So since my first experience with working in Illustrator (which you can check out here), I decided to dive a little deeper into the program. Since then, I've made two more pieces of art, and thought I'd take the time to talk about each one.
1. Elekid
Definitely my favorite pokemon. Whenever I start a new pokemon game, I always make sure that I have an Elekid in my party. The basic color pallete combined with a simple yet unique design are what I look for most in small non-human characters.
What Went Well
Unlike when I made Kirby in Illustrator, I think I primarily used the pen tool to make some of the more complex shapes. Specifically, I used it to make the arms and the horns, and I think both of them came out pretty well.
What Went Not So Well
I had some issues with properly positioning the shadows, and making sure they didn't overlap the strokes of the main shapes. Thankfully, it's not too bad.
2. Chopper From "One Piece"
There's a lot of reasons why Chopper is my favorite One Piece character: he's funny, has an interesting backstory, and of course, has an adorable design. After the last two characters that I made, I knew I wanted to make a character that had a bit more complexity, but still fit the bill of what I like to design, so Chopper was the winner.
What Went Well
After my struggles with shading on Elekid, I decided to do some research on how to do it properly. The solution was pretty simple; just change the transparency settings, and the shapes will go behind the strokes of other shapes. Using that, I made sure that shading on Chopper was a bit more proper. I'm also pretty happy with the design of the horns.
What Went Not So Well
Even though doing shading from a technical standpoint became easier, I think I need to improve on shading from an artistic standpoint. There are times when I feel like some shading choices I make contradict each other, and that might've happened here with the underarm shading. I think I just need more practice, so I'll probably look at more reference in the future.
Hopefully, I'll be posting more art in the future, so make sure to look out for the next art blog.
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