My first artwork for 2007! :D

I really wanted to do some fanart to one of my favourite anime films, (my favourite is Princess Mononoké but this one comes second) so after about a week's work and far too many late nights here it is.

I really learnt a lot during this process, about texturing, colours, realistic clouds and making things look '3D'. Also the difference between a feminine and masculine Howl. XD
(Thanks to my family for pointing that out and the comments and advice of a friend! ^^)
This is also a first for digital grass for me and to be honest I think it came out really well.

I'm iffy about some of it though, such as Howl's arms, shirt and hands, (one of those love/hate things ya know?) but there has to be a point where you say stop! before you spend half your life on a project.
This is that point.

I went through half of my DeviantArt favourites checking out inspiration and references, used my bedroom mirror to reference my own hand, pinched one of my Dad's shirts, checked out tutorials and took screenshots of the movie and flipped through my little four-part graphic novel of the movie, picking up details, costume design and something to base the faces on.

You can tell I wanted to get this right can't you? XD
I really think I'm progressing now, and I hope to do so throughout the year with more experiments and challenges!

Anywho, despite all the resources I had, the was mostly going off the movie and my own judgement. So yeah, I'm pleased with it, particularly the clouds and grass and Howl and Sophie's faces. And maybe Sophie's dress. though it could've been better.

I also had a mishap about halfway through, where I realised Sophie's anatomy was screwed up and didn;t look right next to Howl, so I had to cut Sophie into several pieces and merge them back together, which was a dangerous operation! It made me learn something very important though: make sure the original idea and/or sketch is just the way you want it before you start shading, texturing and detailing! <-- Wise words! XD

So anyway, I'm rambling now, so I'll wrap things up. Please comment!

Check out Details?: [link]
Check out WIP?: [link]

Size: Roughly 25% of original canvas which was 3697x5000
Tools: The usual Photoshop and Wacom.
Time Spent: Please don't ask. I spent way too much time on this, and hope never to know how much exactly. <.<
'Howl's Moving Castle' 'Sophie' and 'Howl' are ©Diana Wynne Jones, ©Hayao Miyazaki and ©Studio Ghibli.
Art ©AmberDust 2007