Our first Xemnas picture. ;-;
He gave me so much more trouble than I anticipated that he would, because, well...
I've never really drawn anyone from behind. Not really. Probably because I'm an electrical engineer and NOT an artist, so I don't take drawing classes...
and since I've always been drawing alone I can't just look at MY back, so...

Well, anyhow. That was a ramble.

I just wanted to do Xemnas justice. I hold him in such high regard that...I couldn't bear it if I had failed. ;-; See, aren't I pathetic?

Well, it's a sad picture, at any rate. We listened to Sacred Moon while doing it, and that didn't help. I'll turn it over to U-E before I get emotional or something else embarassing.

(To see the original line-art + marker of Xemnas, click here: [link] )



Trying to stick this image in a category is like trying to categorize Xemnas...both belong nowhere exactly. And everywhere.

The background is comprised of a selection of images from "Harter's Picture Archive for Collage and Illustration" - which is full of super-handy 19th-century woodcuts, that I managed to use only twice over four years in art school and not once in the five years since then....so, I'm trying to finally get my money's worth out of this thing.
They were all assembled (digitally - but in a tradiational cut-paper style) as per Saeru's design plan, but the individual image choice, cutting, splicing and reshading was up to me. (7 unique woodcuts were integrated into this, some more than once including duplicate areas and reversals.)
Xemnas himself is hand-drawn and inked by Saeru and then markered by myself. I'm still not sure about the woodblock texture on him, though - he matches the background, but maybe he blends in a little too well in places? Sepia duotone decided at the end for a really old storybook-kinda mood.

But I really don't know what to think about this one. This is probably the third weirdest style of fanart I've ever participated in...but I guess it meets the criteria for the Ultimania September contest...?