Hello everyone! This is a little late, buuuut…
I’m very happy to share with you all that I placed first in the 2019 Ai-kon Mascot Contest!! ♥
It’s an honour to have my mascot selected to represent Ai-kon for another year and I can’t wait to table there again this summer!! I’m feeling super motivated to come up with new merch and stuff~

And of course, congratulations to the runner-ups and all the other artists too!!
All the entries this year were so good and I think many of them could have easily placed or even won. If any of you artists are reading this, I hope you get a table this year anyway and I’m wishing you all the best for the next Ai-kon mascot contest!

As for me, I will be taking a recess from entering the 2020 mascot contests. I’m excited to see who else will place. : )

Thanks for your support everyone. ♥

About my design:
This was… an interesting one. ^^;
I knew I needed to draw in a clean digital style or Aiko rather than using my current watercolour-inspired style… so I needed to find some other way to make it uniquely my own. All I really knew was that I thought it would be interesting if Aiko had a familiar.

So after pages upon pages of concept sketches, research, overthinking and indecision, and then more research, I ended up going with a more natural archery aesthetic as a result. The design elements kept changing as I worked on it too – even as I was adding the shading. It was an experience haha but all that was worth it and I’m really happy with how she turned out~

I have some good news to share with everyone:
I’ve placed second in the 2018 Ai-kon mascot contest and will have an artist table next year!
It’s about 6 months until Ai-kon and I’m so excited that I’m already starting to plan my table!

Now for a little info about the theme and the entry:

This years theme was “kami and matsuri”.
For those not familiar with those Japanese words, “kami” is a Shinto God/Goddess/Deity.
The Japanese people hold matsuri – or festivals – to please the kami. They’re usually run by shrines or temples, but not always. They occur all over Japan throughout the year, and tend to include carnival games, food stalls, elaborate floats, etc. Commonly the people who attend these matsuri dress in casual clothes or kimono/yukata, depending on the individual’s preference and the time of year. Matsuri are commonly shown in anime and manga, too.

I’ll admit I simply wasn’t keen on designing Aiko as a kami. I didn’t know enough about the subject to portray her accurately and respectfully, and I didn’t have enough time to research it as I’d like. Not only that but I also genuinely liked the idea of portraying her as a normal, human teenage girl. With the themes in the past year, she’s been a princess, a warrior, a magical girl, a science-fiction heroine, you name it! But it’s been a while since she was just normal, so I jumped at the opportunity to give her a break (lol). And I won’t lie, I also just really love drawing kimono and yukata.

Overall, I’m pretty proud of my entry and the choices I made with it. I purposefully chose an uncommon colour scheme of red, pink and orange as it matched the colours seen in matsuri lighting, and is also (supposedly) traditional kimono colours worn in July (when Ai-kon takes place).
The cat motif came in somewhere after experimenting with lucky cat masks.

Anyways, I would like to thank the Ai-kon Committee for selecting my entry as a runner-up,
and also to my friends and family for all their support over the years. ♥ ♥ ♥
I would also like to congratulate the mascot winner, the other runner-up, and all the other participants on a job well done!!

And thank YOU for looking and reading!

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Whoops! I didn’t realize I hadn’t posted on my blog in a while. However, the Ai-kon mascot results were announced so I figured it’s time to post my entry.

I didn’t place this year, which is alright. It was a difficult theme this year (mecha) and I struggled settling on a concept – I only chose this one because I ran out of time. But I tried some new techniques and even attempted to draw (and design) a motorcycle… I’m pretty proud of that. :)

Congrats to everyone who entered! Regardless of whether you placed or not, the theme was out of most people’s comfort zones so just trying in itself is a win, to me.

Thank you for reading! <3

This is my first new upload of the new year, and with it comes good news:

I’m honoured to announce that I’ve placed as a runner-up in the Ai-kon mascot contest again!

I actually really missed drawing Aiko, and had fun finally drawing her again.
Last time I entered was in 2013, when I won the contest.
My artwork has changed a lot since then. I’m still very proud of my winning entry (despite the flaws I now see), but I’m also proud of this entry too. The anatomy has improved, and the design. Once again, I put a lot of effort in figuring out a “personality” for her, too~

The theme this year was imperial/royalty. I was really excited because of all the centuries and ethnicities I would be able to use for inspiration, but in the end I settled on a more contemporary/lolita/anime “Queen of Hearts” theme (because “Ai” = “love”). Though I wanted her to be energetic and friendly, I also wanted her to not be polite or elegant, but demanding and unique. Someone who isn’t afraid to be herself, despite being a princess~

To see my previous mascot entries, click here.
There are some other artworks there too, but the majority of uploads there are for Ai-kon.

