The Story

Mizumi was an orphan girl who was taken in by a kind woman in a small village in Japan. She always felt like she belonged there, even though she didn't look like anyone else in the village. Her Amber hair made her stick out like a sore thumb. When she was five years old, Mizumi started having strange dreams, which made no sense to her, and when she told her adopted mother about this, she said it was just nightmares.

When she turned 16, in her dreams, she saw a beautiful woman in a long white dress. The woman had long black hair, and her eyes were piercing blue. She told Mizumi she needed to find the sword of hope to save the land from Darkness. Mizumi asked the woman where she could find the sword, but she only smiled and said that Mizumi would know when the time was right. Then, she vanished.

The sword was on Mizumi's mind, yet she had no clue how or where to search for it. Mizumi was on her way back from school when the village apothecary asked her to find him some bei bei berries. Mizumi had never heard of them before, but she was excited about the adventure. She set out into the forest and soon found herself lost.

She saw those blue eyes again; she would never forget them. The woman she saw in her dreams stood there, in the flesh. "Come, child, follow the river to the cave; there, you will find what you seek," she said, pointing to a path. The woman's voice was soft and gentle, but her words held a note of urgency. Mizumi hesitated for a moment before following her instructions. She had been seeking the sword for weeks and was not about to give up. The river was hidden behind a thick growth of trees, but Mizumi quickly found the path that led to it. She could see the cave entrance on the other side of the river, and she quickened her pace.

As she entered the cave, Mizumi felt a strange presence. The woman had asked her to find a sword inside, but she did not know what to expect. The cave was dark, and she could barely see anything in front of her. Through the darkness she could see the light in the distance. She made her way there, carefully stepping over the uneven ground. As she got closer, she saw a was a vast open space. In the center was the sword stuck in the ground. She walked up to it and pulled it out. With the sword in hand, she felt like anything was possible; it was a strange feeling.

As she made her way out of the cave, Mizumi began to feel like someone was following her. Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth with their hand. She was dragged outside the cave, and the person let go of her. Standing there was an older man with a stern appearance. "Who are you, child?" he asked.

"Mi... Mizumi," she replied.

"Do you know what your holding?" the man questioned.

"The sword of hope," Mizumi replied.

"It is called Nozomi, the bringer of light, the vanquisher of darkness. Only the chosen can hold it. Do you know how to fight, girl?" he asked.

"No," Mizumi responded, shaking her head.

"Then I will teach you," said the man smiling at her.

"I don't know who you are," Mizumi responded.

"I am Gādian, the guardian of Nozomi," he responded.

Mizumi agreed to train with Gādian, and she would visit the cave every day. She soon learned how to wield the sword and was a master at it. Every day, she would visit Gādian, and they would train together. She became stronger and faster with each passing day. The days passed quickly as she improved her skills. Soon, Mizumi could stand up to Gādian in sparring matches. Eventually, she was able to defeat him in combat.

Darkness was rising in the east, and the village had news of it. The war against the demon lord Akuma had reached them, and they were on edge. Mizumi had been training hard with Gādian, and she was ready to face whatever came her way. She knew she had to make her way to the battlefield. With Gādian's blessing, she left for battle.

When she got to the frontlines, it seemed like all hope was lost. Soldiers were running from the battle instead of marching forward. There was screaming and chaos everywhere she looked. Mizumi took up her sword, Nozomi, and marched into battle. She had been training for this, and she was not going to give up.

She made her way through the lesser demons with ease making her way to Akuma. The demon lord Akuma was a powerful foe, but Mizumi was determined to defeat him. She hacked and slashed at the Demon Lord, driving him back. Finally, she dealt a fatal blow, and Akuma was defeated. With the Demon Lord gone, Mizumi could finally rest. The legend of Mizumi: The Child Of Prophecy gave way to hope, and a story was born.

Reference Image

(Photo by Some Tale on Unsplash)

Process

So for the line art, I use the stock pencil on Krita, no fancy brushes. I prefer the pencil over other brushes as it gives it a more authentic look. For pencil size, it is varied; when I do line art, I use the pencil-eraser combo, so as you can see, some lines are weighty, and some are minor. A good example would be the lines on the face. They are 1px or smaller lines, except for the nose. Another thing I do, which is a bad habit, is unfinished lines. I get to these when coloring or touching things up at the end.

I usually always color the face, hair, and any skin that is first showing. I do this because it sets the tone for the rest of the coloring, and I also like to see my character come to life. For the hair, I went with an amber palette, making her hair a key feature of her character. I used a pink palette for the skin, nothing special, just cookie-cutter at best. I used the darker amber color for the eyes as I wanted her to have a matching hair-eye combo.

The jacket was an interesting inner struggle; I first wanted it blue, as you will see in the quick unedited color I did. Then I decided against it and went with a purple palette. Even though this was harder to color, in my opinion, I had fun with it and not going one solid color with shading.

The sword is pretty standard, very similar to the reference photo. I know it's the sword of hope, "Nozomi," but I wanted it to be feminine. I used a very similar palette to her hair for the pants, as I wanted it to tie in, giving it a more grounded look.

For her shirt, I went with an off-white palette. Very bland, I know; I did it on purpose as I didn't want it to clash with her hair, pants, and coat. For the inside of the jacket, I went with grey; you can't go wrong with that; I also added lines as I went because of bad habits and all I wrote about earlier.

The final edit added a background and touched up things I didn't previously. Surprise, surprise, the background is blue. Well, I thought green, but I need some blue in my life. The two-tone background is a common and safe style so as not to clash with the artwork, and I usually use this method unless I do artwork with a specific background.

This is the quick color edit I did right after I finished the line art. I just wanted to get some direction on how I will color it. And yes, it has a blue jacket. I hope you guys like the artwork and the story accompanying it. I have started drawing more frequently now, so I will surely share more artwork with you in the future.

The program used to create this artwork is Krita 5.1.1. It is a free, open-source painting program that can kick photoshops butt if it wants to.