From time to time I like to tidy up my portfolio

Never an easy task to decide which works stay and which ones go. There's usually at least one thing I like about every image I create. Or one thing that demonstrates a different skill or technique I'm capable of. Originally my portfolio on this site was only ever going to be around a dozen pieces, but my gallery layout allows for more without looking over the top, so decided to populate it with some extra works.

Bye Bye Ninja Girl

I've decided to remove this ninja girl commission I did back in 2013. I don't hate it, but the anatomy and colour use some improvement. It's a little basic compared to some of the more recent stuff I've been doing. I'll miss the bold red background and the flower boarder. Maybe I'll use those elements in a new piece some time?

Hello Harley

I'm replacing ninja girl with the Harley Quin Fan art I did this year in Markers and Ink. I've since sold the original to a customer in France.

Also a more monochromatic Skull/Wolf/Girl image I created for chrome/mirror prints (which can be ordered in the Shop) This one was created in Photoshop CC with my Wacom Cintiq tablet. That now makes 31 portfolio pieces.

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This one was a commission of hip-hop mascot 'Dirteee'. Although pretty basic, I had an original reference design to work from, and the brief was basically to draw it in my own style. I like to mix my style up a lot- drawing semi-realistic comic characters one week, tattoo art the next, then going back to my manga roots after that. And even within the manga sub-genre, I vary styles from time to time :)

As always, starting with a sketch and then moving on to colours once the client approves the design:

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[caption id="attachment_3351" align="aligncenter" width="704"] Final Result[/caption]

If you'd be interested in commissioning me to create artwork of your character, a portrait, mascot etc, leave a message or contact me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

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Here's some progress shots of my recent frog girl illustration. I originally shared these on my Instagram account. At first this was just going to be a grey + one neon colour marker-only piece, but decided to give it the full digital colour treatment also :) Any preference on which version you prefer?

If you'd like to own it, I've added exclusive signed prints of the digital version to the site's Shop.

Wanted to try out another portrait framed by hair and including splatters and drips, this time going with a cute anime style or 'Moe' anime style. Sometimes it's good just to focus on a head rather than feeling the need to produce full body posing images every time- It gives me a chance to play around with facial styles which is a lot of fun, and without needing to pour in 100s of hours every time I create a new bit of work. Having said that, making some nice, neat line art and smooth colouring still stakes a few days compared to messier painterly styles. I think I did this one over the course of 3 or 4 days?

At the moment I'm using a Wacom Cintiq 27QHD graphics tablet to work on, which is also a lot of fun.

Also thought I'd experiment with a few different colour variations- Dark skinned anime girl with red lily and light hair anime girl with pink lily. Any Preference? Let me know which version you like best :)

Thought it was about time I got back to drawing some fan art. Genuinely a big fan of the manga / anime Hajime no Ippo. I love so many different styles of art, and even within the manga niche, there are a million ways to produce a cool looking image. This time I wanted to try out a chibi style :)

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Who is Ippo?

Ippo Makunouchi is the main protagonist in the manga and anime series "Hajime no Ippo." Initially, Ippo is a shy and timid high school student who endures bullying. His life takes a dramatic turn when he is discovered by Mamoru Takamura, a professional boxer, and saved from a group of bullies. Takamura introduces Ippo to the world of boxing, where his innate determination and work ethic shine.

Under the mentorship of Kamogawa Genji, the coach at the Kamogawa Gym, Ippo undergoes intense training to become a formidable boxer. Known for his powerful punches and indomitable spirit, Ippo quickly rises through the ranks in the boxing world. His signature move, the "Dempsey Roll," becomes synonymous with his fighting style.

As the series progresses, Ippo's character develops, and he forms deep connections with fellow boxers, trainers, and supporters. The story not only revolves around his journey to become a world-class boxer but also explores themes of friendship, resilience, and the personal growth that comes with facing challenges in and out of the ring. Ippo's story is a compelling narrative of an underdog transforming into a boxing sensation, capturing the hearts of fans and inspiring them to overcome their own obstacles.

Here's a few sketches I doodled recently. I originally posted them on Instagram, but I'm aware of the fact a lot of people don't use it, so thought I'd add them to my main website blog. I kinda like Instagram as a platform for posting sketches. Final works would probably be better off on Tumblr. I share all my Instagram stuff to Tumblr anyway by default, just to cover all the bases although since having had my own domain for probably around 15 years, I still prefer sharing work on my own blog and web site :)

I decided to replace the benkrefta.com home page slider images with more recent work and I ended up removing these two pics:

As I continue to improve my level and standard of artwork, it becomes a case out 'out with the old, in with the new' :)

I'd been wanting to create a new series of girl face artworks featuring a monochrome+single accent colour palettes- these are the results. Please with out they turned out. Not sure about the Pikachu one though, but perhaps still an idea worth testing? They gave me an excuse to use Photoshop a little differently that I usually do- to effectively paint digitally using a variety or brushes rather than produce my more typical digital airbrush colour effects with a generic low-flow round brush.

See below for 'Hand print', 'Spidey', 'Hannya', 'Skull', 'Biohazard' and 'Butterfly'.

I spent the weekend adding two new projects to Benkrefta.com's Projects page.

The Artist's Guide to Drawing Manga, which is my new tutorial book due out in two or three weeks time, as well as my G7 Leaders character art - promotional illustration I worked on for Save the Children. Like all the projects on the site, they're more or less quick overviews or case studies of some of the client work I've completed over my artistic career which I hope visitors will find interesting :)

Both of these took way longer than I'd anticipated. Some days consisting of 16+ hour stretches at the computer to get things done before deadline or sleeping over at the studio, so it's a relief to have them all done and dusted. Here's one of the G7 illustrations I produced and given a black and white manga screen-tone overlay:

It had been a while since I drew any fanart. I did the pencil line art for this Death Note pic a few years ago, but only recently got around to inking and colouring it. Time permitting I'd love to draw up artwork for dozens more of my favourite anime :)