Devil Caster Process

December 17, 2024

I just thought it would be cool to document my traditional process lol

So I started off with sketches in my sketch book based off a drawing by Kohime Ohse.

The character is one of my own OCs named Sahara. She’s a quiet, aloof sellsword that deserted her duty as a knight before she even became one.

The outfit concept. I tried not to make it too similar to Ohse’s.

I really like her work, it makes me nostalgic for when I was little playing JRPGs under the covers at night. The outfit designs for her chracters and reminded me of Alphonse Mucha so I wanted to try my hand at incorporating elements of his work in my piece too.

The phrase “The Cycle of Rebirth is Forever Paid in Blood” around the border is in reference to Sahara being unable to die because her body regenerates. and the constant cycle of violence that she’s in due to being on the run and a mercenary.

At first I was going to do everything digitally in Clip Studio Paint but once I did all my set up and made my digital sketch I went, “I don’t have to do this” and didn’t. Instead, I printed out my digital sketch and made a physical one:

I wanted to add a devil wing but I couldn’t make it fit. Maybe it was for the best because then the designs would have been too similar.

I ended up making two because the first was on the wrong kind of paper.

The second one is on Arches Cold Press Paper. Trying to trace through the lightbox was a little difficult...but I managed.

Now the most harrowing part for me was the inking. I’m not great with line work traditionally OR digitally but I find it more enjoyable using real ink.

I made it a point to take my time inking cause I REALLY, REALLY didn’t want to mess this up and start over. It’s not perfect but I’m happy with how it came out!

I was supposed to do another inking pass but I forgot before I put down the watercolor wash lol

Started adding color to the skin and clothes, wanted to experiment using Copic Markers and Gansai Tambi Watercolors. Ngl it’s a little rough at this point.

I really wanted to try and embrace how the copics interacted with the paper but I really did not like how it was looking. But I wasn’t gonna give up on it so I kept trying.

Jumped to working on the background which was actually a lot less tedious and aggravating. I found myself playing around with the watercolor more. Almost kind of wish I kept the piece strictly water color at this point cause I was not digging how the skin and clothes were coming out.

I started this mid-September I think. Worked on this for 5 evenings for 3 so far I think? 15 hours in total??? idk

At this point I thought, “maybe I should bring in another color so the clothes won’t bug me so bad”. Then I thought “what if I brought in gouache to make things more opaque?”

…at this point I started to forget to take pictures cause I was so in it.

I REALLY didn’t want to start over so I’m gonna try and roll with it. Maybe I can fix things in post digitally.

I reinked the lines and...it’s actually not that bad! I’m not completely satisfied yet, but it’s digital time now.

I trimmed the drawing and exported it into CSP. First order of business, cleaning up some mistakes like stray lines and parts that are a little blurred from the scan.

I added more color to some spots that I felt needed more work. I debated whether or not to work on the clothes and skin more in post but I don’t want to lose the texture of the drawing or overwork it too much.

Added a noise filter and debated using the hatching filter, I liked how it faded the colors.

Really wish I kept the time on how long this piece took me because I feel like that really demystifies the art process and encourages people to take their time with their art more. Well, at least that’s how it is for me lol. Considering I only worked on this intermittently, in the evening after work while also messing around/procrastinating at home

Thanks for reading!