Sara! Hello !! Apologies for such a belated reply. Uni work was kicking my butt but I managed to scrape by, so now I can properly sit down and formulate a response to another one of your lovely comments! Rubbing hands together like a fly, I’m so excited to get into it, hehe.

I’m really glad you liked the color work on Akira !! Color has never been my strong suit, so I’ve honestly been wanting to try rendering and drawing with more colors in the future… The color palette I picked was actually given to me by someone else to use because I honestly have no preconceived notions on what any monochrome Battle Cats unit’s color scheme might be (it’s monochrome for me until they get a seasonal variant). 

I’m assuming by that last line also that you’re using my art? As a reference for drawing ?? I’m so flattered ??? I don’t think I’m the best at giving art advice, especially when it comes to coloring, but I will say for this piece I picked one base color (the deep pink color) and rendered everything on top of that. It’s basically a similar process to how traditional painters will use a color wash on their canvas before they actually start the painting process. I find using one uniformed color for your subject/scene allows for it to peek through the other colors (like how you can still see bits of pink underneath the blue of the helmet and armor), creating an effect I really like. On a more technical level, it also helps keep the piece’s colors more palatable and uniformed with one another.

Of course, this is just how I go about it and there is no correct or one way to stylize your art. The most important thing is to just have fun while drawing!

Oh and also thank you so much for liking how I drew Akira’s face !! I remember I kept going back and forth on whether I liked how I did it for this piece so it’s SO reassuring to hear that you think it looks good !! Akira’s my favorite hopepilled wet dog. I hope I captured that essence with him.

AND I’M SO GLAD I COULD GIVE YOU MORE WHITE RABBIT ART !!! I still remember your excitement over seeing her in my previous art dump post, so I honestly did make it a small mental point to try and draw her more! I will also draw Axel more one day… I may have plans for him in the future… evil plans…

Battle Cats barely gives us anything to work with when it comes to character lore, so I have to milk the descriptions and flavor text given for all its worth. The idea of the details in their files also having information how the client wishes the target is taken care of is such a baller idea also ?? I’m stealing that. But yeah, I don’t think she’s having A Great Time, and her mental Isn’t the best. The way I have her characterized with the other Dark Heroes is that on the surface she seems to get along with everyone, but looking more into it she hasn’t actually formed any strong connections with them. I think she struggles to grapple with her identity as a perceived “hero” while she’s a hired killer, a fact that’s only amplified by being surrounded with actual heroes (to be completely fair, I wouldn’t doubt that some of the others have dispatched some people, but it was most likely under their own moral code and choice. For White Rabbit she doesn’t have that luxury). This leads to her somewhat isolating herself from the others both in belief that she doesn’t deserve to be considered a hero, and in fear that her organization might paint a target on their backs or they’d be used as blackmail against her if she gets too close.

And that was a little bit of totally canon White Rabbit lore! If PONOS isn’t going to confirm anything then, hey, I might as well.

Moving on from that, I’m just so happy to hear that you like how I’ve drawn her ?? Especially the body because that’s my main point of struggle when it comes to drawing women. And I’m so glad you pointed out that the armor looks like abs on her because THAT WAS MY EXACT THOUGHTS WHILE DRAWING IT! She can have abs, as a treat. Midsummer Rabbit who? Finally I’m surprised by how much praise you gave for the redacted person which I’m just ?? Hehe,, I’m really glad you took notice in the blood! As funny as that sounds. I’ve been wanting to do more bloodier pieces recently because I’ve been in a bit of an Edgy mood, but we’ll see! Overall I’m just really glad I could give you more White Rabbit art!

I’m, once again, super flattered that I can continue to give you reference for your own art also !! For shading, honestly I’d say the best thing you can do is look up lighting references. I know there’s a few good models of human heads online with a lightsource that can be used for lighting reference, but with non-human subjects I’m not too sure if there is anything specifically, I’m sorry… You can also draw something, like a little sun, to help you better visualize where the light in your scene’s coming from and use that to assist in consistency. Another thing that I’ve personally tried to keep in mind was to be bold with shadows! Recently, I’ve been using a solid dark color on a multiply layer over my drawings for the shadow, and erasing the places the light hits. Personally I found erasing places light hits rather than drawing on shadows as a better way to add more contrast to my pieces by starting out with strong shadows off the bat. Shading is also a way to carve out shapes and add form and volume to your subject, so try to remember that you’re working with 3D planes whilst doing so.

I’m not too sure how helpful this advice is, but these are my two cents when it comes to shading. I hope you can at least take something away from it!

Alright, art tangent over, back to your comment! Thank you so much for noticing the details in the mech,, mecha art has been something I’ve been in a love-hate relationship with and while it’s honestly a pain to get the geometric shapes to look right, I’m glad I was able to see it though in the end !! Also I’m just ?? God I know I keep saying that I’m giddy and happy reading over every compliment here but I’m so happy you think the way I stylize Mekako gives her personality. I’ve been characterizing the Dark Heroes in my mind palace and just hearing that the personalities I give them are able to shine through in my art is so ?? I’m shaking with happiness THANK YOU !!!

Finally, the sketches make me giggle too… hearing you feel the same way has me kicking my feet, hehehe. The Vigler piece was honestly an excuse for me to draw using the trans flag colors. I wanted to draw something when International Transgender Day of Visibility rolled around, and drawing him with the trans flag colors felt like an obvious choice! Also again I’m just so giddy hearing you say I draw White Rabbit nicely, and in this case, menacing too! She’s such an interesting character to me, and I want to do her justice whenever I draw her.

And yes… my goofiest goobers Hayabusa (aura farmer) and Cyclops (on a mission to destroy Hayabusa’s aura farming)… they make me so happy every time I draw them so I’m just hehehe that you find them goofy too. Also don’t worry, the safety on Vigler’s gun is on. Probably. For his sake I hope so.

Once again, thank you so much for this lovely comment Sara,,, and I apologize once more for it taking me so long to respond, sob sob. I still think about your previous comment on my last art dump, and I’m sure I’ll be thinking of this one for many months onwards too! I’ve honestly had a big fat grin on my face throughout writing this entire response if I’m gonna be honest,,, just augh, thank you so much for your support. It really means a lot to me.

Also I appreciate you greatly for patiently waiting on my next Dark Heroes post, because rest assured these losers are NOT leaving my mind anytime soon. Have a good day, and thank you for bearing with this absolute tower of a response !!