Today I'd like to share a chibi I drew for myself, as a response to an art challenge posted by my friend on my message board back in April 2017. The challenge was to draw something from one's first anime. When I thought very hard about it, I realized that, technically, my first anime was The Hobbit! Although it is a Rankin/Bass film, the animation was done by what would eventually become Studio Ghibli. So, to complete the challenge, I drew the cutest Bilbo Baggins I could!
"Chibi Bilbo"
ink and Manga Studio, 4x5"
Completed 9 February 2018
I've always loved the incredibly unique art style of the animated The Hobbit adaptation (as well as that of its sequel, The Return of the King). It was very fun to take that amazing style and process it through my own chibi style to come up with this super cute Bilbo! I started by finding a good reference image from the movie and then began sketching.
Completed sketch.
I used my Plumchester sketchbook to draw this piece and the sketch was done with a simple mechanical pencil. Interestingly, I didn't move directly onto inking. For whatever reason, I forgot about the project entirely until my friend posted his completed challenge drawing a week later XD
Erasing pencil.
Completed inking.
I used my Sakura Micron pens to ink. I may have used a small brush pen of a different brand as well, but I honestly can't remember anymore, lol. I cleaned it up and got it scanned in and digitized for coloring on my PC but, again, for whatever reason, I totally forgot about the project and didn't start coloring it until nine months later!!
My digital working environment with reference and color swatches.
What got me to finally pick this project back up was my need for digital work to do during the months when I was in-between homes earlier this year. I was extremely fortunate to be in a place where I could stream art on Twitch despite my awkward situation, but digital was MUCH easier to do since I had a rather small workspace. That's how I dug this file back up and finished it off! You can watch the whole thing happen in the video below!
The coloring of Chibi Bilbo in real time.
So there we have it! Took nearly a year but I finally completed my friend's art challenge XD I'm really happy with this chibi, it reminds me just how much I truly love that awesome, unique art style from Rankin/Bass's version of The Hobbit~
