Rene James

m e l t i n g d o w n

I'm like a lighter out of fluid My insides are on fire Sometimes I wish It was all a lie 

 -Meltdown by irohaP

I haven’t drawn in a while: well, a while for me. It feels like longer than it probably actually is, in large part because of the current global situation. Looking at my Twitter and Instagram, the last illustration I drew was on March 14, which is just shy of 13 days ago. (Well, actually as of today, it’d be 13, wouldn’t it?)

But today, I let myself draw something that’s been on my mind: Kagamine Rin’s “Meltdown”. “Meltdown” is one of my favorite songs from both irohaP and Kagamine Rin. I still remember when it dropped in 2008: it was my teenage everything. The song is so wonderfully dramatic, and you can interpret it in multiple ways, and it’s just... Ah, just so good. (Plus, it’s a really solid use of Rin’s original vocal limits.)

Listening it today while I drew was a much-needed nostalgia bomb. i felt quite happy with the overall drawing process today, and honestly... I really dig how my sketch came out.

Here’s to more creativity!

We’re back...

So I spent most of this week thinking about the Dazzlings, who remain some of my favorite characters in the MLP: FiM universe. Maybe I’m a suck for songs that slap, maybe I just really, really love some good villians... whatever it is, this trio is absolute fire.

(I’m also really into gesugao right now, which is most likely because I’ve just recently finished rewatching Kakagurui XX for the third time. I really like that particular expression, and the show uses it in spades!)

All that to say that I sat down this week and made this: a simple illustration featuring the best girls in the entire franchise, ready to sing a siren song and steal all that good affection and jealousy to power their gems and rule the world. 

This was so much fun to draw: I really pushed myself with color, and with posing. While I’ll always say I’ve still got more to learn, I’ll also say that this looks really good: I’m genuinely proud of my work! I also am really proud of how nice my lines look: everything works together really, really well, and makes the girls look quite fierce, which is exactly what I was going for.

It’s interesting to see this as a finished product: you can really tell that my art style has once more changed. I think this is largely a product of Procreate: I’ve really grown a lot while sampling all the brushes. When I was using Medibang Bang, I struggled to see a lot of difference between the G-Pen brush I used and a lot of the other “pen” brushes. But in Procreate, I can see a very clear difference in textures and styles of brush. It’s allowed me to really understand how I want lines to look and how they can look.

Additionally, I now draw my sketches with (thanks to @mayakern, who inspired that very good change!) Procreate’s soft airbrush, which has made my final lines just as fluid as my sketch lines. I also use Procreate’s Syrup brush for everything because it’s just a good, in-program brush.

Overall, this has made me want to draw more MLP:FiM fanart. It’s a shame I haven’t until now, but now that I’ve been bitten by the fanart bug... well, there’s no stopping me, is there?

I heard that February is all about Fairy-type Pokemon so I drew one of my favorite Pokémon cards in my own style.

(Card: Ralts from the Cosmic Eclipse Expansion Pack)

Black★Rock Miku and Dead Megpoid

This week’s #mikumonday and #gumigetsuyoubi illustrations are my take on Black★Rock Shooter (Miku) and Dead Master (Gumi). 

Both were drawn in #procreate, which is steadily becoming my primarily program..I find myself using it more and more every day! It’s really letting me 

Here’s Enoshima!

So... I may or may not (may) have spent most of Friday thinking about Junko Enoshima, who is hands down, one of my favorite characters and antagonists in video games. This is most likely because I’ve been consdering:

A) replaying Danganronpa V3, which was Very Good

B) replaying all the Vita games over the course of this year, and possibly finally starting Ultra Despair Girls which has... severe issues.

Anyways, I was thinking A LOT about Junko, so I opened up my pose program, got a reference, then opened Procreate 5 and decided to sketch. This, of course, was the result.

I’ve actually been doing a lot more of my work in Procreate, which has result in a really noticible change in my style. I don’t think that’s a bad thing though: I think its a really, really great thing, especially because I really like this style. It’s actually a bit more cartoon-y, which I feel is what I’ve been aiming for for a while now. It’s got its own flavor, and just looks and feels good. I’m really proud that I closed out the month on this sketch.

I’m definitely going to be doing more sketches in this style in the very, very near future. Probably over the weekend, in fact.

