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SinistrosePhosphate — Mastermind
Published: 2012-10-10 00:34:45 +0000 UTC; Views: 2968; Favourites: 74; Downloads: 34
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Description
This is an entry for 's Touhou Crossover contet.This is a crossover between Yukari Yakumo of the Touhou Universe and the Cardinal Caterina Sforza, Duchess of Milan of the Trinity Blood series. (With a splash of the interpretation of Yukari Yakumo from the second Koumajou Densetsu game.)
How... how do I explain this one?
Despite the fact that Yukari spends most of her time sleeping, she is, undoubtedly, the Mastermind of Gensokyo. She had orchestrated an an invasion of the moon over a thousand years ago, just to show the youkai of Gensokyo that it would be a bad idea. Throughout the game series, Yukari has always adopted the role of a mastermind. She always had a plan up her sleeves, somehow. Besides, as the youkai of boundaries, Yukari is, in her own subtle way, one of the most powerful figures of the whole of Gensokyo.
Similarly, in the Trinity Blood series, there existed a beautiful, blond and powerful female figure who holds sway over a group of operatives (underlings?) who do her bidding in secret and help her hold sway over the known realm. They are both resolute and enigmatic; charming yet distant and they are both masterminds of their own respective stories. So, for me... the choice is clear. It's time for one mastermind to meet another.
I hope you'll like this piece.
And best of luck to all the contestants!
Technical details:
1. Yukari Yakumo is a character created by ZUN and Team Shanghai Alice, 1996-2012.
2. Cardinal Caterina Sforza is a character created by the late Sunao Yoshida and THORES Shibamoto, 2001-2005.
3. Butterfly brushes from
4. Arcane circles brushes from
5. Lace brushes from
6. Rose window pattern from Shala of [link]
Related content
Comments: 103
Hello!
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed and thought-provoking (and eloquent!) comment. I really appreciate it! I am honoured to know that you think of this piece so highly. I also agree with a lot of the defect you pointed out, too! The face of this character is probably my biggest failing. And part of it has something to do with the fact that when I scanned the hand-drawn sketch in to the computer for colouring, something went horribly wrong. I went with it anyway, but I really shouldn't have. It's something that I have taken the effort to avoid afterwards. You might say, I've learned my lesson.
As far as the "eyeball monster" goes... well, it's not a monster and it looks 2-D on purpose. You see, the patch of blackness doesn't come from her sleeve. This is a mash-up of two characters, Yukari Yakumo from the Touhou Universe and Cardinal Caterina Sforza from Trinity Blood. Yukari Yakumo's "special power" in her home Fandom includes opening up rifts in space-time known as "gaps". The Gap are invariably contained by two large bows on either end. That was what I wanted to capture in this case, so the eye balls actually exist in another dimension and deliberately look flat and "free-floating".
Thanks a lot for the tips on the layout and the construct, too. I really appreciate that! I'm no expert and definitely not a professional. But thanks to you, perhaps I might get just a step closer.
Over all, I really want to thank you for taking the time to write this. And I really appreciate all the tips and pointers!
Cheers!
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Glad to share what I know and pleased you got something out of it. It just occurred to me that you were the artist who provided me with the advice regarding my Dazzle birthday picture yesterday. It wasn't intentional, but I'm glad I could return the favor.
Sounds to me like you got what you were going for regarding the free-floating eyeballs. If it's meant to have a 2-D look, then it should be about right. The way you play with the perspective and have her appearing to grab one of the eyes is a nice touch, as it also works with the butterfly about to land on her hand. There's a certain duality to it that matches the evil eyeball blackness wearing little pink bows.
I hope you continue finding new things to learn.
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Oh, you were most certainly helpful! 
I am always looking for new things to learn. As far as I am concerned, I am neither professional nor proficient when it comes to art creation. I think I still have a lot to learn and one reason why I joined this community is so I can learn from it. And it's thanks for great folks like you that I keep on finding new things I can work on. So, once again, thank you so very much for your help! And hopefully the next time we meet, I will be able to impress you once again.
Cheers!
