Inktober 52 - 2021 41

Hand-Fans are such interesting conversation pieces, I think. It's usually designed to be somewhat subtle - at least the ones I like - and the mechanics are undeniably aesthetic. Otherwise I don't think they are terribly useful, but in general, I prefer them aesthetically over most other fans. I've got characters flying around that use fans as part of their character design, and this might be an opportunity to practice character design.

I've mentioned that I've done these sorts of posture sketches a lot, right? Composition-wise it didn't take long to figure out what I wanted to do here, but since these are two characters, this is looking to be about one and a half times the effort these things are for me usually. I'll also have to think about what to do about effects, since that will hopefully fill the rest of the page.

I'm usually a little less hesitant about sketching in details like this. I don't quite know what made this one so difficult to work on for me. It's not like either of the poses, nor the specifics of the design are too unusual for what I usually do.

It's been a while since I've felt this uneasy about the ink-outline. At this point I'm still not sure of what to do about the effects, even though I've hinted at them slightly in the sketches. I'll probably keep them, but just these won't really convey what I'm going for here.

That sketch cleaned up nicely. The effects turned out pretty well for the most part. The bottom half was supposed to be ice-themed, which I'm not sure scans, but it's the effort, I guess.

Shading is a nice bonus on this one, I think. What I did discover in the process was the stray flames at the top. You'll notice I didn't shade all the way around it, but I think considering that it's supposed to illuminate dark spaces anyway, leaving the rough shapes around the fire looks not only plausible, but also kinda good. Learned something new every day.

It moves the air when weather can't,

it fits neatly in the hand,

folded, it slides into pockets,

sleeves and otherwise it sprockets

into circle segments small,

with lovely illustrations all.