Alright, so I spent some time trying to get a handle on drawing Kusakabe from JJK the other day. It wasn’t anything too serious, just felt like practicing, you know?
Getting Started
First thing I did was just gather some reference pics. Pulled up a bunch of images from the manga and the anime. Needed to get a good look at his face, especially those tired eyes and his general vibe. His hair isn’t super wild, but it has a specific look I wanted to nail down.
The Sketching Part
Grabbed my sketchbook and pencil. Started roughing out the basic shapes. Head, shoulders, the usual stuff. Getting his facial structure right took a bit of fiddling. Erased quite a few times trying to position the eyes and nose so he looked properly world-weary, not just grumpy.
The expression was the main challenge. He’s got that “seen too much” look. Tried different eyebrow angles and mouth lines. It’s subtle, easy to mess up. Spent maybe longer than I should have just on the face.
- Focused on the eyes first.
- Tweaked the mouth and jawline.
- Tried to get that slightly messy hair right.
Moving to the Outfit and Lines
Once I was kinda happy with the head, I sketched out his suit. Suits can be tricky, getting the folds and the fit to look natural. Didn’t want it looking too stiff. Just kept it loose.
Then I went over the pencil lines with a pen. Used a fineliner I like. Tried to keep the lines somewhat clean but still a bit sketchy, you know? Like it came out of a manga panel. Some lines came out thicker than I wanted, but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes. No big deal.
Finishing Touches (or Lack Thereof)
Thought about adding shading. Maybe some crosshatching like you see in the manga panels. I started doing a little bit on his jacket but kinda hesitated. Wasn’t sure I could pull it off well with pen, and didn’t want to ruin the sketch entirely.
So, I left it mostly as line art. Maybe a touch of minimal shading here and there, but nothing crazy. It’s not perfect, definitely got room to improve, especially on making clothes look more natural.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it was a decent session. Felt good to just sit down and draw for a bit. The final piece looks recognizably like Kusakabe, I think. Captured a bit of his personality. It’s all practice, right? Every time you draw, you learn something, even if it’s just what not to do next time. Happy I spent the time doing it.
