Inktober 52 - 2021 36

I've always found gold a little gaudy. It's got its place in design of course, but it's just not for me. Rich people have probably just ruined it for me, especially considering how easily it's paired with weird status symbols that only really register as such because of the gold plating. My first positive association with "Golden" then is a Spin-Off game of Shin-Megami Tensei's Persona 4, which I haven't played, mainly because I've yet to play any Persona in the first place. I'm mainly aware of Persona through the design aesthetics. Persona 5 specifically has created a signature look for the franchise I hope they will continue to evolve. Persona 4 I'm really just tangentially familiar with, and really only through a character design that caught my eye. This is back in the day where I still read wikis when I noticed an interesting character design, which was a lucky find at the time. People who know my taste probably know where this is going, because Persona 4 features a character that I think about every now and then, especially when I have to prepare a pen and paper session.

Yes, it's another one of these detective characters in sharp clothes. Exactly what I'm into designing anyway. Naoto Shirogane has a special place my internal line-up of interesting characters. She's written as the type of character I tend to gravitate towards anyway, even in less colourful casts. I had to look up references though, because I wasn't actually that familiar with the design details.

Placing the hands was probably the most difficult thing to do here, and considering I want to add another person over Naoto's left shoulder. The pose isn't particularly dynamic for a Persona piece as well, but I think the ink shading will help her pop a little more in all her gender-non-conforming glory.

I've found a reference image for grown-up Naoto from a manga while I was looking for a better angle on those glasses, and it seemed more visually appealing than the Persona that might canonically accompany her. Maybe she can help with the framing when the shading gets in there as well.

Lettering by hand is miserable, but I think it's a pretty important part of the aesthetic, just like the stark outlines. If I were to colour this digitally, I'd have the background be yellow or something to that effect, but I'm afraid anything other coloured inks would take away from the clear contrasts. Maybe that's because of the disappointing experience that are felt-tip pens from grade-school. Considering how rough the sketch was, I think this came out pretty well. I had ample opportunity to shade the clothing a bit, which I think I should keep doing in the future as well, as it's not that difficult, but adds a lot to the contrasts and composition. It also happens to give me some leeway with the fine-liner sketches, but that's not usually a problem anyway.

It changes hands in a second or less,

it's holding ambitions, wagers a guess,

it values itself at a second glance,

and end over end, it tells you a chance.