Sam The Ham

While the vertical format is great for smartphone screens, I also wanted to use negative space to create a distinct mood.

I believe that negative space can express a character's inner emotions. In this piece, the character is small, and the background takes up about 80% of the canvas. By drawing the character so small, I can evoke a sense of loneliness and solitude.

Another key point is the placement of the cloud shadows. I intentionally kept Caine out of the shadow. You can see the boundary between the light and the cloud shadow. I used this high contrast to make the character stand out and emphasize their presence.

Finally, let us look at Caine's angle. I purposely hid Caine's face and positioned them to show their back. If their expression were visible, this artwork would probably feel cute rather than lonely. I enjoy drawing figures from angles where you cannot see their faces. This approach leaves room for viewers to wonder what the character is thinking.

NAME: Aika (she/her) AGE: 15 VA: Anairis Quiñones ROLE: Main Protagonist

BIO:

Aika is an easily excitable and energetic girl. She's generally optimistic and very friendly. She's always eager to try new things as long as it's not her fulltime job of being a magical girl.

As soon as her magical girl duties are brought into the picture, her demeanor changes. She checks out, and often looks for the quickest solution to solve the issue. No flashy transformations and special moves here. She's good with a metal baseball bat or a rocket launcher.

All Aika wants is to live a normal life, make friends and go to school. Unfortunately, like every main protagonist, trouble manages to follow her wherever she goes.

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NAME: Zira (she/they) AGE: 16 VA: Bennett Abara ROLE: Love Interest Best Friend

BIO:

Zira is everything Aika wants to be. Painfully average, under the radar and a self proclaimed loser.

She's a smart girl but has a hard time applying herself. Instead of paying attention in school, Zira usually has her head in the clouds and would much rather be reading her favorite magical girl manga, "Moon Sailor".

After Aika forces her friendship upon them, Zira now has to tag along on all of Aika's escapades and experience new things. Ew.

However, they admire Aika deeply and admire her even more after Aika's magical secret comes to light.

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NAME: Hoshi (they/them/any) AGE: unknown VA: Christine Marie Cabanos ROLE: Magical Sidekick

BIO:

Hoshi is one of many star scouts sent out into the universe to find the next Star Guardian. They’re the one who chose Aika and got promoted to the sought after title of “magical mascot.”

Much like Aika, at first, Hoshi was always very chipper and happy to do their work and fulfill their purpose. However, with Aika losing interest, Hoshi’s mood has also been brought down. They’re a bit more sarcastic these days and although they push Aika to do her job (which she begged for by the way) they try to cut Aika some slack by allowing her to use her weird human weapons. Anything to keep her going, right?

They come off as overbearing, but they do want the best for Aika.

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NAME: Eclipse (he/him) AGE: 15 VA: Aleks Le ROLE: Minor Antagonist

BIO:

Eclipse is a flamboyant and theatrical guy whose showmanship is out of this world. He refers to himself as "Eclipse: Servant of Darkness".

He was a nuisance that Aika and her team would have to deal with on occasion and normally try to ignore him. Eclipse has deluded himself into thinking that he's Aika's rival and love interest. In his head, their love is simply forbidden as he's chosen the path of darkness and her, the light.

Prior to the beginning of the series, he had no powers, but now he does??? Where did those come from? It's as if he's made a deal with darkness itself…

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NAME: Lady DeVoid (she/her) AGE: Old VA: Shara Kirby ROLE: Main Antagonist

BIO:

Lady DeVoid is darkness itself. She's a mysterious being with an incomprehensible amount of power. Power that is currently weakened and that she can't seem to remember how to use for some reason…

All she recalls is that a long time ago she was defeated and banished by a Star Guardian and that she now wants revenge. While unable to use her diminished powers, she finds that she can pass them on to her new lackey, Eclipse. He's not able to use them much better than her right now but it saves her the embarrassment and it’s better than nothing!

With his help, she hopes to destroy the Star Guardian once and for all.

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NAME: Miss (she/her) AGE: 39 VA: Michele Knotz ROLE: Side Character

BIO:

Miss is Aika and Zira's very tired teacher. Looking at her, you might assume she hates her job, but it's quite the opposite. She pours everything into her work and into her students, leaving very little time for her personal life.

She's recently started trying to get it together (after her ex-wife left her) but is still struggling to find that work-life balance.