FF7 Cid
Hello again, friends. I bring you art.
I have had a bit of a creative block lately. I have a very hard time pushing out any type of creative work. Which is why when i sat down and forced myself to draw a submission for the current Comic Art Club theme, Final Fantasy, i wasn`t expecting much. The point was just to put something, ANYthing out, and hopefully it would turn out okay.
The first challenge was choosing a character within the theme. I have only ever played FF7, so even though some of the other games had familiar characters it made sense to chose one from that one. I was almost tacky and picked Sephiroth, for lack of inspiration, but thankfully a friend reminded me of Cid. Then i decided to draw the character design used for the Advent Children movie, instead of the game. It just seemed more realistic. I picked my model for facial features, Sean Bean. Ready to go, i sketch out my Cid.
I paused and looked at this. Holy shit i`m super happy with it! The age lines are just right, the beard stubble is light but visible, even the clothing falls naturally, something i sometimes have issues with.
I was not expecting this.
Suddenly i`m invested in this piece.
I decide to scan it after each completed step (sketch, ink, color) to make sure i can keep a version i am happy with should i screw up somewhere down the line.
My next difficult decision; do i ink this out and then color it with my trusty markers, or do i continue with my wooden pencil thing.
I decide i`m not yet comfortable or confident enough in my wooden pencil skills to finish this piece in the way i want to be proud of. Markers it is.
I pull out my brush pen to ink out my sketch. This pen is still challenging to me, as it`s fine ass tip is so tiny it is sensible to the smallest vibrations that go through your hand or arm. As soon as you touch paper you better be committed to that line and nothing else. I was fully prepared to fuck this up, so i was thankful i thought of scanning the sketch already.
I`m not certain which planets aligned that day but i managed to do my best ink job with this brush pen yet. Even the few lines i had to go over twice were done properly. Well, for me, that is.
The only thing i have to reproach myself is the damned goggles. I don`t know what i was doing when i inked them, but i managed to warp the shape on the left side, now it doesn`t look right.
However i`m so happy with the rest of the job that i don`t dwell.
I decide not to ink the stubble, as it would be too bold done in black, and hope i don`t fuck it up with markers.
Oh my fucking Lord i did a good job on markers as well.
The texture on the clothing is great, so is the shading. Skin looks good, very happy with the hair.
And the stubble! I did it just the way i pictured it in my head, what the fuck!
If i try to ignore the left side of the goggles, this is what i`ve been trying to achieve with my brush pen and markers. I have arrived.
This has never happened to me before. I want to remember this piece as the moment i realized that yes, i can trust my skills with this medium to properly relate an image i have in my head.
I was giddy for the rest of the afternoon.
Problem is, now i`m blocked again >.<
