Reiko Hinimoto Fan Art

[endersaka]

I am the kind of artist that start a piece today and finish it in one month because in the meanwhile I am working in parallel on other twenty pieces, if I do not have precise schedules, or agreements with anyone. And this is the case.

Months ago, I was reading an art commission request (i.e. job offer) description, in the "Hiring an Artist" forum of DeviantArt, where the poster was looking for an artist to render and interpretation of Reiko Hinimoto character from the videogame for Playstation, Rumble Roses (2004).

I did not apply, because I am quite sure that my style (or styles, all very traditional) wouldn't encounter the appreciation of the typical Japanese videogame fanart audience... Honestly, I have difficulties also with American Superhero comic style, Disney, Anime or blends and in general the perception of what is Comic Art style by American audience (totally different from European styles and themes). While I am sure I can mimic all of them, I do not have a portfolio showing off this ability. We will see, eventually in the future.

Though, I was curious to challenge myself in capturing the essence of Reiko, despite the very poorly rendered 3D model of the time. I believe I got what kind of face the authors of the game were thinking for her.

I made several attempts. The first 5 dates back to that day, months ago (October, I think). The last one, which I believe is the closest one to her likeness, has been made in the past few days.

 

[Enyaw]

Really like the last except I find the dark outlines on the bottom half of the face and neck detract from the piece. Too dark. The facial expression is priceless.

 

[endersaka]

Thanks. I agree with you. The dark lines are a bit too "Comic Art". Though, I was planning to finish the piece and probably darken many areas to augment the contrast, and so they will be probably blended in the process. Or I will make a new one and refine the "concept"... Or I will finish this and make also a new one we will see...

 

[endersaka]

A bit OT, though...

One of the reasons for I am here, is that I think that the appreciations, if any, come mostly from people that value the Art and not the subject. In fact, @Enyaw comment clearly didn't spark from the subject of my sketch, but from the artistic result, and I am grateful for that.

I was browsing the Web, looking for reference material, when I noticed that since this morning at 10:30 about (i.e. about 10 hours ago), I got more than 15 notifications on DeviantArt: all about my Reiko final sketch. Everything started few days ago when I published a deviation (an image post, in DeviantArt jargon) with the early five sketches. Of course, my post contained Reiko in the title and possibly tags and description. Few hours later a DeviantArt group, devoted to Rumble Roses videogame, sent me a request to allow them to add my deviation to one of their galleries. I accepted and I also, sent a message to the group, to thanks them and joined the group with the intent to track the situation. Few days later I published the deviation with the last pencil sketch. Which got more attention than any deviation I ever posted, bringing me 2 and more new watchers and 27 "likes", modest numbers for others, but still exceptional for me.

Note: in DeviantArt, you don't like, you add a deviation to your Favorites gallery, and Favorites gallery is visible to other accounts, ... which is probably the winning feature that keeps DeviantArt alive in the social network era.

Ah, yes... My conclusion... I was about to forget it... Is that most of the success as an artist doesn't come from audience real appreciation and understanding of Art. What triggered the success of my Reiko sketch is the fact that I decided to render a character of a popular Playstation videogame. They don't care for my Art.

 

[Enyaw]

… not often anyone looks deep enough at a piece to appreciate the art. You are right, if the audience is in tune with your subject matter the response is greater. If you paint or draw for personal satisfaction and you learn to produce what you think is good, the audience of one is better than the audience of 10 who like the subject and not the art. It’s craziness to chase followers but it’s joy when followers chase you. Catch 22: you need to find your sheep and that happens by chance, circumstances, and luck. The Beatles were good but so were a lot of bands. The Beatles filled a need at the right time and the rest is history.