Hijikata

Oh, this has been a pleasant one. It's a fan art for a character named Hijikata Chocolat (土方 ショコラ) by TONGALI GOAT. I admire many of their works.

I was skeptical on whether it's okay to make fanart out of the blue (to be honest, even for me I think the surprise would be very flattering), so I sent them a DM. I tried my best to write in Japanese, with a translator, and made sure I cross-translate just so my meaning is clear.

They were super chill about it! They said they look forward to see the finished product and reminded me to post with a hashtag for the collection. So I got to work (I was already halfway given my excitement)!

Out of many cat characters they make, Chocolat is the most interesting one to me. Her black fur is so dark all you see is her green eyes, and that's especially charming. I tried mimicking the style of the artist, using a manga-style brush, which I found super useful for my following projects.

All in all, this has been a super fun project to work on! I'd love to explore more interesting characters in the future.