My Take On Anime: Kakuzu from Naruto Shippuden.

Kakuzu Version 1

It started after a trip coming from Puerto Rico, this idea was developed in my head. It may have come to me fairly quickly, but the vision was set and it took me 8 days to finish it. 

I wanted to use action on clothing, so I made the chakra based mask coming out the body. I payed attention tot he character bod, choosing a color shirt that was more what Kakuzu wore. I had to compile several images, rewatch fights on YouTube just to get the whole profile of his body, how the sticking follow his body.

Below is what came from this.

 Since I was focused on action, I used toys to recreate this. It was important to use the toys rather than solely the manga or anime because I ave a conflict with using other's materials for my own creativity, and it felt far too reaching, dare I say, copying/ stealing, if I didn't add my own touch into it, or maybe it something that can stand on it's own.

 

Kakuzu Version 2 

To further my creative challenge, I created this one next, this time using the scene of Kakashi's Chidori piercing one of Kakuzu's chakra hearts. I used myself for alignment, trying to get the body's elements proportionally correct.

 The front side below shows how I went about the design. I painted the stitchings and the wrist tattoos as correct as I could.

 

Kakuzu Version 3 

Continuing on the ideas above, I went and created a series of works that took me about two weeks to complete, 14 in total. While it took me 8 days and 7 days for the above, respective, I wanted to challenge myself now that I got the vision in mind.

Below was the outcome of this. I stenciled the masks, to help me keep the proportions correct, and each size has some unique aspects to it. The bigger the shirt (it went up to 3XL), the more the chakra masks come out. I thought it was a great use of the space available.

 

 Some challenges were present, many my attention to the size of the shirt. I had to imagine how it wold fit, and how much of the creatures I wanted out. Since I did not have models for these bigger sizes (at best  can put on small to Large), I have to visualize hard on it.

The stitches byti he arms were particularly challenging. Another challenge came from making 4 sweaters of the design as well. The material felt different, so it was more time consuming.

Each step of the way I tried to make panting more efficient, without receding the quality. It is part fo the learning experience in it. I think. am cable of making a stronger collection next round.