This was by far the biggest illustration I've done in a while. It's been such a long time since I've been able to do some personal non-academic work, so I was able to savory the hours of consistent efforts and appreciate the ways I've come in my art journey. I knew what the ambition of rendering the entire persona 5 cast entailed, but I relished the challenge and wanted to test my willpower in the face of an uncertain result.

I first laid the foundations through pre-rendering steps, keeping layers organized and not too cluttered. I combined layers when I felt it was necessary. I also deviated from old sketch ideas to best accommodate for the flow of the composition and create good contraposing, mapping out the cast in a way that dictated eye direction. I did things differently than I usually do, using an alcohol marker for my outline before laying out base colors. I then did very basic texturing for the characters and used narrow values to create nuanced mid tones. Afterwards, multiple, dodge, and overlay layers were used to establish a stronger light source and contrast in values, all before combining most of my layers and doing the other latter half of the process. From there, it was all a test of endurance paired with confidence in the approach.

This project overall was an exercise of trust with my own process and being more methodically in earlier steps to set myself up for streamline rendering. I guess in a way, this fanart of a game that reminded me to embrace my free will and appreciate growth from overcoming pain acted as a milestone in what I am currently capable of, and what I can become as an artist. Anyways, good job for reading this far :)