, followed by nonsense.

Nonsense, followed by eyes!

The face on top was already on the page, so I sort of based the other faces on it kinda?

I drew a bunch of mouths and lips. I still draw lips based on some stuff from a book on drawing comics. Then some emotions. Oh, the emotions!

Don’t ask what’s going on here. Maybe the face on the left side says it all. Honestly I think it was one of those days that I wasn’t really feeling it. We all have them. 🙂

Want to see more? Have a request? Let me know! @createm0de

Thanks for reading!

September 16, 2018