![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/EoyRrkaWX6nV162kEJwcakuqggYp1vKN4tFExArfWjE5wY3u6RmTQf9keTP2daWkfVF.png) Hey Hive! We're back again with another Art Attack! If you're new to the series, this is where I share my drawings and the process behind them. A behind-the-scenes look at my artwork, if you will. This is not to say that I'm very good at art, or that I'm a professional in any way. In fact this is the opposite, and serves as a reminder to how I first started, and lets me track my progress too! This might be the last Art post I do so I thought I'd make it special and share the art I did for Sean's birthday this year! He's been using the same old profile picture on Whatsapp - an old painting I did of the two of us that looks like this: ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/EouAeDpDAfKk6rpPt4vZHsHCx1bwaTjxsqWrNLAtiPK5hoQhgG6yhxSGmXNoAYBgJBu.png) I did this 5 years ago during covid and I remember it was tough since we were in lockdown and stuck in a small studio apartment together. It was hard to hide things from each other then so I had to work on this painting in secret while Sean was sleeping. Sean has been using that painting on his Whatsapp profile ever since I gifted it to him and he uses it a lot for work, so I thought it was high time for a makeover! I wanted to do an anime portrait for him since I've been playing around with Arcane-style portraits. I asked Sean which anime pose he likes and I know he really likes Kento Nanami from Jujutsu Kaisen and I found these references that looked really cool. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/243MHqJkwb4SLHBXPd8MsFZ2yrbBhHFJgEoimELHKfDF1dYnUCVgodwfneAFqpMYd5uYc.png) It's actually coincidental that Sean went to try on a suit that was the exact colour scheme as Nanami's years before we watched the anime together. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23yx5gb1QvS7bx4sC97UeAffBoy8QveULHaAALvC2zjXDyZUYNxZaEk7QGFtCSBBEqAQi.png) So initially I did a half body sketch just tracing Nanami and I thought I could just alter the pose from here to make it more similar to Sean. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23tmmJohyxQ4b3r6mdSFCFmsNw22LpVFYhufTve95Tfrw69n5Y3KbjWWHPw1XwEZbpUJ9.png) Then I tried this pose instead but it still looked more like Nanami. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23tmmT3BGYuNQKma2HF2eTnEci47dcnuCoy5tNbQbz7XjvdiMqDD6uHysggJdNg1xDrNo.png) I tried to make him do a thumbs-up since Sean likes to do that pose a lot but it still looked off. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23uRL6XVKV9fVFfYjiyHkBfYv3JHb7wEhrUYCcUBFJ3Kv39Fc9M9fc7zrvNT1HSfTnAnQ.png) So I decided to try just drawing Sean with an anime look first and then building off that. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23vPbcvUH6dfGyZiPrrHFPzSHrmxqP5sQyy7TP5fuxTbGA656KB6o9QdzZH2Mhmzeu2mE.png) I wanted to draw in his muscles too and tried tracing this photo but it looked weird. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23qrZE7iyba6iXgyev73DkxEzcdGMhZ3cfuL9Xm3e8Kb3TU1WSAKhDqUh4fLswu4BmXor.png) I also tried a different style that works with the Arcane portrait but it didn't look good. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23tSyz4YxANzysLugm27eVZPEP87QhrYGisSzxKvGCfNzVPxLwES41Zh1n2cXFeSVpM2v.png) Eventually I settled on working off this reference and adapting the hair to suit Sean. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23xf4mN3uJt56a3zBrmsqSLcqbRhv1nXXG5A4XzF3ddDWS1cP7Bcu9L8mar26qkQaP7Wm.png) He really likes this Hawaiian shirt with Snoopy's brother Olaf on it so I thought it'd be perfect to draw him wearing it for his portrait. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23tmmf7kirTWPdXTsRUUGSedXmsXdBg2yPMPSFGMU9oz8KB6Ze6d5zHKMNtK4C4bSdcRn.png) I coloured in his dyed hair from last time so it would match the shirt as well, and added in his silly favourite characters on the shirt. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/EpT5fmHy17eLwSSYJfbjdcBQcngi3yxT6kkmti1b2BHiRWVfs4mggwAyvgYHfrnHkHW.png) After adding in some colours and shadows we get this! ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23zS5AtNuV28MsUYyiozn1ubtEwSUbbtgPuBFr29mXHABBD4cMTKkdyQ2N1ybKHFjkdnC.png) For the background I wanted to do a simple one with DDR arrows I just wasn't sure of the colour scheme so it took a while to find the right one. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/23xozPgKDYhCWiYd5Kifg3v2b82ubCqfnRWH2vh8EhHbbmKMvzsvpdf7i1ZMMkcpJqd5z.png) Eventually I settled on this sunset theme since orange is his favourite colour and it contrasted the blue. I was just scared that it would blend into his skin too much but I think it still works. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/EoyRrkaWX6nV162kEJwcakuqggYp1vKN4tFExArfWjE5wY3u6RmTQf9keTP2daWkfVF.png) I showed this to him for his birthday and he absolutely loved it! I was so happy since it took quite a lot of work. After he changed his profile picture I think he got a lot of compliments from his colleagues which made me really glad too. I'm so glad he loved it since I couldn't really think of anything else to draw for him. I definitely still need more practice drawing portraits but we'll get there. Thanks for reading! https://i.imgur.com/PXZB7ti.gif

To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!

----------------------------------------- Check out my previous post in this series! Art Attack #239: Oke TacoCat https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/taco.cat/AK58jVHywYrZvdnwmPWACBW4jQDVFUqK6Mzzx3DC6mjud1P2Ez5EZo2iJk4RTJY.png

Mermaid