Summer’s not over yet!

Self critique: I don’t quite like the way I drew Belinda’s hand (the one to our right). I should’ve extended some of the fingers out. The nipple bumps on Chelsí (for the swimsuit variant) could’ve been done better.

Time to make up for not having a pic for Summer 2017 for Chelsí, by bringing in Belinda into the mix. Back in April, I was approached to make a pic for an artbook called Endless Summer. Since it was coinciding with another pic I wanted to work on, I decided what better way to not drag my feet this time and miss out on a summer pic again. So I joined in. The theme of this pic was more or less inspired by a song from Anri called Windy Summer. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ9nsr9YoCQ)

The easy part was deciding what style swimsuit each girl would wear. Chelsí was gonna wear a retro high-cut one-piece, and Belinda was gonna wear a more modern low-cut two-piece bikini. The hard part was the actual design. I looked to Japanese shop High-Legs Shop (now called Funny Bikini) for some design ideas. For Chelsí, I was thinking of giving her a blue one-piece, modeled after her signature sweater. But eventually decided against it since she also wears a white shirt during Summer and is not as one-note in her fashion sense. That led me to a white swimsuit with black and white stripes. But quickly realized that it would look too busy combined with her ascot. That’s where High-Legs Shop comes in. There was a one-piece that two diagonal stripes on the bottom. That’s when I thought to make those red and blue, making her swimsuit the French flag (her home country). The boob-window I decided to make it be the outline of the Eiffel Tower. I added the flower on her head to make up for the lack of her red beret.

Moving on to Belinda, she was gonna be the Summer Witch. So her normal witch’s hat was changed out for a straw wtich’s hat (complete with sunflower on the tip). I experimented with shading in the hat by utilizing some rough watercolor brushes to create that straw texture. It came out alright. Had to mess around with the base color and inks to get the edges right right. Her bikini was again inspired by a swimsuit on High-Legs Shop. This one was more straightforward, with the only change being a star added to the bottom, as well as making it glitter. I would’ve made the ring on her top also shaped like a star. But deciding where each strap part of the bikini would rest mould make it look very messy. So I stuck to the ring.

The background was gonna be the typical hijinx between each girl’s companions. I had to keep them separate somewhat though as (with approval by S3rb4n, the artbook collaborator) I was gonna take up two pages, but still have each side act as its own page. So Chelsí’s companion (and my mascot) Finne was on her side, while Belinda’s companions, Kai, Tasma, and Jackie, were on her side. Finne was gonna lay down at first. But I changed it to him on a beach ball. The other three were easy to figure out. The lecherous Kai was gonna help Belinda remove her towel, Tasma was gonna grill hotdogs, and Jackie was gonna be busy with the grill and while doing his usual reading to pass the time. The grill itself is a literal cauldron! There’s also one more character in this image if you look hard enough. Can you see it?

Overall, with all the shading and filtering techniques I’ve been picking up this year, this is close to being my favorite pic of the year. Thanks to S3rB4n for letting me participate!

Done on Clip Studio Paint. Intuos4 Tablet used. Models referenced.
Chelsí, Finne, Belinda, Kai, Tasma, and Jackie are (c) DeadPhoenX
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