✨Friendship isn't magic: stomping you to death with my pretty hooves is magic.✨

(-Quote from my lovely girlfriend!) 

I’m trying something new this year: painting my illustrations. I went with a somewhat Posca-inspired look with accent lines versus a fully lined piece. And the result? Something that I’m honestly quite proud of!

I’m still learning Procreate, and will be over the course of 2020: I plan on finally dipping my toes into drawing and painting food, which is really going to help me learn the ins and outs of the program.

Safe to say I’m REALLY excited about this year’s forthcoming art!

At the end of 2019, I finally read V1 & V2 of Komi Can’t Communicate and instantly fell in love with Komi Shouko, the female lead of the series.

And while I didn’t do much drawing during my holiday, I did take time to draw her as a proper welcome to the new year. She all dressed up to go meet her friends to celebrate a new year and more friendship!

(And she’s both nervous and excited to spend time with them all!)

Pastel Midnight (VOCALOOK 2019 - Day 7)

Day 7 of @vocalookcollab is here, and that means it’s time for my final picture. And today’s illustration is all about Yuzuki Yukari and SF-A2 Miki, the only duo in my entire VOCALOOK collection this year.

I went with a really pastel palette for these two cuties. I got my inspiration from the Pastel Girl app, whch is avaliable on Android devices. It’s really cute and has often helped me when I need a little bit of help being creative.

This was the hardest picture for me to do because I spent a lot of time ruminating about the pose. I went through about ten sketches before I finally settled on this pose, which I actually really like: nothing like girls jumping for joy.

I’m so thankful for this experience: this is one of the biggest projects I’ve ever done, and it pushed a lot of my skills and use of color to the limits. But, I’m happily much more comfortable inking in Procreate, and I feel like I’ve grown so much. I can’t wait to create more art before the year’s end!

Thanks to everyone who’s shared my art or given me a like: it’s lovely knowing that I can bring a smile to someone’s face. 

@vocalookcollab‘s Lookbook will drop on 11/30: I’ll be sure to reblog so you can spread your love to all of the wonderful creators who joined this year!

Light Up The Night (VOCALOOK 2019 - Day 6)

Day 6 of @vocalookcollab​ is all about Kagamine Rin, one of the first Vocaloids I really fell in love with as a teen! She was quite inspiration and really formative for a lot of my tastes in music: safe to say I couldn’t not do something involving her!

She’s rocking a Cyber Goth inspired outfit that was 1000% inspired by LUVORATORRRRRY! which is one of my favorite Rin feature songs. I’ve linked you to my favorite version of the song which is sung by solo artist REOL, who’s just... out of this world.

(Note: Rin shares the song with Megpoid/Gumi, who remains my absolutely favorite Vocaloid. I drew her last year, so she didn’t show up this year, but she’ll show up next year for sure!)

I really went incredibly vibrant for this illustration: everything is an intense color that’s not at all CYMK-friendly, but works perfectly for something that’ll be online-only!

I also really got to have a lot of fun designing Rin’s outfit: I didn’t reference any specific clothing in particular, just the general look and feel of Cyber Goth with a few touches -really, the colors- being borrowed from general Rave clothing I’ve seen. I think that everything really came together quite well: I’ve got to admit, I’m incredibly proud of my hard work on this piece.

Tomorrow’s Day 7, and like all good things, that means VOCALOOK 2019 will be coming to and end.

But you know what else that means? One more piece of art! Get ready, because here I come... tomorrow!

Tokyo Diamond (VOCALOOK 2019 - Day 5)

Day 5 of @vocalookcollab shows off Kasane Teto, one of my favorite UTAUloids, and all-around cutie!

I put her in a Hime Gyaru look inspired by Tokyo Fashion’s street snaps and Anh Duy’s song Ready, which features Kasane Teto and is just really, really good. Go give it a listen!

My favorite part of this was incorporating a beehive into Teto’s look. She’s known for her twindrills, which I’ve tucked into her voluminous hair. It’s the perfect pair to her sweet look and her stylish nails!

Teto was definitely my favorite illustration all this week: I really loved designing her outfit and playing around with layers and poses. She ultimately also took the most time but she was so, so worth it. And honestly, I’m kind of addicted to drawing Teto as a Hime Gyaru: this might have to be something I do more often!

