Finally Xiuying and Rhapsody are together in a single pic!

Self Critique: It seems like I keep going back to this whenever I do a butt shot, but I still need more practice. The pose I was referencing was pretty much the blueprint for what I had to do. But still didn’t follow it much to my detriment, and I think I know why. Since they were bending over, the way the butts were to be drawn had to change. In hindsight, the lines denoting the bottom of the butt-cheeks near the crack are not supposed be drawn, letting the shading handle whatever depth might be there. I didn’t do this. Thus, by drawing the lines like I did, it looks like they’re both still standing fully up when they’re actually bending over.

So with that outta the way, let’s talk about this pic! For years on Twitter, depending on the month I’d change my profile pic and create silly sketches of the girls depending on the holiday of the month or the season in general. For instance, October would have Belinda at the helm, or the Summer months would see Chelsí donning her summer wear. For February, I’d always pair up Rhapsody and Xiuying, with the two representing Valentines Day and Lunar New Year respectively seeing as they often fall on the same month. It didn’t happen in 2020 since Lunar New Year was in late January. But now they share the same month again, and only two days apart at that! The idea to bring them together for this pic came about not just because of the usual pairing of the two holidays, but from a pic I came across on my Twitter TL from Wakura081. One of Wakura’s photos had a good pose, so I wondered who I could use that for. Seeing as both Valentines Day and Lunar New Year was near, my mind instantly went to Rhapsody and Xiuying. Both already had holiday pics drawn with them (Rhapsody for Valentines Day 2015 and Xiuying for Lunar New Year 2017), so it was a great opportunity to bring both of them together for 2021.

So off I went to posing out the Body-Chans and getting to work. There were a couple of challenges that I should’ve seen coming as I was drawing this. First and second was the loss of Posemaniacs and its sister site, Hands for Drawing. Support for Flash came to an end by December 31, 2020, and eventually browsers stopped enabling Flash and letting it run around mid January 2021. Since Posemaniacs depended on Flash to run the model viewers for the Human Body and Hand figures, this meant both would be disabled. And sure enough they were. Posemaniacs I would use for referencing muscle definition for different parts of the body. And Hands for Drawing was for, obviously, drawing hands. I found a suitable substitute for Posemaniacs in the form of Posetrainer. As for Hands For Drawing, that one was a little tricky. I resorted to just taking pictures of my own hands for referencing, which isn’t all that great since I still have sausage fingers. Thankfully some time after I applied the flat colors, I resorted to purchasing 3D hand models from Clip Studio Assets to use in Clip Studio Paint. I went more into detail about it over on my Twitter. While it was too late to use the hands for this pic, I’ll certainly be using this in future pics. One thing I did use was a 3D high-heel shoe model with adjustable heels that was available in Clip Studio Assets. I was kinda lost on what to do about Xiuying’s shoes. So I got the model, rotated it into position, and then eyeballed what I saw in the subview window.

The background was thought up after putting in the base color for Rhapsody and Xiuying. The right side would have Lunar New Year decorations (including an Ox plush that unfortunately gets covered by Xiuying’s Qipao on the clothed variant), while the left would have Valentines Day decorations. The lighting came about from an idea I had with the lamp I drew on the shelf (it wouldn’t be the first time I would have the light source directly behind the model mind you). At first I had the idea of having Overhead Lights and Lamp Light versions. Realizing this would be a headache to manage, I settled on something of a halfway point with dim overhead lights and the lamp’s light being turned on. I’d like to think I made the right choice on that one.

And with that another pic is in the books. Happy Lunar New Year and Happy Valentines Day!

Done on Clip Studio Paint Pro. Cintiq 16 Tablet used. Models referenced. Body-chan models traced for construction lines, then drawn freehand afterwards.

Rhapsody and Xiuying © DeadPhoenX.