Giant Robot anime

Figure Drawing: Mountains of clothes

Hello friends!  Shiro Ninja here.  I hope you all had a nice Fourth of July.  This week Zer07 and I attended another Dr. Sketchy's figure drawing session.  As I mentioned in the last figure drawing post, the Dr. Sketchy models usually wear crazy costumes and gradually undress throughout the evening.  This session, the models started off wearing an insane amount of clothes!  The super voluminous skirts with tons of ruffles and wrinkles were especially challenging to draw, but we had lots of fun as usual.  Here are our sketches:

Shiro's gestures.  Top two: 1 min. Bottom three: 2 min

Shiro's 5 minute sketches

Shiro's 10 minute sketches

Zer07's gestures.  Left two: 1 min.  Right two: 2 min

Zer07's 5 minute sketches

Zer07's sketches.  Left: 10 min.  Right: 5 min

Adventures in Japan! Part 5: Tokyo

The final stop on our journey was Tokyo.  Our first mission was to check out the Ghibli Museum.  If you love Studio Ghibli films, then this is a very charming place to visit.  A life sized Totoro greets you at the entrance.  Inside, you can watch a Ghibli short film, exclusive only to visitors of the museum.  See concept art from your favorite Ghibli movies, sit inside a life sized cat bus, and stand next to a life sized robot from "Laputa: Castle in the Sky."

"Balse"

My favorite part of the museum is an amazing 3D zoetrope.  Tiny sculptures of Ghibli characters in a progression of poses are placed in a circle and then spun around quickly while a light strobes, giving the illusion of movement.  Girls are jumping rope while bats fly around and Totoro's friends disappear and reappear... it's quite amazing and I urge you to see it with your own eyes!

Our next stop was Akihabara, "The Electric City," and the Mecca for hardcore otaku.  We navigated through various anime themed stores and eventually found some great treasures.  Zer07 got himself some One Piece figurines and I got a One Piece stuffed animal that I've been wanting for a while:

Chopper!!  My favorite One Piece character.

After Akihabara, we met with some friends for shabu shabu in Shinjuku.  On our last day of fun, we met with some of my old friends from ninja animation school at Asakusa.

Kaminari Mon

Agemanjuu - Deep fried sweet bean pastries

Later, we explored Harajuku and were amused by the interesting use of English on shirts and signs:

Then we ended the evening with dinner in Shibuya.

What a fun adventure we had!!!  I can't wait to visit the homeland again soon.

If you missed them, be sure to check out the other parts in our Adventures in Japan series:
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Figure Drawing: Fun with Dr. Sketchy

Shiro Ninja, sanjou!  Earlier this week, Zer07 and I went to another productive figure drawing session.  Lately we've been going to "Dr. Sketchy's" figure drawing sessions, which is quite fun and at times a little risque.  The models are sometimes dressed in silly costumes ranging from bondage to chipmunk costumes, and are gradually encouraged by the Master of Ceremonies to undress.  There are contests like, "who can draw the best penis," with prizes given away throughout the night.  It's a relaxing and silly atmosphere.  The models are great, and I always feel inspired at these sessions.  Check out our sketches from this week:

Shiro Ninja:  Top left and bottom left - 5minute sketches.  Right - 10 minute sketch.

Shiro Ninja:  Top left - 10 min.  Top right - 15 min.  Bottom - 20 min.

Zer07:  Top left - 5 min.  Top right and bottom sketches - 2 min.

Zer07:  5 minute sketches

Until next time... Ninja smoke bomb!!!

3d to 2d workflow - "Use the Tools"

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Making of:

 

(For the previous post about this process click here)

Adventures in Japan! Part 4: Hakone

Private garden outside our room at Hana no Yado Fukuya inn.

What Japanese adventure is complete without a trip to some hot springs?? After all that exploring and walking around outside in the freezing cold, we were definitely ready for a relaxing dip in Hakone's famous hot springs. We took a long, winding bus ride to our "ryokan" (Japanese style inn) called, "Hana no Yado Fukuya," nestled away in some woods, surrounded by beautiful Japanese gardens, and overlooking a picturesque lake. Upon arrival, we were treated like royalty. We were immediately served tea and treats and encouraged to take advantage of the baths. Most ryokans have communal baths, as did this particular one, but we also had a very special room with a private "rotenburo" (outdoor bath).
Most ryokans provide "yukata," as pajamas (a light, cotton kimono). Zer07 had never seen me in a yukata, so he convinced me to dress up in one of the pretty ones the ryokan had to offer:

Zer07 also dressed in the pajamas provided. Our hostess told him he didn't need to wear the "obi" (belt) because he looked like he was about to do some judo, but Zer07 insisted on wearing it this way:


After learning that we were huge anime fans, our hostess brought us some special gifts and proceeded to share a bit of fascinating trivia with us! You may be familiar with the series, "Neon Genesis Evangelion," but did you know that this story is supposed to take place in a real place in Japan? Yes, it takes place in none other than Hakone!

(Map shows where Nerv Headquarters is located as well as all the other key locations in the story.)

Our hostess then proceeded to serve us an elegantly arranged 10 course traditional Japanese dinner! I should have taken pictures of the beautiful and delicious food!! (>o<) I ate fugu (blow fish) for the first time, and survived! It was such a special treat to stay at Hana no Yado Fukuya. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was relaxing. I hope to visit this ryokan again sometime!!

The next day we were served a wonderful traditional breakfast, then we left Hana no Yado Fukuya to go explore Hakone Sekisho. Hakone Sekisho was a border checkpoint located along the main road between Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto. One of the main roles of Hakone sekisho was to control 'incoming guns and outgoing women', which means to prevent weapons from being brought into Edo and wives and children of feudal lords from fleeing from Edo.
Feeling rejuvenated from the hot springs, we moved on to Tokyo...

(to be continued...)

Check out the previous chapters of Adventures in Japan:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Figure Drawing: Devil vs. Angel

Greetings friends! This week's figuring drawing theme was "Devil vs. Angel." Our model did poses that ranged from naughty to nice. I've been trying to pay close attention to shadows, but this unfortunately leaves me with incomplete drawings at times! I'm also trying to observe cloth and the way it wrinkles and flows. Check out this session's sketches:

Zer07's 2 minute gesture drawings:

Zer07's 5 minute sketches:

Shiro Ninja's 5 minute sketches:

Nin nin!