Notebook Margin Doodlings (and othersuch miscellany)

[Raiga]

Spoiler for Pointless introductory rant; skip if you wish:

So earlier this year I finally graduated from hell high school, where I used to doodle all the time all over my notes. Now I'm in college and I no longer draw the same silly doodles that I did in high school.

I draw better doodles.

So there are actually scanners on campus that you can use for free (I used one earlier, but the image got corrupted on my flash drive) but it's like on the third floor of the library and when I when there they asked me quite seriously what my business was. Gave some sort of vague answer (what am I supposed to say? "I doodled some half-naked anime girls on my notes and I wanna scan them"?). I mean, they weren't unfriendly and they let me use the scanners but it's like, the people there were all professors and grad students and stuff, doing actual work. It was dead silent. I felt a little intimidated.

Anyway it turns out my cell phone's camera is pretty... well, okay, it's still crap for normal photos, but it's surprisingly clear for close-ups. So I've essentially been using that to transfer my doodles onto my computer. Most of them I tried to enlarge and sketch over in Photoshop, failed horribly most of the time. I really miss SAI... my trial ran out, but sketching was so much easier in SAI. Of course I could pirate it but 50 bucks seems quite reasonable considering how much I love that program and considering how PS costs like 700 bucks (my version is of... arguable legitimacy).

ANYWAY I have no idea why I just wrote all that nonsense. Uh, actual relevant info... most of these, as you can tell by the lined paper (all college ruled, natch), were originally drawn a lot smaller than the photo makes them appear. Sometimes I'll use just a plain Ticonderoga but for most of these I got out my nice 0.3 mm mechanical pencil. Also, all of them are going to be slightly inaccurate, since, well, when I'm in class I don't have any reference images on me. This is nowhere near all of my doodles, just the ones I thought came out relatively well.

The Actual Drawings
(In approximately backwards chronological order)

Spoiler for Post-its:

Mizunashi Akari and Saten Ruiko, both drawn without reference on Post-it notes with a very blunt pencil. Incidentally, I haven't done any of the tasks on these Post-its.

Spoiler for Curly Brace:

Another one, this is actually from quite a while ago, I just never took a picture.

Spoiler for Original character:

The doodle on the left is what started it, the other two I drew the next day on my physics notes, trying to refine the design a bit. I got a load more of her but these three I like best.

Spoiler for Mecha Musume:

Spoiler for Shimada Minami, gym uniform:

Bigger version

I was finishing up her right foot right as class was ending, and forgot to darken it when I got back to my dorm.

Spoiler for Happy loli is happy:

Bigger version
"ne" unrelated. No character in particular.

Spoiler for Shinobu:

Bigger version
The way the pose came out she kinda needed something to lean on, so I figured, there -are- a bunch of random desks and chairs scattered around Oshino's place, so why not... her fingers are a lot messier than I remember them being (then again, this is still a really small space I'm working in...)

Spoiler for Curly Brace:

If you haven't already, go play Cave Story.

Spoiler for Miku in the snow:

Bigger version
Prospective sketch for my entry into the November/December Artist of the Month contest (theme: scarves).

Spoiler for Minami-chan:

Bigger version

"Uchi no koto wo aishiteru tte, itte mite?"

Spoiler for Shana:

The solution is e^e^x + C.

Spoiler for Shanya:

Nya~

Spoiler for Oto mo nai sekai ni egakidasu...:

Bigger version

Zetsubou, kibou, kousa suru...

Spoiler for Shana (x3):

Standing there next to a bunch of integrals and generally being moe. <3 Shana


I got back to my dorm and checked the illustration by Itou Noiji and apparently she's supposed to be wearing a lot more bandages than that. Wishful thinking on my part?


The picture doesn't capture the detail in the eyes, but then again I can't claim the original eyes looked much better. I tried to do those thick downward eyelashes you see in manga but when you're working in a space about two centimeter square, it sort of crowds in with the other details...

