Sexy Fan Art

[lydamorehouse]

I have two versions of this newest bit of fan art.  First, the sketch, and then the colored piece.  I like them both for different reasons.  I also have to note that this is one of the fist times I drew a picture of Renji based SOLELY on the image in my head.  I didn't even borrow the body from someone else.  This is kind of a big step for me, and I'm ridiculously proud of the results (so if my perspective is off, don't tell me.  I want to bask in the glory for a while.)



So here's the sketch.  This is my boy Renji and the externalization of his zanpaktou, Zabimaru.  Zabimaru is a nue demon, which is described on Wikipedia as a demon who has the arms and legs of a tiger, the body of a tanuki, the head of a monkey and the tail of a snake.  Kubo-sensei, however, has always drawn Zabimaru as looking mostly like an albino gorrilla with a snake-head tail.  Renji, interestingly, has chosen to tattoo his arms with tiger stripes (he also has them on his legs), and he's from a district in the Soul Society called "Hang Dog," Inuzuri, and always gets harrassed for being a dog (which seems to be the same sort of insult to the Japanese as it would be in English to an American)--of course, the ony NATIVE dog to Japan is the tanuki. 

Now for the colored version of the same:



This image was inspired by my own fan fiction again, I have to admit.  This time from a scene in which our hero is contemplating his relationship with his captain and getting some advice from his zanpaktou.  If you're curious, you can check out:  http://archiveofourown.org/works/487390

I hope you enjoy!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

小柄な女性と大きなぺにすというのは、エッチよね。

[pineapplechild.livejournal.com]

You know, I think I like your Renji sans heavy referencing better then vice versa.
(Although, I am very jealous that you managed to make Zabimaru not look like an angry goat.)

[lydamorehouse]

Zabimaru is HARD. I think the key might be in the shoulders. Those are baboon/ape shoulders...

At any rate, I might agree with you. This is why I always take pictures of my sketches, in case I end up disppointed in the finished work for whatever reason. I don't think the colored one is bad, but Renji's face changed a little with definition as did Zabi's I think. But, I have a couple of good shots of the sketch, so I'm happy regardless.

[ragingpie.livejournal.com]

Hello! Guen here, from AO3. I love this picture! This is one of the few scenes that I had difficulty seeing in my head. "Well I get that he's resting on Zabimaru, but how are they positioned so that he can talk to the head and tail?" Now it makes sense!

Don't feel weird about making fan art based upon your fan fic. Think of it as step one towards becoming a mangaka. ;) Renji and Zabimaru look great!

[lydamorehouse]

Hey, Guen! Nice to meet somewhere besides AO3! I'm glad you liked my art...part of the visualization problem you had might be partly due to the fact that I'm never quite sure how big Zabimaru is... He might actually be too big here (or maybe too small.)

I don't know.

:-)

I've actually always wanted to be a comic book artist, back before I knew about Manga. But, reading BAKUMAN makes me think it's way too much work! Too much pressure! :-)