❝ sakura


{ click on the below thumbnail to be taken to the full size }


inspiration this video by YouTuber Jazza & the kanji for cherry blossom, 桜
materials Ohuhu alcohol markers, Ohuhu marker pads, & copic black 0.3 inking pen

I am a total n00b with these markers (and really anything other than your standard colored pencils and crayons ), but they came recommended to me by fellow SSers Tegan (Tegz), Lulu (Star-Lord), and MJ (emjay) and I have been looking for more offline creative outlets to help decompress. I'll share my swatching of these markers later because that was a really fun process So THIS is my first attempt at an illustration using alcohol markers and there are some obvious oopsies in the shading but live and learn!

As to the subject itself, those familiar with Japanese anime and manga may easily recognize this character as Kinomoto Sakura from the Series Cardcaptor Sakura (this is her Clear Card version aesthetic and inspired by this image). The Japanese word for cherry blossom is 'sakura' so of course I always think of this character too whenever I hear the word (CLAMP was a HUGE part of my middle school years, okay?), so when I thought about what kanji to use for this project and settled on 'sakura'...I just knew I needed to use her for the design. This site breaks down the various parts of the kanji rather nicely, but I'll go over these in brief to explain the choices I made.

First, on the left, is the kanji for tree (木) which is the radical for this particular character and what I used as the base for her staff. The next are those three "ticks" you see used for lines in her hair. I did not know this BUT...in the olden days of yore those three lines used to be the characters for shell written twice (貝貝) and it was simplified over the years to just be those three strokes. While it can mean shell, but two in a row signifies a necklace - which is what the petals are around the center of the flower Finally is the character for woman (女) which I've used as the base for her torso. I think next time I won't go over the strokes in such a harsh black color, but try to pick one that blends better with the over all image.

"So in the end, the kanji for sakura looks the way it does because of “tree necklace woman,” or, to put things a bit more eloquently, because the cherry blossom is a plant whose five petals seem to be forming a beautiful necklace around the center of the flower."