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I hear that. I haven't taken an art class in over ten years, but I've been working for about four years now to catch up on what I've missed. I'm still constantly looking for new footholds that will help me scale the mountain and add new tools to my belt.
Thanks a bunch for those cel shading videos. I plan on using them to help me color my newest vector. I just finished the flat colors a little while ago.
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No problem, my friend!
I am glad that the tutorials have helped.
I have a full-time job on a completely different field, too. So I think I know what you are talking about. Art is a great hobby, but it's one of those things that you have to actively work on. Quite tough if you have other things occupying your mind, I suppose. I think this puts us in similar situations. I want to wish you all the very best! And hopefully I will see more of your new works as well.
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Good on you. It's certainly been a challenge to make the transformation from zero talent primary school scrawling to art that people see and find impossible for them to make. It's also rather mind-blowing just how many "levels" of skill there are, to the point where people creating modern day Mona Lisas can look at another artist's work and claim they think their art is nothing in comparison. I'll go ahead and watch your page so I can see what other sorts of things you come up with going forward.
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You are absolutely right on that!
I still remember getting a barely-passing grade during elementary school for art. If there's people out there who has absolutely no talent, I am probably one of them. After a lot of years, I am still learning and there is still a lot of things for me to learn. I may not always have the time to practice, but I am still interested in learning as much as I can.
Thank you so very much for deciding to follow me on my journey. Please allow me to follow you on yours as well. And hopefully we can continue to improve on this long journey together.
Cheers, and have a nice day!
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Greetings there! ^_^
Good Points:
- I like the elaborate dress design (and how you did the ruffles at the bottom of her gown!). I feel that it really fits the characters and gives her this royal vibe.
- Ooh! I really like the glowing purple butterflies in the background. It adds a nice magical effect and lets people that this character can do magic!
Improvements/Suggestions:
- The eyes look uneven and weird. One of them eyes in aligned properly with the other one in both the pupils and eyelashes.
- Her fingers are too long almost to the point that it makes the whole hand too big! Here's a reference photo: www.google.com/search?q=hand+h… :
Hope this helps! ^_^
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Hello!
Thank you very much for taking the time to write such a helpful comment! I completely agree with you, the eyes did turn out wonky. And the hands were a bit on the big side, too. I will work hard to fix them for the future! In the meantime, thanks for letting me know what I did right, too. That's quite helpful!
Overall, thanks a million for taking the time.
And I hope to be able to impress you in the future!
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It's no problem!
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First of all, I love how you added the butterflies and rings in the backgrounds and gave them a subtle / gentle glow. The picture tearing to reveal purple and red eyes while also bleeding is creepy indeed. Don't let the stained glass window fool you, she's like the tsundere yandere Lolita equivalent of the scarlet harlet. Is she trying to kill the loyal peace and tranquility of the background? She is red and white, so I don't know what SHE is SUPPOSED to be? It's a good thing that she looks kind of goofed up on the face cause I bet she's EEEEVIL!
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Hello!
Thank you very much for leaving a message. I really appreciate it!
This was created for a "Cross-over" contest based off of characters from a long-running game series known as "Touhou." The character I have chosen from Touhou is this lady, Yukari Yakumo img.photobucket.com/albums/v26… This explains the purple as well as all the eyeballs. The person I have crossed her over with is Cardinal Caterina Sforza from a series called "Trinity Blood" www.cosplayhouse.com/images/pr… This explains the red colour scheme. The dress and the backgrounds were chosen as a merger of these two sources. She is not evil. She is just a mastermind that you don't want to mess with.
I hope this helps to clear a few things up!
And thanks for letting me know that I goofed up on the face. Yeah... that was probably the worst part of the whole thing. I might just have to bite the bullet and do it again! 
Once again, thanks very much!
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You're very welcome! No hard feelings at all, in fact, I think the slight goof-up actually helped the picture.
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Hard feelings?
Oh, no... no such thing as hard feelings. I know where my own problems lie. Even -I- think that was one of the worst part of the picture. I don't think it helped anything at all.
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Ok. I just thought that it was actually intended.
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Oh, dear no. That wasn't intended at all. That's why it's a real "goof"!
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I know!