Spoiler for Flying:

First let me say I'm really surprised at how clear that picture came out. You can tell by the lines on the paper, this is about half the size of my other doodles, yet it's remarkably sharp. So yeah, Osaka flies. I realize now she's missing a sock (then again, for Osaka, I wouldn't be surprised) but I can't really correct that... you see, it was really windy today so I drew this right in the middle of a piece of paper, folded it into a paper airplane, and tossed it out the window, hoping to make somebody's day (it almost made me late for class, I'll tell you that). If you found the airplane and by some freak coincidence are reading this topic, I dunno, say hi?

Spoiler for Doko e itta no?:

I drew this during Frontiers of Science lecture. Frontiers of Science is pointless. It's science for liberal arts majors. I don't take a single note during class and I still get hundreds on the quizzes.

So you can probably tell, I forgot how to draw her boots. That, and the bottom of the paper was actually right there, about half a centimeter from where I cropped the image. Also, I didn't shade the inside of her cloak (speaking of which, I suck at drawing cloaks. Such a big piece of cloth... how the hell does it flow...) and the more I look at her hip, the weirder it looks.

Spoiler for Pre-parade:

Bigger version

Pu-re-pu-re-pu-re-pa!

Actually not doodled on notes this time.

Some Digital Stuffs

Spoiler for New Years (kinda NSFW):

Higher resolution

Spoiler for Bloody Konata:

Full resolution.

I was trying to draw Baccano characters when my playlist started playing "True My Heart." So I said, "What? I can't draw knife murderers with this music on. If I try it'll end up looking like Lucky Star." And it did.

Spoiler for Setsuna Star:

I love this song. I love Miku. Lots of love all around.

Spoiler for Staple stable:

So while drawing this I realized that I suck at drawing skirts. Therefore, nowadays whenever I see a girl walking around campus wearing a skirt, I follow her around to observe it. A couple restraining orders is nothing for the sake of art!

I really wish I still had SAI. I mean, I still love Photoshop too, but SAI had so many things that were just what I needed... why do I sound like I'm talking about past lovers or something, anyhow...

Spoiler for Nekomimi Pirate:

See, this is why I love SAI. This was drawn entirely digitally, from sketch to completion, and you know how long it took me? About two hours. Total.

So, funny story about this one, at some point somewhere someone I knew suggested the idea of pirates with cat ears, so naturally, just as anybody else would do, I stopped what I was doing and went off and actually drew a pirate with cat ears. I'm remarkably satisfied with this drawing as well as my decision.

I also have this CG of Nono from Diebuster... which I spent hours working on the lineart for, and then once I'd filled in the base colors, I suddenly lost all motivation to finish coloring it. I really want to finish it, but... so much work...

[Daniel E.]

Good to see that you finally started your thread here!

I remember the Hitagi one from the Bake image thread, but the rest are all new to me.

And.....

Originally Posted by Raiga

So while drawing this I realized that I suck at drawing skirts. Therefore, nowadays whenever I see a girl walking around campus wearing a skirt, I follow her around to observe it. A couple restraining orders is nothing for the sake of art!

[Raiga]

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

Kidding, kidding.

... or am I?

I have been working on the skirts though. Speaking of which:

Spoiler for Taiga:

Bigger version

This one I actually drew in my sketchbook on my own time, so yes, reference was used. I could have looked up how to write "Aisaka" in about two seconds but I was too lazy. :\

In response to any perceived preference for Kugimiya Rie tsundere characters, shut up! I-it's not like I'm doing it for your sake!

[Daniel E.]

Like this grown up version lots!

Gonna add colors in the future?

[Raiga]

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

Like this grown up version lots!

Gonna add colors in the future?

Er, I forgot to mention in my previous post that she came out looking rather older than I'd intended. What I get for keeping strict figure construction, I guess... probably a no on the color, since I already shaded it.

So, anybody heard of the Vocaloid composer apple41? Probably my second favorite Vocaloid composer (first is supercell of course). Anyway, go ahead and listen to this while you read the rest of my verbage. Or just watch the pretty PV and skip reading the following paragraphs. Up to you.

