Kenshin's Sabakato- My Entry for HivePH Art Challenge Week 3

jloberiza(62)

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October 19,2022,

Greetings Hivers, especially my fellow Pinoys. It's the second week of of HivePH's Art Challenge.
In the first week of the challenge, I made a rendition of Kenshin Himura for the Anime Character Prompt.

For this week's prompt. I decided to draw another rendition of Kenshin Himura for the prompt "Sharp"

Why Kenshin Again?

One thing peculiar about Kenshin Himura is his "sabakato" or reverse-edge sword. Meaning the sharp edge of the sword is facing the wielder. That makes drawing the sword a bit more challenging. How can I show that the sharp edge of the sword if facing the wielder?

Kenshin's Sabakato

The Process

Note: I posted part of this process in my article in read.cash (https://read.cash/@JLoberiza/working-on-another-rendition-of-kenshin-b58c2667)

The Sketch
I started with the sketch. I did this last Saturday. I spent about two-three hours on this sketch.
Then I turned the sketch layer into blue and reduced it's opacity. This way I can trace the outline on another layer.

The Outline Layers

I started tracing the outline. Normally, I will do all the outline in just one layer. However, I wanted to try something new.
As you can see, I did not trace the hand yet. I decided to create another layer for the hand's outline.

Coloring

I colored the katana first. I did not include the 'ito' or the wrappings of the handle first. I wanted to add that later on a different layer.

I erased some lines of the sword where the finger overlaps. Then I started coloring the rest of the skin and the hair

As I mentioned above, the challenge in drawing the sabakato is, how to show that the sharp-edge of the blade is facing the wielder of the sword. Thus the name sabakato or reverse-edged sword.

Adding More Details

I added some dark streaks on the hair. I added another layer where I can work on the details of the ito or wrappings.

I added more layers for the darker shade of the character and other objects.

This way, I was able to add more details on the wrappings and the metalic look on the blade.

Adding The Background and Finishing Up.

I added new layers for the background. I wanted a sunset scene to add some emotion.
I also made some modifications on the hair and added more details.
I tried several variations until I decided on this.

I also tried the fluffy brush that I recently downloaded to make the clouds.

I only used thin lines for the outline, but I wanted to what it looked like without an outline. Though the dark and light shades gave it still some definition, I wasn't satisfied.
Then I went for the middle. I reduced the opacity of the outline.