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Lets start with the good, luckily there is quite long list. The shading is wonderful and the details (and design) of the dress are outstanding. From what pictures I saw, they followed Caterina Sforza's style of clothing which brings a regal feel to the character. I also want to mention the hair and say that it is very natural looking and glossy, so well done on that perspective too.
Now on to the stuff we all hate, the bad. To be honest there isn't a lot to point out, however the eyes are a little bit wonky, the left eyebrow is a bit uneven and the hand which is too big compared to the rest of her body (unless this was intentional, if it was then apologies). The blood, I'm assuming blood, on her right sleeve looks a bit stiff and not very liquid like. Other than this, the artwork is creative and pleasing to look at.
By the way, please don't take this to heart and instead let it allow you to grow as an artist and know on where to improve.
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Hello!
Thanks for taking the time to write the commentary! I do have to say, you are entirely too timid in your words. In fact, not only do I think you are being fair, you are also being too kind. If I don't take what you've said to heart, how in the world am I going to improve?
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You're welcome.
Im sorry, I just didn't want to seem rude.
Oh no, I just meant don't think I'm trying to hate on your art. I know how sensitive people can be so I just wanted to make a mini disclaimer to be sure that if anything happens I have something to fall back on.
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Well... I gotta say, you must have encountered a lot of thin-skinned people in the past. I am so very sorry to hear that!
I've been commenting on other people's art for a while, and I think most of the time as long as you are honest and factual, folks will accept what you have to say. Of course, having the right environment is also a good bet. I like to think Project Comment is one of those places where people genuinely do want to receive criticism. So... be brave and be specific in your comments. And I am sure a lot of people will appreciate that.
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There are a lot of people in this world so it only makes sense to have an even balance of thin skinned and thick skinned. Keeps thing interesting.
Alright, thank you for critiquing my critique hehe, I will take this into account so that I may be as helpful to others as I can. Thank you again and I hope you have a wonderful day/evening.
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I suppose you are right. But then again, thin-skinned folks aren't really helping themselves or helping those around them. It's unfortunate that folks are very, very defensive towards what they think is their brain-child. But then again, that's why we have "relatively-safe" spaces like Project Comment. Folks actually -want- to get something helpful, even if the comments are telling them what they could have done better.
You are more than welcome.
And like what I said, thanks for taking the time to write out a helpful comment. Hopefully we'll run into each other in Project Comment in the future.
Have a nice day, too!
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Yes, that is very true. I don't think that thin-skinned people actually know that the internet is a judgemental and often harsh place, so they mindlessly put their, as you say "brain-child" out there expecting just praise. Either that or they're just a spoiled child only used to compliments and get into a blind fit of rage when someone says they dont like their art. They're both pretty much the same anyway.
Well, I have only just joined today and I can tell that people seem to be accepting towards my critiques and actually intelligent which is a delightful surprise.
I hope we do too! It has been a pleasure meeting you.
Thank you!
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I guess some folks expect the world to be sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. But it doesn't really work that way. If we cannot learn from others, especially when they are lending a hand and willing to help... we'd be stuck in our old ways and run around in circles. But unfortunately, there -are- folks who are unwilling to hear the voice of others outside of what they want to hear. It's a bit of a culture shock when they are no longer in an echo chamber.
I didn't know this your first day here! Welcome aboard!
I hope you'll like this environment. We try to make sure both the commentators and those who are looking for comments feel safe here so they can speak their mind. I really hope you're going to like it here!
It's my pleasure meeting you, too. Have a great day and see you around!
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Yeah, its very unfortunate. Luckily you are not one of these people.
Thank you, I already feel very welcome!
Goodbye!
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Oh, dear me, no. I was hoping you'd tear into my work just a bit more!
Have a nice day!
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Oh, um, ok! I'll analyse it a bit more if you like and maybe rewrite the critique. Can you rewrite a critique?
You too!
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I don't know about rewriting one... but you are more than welcome to just write it as a comment instead of a critique!
I usually put my critique as a comment anyway because not everybody can or uses the critique system. I love a critique no matter where it is posted!
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Ah, alright, Ill do that then.
Ill do my best!
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And I will be looking for it! 