The day I found out about him I ended up downloading three of his songs, all of which I later wrote translations for. Well, Puzzle was about average in terms of translation difficulty, and sing2song was mercifully short and simple, because Setsuna Star was an absolute pain to translate but so totally worth it, since I love the lyrics.

Uh, it's probably gonna sound a little stupid when I describe it, but the lyrics are basically like this imagery of somebody leaping off into outer space to find their loved one... and stuff like sparkling lights and defying gravity and... I dunno, but it's beautiful, take my word for it.

So the reason I mentioned all that is today I spent all of lecture drawing an illustration inspired by Setsuna Star. This one I do plan on coloring once I get the time.

Spoiler for Setsuna Star:

Bigger version

I need to fix the angle of her legs and the "tsu" on the side there, but otherwise that's basically what it's going to look like as I go for the final colored version.

[Raiga]

In progress, but it's gonna be something like that. I've done some of the base colors but I hid that layer set because... well, she just looks creepy half-colored. o_O Also temporarily highlighted the lineart so you can see where it is, the actual thing is a lot darker.

Two more doodles of Shana. Mostly because I've been busy and unable to watch much anime and thus don't have many characters in recent memory to fanboy over.

Spoiler for Sono ichi:

Drawn right on top of an integral! The solution is just e^e^x + C, by the way.

I really like this one, something about her pose and attitude... I might clean and color it.

Spoiler for Sono ni:

Gave it a quick color just for fun. I kinda like her better with black hair but I love the red eyes and I colored the eyes first, so...

[Daniel E.]

This may sound strange coming from me (because I don't belong to any group) but, have you consider joining the Artist group? It's all about drawings over there, wich could also bring a bit more feedback to your thread.

Oh, and Shana-cat is cute!

Or maybe it is Shana-fox?

[Raiga]

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

This may sound strange coming from me (because I don't belong to any group) but, have you consider joining the Artist group? It's all about drawings over there, wich could also bring a bit more feedback to your thread.

Oh, and Shana-cat is cute!

Or maybe it is Shana-fox?

Perhaps I shall, perhaps I shall...

Oh, and Shana-cat. XD

Spoiler for Setsuna Star (finished basically):

It still doesn't -feel- quite done but I dunno what else to do. Feedback?

[Zhaxra]

I love the Cat-Pirate! I think it has the most energy and creativity of all the images so far. She also feels the best proportionally as well. Awesome job!

[Evil Rick]

Good drawings here, I like your fanarts of Shana (specially the Shana-Fox XP)

[Raiga]

Thanks for the replies guys. ^^

So since today is my birthday and birthday = presents and presents = bows/ribbons I ended up drawing this during Calculus:

Spoiler for Could use some more ribbons but whatever:

I like how her expression came out. The rest is kinda eh, but oh well. Sidetails ftw?

[Ricky Controversy]

The expression in that last one is indeed excellent. I also like how you had the side-tail accompanying freely hanging hair all around the rest. Side-tails seem a bit tacky--in my opinion--when the whole head of hair is pulled into one. This, however, creates just the right amount of asymmetry.

[Raiga]

Spoiler for I suck at remembering uniforms:

Bigger version

There was no Frontiers of Science lecture this week. However, there was a recitation. So I still got a chance to not pay attention and draw a picture.

Shimada Minami from BakaTest. No reference = lots of incorrect details. I'm surprised that I managed to get the uniform as close to the actual thing as I did; left off the buttons (intentionally, since I wasn't sure if they were fancy buttons or sommat; turns out they were just plain circles) and forgot the breast pocket, and the skirt is the wrong kind of pleated. And her bow is too pointy. And I'm not all that great with drawing her hair. Oh yeah and her left foot is deformed.

But enough of that. I think I managed to capture her attitude decently well, at least. Also, I managed to remember how to write "shima," which makes me proud of myself.

