Castlevania Nocturne Frozen Shade: Lighting and Painterly Study

    One of my goals for the longest time was to actually finish my artwork. For various reasons I'venever quite been satisfied with my approach and workflow. What a strange thing, then, that a show I only kind of liked would be my muse for a few days.

Castlevania Nocturne Frozen Shade

 Hello world, it's been a while.

This year one of my goals has been to take a concentarted effort to try and refine my craft, put stuff out there, try and get noticed, and who knows, maybe get paid for this. 

For the last three weeks since the start of the new year, I've been attempting to grind and level up as best as I can, which more often than not is a slow process that starts with finding a first push of momentum. About five to ten minutes of dragging my pen over the tablet seems to do the trick...until I run out of steam, unable to decide what to draw.

I caught up on Castlevania: Nocturne on Netflix over the weekend to try and jostle something into inspiration. I found myself morbid captivated by this minor character, the nameless Captain of the French Revolutionary Guard who was turned into a night creature as a nod to one of the video game enemies, the Frozen Shade. The horror of her second unlife juxtaposed well with the series' themes of elevating oneself over oppression.

It's not a bad show, but to call it an adaptation of Rondo of Blood is to really stretch the meaning of the word. For what it was I enjoyed it overall, and from an aesthetic point of view, Castlevania has always been visually interesting.

As an artist, I found that while I still enjoy drawing figures and sketching, my inking is rudimentary and I'm still no painter. I'd like to improve my skills as a colorist, and referencing stills form the show gave me something to study.