JUL. 2022 REWARD (Lineart) (Patreon)

Bit of an off-the-beaten-track choice for me this time around, but I've been meaning to give it a try anyway, so here it be! This is Gawr Gura, from the VTuber agency known as Hololive and specifically its first English generation, HoloMyth! This would normally be quite awkward for me to even consider doing because VTubers like Gura are basically equivalent to actual streamers, being basically real people behind digital avatars, but I think everyone seems to justify drawing smut of VTubers because it's the character design getting lewded rather than the person themselves. Still feels kinda weird, but I mean... that didn't stop me drawing Shu Yamino of Nijisanji EN's Luxiem, did it? =P I did say in the description for that piece that Gura was my all-time favorite VTuber and I still stand by that - it was she who was my gateway to that little corner of the Internet and I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Membershrimp in all but actual subscription. I might even join her channel as an actual member someday but that depends on how much my Patreon funding can afford me, so your donations are much appreciated! I'm using your money in an entirely selfless manner, I swear. XD

Anyways, I decided to try and simulate an actual stream for this one, complete with the resolution being 1920 x 1020, exactly the same as a high-def YouTube video, along with Gura's position aside from the "feet" asset being virtually unchanged from her VTuber model. To this end, I tried to replicate said model as accurately as I could, including tracing over the official model render to get the proportions right, and even attempted replicating several versions of it for the lineart, one with her hoodie and one without; there's a possibility that I might try drawing several other costumes of hers' as alternate versions. The ultimate goal of this is to simulate a fictitious superchat stream in one of the rooms she uses as a background, so I might take suggestions for chat messages later on, but for now I gotta try and recreate Gura's likeness as accurately as I can for the sake of authenticity. This may lead to some experimentation with the line and coloring work, but if worse comes to worse I might just have to settle for my usual art style at the expense of looking as convincing. I suppose the point is the same, though. ^^;

Production of this piece would've started sooner, but a few sudden and very nasty IRL surprises on my end - including my desktop computer being compromised, and Adobe Creative Studio CS5 with it ;A; - led me to have to push it back a week or so, although for what it's worth I'm glad I was able to produce at least the lineart this month. I'm getting back on track as best I can though, and hopefully I'll be able to resume my previous pace of content creation in the near future if all goes well - or at least as close to it as possible. I'll elaborate a little more on my current art situation in a future post, though whether that'll be made before or after this month's reward is completed is still up in the air for now.

The final version of this piece will be posted on Friday, August 5!