I adore your artwork as much as I cherish Princess Tutu!!! <3
If I may ask, what is your art program?
How many layers do you use, or do you prefer to simply wing it all in one go? What is your preferred canvas size and also DPI for said canvas? Have you thought of publishing speedpaints?
Sending lots of love and positive energy your way!
Thank you very much! Sending the same your way as well. I put my answers to all the technical stuff under the cut because they ended up being really long. But, in general, I'm still learning and trying to figure stuff out, so I wouldn't say anything I'm doing is correct đ . I already have plenty of things I want to fix in my most recent post, plus there's a lot of stuff I have to change when I draw it again (like the way I was drawing Fakir, because he needs to look younger and various other things. I'm trying to directly translate all of the characters' features like eye shapes, hair styles, etc. into the art style I'm using here and I don't think he looks accurate to that yet in the posts I have here). And some of the things you asked about like canvas sizes are also things I need to change, which I'll get into.
I use Photoshop, but as I know there's been a lot of Adobe drama in recent years, I'll add that I use an old version and don't use the cloud.
I draw every part with separate layers for the line art and shading so I can adjust the shading opacity later and I'm still in the beginning stages of deciding on stylization, so that way I can delete and redraw things without messing up the other parts of the drawing. So if I'm drawing a flower, I'll draw the line art, then another layer for the shading, etc. So there are for sure a lot of layers if there are a lot of objects in the drawing đ. Later on I'll usually combine a lot of the line art layers and stuff to make it easier to edit and use less RAM.
For canvas size, I guess I'll tell a cautionary tale. When I made my first post here, which was the first time I managed to actually finish a full illustration (I wouldn't still consider it finished, but bear with me), I originally intended for it to be 7200 x 7200 pixels at 300 PPI (300 DPI is the standard print resolution, so that's what I go with), which is already huge to begin with, but then it got to be 9000. But even though that size was incredibly overwhelming, I thought I'd try keeping the characters the same size in every drawing, so then my most recent post became a nightmare of 11400 x 14250 pixels. And not only was it so big that it was incredibly stressful to finish because everything took so long to draw, but because of needing to downscale it so much to post on social media, a lot of parts don't look like they're actually meant to, plus the issue of Tumblr's image compression. So some stuff will end up looking lighter, darker, blurrier, etc. So because of all of that, I'm going to try using smaller dimensions from now on. The drawing I'm working right now isn't full-body like my other ones, so I made it 3600 pixels wide (still at 300 PPI), then I'm trying to decide if I should go with 4800 pixels wide for the bigger full-body ones. I guess if that doesn't work out, up to 7200.
In terms of recording stuff, I get nervous when people watch me do anything (I can't even cook if other people are in the kitchen đ ) and drawing these big illustrations is still a new and scary thing, so a lot of the time I'm already struggling to make progress because I'm not comfortable with them yet. Plus my computer is over a decade old, so it can't handle having multiple programs open at the same time once I get far enough into a drawing. I guess if people were interested, I could take a bunch of screencaps along the way and do a shorter timelapse or step-by-step sort of thing. Or if I got a new computer I guess I could try recording a smaller part like hair or a leaf or something and see how it goes (this could also be possible once I change the file sizes, since that'll also use less RAM).
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Tutu polyphon
Around 40 characters are represented. Translations and more close-ups under the cut.
To fit with the episode 14 character NyÄjinsky (after Vaslav Nijinsky), the other real-life names are animalized as well (mostly in Japanese or English, like Gutenberg to Goosenberg, Taglioni to Toraglioni, etc.), so I included them with the German translations. And I donât speak German, so feel free to correct me on anything.
Blumenwalzer = Waltz of the Flowers
Nussknacker und MausekĂśnig = The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
E. T. A. Hooffmann = E. T. A. Hoffmann
D. D. Druckerpresse = D. D. + printing press
Schwanensee Quellenforschung = Swan Lake Sources and Influences
Der geraubte Schleir = The Stolen Veil
Johane KÄrl Auspist Musäugurs = Johann Karl August Musäus (hane = feather, kÄ = crow sound/ auspice and augur [bird omens] might be hard to pick out of the others)
Die weiĂe Ente = The White Duck
Alewander Arfaunasyip = Alexander Afanasyev (wan = dog sound)
Schwanenjungfrau Folklore-Traditionen = Swan Maiden Folklore Traditions
UmazurakĹmorinosuke (episode 21 bat. His name in the credits is pretty funny, as heâs a hammer-headed bat, so heâs umazura [horse-faced], kĹmori [bat], then nosuke, a suffix that gives off an assistant/administrative/old-timey vibe [it was originally a title used for samurai working as government officials in the Edo era], hence him being an assistant at the library circulation desk).
