As a super fan of the animations by Studio Ghibli, I couldn’t help but think of “My Neighbor Todoro” for this prompt! Mei was excited when she saw the seeds she planted growing, and even later in the story, Totoro made her even happier by making the seedlings grow into a tree overnight. I really loved this scene in the anime, especially the part where they all roared at the night air. It symbolized growth and freedom to me.
If you’ve never watched My Neighbor Totoro, I suggest you do!
I made use of Royal Talens Indian Ink, Unipin ink pens and Sinoart sketchbook.
Originally I sketched Mei and her sister, Satsuki, looking at the plant in fascination, then it occurred to me that Mei was the center of attention in the anime. After the sketch, I inked over a few places so as to define the shapes in the sketch.
The next step was painting! I desired a strong light source hence the shadows to the left. This was fun to paint as Mei is one of the most expressive anime character I’ve ever seen.
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