Dear Kamiko (Color)

Dear Kamiko Original Sketch

I drew Dear Kamiko back in October of 2015 and only recently did I get around to coloring it.

Pencil to Ink to Colors...

It's pretty straightforward putting this drawing together.

I inked it in Manga Studio over the course of two nights. There were a bunch of corrections I made. There were some issues with her heels. Her legs looked out of place when they were done and I slimmed them down so they were more in proportion with each other. Of course, there was a lot of time spent detailing the lace on her blouse. I had some petticoat showing along the hem of her skirt, but I took that out too.

Doing flats is easy once you have the inks down. Shading is done by selecting the flatted parts and then giving a cel-shaded treatment.

The pinstripe pattern was simple to create. On a new layer, I created a thick white line with a thinner red line in the middle. I cut the ends off. That line is duplicated until I got a nice square of the texture and then I could bring it into painting. Using Clip Paint Studio's mesh transform tool I was able to rotate and warp the texture into place around her waist -- the pattern comes in at 45 degrees. I did the same with the skirt.

Here's a closeup of the detail on her blouse, skirt waist, cuffs, and books.

I like the design of this outfit. It looked very smart and astute, and perfect for someone like Kamiko. Plus, it's simple to draw, so if I wanted to use it for a comic story, it wouldn't break my hand trying to draw it -- I might revise the blouse's ruffles and the heels.

I'm also trying out the idea of her hair not being so dark, since I asked myself what would she look like in color. It's that highlighted Asian light brown look. The comic itself will never be in color, so these are the few times you'll see her like this.

By the way, the ribbon in her pocket is a reference to the red thread of destiny. Not the first time she's been depicted with it.

Here's the original dress by Dear Celine for comparison (I don't think you can actually buy this outfit anymore, probably sold out):

More art coming this summer... The comic maybe winding down, but there's still much to do.