My Work :: Part 24: AngstyBishy Kenshin

A huge burden has been lifted off me: I finally got Kenshin done!!!!!! It has taken forever, but he finally made it to the finish line in the end.

Not that MAKING him was a burden; he was tricksy but fine. No, the problem was the burden I put on myself for not getting him completed in a timely fashion. The cloud hanging over me of "oh, I am taking forever" and "it's been too long; will he look as good as the others?" and "I am so evil for taking so long" and other mindgames I play with myself. Ha, now *I* am angsting; enough of this.

Getting on the to REAL reason for this post; ever since Jess got me hooked on Kenshin I just knew he had to become an AB. She always said he would make a good AB, way before I knew the character well enough to agree with her, but of course she ended up being right. I mean, he has monstrous sins he feels he cannot atone for; his romantic past has scarred his current romantic relationship; he is always at risk of slipping into Battosai mode; and the list goes on. He is not as wangsty and self-pitying as some, but he most definitely qualifies.

If you look at the original sketch and the completed vector, you will see a LOT of differences. His hair reminded me a little too much of some guy in an 80's hair band, beeing so big and shaggy, so I flattened it a little. But a lot of his pics show him with hair like that; what's a girl to do? And then there was the tragedy of the hakuma; it looks decent in the sketch but kept loking like a white pleated dress in Illustrator, no matter what I did. Elicia helped me make it look more like manly hakuma pleats, thanks goodness, and while I keep feeling there is something more I can do, I'm content for now. Then Melissa noted, to my eternal shame, that I had completely forgotten to put the scars on his face! *headdesk* Of all the things to forget; I'm so glad she noticed in time! So all of these challenges, along with the fact that I had freelancing and other woes to tie up much of my spare time. Meh. So in short, I think he turned out darling, but I'm afraid every time I look at him, I will feel procrastination shame. We'll see how long that lasts. I can't wait to make him a pillow; you get the first one Jess! =)

Oh, and I'm working on a new AB; another classic anime character, before i take deep breaths and start attempting daunting AB's like Cloud. I go the reference pics last night, as a breather from my projects, and hope to sketch him tomorrow; maybe tonight if I can't fall asleep.