I then colored the base colors and reduced the saturation to create a grayscale-like effect, adjusting the overall light and dark balance.
To express the shine of the hair, I looked for ways to save time since it would be quite difficult to draw it meticulously every time the character appears. It’s still rough and needs some adjustments, but I managed to get it to look something like this with brushes and filters…
I also experimented with different hair colors. Depending on each, the impression and perceived age of the character seem to differ. Is it just my imagination, or is it due to the character design? Black hair makes the character look very much like an adult woman, while white hair somehow gives a younger appearance.
Has the problem been resolved? That’s great to hear!
I have one possible explanation for what might have happened. It may not be related, but I edited the page while using the browser’s right-click menu to translate the entire page.
After making this post, I used the browser’s right-click menu translation feature to review the text, and I noticed that the title text was duplicated in the body. I corrected this issue.
I forgot that sometimes the translation feature can cause issues when navigating pages. After finishing the edits, the display was still a bit off. However, reloading the page fixed it.
I think that this problem is originally caused by Firefox. I know that this has also happened to others.
Interestingly, I can call up the image directly via its link, but it is not displayed in the topic itself.
Nice drawing, the only thing missing to give it that signature manga look would be to use halftones. But I think flats look better on the computer screen.
Regarding the hair, black hair is higher contrast, so it may appear thinner and also emphasizes the forehead being tall. Thinner hair and a higher hairline are correlated with older age, so it could be due to that. The face is also pretty long, but her eyes are big, so that balances it (longer face and smaller eyes also communicate the age).
Regarding the halftones, I have various thoughts and that’s why I didn’t use them this time.
As for the hair, your observation is indeed accurate. The color and hairstyle indeed emphasize the elongated face. It made me realize that not only color but also shape plays an important role in the overall impression.
