Coloring pencils: Sailor Chibi Moon

Last year, I and Gabi Xavier (collaborator here on the blog) worked on the project Sailor Drops. Anyone who is already a blog reader should probably have decorated the whole story, but if you are new here, welcome and get to know the entire Sailors project starting with the first post . All my Sailors were painted with crayons, and in the last six I used watercolor in the background. Sailor Chibi Moon was the one I used to record my entire painting process.

Since my skills in video addition are somewhat limited (and there is no resource available to pay for the publisher), it took me a while to make this material available. But today, finally, I will be able to show how I painted the 5 main Sailors of the series, and also to Chibi, using traditional techniques .

In the image above we have the sketch that I passed for the definitive paper using decal from my own sketch (could be table light). I usually sketch in smaller paper weights, until I get into the composition that pleases me, and then I move the basic shapes to the final paper. From there, I redesign everything in detail, still with very light traces, and adjust everything that possibly lacked in the previous studies.

First step: crayons

I like to start with the main drawing , which in this case is the face, the hair (♥), going to the skin and the clothes. I always set the color palette before I start , and I try to use only the selected colors throughout the painting.

I supposed to leave to add sparkles at the end, but, it bothers me a bit to see unfinished eyes. So, I already got the white Posca and made some sparkles in my eyes and accessories here (before I even started the background):

Second stage: background with watercolor

The background is the funniest part, although I did not feel very safe doing it in this role (totally unsuitable for watercolor, a completely smooth double-face, like the sulfite texture). As the paint dried very fast, staining easily, I had to beat my records of quick watering. Thankfully, afterwards some little stars in the background help a lot to disguise the spots.

The most important finding I have made with this work is that if the colored pencil parts are sufficiently saturated (when you pass so many layers of pencils that nothing else on the paper is visible through this painting), the watercolor does not normally stick to them . That is, I can pass my water over the hair of Chibi, quietly, and then remove the watercolor with a handkerchief.

Knowing this has almost changed my life ! For now I can make the funds without fear of overlapping parts of what I have already painted with pencils, and without the need for a mask, or of "deflecting" these elements at the risk of leaving that dark fillet between the figure and the bottom (I have nothing against this in paintings in general, but to the result that I usually look for, it really does not do).

With the background dry, I take the tape I used on the edges (just to make that white frame), and I went around the moon (in the sky) and the other moon (symbol behind) to make them more evident. I was not sure if this yellow would work for this pink palette, but in the end, I liked the result, it was a good complement.

At the end, the table is not very organized, or clean (picture below). Especially with the last stage of the background, which is the white paint splattered with a toothbrush to make the stars. It is good to protect everything that should not have stars before doing this (in the video of the end you can see better).