Well, I think that’s it for now. Thanks for looking! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

And what a way to welcome the new year…
I won the mascot contest!!
QuQ

The theme this time was “Warrior”.
This was my only entry this year (not including the three or so failed attempts 8P), but I worked really hard on it, tried to keep a balance of everything, and did a lot of research for it.

The outfit isn’t as detailed or imaginative as some were, there’s some things for it could be considered quite simple, but I tried to make up for it in other ways, such as: adding the pattern on the kimono, details in the folds and hair, just a little bit of perspective, etc. It ended up complicated in it’s own way.

Like last year, I tried to take inspiration from the shonen genre, and made her into a feisty girl who could actually protect herself and others on any adventures~
I gave her long hair and the almost-flowery pattern on her kimono so she wouldn’t be TOO boyish. :3

I also tried really hard to make it something that I could be proud of, so for the most part the line art and colour is nice and clean up close. Last year, I rushed it and it was messy by my own standards. >w<;; Though I didn't really enjoy working in CMYK, so I think I'll stick to RGB when I can. |D;; But anyway, thank you so much everyone. <33 ;w; To the Ai-kon committee, my family, my friends, and everybody else too. I wish you all the best in the new year!! *hugs* For those who want to see my Ai-kon mascot contest entries from last year or the years before, you can look here! :3 There’s two entries for other contests there too, but most of them are for Ai-kon.

Character © 2012 the Ai-kon Committee/staff
Artwork © 2012 Sloan/designsbysloan.com
Do not use without permission.

Drag and drop for full view!

Ai-kon mascot contest entry, two out of two~

Some people from DeviantART might recognize the theme. I originally posted the sketch there for critiques, but it was.. well, I ended up scrapping it after that LOL. ;A; The perspective was from above before, and I just wasn’t feeling it. And when I went to do the line art, it just looked so wrong.. :c I’M SORRY GUYSSS

For this one, I got the pose idea first and then the outfit later. For my first entry, I did the design first and pose last. Rofl.

This one ended up being a bit messier too.. I had a week left so I rushed it. I hope it’s still okay. Oh, and I also tried making this one a bit more “shonen” than the other. 8D;;
Background just added for posting~!

Wish me luck!!

Edit, July 25, 2012: changed the background slightly so it would look better as a print! c: You can find the old version here. Thank you!

This is for the Ai-kon mascot contest! :3 My first entry of two.
The contest ended this morning/last night, so it’s time for posting!

Anyways, added a background just for posting~
This one’s kinda boring pose-wise, but I like her design. I also had fun doing her hair differently, rather than the usual pretty long hair. ;u; Sorry if the colours are uber bright… they’re not supposed to be ORZ

Last year I got third place. I’m hoping to get atleast that again~ Wish me luck!

For Firefly276’s mascot contest! : D This is her store’s mascot, Keika. She’s saying hello to a Luna Moth~

There was a point with this where I wanted to stop, and redo the shading, but I decided to keep on going. I’m glad I did, because Keika was a pleasure to draw once I continued.

Also I hope you don’t mind that she ended up being with a moth. As you know, I originally planned for her to be with a butterfly, but afterward I realized that a moth would make more sense, with it being night and all… X_x
I didn’t think this moth looked as ugly as most moths though, especially from the top, so I hope it’s okay.
_{Though I probably should have spent more time on the moth.. hmm.}

Thanks for looking~

Character/design © *Firefly376
Art © Sloan/designsbysloan, do not use without permission
Luna moth (Actias luna) reference was taken by somebody named Geoff Gallice. Picture found on Wikipedia.

My last entry. :3
I like her hair on this the most. I also tried playing with perspective, but I don’t know if I pulled it off. But that’s why her legs look “too short”. DX
…She almost had two right feet btw. It wasn’t pointed out to me until AFTER I had started colouring. ; ; Atleast it was easy to fix. Thank you mom! <3333 I also used the soft brush for this, as you can see. This picture has actually kick-started my cellshading style, though, so even if I don't win the contest, I still win the experience gained~

My second entry of three~
This one easily took the longest. I kept taking unnessescary breaks from it, and kept getting frusterated with the shading/colours. In the end it took weeks to complete. But I think it turned out okay despite that. :’3
I gave in and used the soft brush for it. (I probably should have stuck to pure cellshading but uuuugh)