Character Project!! Part 4: Sketches & Exercises

During class today we learned to use pathfinder tools along with other new tools in Adobe Illustrator CS5. To practice using those tools I drew a headshot of Kyon-chan..

Full size at deviantART: http://fav.me/d4rc2w6

Here is a simple sketch of Kyon-chan I did earlier.. I will sketch a few more to decide a good pose for the final piece..

And here are some old sketches of Kyon-chan.. mostly I did in my notebook during boring classes, hence the annoying lines..

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03/01 UPDATE:

Using more tools learned in class, including the use of separate layers, I continued working on the earlier headshot and turned it to a chibi for the sample character assignment. It would've been super complicated if I had to do this on 1 layer. I kept having to lock all the other layers to work on every detail. There was supposed to be a cat at the top of her head, but Illustrator crashed on me when I was working on it, and after redoing a lot of unsaved parts, I wasn't interested in continuing the cat anymore. I guess it'll have to wait for the final character project artwork to make its appearance..

Character Project!! Part 3: References

I love sakura trees in full bloom, so I decided to use that as the background of the artwork. As for the outfit, it will still be kimono with a pink hakama. Kyon-chan will also bring a pair of harisens and wear sakura flowers on her hair as usual. Last but not least, her orange cat will be around. Here is a few pictures I found online to use as references.

- Sakura trees background references -

- Pink kimono and hakama reference -

- Harisen reference -

- Sakura hairpin reference -

- Orange cat reference -

Character Project!! Part 2: Character Profile

• Name: Kyon-chan
• Species: half-human-half-cat
• Element: wind
• Skin color: fair
• Hair color: red-head
• Eye color: dark brown
• Favorite color: orange & pink
• Favorite outfit: kimono + hakama
• Favorite animal: orange cat (duh!)
• Favorite weapon: a pair of harisens
• Favorite tree/flower: cherry blossom

Kyon-chan is a cat girl born from a human mother and a cat-demon father. She wears a kimono with sakura pattern and pink hakama skirt. With her weapons, a pair of harisens, she can control the wind, allowing her to fly, strike enemies, or just create pleasant breeze. Accompanied by her pet cat, she roams the world to seek adventure and friends.

- Artworks of Kyon-chan by Other Artists -

by ~chay1017

by ~Angie234

by ~Rei919

Character Project!! Part 1: Introduction

So our first assigned project is creating an artwork with a character we design. When I first heard of this assignment, I immediately thought of my OC (original character), Kyon-chan. How did I come up with her? The story goes back to more than 3 years ago, when my friend invited me to play a game in Facebook called Pet Society. In this game I got to design my "pet," and I picked a male orange cat. I picked this specific creature because I was, and still am, addicted to a manga called Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya. In this manga, my favorite character was Sohma Kyo, an orange-haired boy who turns to an orange cat when hugged by girls! xD

- Sohma Kyo in cat and human form -

As I kept playing Pet Society, I found that the female clothing and items are a lot cuter, so I changed my pet, Kyon-chan's gender to female. I also thought to myself that Japanese clothing fit her best! This is the final result.. :D

My mind kept wondering about a profile and background story for this new character of mine, which by then had become considerably different from the guy character she was inspired from. Long story short, in the end she becomes my OC, Kyon-chan - the cat girl wearing pink hakama and sakura flowers in her hair. Furthermore, she has quite formidable martial arts skills and the ability to control the element of wind by using her weapon, which is a pair of harisen (Japanese foldable fan). Her loyal companion is her little orange pet cat, which she helped down from a sakura (Japanese cherry blossom) tree once. 

Later, I got so addicted to the game that I spent a lot of time in the game's forum, and lucky for me, there was a fan art sub forum. I met a lot of great artists who inspired me to become a digital artist and even drew fan arts of Kyon-chan for me. To me, Kyon-chan is an important part of the digital artist in me, since my random creation of her is what introduced me to the world of digital art. That's why, she'll always cross my mind first when I'm faced with this kind of assignment. Say hello to Kyon-chan!!

Artist A Day: Sam Weber

After checking a bunch of artists on Artist A Day, I finally found an artist that caught my interest, and that is Sam Weber from New York. I was intrigued by his artwork because it is a mix of naturalistic and cartoonish style.

His choice of colors are soft and a bit dark, but not boring. In this particular artwork I love how he uses color to create a focal point. The picture background and the detailed birds are sepia-colored, but the girl is colorful in contrast, thus drawing our eyes to it. The expression on the girl's face is beautifully drawn. We can clearly see how she is enjoying it. The perspective and dramatic pose is also lovely. It gives the pleasant feeling of flying through the air, but not too fast (as shown by the strings that are not too stretched and the dress that is gently flowing). The blurred birds' wings make the flapping movement believable, as well as giving a misty feeling in the air..

After seeing this artist's work, I begin to pay more attention to the importance of color palette and the impact it can give when used appropriately.

About Me

Hi everyone, my name is Cynthia Anastasia Andi, an Indonesian digital artist. I've liked art since I was a kid and I love manga and anime, which influence my art style a lot. I only had little formal education in art before I changed my major to graphic design in Fall 2011. 


I created this blog to post my artworks and assignments from Professor Joyce Dallal's Spring 2012 digital art class at El Camino College, where I'm currently studying. 


I am taking this class to learn how to be a good digital artist. Even though I did learn Photoshop back in 8th grade, my knowledge about the use of this software is still very limited, especially since a lot of improvement have been made to this software. I also want to learn how to use other softwares I such as Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, which I'm sure will be useful to me as a digital artist. I am hoping that by the end of this class I will master these softwares and become a great digital artist.


I hope to pass this class with an A and be able to transfer to a good school to earn my BA or BFA. The schools I am aiming to transfer to is either CSU Long Beach or CSU Fullerton.
When I have graduated, I would like to work as a graphic designer/ illustrator in Indonesia. Although there are already quite a few people working in these fields, I would like to distinguish myself with my cartoonish style.


I hope through my posts in this blog I can see how I progress as a digital artist.
These are examples of my artworks (click image to enlarge).

For more examples of my artworks, visit my deviantART page!

Comments and constructive criticism are always appreciated :)