#carkour

[idrawprettyboys]

Wahoo! I think I actually managed to make this look okay! That background looks a lot better with Kenji and Mitsuo covering up a lot of it! xD Anyway, here are my racers in Chrome City! They look happy to be there. :) I might use this for a volume cover later, if I'm still happy with it when the time comes.

[idrawprettyboys]

I'm sooo happy with how this turned out! Aren't my boys beautiful?? This is Mitsuo and Kenji from a manga that I'm working on called Carkour. These guys take part in a Carkour tournament, which, as you can probably guess, is a mix between car racing and parkour. There's more to the story, but it's a secret! <3 

I colored this with watercolor and tried my best to give it a cel-shaded look with solid blocks of color, to make it look like an anime screenshot or official anime art. I'm really happy with the premise and aesthetic of this story so far. It feels like something that I could see being made into a real anime! I just have to make sure I stay motivated and don't give up on it when I encounter roadblocks. Like Kenji and Mitsuo, I too must overcome obstacles to get to my goal! 

My plan for this picture is to combine it with a background illustration of Chrome City, where the story takes place. I'm still working on the background, but I plan on digitally compositing it on Clip Studio once the backdrop is inked and painted. I'm excited to see it all together! I might use this for the cover of the first volume or the title page of the first chapter.

Just some notes: Mitsuo's hair is supposed to be white. It might look gray here, but that's because I wanted the shines to be visible. I ended up making all or most things that are meant to be white light gray instead. I wasn't sure whether to go with black or dark gray for the details on his outfit, but I decided on dark gray since he has a rather pastel aesthetic. As for Kenji, I adore his design even more than I thought I would! He's wearing one of my favorite color schemes and has such a nostalgic 90's/early 2000's protagonist feel, so I can't help but love him! I'm still working on his personality though. That will come with time.

[idrawprettyboys]

Woo! It took me a couple days, but I got it done! Here are Mitsuo and Kenji sharing a milkshake at one of Chrome City's diners. This diner, high in the sky, gives the perfect view of Carkour park, so Kenji and Mitsuo can watch the show while on their date. They're celebrating their recent Carkour victory! The cars in the background were originally rainbow, but I thought it clashed with the red, black, and white color scheme, so I decided to make them all red. Those are seven separate cars doing synchronized choreography, by the way, not a time lapse of a single car. Lately I really like the 50's diner aesthetic and how it overlaps with the racecar aesthetic (I love checker patterns!). This story takes place way in the future, but it seems 50's style diners are still a thing. Can you tell I used glittery paint for the chrome details of the walls and table?

In other news, I decided to make these two canonically romantic interests. I was on the fence about it for a bit, since I love shows with bromance. But then I realized that the whole reason I prefer bromance over romance in my shows is because I like the creative freedom to imagine and write how they become a couple rather than having the details given to me. So with that in mind, there's no reason for me to keep them as just friends, since I will be using my imagination and doing the creating rather than having it fed to me.

[idrawprettyboys]

My character, Mitsuo Hanagami. Here’s the video of me drawing him!

[idrawprettyboys]

Carkour storyboard pages 11-20

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[idrawprettyboys]

Carkour storyboards pages 1-10

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[idrawprettyboys]

These are designs for what Mitsuo will look like when he’s older. I’m hoping to make the story not too long. The majority of the plot will take place during a single tournament, so they wont age much over the course of that. But if I feel inspired and get the opportunity to do so, I’d like to at least show snippets of their lives as they grow up. I don’t really like the idea of characters being children forever like Peter Pan. My view of Kenji and Mitsuo’s ages during the main story have been fluctuating, so I’ve been reluctant to give them canon ages in case I change my mind. But as it stands at the moment, I feel pretty confident that they’re around 14 years old. So the long haired Mitsuo design is a couple years after the main story. I’m ditching the short haired concept for now. It doesn’t suit him. The one on the bottom right is probably 20-30 years old.

[idrawprettyboys]

Carkour storyboards pages 41-50

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