[Raiga]

Four of them today. I should probably pay more attention in class...

Spoiler for Happy loli is happy:

Bigger version
"ne" unrelated. No character in particular.

Spoiler for Shinobu:

Bigger version
The way the pose came out she kinda needed something to lean on, so I figured, there -are- a bunch of random desks and chairs scattered around Oshino's place, so why not... her fingers are a lot messier than I remember them being (then again, this is still a really small space I'm working in...)

Spoiler for Curly Brace:

No bigger version, since it wasn't all that big a doodle to begin with. I forgot how to write doukutsu in kanji (not that I really remembered in the first place). I also dunno if I got the Katakana for Curly's name right, since I played the game in English translation and I don't recall how her Japanese name was written on Wikipedia. Aaand I just realized the top and bottom parts of her torso don't line up. That's what I get for lazy figure construction. v_v

Anyway. More people should play Cave Story. Most awesome freeware game ever.

Spoiler for Miku in the snow:

Bigger version
Prospective sketch for my entry into the next Artist of the Month contest (theme: scarves). Gonna need to blow this up and clean it up a lot, and I also want to change Miku's position relative to the pole, but overall I like how it came out.

[Raiga]

Spoiler for Gym uniform:

Bigger version

Minami-chan again. So basically for quite a while my desktop wallpaper has been that one Itou Noiji illustration of Shana tying her hair (with a background and effects added, obviously) and, I dunno, there's just something about a cute girl doing up her hair. So I essentially copied said wallpaper illustration except her arms are lower and she's holding that ribbon she uses for her oversized bow in her mouth, instead of just a normal hair tie.

Also, RIDICULOUS AMOUNTS OF CLOTH FOLDS I think I went a bit overboard there.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Raiga

Four of them today. I should probably pay more attention in class...

The first two kinda remind me of the drawings Kitsune does.

Miku in the snow is my favorite of the bunch, btw.

[Raiga]

It's been a while, hasn't it? I actually have a bunch of stuff I never took photos of as well as something I'm working on in Photoshop... maybe I'll get some of that scanned in once I'm done with finals.

Anyway I got a quick color today. I -should- have been studying for tomorrows Chem final but I'm good at Chem anyway and I have reviewed the book...

Anyway. This is what I drew today.

Spoiler for And you'll never look at Lucky Star the same way again:

Full resolution.

There's something of a story behind this one. So I was hanging out with my otaku buddies last night. And I'd been drawing pictures for my friends since it's holiday season and all that. Anyway, one of them requested two Baccano characters so I sat down with my sketchbook and some reference pics and put my playlist on shuffle.

The first song that comes on is "True My Heart" and I say, "What? I can't draw knife murderers with this music on. If I try it'll end up looking like Lucky Star."

We all agreed this was a good idea.

[Daniel E.]

Gratz on winning the Artist competition Raiga!

I wanted to vote for your entry, but the voting got closed way too fast and I didn't get a chance to.

[Raiga]

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

Gratz on winning the Artist competition Raiga!

I wanted to vote for your entry, but the voting got closed way too fast and I didn't get a chance to.

Thank you! ^^ Always glad to have your support.

Winter break is awesome, I managed to finish this in basically one day. New Years celebratory pic:

Spoiler for A little NSFW:

Higher resolution

Being naked is supposed to represent, like, a new beginning... and stuff... you know, New Years... >>;; Yes, that is my excuse.

I miss my nice LCD monitor (left it in my dorm)... my laptop monitor is kinda glarey so I can't really tell if I got the colors right. Oh well, I can't be too far off, right?

Anyway, happy soon-to-be New Year to all! ^^

[Raiga]

Recently I've gotten addicted to pixiv. In particular today I rediscovered that mecha musume are awesome.

So I tried to draw one. I'm not half as good at mechanical design as some of the folks on pixiv, but I gave it a shot. Possibly half-done, I might finish the legs but I'm out of ideas at the moment...

Spoiler for It's shaded: