Kurotwst (黒ツイステ）

Swing for a summer Yukata series I'm making

The chibi style seems complicated at first, but once you establish a consistent workflow, it becomes much more easier to execute. Here's my process when recreating them.

Step 1: Gathering References The first part of my process is creating a reference board with twst chibis that have styles similar to the character I want to create, or using preexisting chibis if they are a canon character. I'd recommend looking at their texture atlases as well if possible to get a better understanding of the head shape. You can find chibis in game or on Alchemivich's page. For original chibis (outfit or character), I'd recommend having additional character references of the details you would like to add that you can constantly refer to. These are massively helpful when adding finer details like accessories or nailing additional character elements.

I use PureRef for organizing my ideas and refs (It's free)

My Ref Board

Step 2: Understanding the Form

The TWST chibis have more ovular heads compared to the round ones of most chibi styles. These taper down and slope to a curve representing the cheek for the face. The TWST Chibis are about 3 heads tall proportionally, but the sense of scale is impacted by the length of the head and torso (compared to the average chibi style). The proportions can be adjusted depending on the character (Shorter torso, longer legs for taller characters like Sebek vs longer torso, shorter legs for Kalim) TWST chibis in general tend to have longer forearms, and when drawing clothing, the style tends to narrow sleeves for outfits like suits while keeping the cuffs wider. This might be due to the joint mechanics when attaching the elements in L2D.

For the eyes, TWST chibis do not have a lower eyelash, so you'd create a thick top lash and add the eyes as desired. The top lash is the same color as the top half of the eye. I'd recommend making it the shadow color of the eye color of your character but feel free to play around with your color combinations. Lastly, you'd want to add your eye diamond and position the left and right corners to split the top and bottom eye colors. For this step, I'd recommend breaking down the original chibis and redrawing them until you get the hang of the proportions if you're going in as a complete beginner. If you have experience with drawing chibi characters, you might want to practice adjusting the proportions in order to tweak the style. Kalim Breakdown

Note: These are just some observations I made as a guide when studying the chibi style but do not fully replicate. If you want to make TWST chibis for the purpose of creating L2D style animations, you might want to follow the models more closely to have an easier time with separation, etc. I personally don't have any plans to make L2Ds outside of illustrations, so I adjust the proportions as I recreate more complex poses with them.

Step 3: Creating the Sketch

If you're used to lineless artstyles, feel free to skip this stage. For an easier time keeping my chibi consistent, I usually create a sketch of my chibi concept. When creating sketches, I try to make some indicators of elements I like to keep in the style such as the facial shape and eye diamond. This helps me create a more streamlined workflow when adding details in the shading and rendering phases. Completed Sketch

Step 4: Adding the Flats

After I create my sketch I make a general color folder (either on top or below below my sketch layer depending on if i'm working traditionally or digitally) and create several sub folders for easier organization with my elements. I'd recommend separating the clothing, skin, and hair into their own folders as the detail with these can become extensive when shading. When adding flat colors. I'd recommend using the lasso tool or a non textured brush (I use a combination of the lasso tool and a hard round brush with a consistent opacity for details) in order to make it easier to fill in blank pixels with more control over finer details. At this stage, I block in the general shapes of my sketch and focus on cleaning up smaller details with a hard eraser brush, When adding the flats over a traditionally drawn sketch, I select my colors and set the opacity to 54% while I work, constantly using the sketch to color check and match the details I want to keep. If you're using a digital sketch, you'd ideally want to use the sketch layer to check for details, but you do not have to match the general opacity. As a rule of thumb in general, when adding colors, I'd highly recommend working with a darker background a dark layer underneath your colors, to check for any spots with empty pixels, as these spots can be noticeable if you're exporting the work as a transparent png. Flats (After adding the face in the initial rendering phase)

Rendering and Detailing I find the twst chibi style to be extremely forgiving in terms of rendering. You mostly have to focus the detail around the hair and depicting details like the seams to break up the flats and define shapes. It is primarily cell shaded, but gradients are added around the bottom of the figure.

Because I render my twst chibis for an illustration format, I put more emphasis on defining the folds and places where I'd like to separate clothing with overlap. In the original twst chibi style, there are also lines that separate the fingers so I will usually add that detail in this stage. I tend to utilize the lasso tool directly for looser details and use the hard round brush to draw the shapes that I will fill later with the ice cream lasso tool in CSP. I use a hard eraser to adjust and correct my edges and repeat this step throughout the process. For details like the expression and eyebrows, I use the same hard round brush that I have been using for the general illustration at a smaller size, and use a darker tone in order to define the mouth and eyelids. I add in a gradient around the eyelids using a soft brush either from the characters render or from the outfit I am giving them. (I tend to add these right after the flats to get a sense of how the expression looks with the colors) For the highlights, twst chibis usually have them in the positions where they are in the full sized character render. If you do not have an existing one to work from, placing them on the bangs is also a good option.