We’ve got two more days of illustrations to go, so let’s hope, skip, and jump into Day 6!

Toxic (VOCALOOK 2019 - Day 4)

Day 4 of @vocalookcollab​ features Lily, one of my favorite vocaloids. I feel like she doesn’t get the credit she deserves: she’s got a sound vocal range and her punk-meets-pop-star attitude and style is really quite charming!

Because of that very attitude, I leaned heavily into the punk aspect for this drawing, drawing on a lot of the punk and rock fashion I’ve seen in Japan. I referenced Tokyo Fashion a lot for this -as I have other pieces, to be honest- and cobble together a cool girl who’s songs will light a fire in your soul!

Inspiration further came from two other places: DMC5′s Devil Trigger and K/DA’s (League of Legends) hit song POP/STARS. They’re the happy marriage of what I wanted to design here!

I also played around with black shadows, which I think look really, really good here. I similarly went with start white highlights, which I think really work well as accents to an already rather dark outfit.

Overall, I think Lily was the most interesting challenge for me since I hadn’t played with a primarly dark outfit for a while. Still, I grew a lot drawing her and had an absolute blast creating her look for VOCALOOK 2019.

Well, we’re still going strong: let’s rock n’ roll into Day 5... tomorrow!

Pretty Girl Beat (VOCALOOK 2019 - Day 3)

Day 3 of @vocalookcollab​ brings us Megurine Luka in a Larme Kei inspired look that was drawn largely by listening to SISTAR’s song “So Cool”. I used a palette of chocolate brown, pink, and white to make a really simple outfit that honestly, I like a lot.

Allow me to clarify: from my understanding, Larme Kei isn’t incredibly defined. Rather, it’s not a term that’s used in Japan, so much as it’s a term used much more frequently outside of Japan. In fact, Larme is a magazine that showcases fashion: a wide variety, actually, including what I drew on for my illustration.

All that considered, I drew on the Larme “look” which often featutres the color pink and leans heavily on a soft, somewhat melancholic style. I decided to go pink and brown because I think they look good together, and added white and yellow as accents to give help this picture “pop”. I really like the end result, and really liked drawing Luka so, so much!

Well, that’s all for today: day 4 dawns tomorrow: get ready for more fashion!

Sunset Matsuri (VOCALOOK 2019)

Day 2 of @vocalookcollab​‘s VOCALOOK features Hatsune Miku, a vocaloid I’ve spent a lot of the past year drawing. I decided to doll her up in a wa-lolita meets pop-singer GARNiDELiA inspired look that I’m quite proud of.

Thsi was largely inspired by the song Tougen Renka: one of my favorite songs by GARNiDELiA. I highly suggest giving ita listen to get a feel for what I was trying to play with here.

I also played around with filters in Medibang Paint: namely, their Japanese prints filter. It added a lot of neat depth to the outfit in a way that I can’t replicate by hand, and really was the cherry on top of my digital cake!

Not much to say other than I’m just really happy with this piece, and really love the pose and the colors. Overall, Day 2′s been great: are you ready for Day 3? Because I sure am! See you tomorrow!

Romance The Night (VOCALOOK 2019)

It’s been a while since I’ve posted some art, but fear not: it’s been because I’ve been hard at work behind the scenes on a big project: @vocalookcollab’s 2nd lookbook, and I’m so excited to share a whopping SEVEN pieces with you that I’ve put a whole lot of heart and work into!

First up is Vocaloid Ruby, rocking a romantic gothic-inspired look, relying heavily on the reds and wines in her official artwork to take her from hip hop chic to daughter of the night!

This was largely inspired by listening to a lot of Evanescence over the past month. And while Ruby's base look is reflective of the hip hop scene, I thought it would be really fun to dress her up in something quite different! 

And honestly: I’m really, really proud of this piece. It’s already a massive improvement over last year, and reflects a lot of my hard work. I was actually shocked to see how different my style is this year: I knew I’d improved and become more confident in my style, but this really made me realize just how much I’ve grown as an artist.

And hey: this is only Day 1: I’ve still got six (actually seven) more virtual singers to get through!

Enjoy and see you on Day 2!