Reinbach
patreon
Patreon Pin Up 2/24/20
🕑 Added 2020-02-25 02:29:27 +0000 UTCTried something a little different with this one. I discovered the work of Fernanda Suarez over the weekend, and I was so blown away by her portraits that I wanted to try and weave some of her elements into my own style. And while I do maintain that picking ideas from more advanced artists is a great way to improve, it doesn't always mean the specific picture you were experimenting on will turn out as consistent as you'd like. I spent so many hours obsessing over this one that I'm honestly too close to it to tell if it works or if it doesn't. But either way I felt it was worth posting here. It's better for me if you guys can see my whole process, because your feedback will help me improve in the long run.
That said, stick around if you want to hear my hot take on Netflix's Carole and Tuesday.
For context, my favorite anime of all time is an old one called Cowboy Bebop. It's a story about a team of intergalactic bounty hunters who are haunted by their own pasts, and the rest is a tapestry of gunfights, martial arts, and objective awesomeness overall.
Cowboy Bebop was released in 1998, and outside of a movie, never got a follow up. So imagine my surprise last month when I heard that the mastermind behind Bebop, Shinichiro Watanabe, had done another anime that took place in the same universe as Cowboy Bebop, that was set a year after the events of the movie? And it was fully dubbed in English on Netflix? How the hell did I not hear about this sooner?
So upon booting up Carole and Tuesday, the familiar quality of Watanabe's work hit me in the face like a hammer. The artwork and animation are awesome, and the presentation is top notch. But the first ten minutes confirmed the suspicions that the show's description/thumbnail first aroused: there would be no gunfights and bounty hunting in this show. This was a story about two teens trying to make it as musicians.
There could not be a concept more outside my wheelhouse and general interest. There was like a 5 episode story arc that was pretty much just American Idol in space for crying out loud. And yet...I watched the entire fucking series in like three days. What can I say, maybe a part of me was still carrying a torch for the idea that Spike and Jet might kick down a door at any moment and start shooting up greasy mobsters. But in any case, the show held my interest. It may be the closest thing to a musical I've ever enjoyed, as depending on your taste, the songs are pretty great.
I'd say Carole and Tuesday is a typical rags to riches story about struggling musicians who inevitably make it big, but it really isn't. Typically these kinds of stories about the rise to fame and riches involve a lot of drama. Especially if we're talking about a band or even a duo. How does the corrupting influence of fame and money affect these people? That's usually the big question in this type of story, but Carole and Tuesday sidesteps those ideas pretty much completely, almost to an unrealistic degree. Carole is an orphan who grew up on the streets, you'd think her first big paycheck would be at least worth a mention, but that's not the story they were going for here.
And I guess that's my biggest issue. I'd have liked to see some more drama between these two. They have great chemistry as characters, and I'd have liked to see them actually have to overcome a real obstacle in their relationship every now and then. (Also some sex or at least decent romance between each other or any of the other cast members would have been nice, but that's a gripe I have with most anime.)
Long story short it was no Cowboy Bebop, but it managed to leave an impression on me nonetheless. What do you think? Have you seen the show? Do you have any feedback on my more painterly approach to this pin up? As always I'd love to hear from you.
Comments
nick
who's Taylor Swift?
Squid Hills
Yup. Koshi was the guy who made the manga, while Watanabe put his own personal spin on the anime.
Reinbach
I liked it, but honestly it's a tough sell to anyone else. Most anime fans I know don't watch because they like slice of life musical stories. They want giant robots and OP teenage males dumped into fantasy settings XD
Reinbach
I was doing my best to match her look here after all. But I think I'll pick and choose a few elements of this one and tone them down a bit before I try and mix them into my own style.
Reinbach
For sure. I'll try to retain a few bits of this style, I like some elements on the lips and some of that light around the eyes, but I won't be drastically altering my comic style anytime soon.
Reinbach
Interesting take! Here I was worried I accidentally made her look like Taylor Swift. XD
Reinbach
For sure! I do often go for more contrast in my body types, thought this situation was a bit unique lol. Carole (on the left) is washboard flat on the show, which is a body type I'm not comfortable representing because I don't want my porn characters to look too young. So amped up her size and I guess they do look about the same as a result. XD
Reinbach
Yeah, my biggest issue was that neither Carole or Tuesday really seemed to have an arc. They were just kind of perfect from beginning to end and never really grew. If anything it seemed like Angela should have been the star, she had a lot more challenges to overcome.
Reinbach
Wasn't that Koshi Rikdo? Are we thinking of the same guy? In any case glad you like this pic, and I was a big fan of Excel Saga. :)
Reinbach
I haven't. If I can find it on any of the streaming services I've got I'll have a look. :)
Ally
Enjoyed what I watched of C+T. If you want a musical anime with some drama/romance, then have you seen Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad? Bit ancient, but so am I.
Squid Hills
Speaking of Shinichiro Watanabe, have you seen two of his other works; Excel Saga and (the much shorter) Puni Puni Poemy? They aren't Cowboy BeeBop (nothing is) but they are awesome in their own ways. Watanabe's habit of making himself a character in his own animes becomes part of the subplot of Excel Saga, as he begins feuding with the author of the original manga, while all the other insanity unfolds as the main plot. Also: I like this art you've done here for us. Very nice. It's always good for artists to challenge themselves and try to do new things.
David
TBH... this is unexpected... like, it really caught me off guard, but i love it. Carole & Tuesday, having it's problems and stuff, was one of my favorite anime from last year. I really loved the look about the music as a vehicle of emotion and politics. Plus, the music was good (in my opinion) and it covered a wide spectrum on genres. It's not a 10/10 anime, but i still think is great for it's characters. Sadly, some of the plot point get lost, ironicly, when the plot focuses more on Tuesday's mom and allof that stuff... like, i really wanted to know more about the music and the girls. But, yet again, i loved the show. Now, aside from that.... really loving that cum-swap. This could be canon.
Alex Barton
R - I love that you want to experiment: nothing stimulates a creative artist more than to do something unfamiliar just to see if it works. But...what makes your latest TRW strips with Tenma and Elianna so erotic is Tenma is bare-breasted and has huge boobs, Elianna is clothed but her boobs are huge. All I'm saying is that the contrast between the two women is highly erotic whereas here, with both girls the same size/shape as it were, they look like mirror images which *implies* much less, despite the trails of cum. Absolutely not a criticism, just an observation =).
nick
the blonde looks like a younger, thinner raina- before the voluptuousness flourished.
ScuzzBucket
It's an interesting look, though I obviously prefer your more established, cartoony style. "Portrait Work" is fine, but I feel that you get a lot more "character" out of someone the more distinct and animated their features look- your style shines through more with your regular style, and the colors "pop" even more. Here, there's somewhat of a "faded" look that I think works for portraiture, but again, I like the big, bright colors that are more typical. Very nice work at capturing "real" faces, though- it looks like you based them off of real people and did the "Renaissance Artist" thing!
Lord of Nightmares
I like the changes you attempted to the pic, but you probably should have turned down the opacity on the final layer of highlights a little and blended them in more, it stands out a bit much with the rest of your techniques, makes it look a bit to much like the characters skin is overly shiny. Having said that... that is the styling Fernanda uses.
Jariah Synn
I ALMOST watched it but I was like nah...
