Early last week another practice with e-painting on my iPad! Using again the Procreate app. Made the background rosy grey and what could this creature be? A green teddy bear? Well I thought about it until I decided I wanted to do something different and introduce another new kawaii character to my realm… Froggy-chan!
And why a frog? As a child growing up in Japan in the late 1960s, way before Hello Kitty’s and Sanrio existed, I have quite some fun and fond memories of being exposed to cute adorable frog characters. Children TV shows featuring Kero-yon was one. Then those fun pharmacy mascots. Japan loves featuring little cute mascots as publicity stunts by appealing to kids as well as adults. My favorite one was Kero-chan by Kowa Pharmaceuticals. And there is Kermit the Frog of course from Sesame Street. And now Sanrio, the creator of Hello Kitty, has a kawaii frog called Keroppi. In case you were wondering, kero kero is the noise frogs make in Japanese and hence the Kero appearing as names.
Here I initially outlined Froggy with ink using a brush pen and filling it in with damp brush for a transparent effect. Gives a lighter and “bouncier” feel compared to being too opaque and solid. For details like the eyes and mouth, I added layers. The manga effect of the eyes worked quite well, giving a sweet and angelic expression. And the pink necklace! I thought it would make a fun finishing touch, don’t you? Hopefully we’ll be seeing more of Froggy-chan in my future work!
My Kawaii Quarter 