Just Monika

Earlier this year you saw Monika from the game Doki Doki Literature Club being coupled up with Marceline the Vampire Queen. Here is the painting of Monika that was featured in that artwork.

I didn't talk much about this painting when it was first seen so this is an opportunity I'm taking to make a fuss of it.

I knew I wanted to recreate the screen-capture of Monika when she takes over the game, since this would be something that could adapt to any of the other characters legible for votes. This is the first time I have recreated something in a long time and I enjoyed it.

I drew Monika in my realism style rather than the anime, so that it wouldn't be a complete recreation, but some elements still remain anime in style, which I had forgotten to change. This is most noticeable in the neck which is incredibly think for a human and perhaps in the proportions of the face despite being more realistic than Monika's anime art.

Watercolour Pencils were used for this illustration, in an attempt to fill the page without a pencil texture. While there is still some pencil texture, there are no white specs in the illustration that most pencil coloured illustrations have. Some the gradients also work quite nicely despite not having the smooth, digital appeal from the original. I'm also surprised at how close most of the colours came to be.

Friends who has seen this being worked on claimed to prefer it to the official artwork, would you agree with them or is the original piece still superior? Have a go at recreating something, it's not cheating, it's learning!