'Mud'st go on, Takua was an odd little idea that came to mind after "star153", someone on Deviant Art, requested for a picture of Takua and Jaller in ankle deep mud. After looking at their favorites, it was apparent star153 is someone in Brittan who has a fetish for pictures relating to the subject of characters in such a situation.
At first I wasn't sure if I felt like making a sketch, but the more I thought about it, the more amusing the idea became. I didn't just imagine these two standing in the mud, but rather saw them drudging through it.
It became a silly idea of where all they may have traveled during their mask of light quest, and in a jungle there's bound to be swampy terrain. After creating a sloppy pencil sketch of this idea, I proceeded to think up dialogue for these two.
My layout of the idea was a quick and scratchy thumbnail in my sketchbook (left), and then I did a digital overlay on the photograph to better define the shapes of the characters (right). I find the base sketch before the actual outlining to be just a tad bit more charming than the final result.
At first I wasn't sure if I felt like making a sketch, but the more I thought about it, the more amusing the idea became. I didn't just imagine these two standing in the mud, but rather saw them drudging through it.
It became a silly idea of where all they may have traveled during their mask of light quest, and in a jungle there's bound to be swampy terrain. After creating a sloppy pencil sketch of this idea, I proceeded to think up dialogue for these two.
Takua: "Are you sure that thing is working right?"
Jaller: "If the real herald had it, we wouldn't be in this mess."
Takua: "You're doing fine, but if we're on the right path, that mask has a strange sense of humor."
Jaller: "What's the matter, Takua, I thought you liked having adventures."
Takua: >:(
When first imagining the concept, I saw it in black and white more so than color in my head, which is a bit uncommon for me. I made the picture in color first, then decided to make it black and white just to see it the way I imagined it.
Making it black and white is like looking at a photograph from the past, a record of the chroniclers possible adventures which are now placed in stone and faded in memory.
A bit of trivia about the piece: I created some of my own brushes for making odd cattails, swamp grasses, trees, and leaves. The background beyond the trees was a section of an actual watercolor texture I did. It seemed convenient and quick for this simple project.
