Ultra-Self-Portrait

I wanted my final project to turn out to be my best piece of art I had done till then. So, I decided to put extra effort into it. The first idea that came to my mind was the scene from the 1989 animation Baoh the Visitor, based on the manga of the same name by Hirohiko Araki, which featured the protagonist, Ikuro Hashizawa, and his alter ego, the titular Baoh, in split screen. The scene was inspired by an artwork by Araki featured in Weekly Shonen Jump. Making a split portrait turned out to mentally easier for me, as it let me create two different artworks together without worrying too much about lateral symmetry in either. The choice to not use a straight line to split the portrait was not something I put a lot of thought into. It was done simply to make it look different.

I chose the right side of the portrait to depict my face, using one of my selfies as a reference. I put more precision into sketching my face, or any realistic face for that matter, than ever before.

As for the left side, I decided upon drawing an Ultraman. I have been a fan of the Ultraman series since childhood, and the self-portrait seemed like a good opportunity for a tribute. To avoid having to favour one over the other, I designed an original Ultraman. While the shape of the Ultraman's body outline was almost identical to mine (besides the obviously different parts), I took inspiration for the eye shape and face patterns from Ultraman Mebius. The eye colour was inspired by the Ultraman from the animated film Ultraman: Rising, while the blue body colour was chosen due to it being associated with non-fighting Ultramen, such as the pacifist Ultraman Cosmos.