Der MärchenkĂśnig: Ludcyg II. Biografie = The Fairy Tale King: Ludwig II Biography (cyg = cygnus [swan]. This influence is partially debatable, as some claims of it are due to Ludwig IIâs 1886 lake drowning, which was after Swan Lakeâs 1877 premiere [but to complicate things, the most common ending is from 1895 libretto, so it remains a possibility with any after]. But Tchaikovskyâs contemporaries did say he was inspired by Ludwig II, who was also known as the Swan King and an infamous Wagner fan and patron. Leading to Swan Lakeâs many Wagner/medieval Germanic legend similarities, like the Siegfrieds in both the Ring Cycle and Swan Lake falsely confess their love to another woman due to the enemyâs magical deception and their unintentional betrayal of BrĂźnnhilde/Odette causes all their deaths, BrĂźnnhildeâs immolation and return of the ring to the Rhineâs waters lifting its curse compared with Odette and Siegfried drowning in the lake lifting the swan maidensâ curse [in later versions], Lohengrin being the Knight of the Swan, Gottfried enchanted into a swan by Ortrud, the relationship between swan maidens and either valkyrie or the Knight of the Swan in folklore, etc. Then, the swan theme is pretty undeniably derived from Lohengrinâs forbidden question leitmotif, and both represent impending tragedy as well).
Eichenbaum von Goldkrone = Oak tree of Kinkan/Goldkrone
Buchleute verboten = Bookpeople-banned (Iâve mostly seen them translated as âbookmen,â but theyâre ĺłć¸ăŽč / tosho no mono, which doesnât specify gender).
Pike Lilie
Trilby; oder Die Fee von Argyll = Trilby; or, The Fairy of Argyll (La Sylphide basis)
Charles Tsunodier = Charles Nodier (tsuno = horns or antlers)
Vorwort = Foreword
Ein Rezept fĂźr âBravo!â Spitzenschuh-Frikassee = A Recipe for âBravo!â Pointe Shoe Fricassee (Rue mentions the legend of Marie Taglioniâs fans eating her shoes in episode 9. Tutuâs costume is also partially inspired by Taglioniâs in La Sylphide).
Marie Toraglioni = Marie Taglioni (tora = tiger)
Nachwort = Afterword
Schottenstoff pas de chat: die Grundlagen fĂźr ein haarfrei Kilt = Tartan pas de chat: The Fundamentals for a (Cat) Hair-free Kilt (pas de chat is a ballet leap meant to look like a cat [chat]).
NyÄjinsky
Scheherausgabe = Scheherazade + publishing (herausgabe)
Das hässliche Entlein = The Ugly Duckling
Honks Chriswigeon Gandersen = Hans Christian Andersen
Goosenberg = (Johannes) Gutenberg
The next part (library checkout card on the right) can only be read on the unskewed version attached at the end.
Buch-Nr. = Book number / P22 / 16.08.2002 / 26.AKT (Akt = ballet act or scene. Used in Tutuâs episode titles)
Verfasser = Author / D. D. Drosselmeyer
Titel = Title / Prinz und Rabe = The Prince and the Raven
Ausgeliehen = Borrowed / Leser = Reader / ZurĂźckgegeben = Returned
Uzura! (Fakir is correcting her writing)
15.AKT Autor 26.AKT (heâs testing out authorâs signatures for his future tragic masterpiece)
10.AKT Waniko 26.AKT / 15.AKT ArmajirĹ 26.AKT / 18.AKT Boayo 18.AKT / 17.AKT Montand 17.AKT / 9.AKT Yagiko-sensei 26.AKT / 19.AKT Lysander 26.AKT
21.AKT Marie und Clara 21.AKT (Two extras listed in the credits. Marie is the main character of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, while Clara is usually her name in the ballet adaptation)
1.AKT Fakir 26.AKT (Itâs supposed to look like his handwriting in episode 23. A cool detail in the show is that when heâs possessed by Drosselmeyer in 25, his handwriting looks different and much more sophisticated)
Schwanz (Uzura drew a picture of Ahiru as a duck and tried to write the word for âtailâ [Schwanz], but instead wrote the word for âswanâ [Schwan], so Fakir added in the Z)
Fakiru Week Day 3: Lotus @fyeahfakiruweek
A pas de deux from a hypothetical Thumbelina ballet. To fit more with the characters, instead of the fairy prince introduced in the fairy taleâs last few paragraphs, Fakir is some sort of fairy knight who cares for the injured swallow with the Thumbelina Ahiru. Then, the swallow is instead a quail, as itâs Uzura as an Erzgebirge bird.
