“When she had a name, she had a home. Until…”

Self Critique: Her tail-fin could be longer. I didn’t quite catch how short it actually looked until I started doing the background. The hand to our left is pretty long, so I tried partially covering it with the rock she’s sitting on.

It’s been over 5 years since I last drew The Nameless Mermaid, and it was back when I used GIMP. I’ve improved a lot since then, and this time I wanted to participate in Mermay. Keeping in line with the OC that used to be nude by default, this time Nameless has a bra (if you’re viewing the bra version)! While her chibi form always had a bra, this time the fully proportioned version has one. There were also some details that were changed, as well as added, from her 2015 pic. For starters, the design of her waistband, choker, and hairband has been changed from the “droplets” pattern to more of a outlined wave. The centerpiece of her waistband also has the design popping out instead being flat. The additions to her design are extra waist fines, as well as a circlet on her head. The biggest change to her design is her fish tail. I’m not quite satisfied with how I shaded it in, however by the time I found a suitable tutorial that I could try out, I was fed up and decided to move on. However – and I don’t want to spoil this too much – I do have to draw her again very soon for a much larger project that’s been in the works for over a year now. So for sure I’ll be giving the technique in the tutorial a spin. Most I’ll say for what I did here was that I wanted to make her fish tail iridescent, taking inspiration from those blue green/blue/purple iridescent dresses ladies use to wear in nightclubs back then (or maybe they do now!).

The background was crafted partly from a body-chan setup I made, using a crumpled piece of paper, a wooden column prop, and a chest. It’s from here I’d get the idea of having this taking place in a grotto. I also recently downloaded PureRef and threw on a bunch of undersea photos that had on hand as well as from stock photos. Unlike 2015’s pic, I was able to draw in the details of the background more efficiently and without much trouble. The only issue arose with the grass, which I downloaded a grass brush off of Clip Studio Assets. The bubbles were surprisingly easy to do this time thanks to the “soft” circle brush that CSP comes with. Normally I’d use it for distant sparkles of water or light glare. But by using the soft watercolor brush on the edges of the closer ones, I was able to lay down a bunch. Before I’d have to meticulously draw in each bubble, which was very time consuming. But thankfully that’s in the past. And with all the darkness and lighting filters I’ve been messing with lately, I was able to make this underwater scene look convincing. Definitely liking the end result here.

Done on Clip Studio Paint Pro. Cintiq 16 Tablet used. Body-Chan model traced for construction lines, then drawn freehand the rest of the way.

The Nameless Mermaid is © DeadPhoenX