SoleySide

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Have never rendered this way before but I decided to do random stuff today!

I’ve been obsessed with SFAWTDE since it was released perfectly during a Minecraft ARG phase and I loved DAWTDE!! They’re definitely different tonally but the vibes and minecrafty notes I enjoyed were still there. The builds/worlds were absolutely beautiful!

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This is a continuation of my “series” (does it count if there’s only two) in making some sketches to flesh out the lives of the Ninjago characters using my HC designs as a starting line!

Lots of text incoming once again… this blog will continue to be my space to ramble endlessly about random fandoms and things 🙌

I’m not sure if there’s a canon/widely accepted timeline for the show but, since Cole has wicks in my design, I thought that certainly enough time would have passed that they would need a retwist probably several times already (for context just started s5). Plus, characters doing each other’s hair is also one of my favourite casual yet intimate scenes to see, I wish I knew how to search more art up but it’s not exactly a typical tag lol.

Zane and Cole are such a fun duo! They both seem a lot more grounded (pun not intended) compared to the others, but in their own unique ways. Like Cole feels more relaxed/casual and Zane feels more calm 🤔 ? iykwim. yet when the group's all together they get in on the antics and roasting just as much if not more, my fave tryhards haha. I’ve heard they aren’t super well written later on though, I’m so scared 😭

They’re using the crochet technique in this since Cole’s supposed to have a slightly looser curl pattern (not sure I depicted it clearly) so based on my research that would keep the locs together easier. Also I think Zane could feasibly have the skill and patience to learn it, as he is genuinely the most competent intelligent ever.

Again if anything’s inaccurate or I should have thought anything through more I would really appreciate anyone going out of their way to give corrections!

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Facial expression practice with Zane

Drawing intense emotions is hard and I wanted to throw my hat in the ring and draw Zane’s sacrifice in Rebooted, so this is the result!

Ik he was kinda hopecore 💫 in the show but tanking incomprehensible power, knowing your death is inevitable, is probably pretty physically and emotionally strenuous

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Cat’s cradle!

I might render this more later or give it an actual BG, but I have another duo piece on the way and atp I think I get more enjoyment out of it when I skip the more tedious parts (imo) and get to the ideas and character interactions

Now for my thought process (bit of a ramble sorry, I have a lot of thoughts for such a small piece lol)

Cat’s cradle is such an iconic childhood game, apparently historically played in almost every continent!! I don’t know its role in every culture but it’s a core memory for a lot of Chinese and Japanese children based on my knowledge, which is consistent with my HCs for several of the characters (credits to Ninjago’s mashup of cultural inspirations, done with varying degrees of care 💀)

So I wanted to do some sketches to flesh out how the lives and identities of the Ninjago characters (in my random headcanons as they exist rn) affect their shared experiences. The setting of Ninjago is not really authentically reflective of any particular culture, so I wanted to take an opportunity to recognize, explore, and research when necessary some elements of the show and my HCs in a bit more depth and specificity than the show offers

Combine this with my interest in character relationships/dynamics and you get this!

Feel free to share your thoughts on this and corrections if I ever get something inaccurate (moreso if I continue posting stuff with this basis since it will probably venture into cultures/practices/etc I’m not familiar with, but ig we’ll see)

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I watched season 4 in a day and it’s so good… this is so hype

There were some really beautiful scenes in there, like those visuals, the lighting !? A lot of growth from season 1. I need to redraw a screenshot one day!!

I originally wanted to draw a character lineup / reference sheet to get a hang of how I imagine their body types and heights, but I lowk got lost in the sauce and ended up sketching some outfit designs as well. Will probably change them but I needed to draw something out !!! Can you still tell who’s who? lol

All of these designs were sort of on a whim so they’re a bit anachronistic, drawing from the designs of the characters over all the seasons I’ve watched. The seasons I chose were loosely based on the different eras of uniforms the ninja wore when boarding the boat in episode 1.

Personality and power symbolism also played a part in my design choices but above all I just threw stuff at the wall until it stuck ❤️

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Woah who are these people

I was actually not a Ninjago kid… but I started watching it recently and for the most part? It is PEAK

So of course I had to make some humanized versions! These are just quick sketchy designs to figure out how I want to approach them in the future so if I ever draw them again they may change, esp as seasons go on.

These designs are based on the characters around season ~2 to 3, since that’s where I’m at, and inspired by the Lego Fortnite designs, with a hint of me seeing screenshots from later seasons (my fault for getting into the fandom before watching literally anything lol)

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First post! This is my pfp on most sites!

I’ve been a lurker on Tumblr for a while but I think it’s time I start using my account. Was going to say start posting but idk if I’m actually going to be doing that…