Courtney's LeafieHang

Oh, hey! A painting made waaaay back in March, but only uploaded now? What gives?

So just a little backstory: Some time ago, I was invited to contribute to a wholesome endeavor by Courtney Visser's community. I naturally wanted to pitch in; while I haven't been hanging out in her channel lately, I have a lot of fond memories with her and her friends. This, to me, was my way of giving back for all their kindness, and especially the kindness I've received from Courtney herself. And it's only right that I show it best through my artwork, no?

That said, happy birthday, Courtney. I've hardly a clue how old you are this year, not that it matters. 😏 May you and the Leafies continue to prosper and enjoy life together for many more years to come. 🍰

Sunflower (ヒマワリ)

Ever since I moved into my new place, I've been doing a lot of gardening. So far, I've successfully managed to grow a few crops from scratch, and this summer I decided I wanted to attempt growing sunflowers. I have around 10 growing from the seed right now; so far 4 have sprouted, and there's another one just about ready to pop up from the ground soon. My hope is they all grow into full-fleged flowers before the end of the summer, and I'm optimistic with the rate things are going.

I do confess though that sunflowers weren't exactly the first flower I had in mind for this painting. I was mulling over several choices before ultimately settling on sunflowers, since this was meant to be a summery piece more than anything. And what better flower encapsulates the summer, right?

I was also trying to attempt art techniques that deviated from my usual process. I was also trying my best to study how my friend's rendering style works. Usually, I would tackle rendering by shading in grayscale then make it more colorful if the final image looked too pale. This time, in my attempt to emulate his work, I went straight into painting with the base and rendered using the same flat colors. I like how more vibrant it's proven to be, and how I use less layers with this compared to before.

However, after some thought, I might just end up going back to my old shading tactics for the sake of consistency. I worry less about getting the colors and lighting right when I use the older method. And after looking at my final art piece, it feels like I've hardly changed... Like I've hit a glass ceiling of sorts and I need to figure out how to breach it somehow. Perhaps I need to take classes in art again... Or maybe I'm burning out without realizing it and I should take a break from art for a while?

Anyway, this was mostly a birthday gift to myself, albeit a late one. 🍰 Arc became relevant again in Chapter 16 (finally), and I wanted to depict them in my art after not painting about them in months. I had another WIP sketch of them that was more story-relevant, but I opted for this more wholesome version that tied to my gardening in some way (I think I'm meant to be a Setagaya Agricultural Academy attendee with how I've been invested in the outdoors at this rate 😆).