Step by step 11

making of ''Wakey, Wakey Little Spirits !''
For the general concept, I wanted to have some spirits wandering around in a japanese temple. It was hard to find how to represent the spirits as I wanted to avoid the very cliche representation of japanese spirits which are pretty gloomy and scary looking. I choose a very simplified representation of spirits just as in the manga Mushi-shi, with spirits that are simply organic shapes close to some animals/fich/mushrooms/... Once again, to make the piece a bit more funny I added my regular characters: cats, I found the dea of an undirect interaction with the spirits really interesting. It remains mysterious ^^.

I started by making by hand and without any model, the very complex buildings in the background. The complexity of the background forced me to use first a A5 sketch (1.), then a ''simple'' A3 sketch (2.) and then a very detailed background (3.). I then digitally simulated the coloring of the background to be sure I was on the right track since I never drew a background with soo much red and using white lines to give depth to the drawing (4.). I then created lots and lots of different spirit shapes. The idea was to have very diffent shapes but with a certain harmony. Based on some internet images I created the cat shapes. I then used the simulated background and the scan of my cats and spirits to work out the final simulation (5.). It took about 30-40 simulations to arrive to this final results. I also tried to add other things like smoke, a character, furniture, but nothing worked out as it became too complex (and it would have been too hard too draw as well, too small).

As usual, I then started the very long pen lining, after having pre-made it by pencil (6.). When the lining was finished, I eliminated the pencil draft (used for the lining) using a rubber, and I started inking, with the red ink first (7.). I then add the black ink by starting to ink from the center of the drawing to limit the risk of stains (8.), even if that was unfortunately unsuccessfull. I made a stain in the upper left corner and I tried to hie it as I could (I almost killed myself when that happened). When it was finished, I scan the drawing and slightly change the contrast and colors of the scanned version of the piece in order to obtain a final render as close as possible to the physical paper version!

The most difficult part was with the black ink since there were lots of white lines to watch out for. A inking error of 1-2 mm, and the whole drawing is compromised ... At least I avoided that ...

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate ^^.