Description
Here's the lineart version of my seasonal senshi for 's contest! There was a bit of misunderstanding going on (the contest was supposed to be lineart but an admin had said it was okay to have color), so just in case I'm uploading the black and white version. Which is totally fine with me, I actually like the lineart a lot!
You're also welcome to color it if you like! You obviously don't have to color it the exact way I did. The download is a transparent PSD file, but if you don't have Photoshop then you can just save the JPG image here. Please link it to me when you're done, I'd love to see your take on it.
The rest of the text is from my description for the fully colored version :
I wanted to take a dapper spin on the typical sailor fuku, so I did a little reimagining. I love Venetian masks, so I wanted to have a Venetian masquerade ball sort of theme. But each outfit is a very different take on that.
I don’t have names for them or anything, but I do have a few design notes I wrote down about each senshi so I guess I can put them here.
Sailor SpringRoses bloom in the spring, right? I hope so. I chose them because they symbolize romance, which goes hand in hand with the era of Marie Antoinette, my outfit inspiration (hence the powdered wig). I see Spring very dainty and delicate, and I think that period of history was all about that.
The main color is a pastel pink, but I threw in some greens and blues because spring is a very colorful season.
Sailor Summer
Definitely different from the other three, but isn’t there always that one outlier in the group? Inspired by Victorian bathing suits -- modest enough not to show too much skin, but you still get a lot of breathing room on a hot day with those puffy sleeves.
You’ll notice I went with different skin colors and body types for each senshi (not that it matters because they’re all corseted and covered), and I not only wanted Summer to have a skinny figure (to offset the puffiness of the costume), but I imagined her as MTF trans.
I had the most trouble with her color scheme, going from dark blue to firey colors before settling on the olive gold. It also didn’t hurt that I wanted a slightly cooler color scheme since Spring and Autumn were both warm colors, but the dark blue was too deviant for me.
Sailor Autumn
She’s wearing a full face mask, inspired by one I personally bought in Italy. Her appearance is very inspired by this entry I made for another seasons contest a while back. I’d always wanted to make that entry part of a seasonal series, so I think this is a decent successor.
The outfit is more modern compared to the other three seasons, but it’s my personal favorite. The shoes were inspired by these boots worn by Adriana Lima .
Sailor Winter
For some reason, this was the hardest design to come up with. Mainly because most of my original ideas were too similar to what I’d already planned for Spring. I imagined Winter and Spring to be the more delicate seasons, while Summer and Autumn were more practical. So I wanted Winter’s outfit to be like Spring’s, but not like Spring’s. It’s hard to explain.
Winter was supposed to have a full face mask, like Autumn’s, but I really liked how the dark skin color looked against the powder blue, so the mask is how it is. I also wish I’d added more of a snowflake motif, but I’m also okay with how it looks now.
Also that filigree. THAT FILIGREEEEEEEE. My hands are so done.
I also wanted to have each outfit be unique, but still have elements that tied to the other outfits. Spring and Winter both have updos while Summer and Autumn have their hair down; Summer and Winter have monochromatic outfits (and their bows and collars are the same color) while Spring and Autumn are more duochrome; and...well, Autumn and Winter were supposed to have the full-faced masks. But now I suppose they both have their chests covered up, since they’re both the cooler seasons. Let’s go with that.
Of course they all have the sailor collar, and I incorporated the white stripe in different ways so it didn’t look too out of place.
Tons of details and my hand is hurting a little, but it was totally worth it!