Rendering and Detail Timelapse

Final Details and Completion Once I finish the rendering stage, I do a final check and add any details that I feel I've missed throughout the process. I also like to use this stage to balance out any areas where I don't like the edges and clean up any loose pixels from erasing that were missed during the process. I tend to add patterns and details during the rendering process but I chose to add them at the end of this piece because I was debating on if I wanted to or not And the final chibi is completed! Technically he's not done bc I still need to add his pup but shhhh

Made these after the release of Mina and Rielle. They were so cutee (Please do not repost or claim as official) TWST Style Chibi Tutorial

(My notes post volume 5 get longer depending on the volume so certain ones will probably get individual posts) Volume 6 In volume 6, there are a lot of major style changes. This shift might be due to the release of the anime, which often cause mangaka to change their styles to match the expectations of new readers. In volume 6, Yana starts to soften Ciel's features more and has given done some major changes in terms of proportions. His eye droop is more noticeable and his hair has gotten more detailed, along with his facial structure and proportions shifting to be more indicative of his age. For general proportions, Yana has had a shift in her facial structure and the proportions are becoming more consistent across characters. She also starts using more distinctive eye shapes for various characters that help imply certain character traits. Ex. Dagger's upturned eye shape and wink when introduced which implies that he's an outgoing, laid back and flirty character. (Yana uses a similar eye shape for Cater in Twisted Wonderland who has certain personality traits similar to Dagger's) The volume and detail of the characters hair has also improved significantly. There is more flow and variation for characters hair which makes it appear less static than in previous volumes. Her anatomy has also improved — her hand proportions and structure is more consistent then in previous volumes and her understanding of her lineweight and shadow placement feels more natural when compared to previous volumes. (I feel like she's utilizing the structure of a G-pen really well in this volume, especially when she's drawing characters with gloves like Sebastian and Joker.) Dagger's Manga Introduction vs Cater's Profile Image and Dorm SSR

Ciel in Volume 3 vs Volume 6

Undertaker's Hair Flow in Volume 3 vs Volume 6

Lineweight in Volume 1 vs Volume 6

*Spoilers for Vol 13

For the first portion of my analysis I am observing shifts in Yana's early drawing style to find the aspects of her improvement that lead to her current style. Understanding this would make it easier to pinpoint the details that would need to be conveyed in order to replicate her style more accurately.

Some of the info kind of spans across multiple volumes to a point so I'll try not to repeat too much reoccurring information

Volume 1: In the first volume a lot of the proportions are a lot more stylized. A product of the time and Yana probably not being as well studied in anatomy as she is now.

Ciel's face is significantly more tapered while his limbs and torso are longer in this volume and much of early Black Butler so he ends up looking more like average 15-16 year old. In Yana's earlier style, the hair is grouped largely with a lack of variation to break up the hair strands, causing most of the hair flow to feel much more static compared to her current style. Her eyes and pupils are larger and take up more space compared to later volumes. The ears are also a lot smaller in her early volumes and characters have lower jawlines and bigger mouths than they do in her current style.

Sebastian in Volume 1 vs Volume 13

Volume 2 There aren't many changes between volume 1 and 2 so I made some observations based on how the characters look compared to her current style. A lot of the characters and details in the earlier volumes are much more angular than they appear in the current style. For most of the use of black in the early manga, a lot of the highlights are pure white instead of a lighter grey tone, so much of the clothing detail for characters who primarily wear solid black clothing (Sebastian, Undertaker) are implied by the highlight placement. In the later style (~Vol. 13) Yana shifts to lighter grey tones for darker/black clothing and using solid black for shadow, which gave her more leeway to showcase outfit details and to add textures with screentones. In early Black Butler, many characters have similar eye shapes with certain variation in their eyelash types and size. In her later style progression, Yana became more intentional about what eye shapes implied about character personalities.

Sebastian's Suit in Volume 2 vs Volume 13

Volume 3

In volume 3, Yana's faces start to shift in terms of shape and proportion. The eyes have become smaller while her faces are rounder with more curve in her jawline. The shift in proportion is most noticeable with Sebastian and William. As her style developed, Yana not only adjusted the facial proportions, but her proportions in body and mass in order to reflect character age better in multiple characters, most notably Ciel.

Ciel's Proportions In Volume 3

Ciel's Proportions in Volume 13

Volume 4

In volume 4, the faces have gotten longer and Yana is playing around with line thickness and shading placement order to make characters stand out more. Her line art varied a lot during her style but the shading helped to bring more out attention to the details of notable characters such as Soma and Agni who were introduced in this volume. Soma also introduces some variation as his hairstyle is wavier and more voluminous compared to most characters introduced so far in the series up until that point. His hair flow feels more natural compared to the characters that have been seen so far. In later volumes, Yana incorporates this flow to give more characters dynamic hairstyles.

Soma's Hair in Volume 4 and The Average Hairstyle in Volume 13

Volume 5

In volume 5, there's more consistency with Sebastian's hairstyle improved flow with panel organization. (Short section as of the some major shifts in her early style happen in Volume 6)

Sebastian's Hair in Volume 1 vs Volume 5

Here are some purchase links to the primary artbooks yana's work is featured in that I am using for my study (Excluding anthologies and manga)

TWST: Twisted Wonderland Design Note (Digital)

Twisted Wonderland Card Art Book Volume 1 (Digital)

Twisted Wonderland Card Art Book Volume 2 (Digital)

Twisted Wonderland Card Art Book Volume 3 (Digital)

Twisted Wonderland Card Art Book Volume 4 (Digital)

Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives (Physical Only)

Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives II (Physical Only) Black Butler: Yana Toboso Works Volume 1 (Digital) Yana Toboso Works Volume 2 (Digital) Yana Toboso Works Volume 3 (Digital) Yana Toboso Works Volume 4 (Digital)

Welcome to Kurotwst. I'm Kaiba, an art theory nerd and studying artist. I'm making this blog as an organizational archive for my large Yana Toboso and general Twisted Wonderland (TWST) style study. I am currently in the middle of analyzing all 35 volumes of Black Butler (黒執事）and wanted to do this analysis to improve my art skills and make it easier for those who are learning Yana's style. Regarding Spoilers: I am going into this study as a Black Butler reader so may be some major spoilers as I do plan on referencing pages from specific volumes and chapters to study from. TWST portions will likely contain some minor spoilers depending on asks as I do plan on analyzing card art and characters individually. With that all being said I do hope this blog can provide you with some insight into yana's process and style progression throughout the series! I've grown so much more appreciation for her work through my ongoing journey.