For the weekâs floriography theme, I went with ânew beginningsâ for lotuses and, as yellow ones symbolize openness and hospitality, the species is nelumbo lutea. Then, Ahiruâs outfit is themed around yellow water buttercups, as they grow in ponds, symbolize cheerfulness, charm, humility, etc., and their leaves look like little duck feet. Fakirâs is oak-themed.
Music: Prokofiev: Summer Day: III. Waltz
Music: Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 2: 19-21. Balcony Scene, Romeo's Variation, and Love Dance
Maybe an interesting thing about the balcony scene is that Romeo's variation before the pas de deux isn't technically supposed to exist and Prokofiev was always quite pissed about being forced to write it (he thought it disrupted the narrative flow to have Romeo randomly dancing by himself for a few minutes before the pas de deux). And that, as well as a few other dances he thought were pointless (Morning Dance, the second Juliet variation, and Dance with Mandolins), left him annoyed by the 1940 score and he always considered the score from the original cancelled 1935 production the official/correct one. But the most infamous change was of course not those additions, but that the original 1935 version has a happy ending where Romeo and Juliet survive, because, in his words, "living people can dance; the dead cannot dance lying down." But the 1935 version has somehow never been recorded, whether due to copyright/museum drama or people simply finding the happy ending "uncool," I don't know. At any rate, the music was written to lead up to the happy ending and that version has the intended resolution of all the themes, so I don't see why both versions aren't performed. Those who get precious about Shakespeare disagree, but the fact is, Shakespeare didn't originate the story of Romeo and Juliet to begin with and his version, too, is merely an adaptation.
That's only a tiny bit of that story, but anyway, for my drawing here, the poses are from the MacMillan choreography: Top, Middle (with no kiss. I added it in because I thought it suited the pose, haha), and Bottom
If you start with the first link, the rest are within the next ten or so seconds. The first pose varies a lot depending on the dancers, if you compare it to here, here (I guess I drew it most like this one), here, etc.
Then, I went with a "rose by any other name" etc. theme, so the darker roses are supposed to be like the red ones in Fakir's vases in the show, then the lighter ones are swamp roses. And the birds are Canary Mama and one of her chicks.
God your art style is gorgeous!!! The way that they look almost like porcelain dolls is just *chefs kiss*
Thanks! I was going for a bookplate and old fairy tale illustration sort of art style, but rather than how the people are usually drawn like vague/faceless realistic people, I thought a good way to match the fairy tale borders and stuff would be a doll-ish sort of look. But it takes a long time to draw, haha, so I'm glad someone likes it.
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At the Town Musicians of Bremen statue. Part of a bit of a travel series along the German Fairy Tale Route (as seen on Fakir's map) and other story-related sites.
And for another music- and animal-themed fairy tale, the flutist bird sitting on the statue is playing the flute/bird's theme from Peter and the Wolf and is maybe wondering why Ahiru isn't joining in on the oboe ;) But I imagine Ahiru would be none too pleased with the duck's fate, leaving Fakir no choice but to recite it to her with a new ending. Knowing him, that would probably be a convenient gust of wind coming by and blowing the duck out of the wolf's stomach.
The first episode of Princess Tutu aired "tutu" (22) years ago today, August 16th. As the episode's subtitle/theme piece is the Waltz of the Flowers and it uses mainly other Nutcracker pieces as well, I drew the Waltz of the Snowflakes so I could include a lot of characters in one scene.
Poses from the Wright/Ivanov choreography: Ahiru and Fakir, Mytho, Rue, Pike, and Lilie.
