Gift: Anzu with Layton Plush for SamCyberCat

Hello everyone!

How are you? Are you doing well? I sure hope that you are! Happy New Year to you!  I hope that 2014 is treating you all well, at least at this point in time!   Well, it would appear that this is my first deviation of the new year, though truth be told, I truly wish that I could have completed it before the end of December as it was meant as a Christmas present.... .  But then, since it is a gift, one for a very very good friend, I wanted to give this painting my all, because she deserves nothing less!  

I posted the sketch of this image some time ago, which I was grateful for, at minimum, since I at least had THAT to present before the holidays.

As I mentioned then, the image is my Christmas present for the wonderful , my small gesture of appreciation for not only being as great a friend as she is, both also to thank her for her generousity, encouragement of my work, and for the amazing kindness that she's displayed; and for many years now too!

Though I've sung her praises quite a few times already, has followed each and every deviation that I've posted, and commented with such thoroughness and consideration for both the detail and development process of my works, that I always found myself incredibly flattered and even touched by her interest!  ^_^  Of course we eventually became friends, and she was even kind enough to share a number of doujinshi titles with me, which showed me yet again how giving she was!  We also enjoyed writing each other through email, though with our busy work schedules, though I'm sad to say that I often found that I couldn't write her or keep in touch as often as I would have liked.   But I was always wishing her well, and in turn, she also kept in touch here on deviantart, and never failed to follow my postings and continue to root me on, no matter what was occuring in my life!

For that, I may never be able to truly repay her, but I thought that this would be a nice start at least!  It isn't often that I'm able to give artistic gifts, because of the time and effort put into them, not to mention my commission schedule (which I hope to return to soon!! So sorry everyone!!!! )  or the works I often try to prepare for upcoming conventions that I hope to attend, but I wanted to try my best to make time for even if I wasn't able to complete the image for Christmas, as I intended!

Anyhow, as for the image itself, I suppose it may be self-explanatory, considering the title, but in short, I have combined two of 's most beloved interests: Anzu Masaki from the anime and manga series Yu-Gi-Oh, who is depicted holding a Professor Layton plush doll, from the video game series of the same name.

Speaking of Yu-Gi-Oh, that is another thing that brought and I together, given our mutual love for the series as a whole, and our fondness for the character of Anzu Masaki and her various incarnations (my cherished Teana, included) in particular.   I suppose I can say we bonded over that interest too! It has certainly be fun talking about the series and characters through our various forms of correspondences and again, I definitely enjoyed reading her interesting and throught provoking comments here on Deviantart!

I thought depicting Anzu for would be a nice gesture, but I wanted to push it further, hence the second portion of the image.  I soon became aware of 's great love for Professor Layton, and though I know next to nothing about this game series (though I have been wanting to try it since I adore the Ace Attorney series so much!)  I thought it would be fun to incorporate it in some way to my gift image, which ultimately led me to depict Anzu with her Professor Layton plush doll. 

When trying to decide on a background, I thought it would be a additional touch to include a familar Professor Layton logo, which would make the image's connection to the series even more apparent, hopefully.  Though I didn't include the recognizable top hat with his famous initial, I thought that the black, surrounding circle, the decorative elements on each side, as well as the sepia toned plaid design that I saw in a number of images associated with Professor Layton would help to push the concept further.

I especially had fun with the texture of the diamond like shapes in the background, as well as the precision of the line work.  And of course, I always *always* enjoy depicting Anzu Masaki, in whatever form she appears, and hopefully I portayed the contentment in her face when receiving her Layton plushie; happiness that I hope is similar to what  will feel, when she finally receives this piece! ^_^

As I mentioned in the sketch of this work, for as often as I have depicted Anzu, I found that I haven't yet drawn or painted her wearing her Duelist Kingdom outfit.  Though I may not be a fan of all her stylist choices with this outfit, I did rather like the pink vest and ruffles, at the very least.

As always, this image was done by hand uisng opague water color paints and brushes.  Thank you very very much for looking everyone, I thank you all for your patience, consideration and of course your incredible encouragement!  And of course that especially means you too !! You're the best!  I wish you all the very best for the new year! Let's make it a great one!


Love,

Yamigirl21