Chibi Sean - Black Bear

A lot of, "Wow, finally!" with this drawing!  For one, this was the first piece I completed this year, in the very first week of January, and yet I'm only posting it now, in the last week of February XD  For two, and much more impressive, this is the second in a series of chibis that I started way the heck back in 2008!  It's been practically a decade between my first entry and my second entry (⊙_⊙)  Hopefully, I'll be able to complete more before another ten years goes by!

I sketched the rough lines on paper, drawing the bear, staff, and Sean separately.
I then combined the sketches in Photoshop.

I'm actually quite sure I will have more to add to this series before the end of 2018.  I've decided to follow up the "birthday person's favorite animal ACEO" theme that I did in December 2017 with a new theme for the entire year: fantasy chibi birthday person!  The most basic idea for this series of chibis was thought up by my friend Trent ("draw your friends as chibis") and I decided back then to draw everyone as a sort of fantasy RPG-type character riding on the chibi animal that I felt fit them.  So the first chibi I did, way back in 2008, featured Trent riding a black horse.  I truly intended to make more, even thought of a couple more friends' outfits and animal mounts, but at the time, the first chibi had been one of the hardest projects I'd ever done (and I think that's why the drawing still holds up quite well today).  I think I burned myself out and that's why it took me so long to come back to this project.

Final lines completed in Photoshop. It was my first use of Lazy Nezumi Pro.
I left the areas under the visors intentionally light or blank.

So here we have my husband, Sean, whose birthday is the first one of the year on my list.  He really likes tabletop gaming and one of his favorites is Shadowrun, a sort of cyberpunk magical world based in Seattle, WA (or at least, that's how his explanations make it seem to me).  Using that as the basis for what kind of fantasy character he should be, I designed all the armor and the background to match.  I decided on a black bear as his mount because Sean is like a big, cuddly bear in real life.  I considered other bears--brown bear, polar bear--but the black bear's general reputation (or really, its lack thereof--grizzlies are known as ferocious, polar bears make people think of the environment) fit Sean the best.

Photoshop and Lazy Nezumi Pro, 6x8", Completed January 2018
Available for purchase as a print or art merchandise here!

I really surprised myself with how quickly I was able to complete this piece.  I didn't time myself when I created the first chibi in the series but I'm sure I didn't get it done as quickly as this one.  I finished with enough time to print, dry, trim, and frame it before Sean's birthday!  It's probably for the best that it took me so long to try making more fantasy chibis; there's no way I'll burn out now with my current level of skill and experience (^^)  Here's hoping the rest of the chibis I intend to draw for birthday people this year are just as quick and easy so that busy birthday months aren't tough to manage!