Whenever it rains - Ikazuchi Pereira 01 (Patreon)

 Hey everyone!! I'll start posting the experiments I did for the two main characters while I'm finishing the thumbnailing for the one shot! 💙💙💙

 So... this here is the reclusive author! Such a grumpy face don't you agree?! I really don't know why, but I always had this story going on in a japanese setting - so I'm feeling like a total weeb...... 

 While I was gathering inspiration from dojinshis I read as a teen, as I said in the project presentation post,I noticed that the authors seldom work with other ethnicities. I mean, that's normal for japanese media overall but as I was doing his initial designs, I noticed I was still too attached to my inspirational material. This project is mine, it has to feel like me! And in my work I raise the flag of exploring bodies, expressions and cultures.

 So I had the idea.... why not make the main character nipo-brazilian?! That's actually pretty common, did you know? Brazil-Japan relationships go back to the early 1900s, we exchanged a lot cultural stuff! Actually lots of japanese music use brazilian samples which is super cool!!! There's even a specific term for people with japanese ancestry here in Brazil, they are called Dekaseguis!

 Actually partly what helped my epiphany was this song my evisbeats! (love this band!) It's a track called nippo-brasileiro (nipobrazilian). It's sung with a dekasegui japanese accent! (((:

 I had contact with this track back in 2012-2013. Who knew it would inspire me to do a character for my first ever one shot, almost 10 years later? It's the kind of thing that inspires me in this new difficult task - I want to feel like I'm walking the right road for me. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyUrtDF0DWA 

 To show his ancestry, his surname is brazilian, PEREIRA, and his given name is japanese, IKAZUCHI... which was a character in the last kamen rider season and I loved his name LOL.

 As you can see I started with a very japanese face, but after my realization I messed with up for a bit.  To emphasize his grumpiness, I wanted to make really thick brows - as if he was perpetually frowning!!!!

 I didn't do it consciously at the start, but I was always making him with super spiky hair..... I embraced that this was my way of communicating how unapproachable he is - it really brings a hedgehog to mind!

And his body here was still a mystery - defined, chubby, pot belly?! I know I'll regret making him with a hairy body but.... he looks so cute hairy like that, doesn't he?!?!