Thanks everyone for stopping by! Been a bit slower since I've been a bit busy with work, though we are staying fairly active in Discord and we continue grinding as usual!

Term 4

Did a few exercices and doodles out of Term 4 for practice

Tried a different approach for these next gestures. Tried to imitate a fellow artist, by skipping construction and focusing on outline and lines. It was interesting, since you have to "imagine" the constrcution. I did enjoy it, and feel like an exam of what I've learned so far. Will probably try to do more of it.

And more env practice!

And also resumed the term exercices. Next is deformation/exaggeration of the body. Only did a few, but at least we’re starting to move along the art course again!

Wow putting it all together like this makes me realize I actually did more practice than I thought.

Manga

A couple more pages! Would be nice to wrap up this arc before end of year, but we’ll see how it goes.

1) Trying to show a more menacing side of Seki. Shadow is starting to overstep, and he’s not having it.
2) Captain Kraken arc is going to be quite… complicated, but we’ll get to it next year.
3) Pages are fairly simple in structure and content, it’s all about allowing the reader to get in the middle of these two, and feel the tension brewing. For whatever reason I do enjoy making these face close ups.

3 more pages left! Also got a treat that goes along with the end of this arc, hopefully we finally share it by next weekend.

Hope you all have a great week! Cheers!

Thanks @mitsuki-youko @patrycja.lerch @gregorya!!!

Still busy, but we still going at it!

Term 4

Just a couple more exercices. I think I’ll stop with body modification here, might as well start the last piece to wrap up term 4.

Also bonus doodle! Someone gone and pissed of Seki!

Manga

A couple more pages! Just one more page to go, then cover, some editing and we’re finally done with this chapter. Took forever due to the October event.

1) Seki trying to seem intimidating. Shadow doesn’t seem all that surprised. Some unspoken stuff going on here.

2) Shadow’s final parting words are meant to confirm he was indeed the one to help Seki, for as of yet unknown reasons. It’s ambiguous enough that it could just be him underestimating Seki, but given the context the reader has, it’s bound to mean something more. Why is Seki “stupid”? Just him being condescending? Or is it because Seki is playing according to his plans? Or because Seki is chewing more than he can handle?

3) Seki on the other hand, might not be the brightest character around, but he does seem to understand more than is being said. The fact he just let’s Shadow leave implies a certain degree of respect, perhaps out of being grateful, but letting go a potential menace could be stupid to some people. As I mentioned, there’s a bit more going on that will hopefully be communicated by their attitudes more so than what they are saying.

That’s it for now! Getting into the holidays, and decided to participate in yet another event. Only two pieces to do though, but considerably more complex than previous ones. Will probably post them until after the holidays.

Hope everyone is doing well! Have a great week! Cheers!

Feels like it's been forever!

NGL, I feel it's becoming increasingly hard to keep up with social media. Might have to take a break from posting everywhere. Not that I'll stop arting, Nozomu, or posting, will probably just need to dial it back a bit.

I AM quite active on discord though, so if you ever want to hit me up, you know where to reach out and find me.

On an unrelated point, I'll be heading out on vacations next monday, so I'll be out of touch for a while. Some nice relaxing at the beach after a crazy year of work and happenings. Looking forward to it!

Term 4

Final work for Term 4! Draw yourself as a superhero! It doesn't need to be an existing one, but someone at some point said I kinda looked like peter parker, so here we go.

I actually ended up doing this one twice, since the first version looked pretty bad.

And with this, we're finally done with Term 4 completely!!!

It took a whole year, but we're finally done! Here's a recap down memory lane!

Man looking at all like this is crazy. I've loved every minute of it, even if it was very challenging at times. Still a long way to go though.

Manga

Final page of chapter 32 is done!

1) Seki's words seem to make sense given the conversation he just had with Shadow, but it's also intended as a message to the reader, on how things are about to get more exciting, and also for myself, as there are milestones and some work ahead that is sure to be quite challenging.

2) Orignally this WAS the final page of the first arc. Currently, there is one final epilogue planned of just a few pages. I was hoping to do it before end of year, but given the schedule it will probably happen during January.

3) The castle at the distance is also set to hint at more stuff to come. So far, things have been kind of simple, but with the next arc, we'll start expanding the roaster as well as settings and events.

With this, I now need to work on the cover art, translation, editing and all the good stuff.

Something fun to leave here for everyone before I leave on vacations though. The short story "Hero" I've been talking about in previous posts:

https://discord.com/channels/1249196482217902100/1285633889959809085/1310429387782361151

Copied from the main post:

"For those new to Nozomu, or still going through the main manga storyline, you can just pick up and read this side story, which acts as a prologue to the main story. No context is needed. Hope you enjoy it!

For those who are already caught up with the available Nozomu material. “Hero” Takes place during Seki’s training days, at least a year before he arrived to the port of Rabban in chapter 1 of Nozomu, though there is no concrete timeframe at the moment. It also gives a bit more context to Nozomu chapter 29, which might have seemed a bit strange without knowing the background of some events that transpired here.

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Originally conceived as the screenplay for a manga one shot, it was further developed into a slightly longer story and established as an important episode in Seki’s training days.
Currently, it’s planned to be included as a bonus as part of Nozomu’s first volume compilation.

There are still a few things pending to work. I’ll be adding notes to this post as this little side project continues to be developed to highlight any updates done. "

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And finally, a little Naoko drawing

And a bit of her backstory:

A lady-in-waiting to princess Akami.
She was taken from her family at an early age as a “candidate”, forced to battle against others for the “honor” to serve and protect the princess (including Chloe). She showed proficiency for the ninjutsu arts, and eventually was chosen. A simple girl at heart, she yearned for her freedom, and initially resented the princess. However as they grew together, she came to know the princess like no one else, and came to admire and care for her, even if her masters made sure she always remembered her place and duty.

Eventually she was forced to escape and leave the hidden village after being framed for an assassination attempt against the princess by “humans”, led by her own original family members. An attempt she thwarted herself.

In time, she found Makena and Lydia, who protected and helped her, something no one had ever done for her before. She now follows them, seeing in them the family she never really had.

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As usual, all feedback is welcome! Still got so much else to do.

It'll probably be a while before I get back to post again, at the very least until next year, even though I plan to still keep lurking around as possible.

Have a good one! cheers!!!