Drawing Ghost in the Shell Art

A Ghost in the Shell fan

I started working on a new bit of anime fan art a while back and thought it was about time I added some progress shots to my blog. I’ve been a fan of Shirow’s (Creator of the Ghost in the Shell manga) work for 25 years or so. The first anime movie wasn’t bad, but they really managed to nail it with the ‘Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex’ anime series. Complex is a good word for it as it’s not your typical, basic ‘good vs evil’ plot, but something I’d recommend to older audiences who want a Sci-fi series with a little more depth and intricacy. I loved it! I wanted to pay some homage to the G.I.T.S. Solid State Society series with this artwork.

Sketching

I usually start sketching in blue. This time straight into Photoshop. I want to go detailed with this piece so using a lot of reference to help out. The orange fade is just to stop it looking a bit dull, but I’d work with blue onto a white canvas.

Finished refining the line work for Ghost in the Shell’s main character, Major Motoko Kusanagi and Tachicoma robot behind.

Colouring

Finished laying down the base colours. Some artists might leave it there but I don’t like the way art looks before I start rendering and adjusting the colour pallet.

The Finished Artwork

Here is the finished Ghost in the Shell artwork. Took around 3 weeks, but finally done 🙂

Thanks for following through the progress with this one. If you happen to be a Ghost in the Shell fan and would like to support the work I do, feel free to head over to the shop and make a purchase. I currently have this one for sale as a signed A3 sized print. [Now in Metallic!]

If you’d be interested in seeing any more progress blog posts, let me know with a comment. I sometimes also post works in progress first on Instagram and social media, so you can head over there if you’re interested in seeing what I’m currently getting up to 🙂