Oh, Aya

Have I mentioned that I love this horrendous woman??

Witching dream

I got a new tablet! It's actually a small wacom model -- I considered getting one of those fancy Chinese display tablets but too many negative reviews made me back out. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't!

Anyways, I was watching LLS videos the other day and noticed for the first time that when you use a bomb, a portrait of the character you're using fills up the screen. Reimu's portrait is particularly cute! Like, people say a lot of things about Zun's art, but to me it's utterly endearing. This is adorable!

She looks so happy. This is definitely something I wanted to draw, so I did:

I usually don't do the watermark thing but this is a sketch. Sketches are special. I still don't know if I should render this digitally or paint it with acrylics...

Digital rendering

• Lots of fun
• Lets you redo stuff without it looking fucking awful
• Lets you choose the exact colors you want
• Getting the effects you want is relatively easy
• You only need a tablet and a computer to work
• Looks pretty great!

Acrylics

• Slightly broader spectrum of colors (because light interacts differently, you know?? I've never been able to get true chartreuse yellow or Extremely Hot Pink on a screen...)
• Charming, textured appearance
• You can decorate your house with it. Or give it away. Unlike digital drawings, paintings look nice even if they're mediocre, so they make good gifts and decorations
• Painting is relaxing. If you prepare your shit carefully, you won't feel the pain of PAINting
• Look nice

By the way, after years of guessing and wondering what the hell Reimu's seals have on them, I was able to confirm what the actual characters drawn on them are thanks to Wild and Horned Hermit:

Apparently those are a) handmade and b) made to resemble traditional envelopes for money. And the writing on them was in plain sight all the time. All the time!!!