Here's another thanks in advance!
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Hi, I'm here from ProjectComment .
So there quite a few positive things that I can say about this picture. You did a great job with creating all those little details for the character and I'm also quite fond of the page layout you used. The magic circles and butterflies also add to the definition of her character.
However, all those little details also lead to the problem that the viewer gets overwhelmed and doesn’t know where to look first. Another thing that bothers me and actually adds to the first problem I mentioned is the lack of a clearly defined light source. On one hand you have a brightly lit character and on the other hand you also have a dark environment with glowing objects that are quite visible. This is not possible in reality since if your character is lit this way you have global illumination (e.g. the sun) and this leads to a brighter environment.
So, in order to fix this you either need to brighten the background to match the character, darken the character so that it matches the background or use a different type of light source all together (e.g. a spotlight that’s focused on her face). Furthermore, you need to acknowledge each of the glowing objects as its own light source and that has an effect on the character.
I did a quick paintover to show you an example of how you could handle this: sta.sh/01z97i08804z
I’ve also took a quick look at your newer paintings, since this one’s quite old.
You still have a lot of problems with rendering faces and I would recommend you to do some photo studies of them in order to get a better feel for anatomy and values. You also should look into the way different light sources and materials behave.
However, you improved a lot in terms of your colour choices (your Icarus images has a beautiful color scheme) and in terms of rendering and guiding the viewer to the important parts of the image. Your papercut images are also quite beautiful. So keep up the good work^^
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Hello!
Thank you for taking the time to visit and thanks for writing out such a wonderful comment! I really appreciate it!
I really like what you said about the illumination part. That's definitely something that I haven't fully thought out before-hand. I think the way you have decided to tackle this problem is quite interesting as well. I also liked what you said about treating each glowing thing as its own light source. That's something that I still need to learn. So thank you for bringing that to my attention as well! And most importantly, thank you very much for your suggestions. I think they will be very helpful!
And before I forget, thanks for mentioning my paper-cut works. I've made a departure from digital painting to cutting things out of paper many years ago and it's now the mainstay of what I produce. I'm glad to hear that you like them!
Once again, thank you so very much for helping me out. I really appreciate it!
Have a nice day!
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I'm glad if I could help you a bit^^
Light setup is something I'm currently trying to get a better grasp of so this was pretty much the first thing I noticed in your painting.
You should also try to switch you're painting to greyscale whenever you're unsure whether your values are make (values are more important than the actual color, since they define the shape of an object in correspondence to the light).
I had to mention them since it's quite noticeable that your biggest strength lies in creating those.
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Hello!
I am so very sorry that I haven't been around. I was on an extended trip and only got back this past weekend. I hope you'll forgive me!
You have been really helpful! And thank you so very much for speaking to me about lighting set-up, too. I like the grey-scale idea, too. It's something I haven't tried before, but it does make a lot of sense. So I will be sure to actually work on them in the future!
Once again, thank you so very much for all of your help! I hope to see you again in the group soon!
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Nevermind everyones busy with real life sometimes (I disapeared from deviantart for way longer periods in the past).
I'm glad if I could help you, I'm trying to be somewhat active on here now so the chance isn't too bad that you'll see me again in the group^^
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I like the sound of that! Thanks a million for your kind understanding!
I hope I'll get to see you soon, then!
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Hello!
And thank you for your comment!
I am glad to know you that you think I am capable of awesomeness. I most certainly don't get kind comments like that everyday!
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Why not!? You should! Your work is amazing!
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Why not?
Well, I'm no artist... this is just a hobby. There are a lot of other people out there who are a lot better than I am!
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If I knew you well enough I'd smack you right now.
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Please try not to smack me.
They'll wonder what I've been up to in my day job.
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Oh? Is that your main concern?! Lololol! Fine I won't smack you but I'll leave a mark...somewhere unseen~
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... now that I think of it...
... that's not too difficult.
... the uniform covers up a lot of real estate.
... but really, don't smack me, please?
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I promise~....heh heh heh
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... I guess that's that, then.
... I take it that other than a smack, anything else goes?
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I could step on your head instead, or punch you in the stomach^^
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