Drawing Kumonryu Shishin

 

 

 

Kumonryu Shishin

            Kumonryu Shishin comes from the Japanese stories of Suikoden.  He is one of the most famous of the 108 heroes in the story.  Shishin represents courage and strength because of the deeds that he did.   In the Suikoden stories, Shishin joins the bandits that he once captured and renounces his social class and wealth.  From then on, he is known as an Otokodate, or chivalrous commoner. He was considered a street knight who defended the common people against the samurai class.

            Kumonryu Shishin is popular amongst artists because of the traditional prints that he is portrayed in, and the impressive tattoos that he wields.

 

Materials

·         Paper or Drawing Book.

·         3 Drawing Pencils – Preferably made of graphite (not charcoal), with different densities. 

Tip: Make sure to get one with a hard density, another with a medium density and the third with a soft density.  A good combination are 3 pencils labeled “2H”, “HB”, and “2B”, this is the combination I use.

·         1 Mechanical Pencil, lead size does not matter.

·         2 Color Pencils – Preferably one of a darker color and one of a lighter color.  Tip: Use contrasting colors like blue and red.

·         Eraser

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s Begin Drawing

 

Drafting:

 

Step 1: With your light colored pencil, draw a rough outline of the figure.  The two main components of this drawing is the head and the body.  They should both be somewhat of an oval or egg shaped.  The rest of it is up to you.  Your pencil should move quickly through this process.  There should be no details or sharp angles during this stage, it is only to get a feel for the layout of the page.

 

Tip: Notice the “t” shape in the oval representing the head.  This represents the direction the character is looking.  The nose of the character should be right below the intersection of the two lines.  This helps to keep the face symmetrical and gives the character the right point of view.

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2: With your dark colored pencil, begin to draw the shape of the figure.  This drawing should be a little more detailed then the first.  Focus mainly on the outline of the drawing.  Do not worry about any of the interior details yet.  It is still ok to make mistakes, remember, you are still drafting.  These will not be the final lines of the drawing.

 

 

 

Step 3: You can begin to start drafting some of the smaller, more detailed portions of the drawing.  (Things like the hair, designs in the clothing, etc.)  The pencil should be moving quickly during this stage, do not make any dark lines yet, the drafting stage still isn’t over.