Art Bonkura Experiments Gankutsuou

[Katana]

[size=1][color=royalblue]I recently discovered the wonders of an anime called "Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo". Haven't seen it, mind you, but I read an article in Anime Insider that had an interview with the...producer? Director? Creator? Don't remember. I'm lazy, bite me.
Anyways, this anime utizlizes a crazy, bold, and just plain freakin' awesome coloring/pattern system. To me, it's like basically taking bolts of fabric with different designs and plastering them onto an article of clothing.

Examples of the anime can be seen [url=http://www.gankutsuou.com/production/gallery/images/img06.jpg][here][/url], [url=http://www.aii.co.jp/contents/b-ch/gankutsuou/img/screen.jpg][here][/url], and [url=http://blog.rodtv.com/images/anime/gankutsuou/episode_12/gankutsuou_(epi_12)003.jpg][here][/url]. You get the basic idea of the design, don't you?

Well, I've decided to be inspiried by this style, so I've been praticing. Some are cool, some are kinda like "uh..." and others, you just kinda remain silent to be nice. = =;; It's the evolution, and it's not done here.

The whole point of this is so that, whenever me and my friend (Aiyanna) decide to get off our lazy butts and make a manga for Tokyopop's "Rising Stars of Manga" competition, we won't have to shell out money for screentones and inks. We're poor and only freshman in high school.

You gotta love Photoshop.

[b]The Beginning: Phase 0[/b]
To get a feel for the style, I just put it as a background. Just to get used to it.
[img]http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/9563/musictakesmehigher8pd.jpg[/img]

[b]The Beginning: Phase 1[/b]
The above led to [url=http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/7347/gankutsuoustyle8jw.jpg]this[/url] sucker. The base image was drawn in MS Paint, and created after a MegaTokyo splurge (notice Largo reference in the hair). It was simply dubbed "j00" and I got on with my life.

[b]The Beginning: Phase 1.5[/b]
Now we have the style established. Now we have some feel. So now, we move on to a drawing Katana here actually drew. By hand. (Mechanical pencil, 0.7mm lead/graphite.)
[url=http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/2443/senka3pg.jpg]this is Senka Hjorrids[/url] *coughDivineKinshipcough*, my land pirate. A land pirate - a term I made up. It's a pirate with no boat. - -;; She's got horribly cool fashion taste, different colored eyes (I don't even know if that's possible in humans, I've been meaning to ask my biology teacher that), and a weird sense of humor. She's slick, cool, and a moron.

I look back and kinda go "eh". The pictures have become much better since the beginning, I think.

More to come, my fellow bonkuras, more to come.[/color][/size]

[Dagger]

Haha, this is a really cool idea. (And when you do get to see the show... you can post about it [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=43220&page=2][u]here[/u][/url]! ;) )

I don't quite like the background elements in the Gravitation piece, mainly because they don't mesh with Shuichi and the glowy/blurry thing he has going on. As for the drawings, I'd suggest using bolder patterns--both of them have a soft, almost watercolor-ish pallor to them.

If you're trying to emulate Gankutusou's style, it would help greatly to use stronger, more recognizable cloth/fabric designs for clothing, as well as some kind of distinct pattern for the hair (more like in the Paint drawing, although the pattern there is kind of weak). Your second picture has a little bit of this, but it's too faded to make much of an impact.

And remember that because it's so busy visually, Gankutusou lives or dies by its clarity--the more patterns you use and the more attention-grabbing they are, the more important it'll be for the image to have a certain sharpness and coherency to it.

~Dagger~

[Delta]

[COLOR=#656448][SIZE=1]^ Seconded. And drawing in more solid, colored outlines won't hurt either. It looks like you're on the right track; I can already sense vestiges of the show's style from the first picture alone!

I really, really love the red/white background you used in the first picture! It reminds me of all things sinister yet elegant (very good!). The honeycomb pattern is also excellent and apt for the character's wings.

It seems that you went for a grungier effect in the second piece. I like the mood set by the character's stance, and her eyes are very much like the Count's indeed (I'm pretty sure the girl from [i]Blue Crush[/i] had different-colored eyes so I guess it's possible!). Although I do appreciate the multitude of patterns in this one, the colors are not so bright or vivid as those in Gankutsuou. Perhaps you should try using stronger, more colorful patterns (like that in Haydee's hair) as Dagger suggested and fill the individual shapes with a distinct pattern each.[/SIZE][/COLOR]