Artist's commentary
Afternoon in Karakura Town
Oh my it’s been a while :o
I’ve been making lots of Hime fanart (that's why it took so long for me to post...) and for the first one I drew Orihime in the streets of Karakura Town, after school in the afternoon. Most of my efforts went into drawing her face and hair, though I’m especially fond of her teeth in particular (I just think they’re neat).
The background serves only to increase the focus on the character front and centre. The stop sign may be a tertiary point of interest, but due to its shape and angle I intended for the view to bounce right back to Orihime’s face, especially since it’s in Japanese and foreign “letters” don’t take as much time since your brain quickly realises not to decipher them. As long as you don’t speak Japanese, of course.
Which may sound like an odd thing to do, however with the omission of a background the image loses a lot of its focus. A white backdrop would’ve been too stark a contrast, and I liked the idea of drawing her in the afternoon (since that’s where life takes place for most students hahaha).