#jjbar

Pretty much a perfect depiction of JJBAR OVA Jotaro. It's a lot easier to portray his OVA counterpart accurately at this stage, though I'm sure once I get better at drawing in Araki's style it'll start coming to me. For some reason, Hayama's style feels significantly easier to pick up. I can very easily post one of these a day, and I think I will. This can mark the new era of daily doodles/sketches. They can double up as a place where I can drop some tidbits about JJBAR too.

Here's your fun JJBAR fact of the day: Jotaro suffers from chronic back pain, which is one of the many contributors to his edgy teen rage. I want to say he has lordosis, but I need to look deeper into that.

And one more random fact for good measure: JJBAR takes place in September 1988; Jotaro and Kakyoin are 18. If I recall correctly (the price of casual fun facts is they might not be facts), JJBAR SDC ends right before Joseph's birthday. Happy birthday, Joseph, your friends are dead, but at least DIO is gone and Holly is safe..?

About JJBAR:

Honestly, Gris has been quite a challenge. The more I care about a character, the harder it is to feel like I'm getting it right.

Since she's such a special character, I tried using a base pose that wasn't from a fashion template, which are generally extremely stylized, and instead went with a proportionate reference, from a real human being. Honestly, I really enjoyed the experience; I feel it gives character to the presentation of the overall look even if that is colser to character desing than fashion desing itself.

She's kinf of a rockstar, (her and her stand are deeply connected to music. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to add their stand, which is a real shame because I think it's spectacular. I hope to be able to do so in the future if I ever review this design again) so that was the general vibes I had in mind to whole time.

I've tried to work with very vertical lines and sharp angles to convey her personality, as well as the lines used in her reference design. Both the angled belt and the hidden color in the cape allude to everything that's hidden and the idea that we all keep a story inside that only those who want to know you well will ever see.

I must also confess that I added the cape because capes are DRAMA, and we're all more than ready for a good drama. And I thought it would be something Gris would appreciate.

Tryed too, in a way, to encapsulate one of her physical characteristics: her narrow hips. So I opted for a rather short corset, loosely based on 18th-century stays. By not emphasizing the hips, I also aimed to give it a masculine feel, despite the overall hyper-femininity of my style. And to tie it all together, it's a veiled reference to the design I did for Caesar because reasons, whose corset uses the same historical period as a reference.

And speaking of references, the gloved right hand is one too. Within modern Western culture, generally speaking, the ring finger of the right hand is associated with commitment, and she has an unavoidable commitment to the destiny reserved for her lineage. That's why that finger is bare, standing out among the others, like a gigantic ring would.

The only thing I'm a little disappointed about is that, as usual, I messed up the shading a bit. I managed to salvage it somewhat, but it's something I need to work on.

If you've read this entire wall of text, I love you to infinity.

Again, I just hope I lived up to expectations and did a good job with a character and artist I appreciate so much.

In JJBAR, Kakyoin has (undiagnosed) BPD and OCD. He's also half mexican and half Japanese, though born and raised in Japan. He's a "no sabo kid," or, "I don't know kid," which is a term used to degrade people who are hispanic but don't know Spanish. I wanted the JJBAR cast to have a more diverse look but keep the changes meaningful and consistent with the character in question. Kakyoin's monologue about the struggles of finding connection aligns really well with people given the "no sabo" label. I would know because I am also a no sabo kid. For mixed children especially, it is incredibly isolating. In my experience- mind you I live in the U.S. near the boarder of Mexico- it almost feels like a crime to not know Spanish. There was a long period of time where it was deeply upsetting for even my grandma to speak in Spanish around me, because I was so used to people bullying me or talking shit about me in a language I was "supposed" to understand. I couldn't be near someone speaking it without just assuming I was being made fun of. But then, even if I'm a light skinned Puerto Rican, I'm never gonna look white either, am I? You're not good enough for either sides, is what I'm trying to say. But one of the worst things is the disconnect between your family and culture. The isolation runs deep, and this is from someone who grew up in 2000's America. Can you imagine how this experience would feel for a person like Kakyoin? This theme of isolation is what also implored me to give him traits associated with BPD. The OCD was added for a couple of reasons. In his first episode, Kakyoin uses his stand to puppeteer the nurse. We also know he never wears anything other than his uniform throughout the series (which I realize many characters do for aesthetic reasons on Araki's part, but I will still make note of it). Additionally, I think part of his journey is about control. Not only in the sense of not succumbing to his fears, but also he was literally under DIO's mind control until Jotaro liberated him. Liberated him in a way one might describe "fearless." The constant need for control is what drives OCD, so I liked the idea of that contributing to why Hierophant can literally control others and why he has such a strict dress code- it's a reminder of when every day was predictable. Controlled. Safe. It feels representative of what managing OCD itself is like. You're trying to not let fear and the constant urge of control get the best of you. And often times that journey requires at least one little anchor- a green uniform that you know for a fact you'll wear everyday.

JJBAR, more detailed info being uploaded soon: