KaruKazu
Heyyo, call me Karu/Kazu!
Freelance Illustrator/Graphic Designer | ID/EN | UTC +7
Heyyo! My name is KaruKazu but you can call me either Karu or Kazu.
I'm an artist, freelance illustrator, and graphic designer from Indonesia who mainly works on anime or manga-style illustrations. After starting to take commissions in 2018 and finishing my Visual Design Communications major in 2020, I've been working as a full-time illustrator. I speak Bahasa Indonesia (native) and English (fluent), and my timezone is WIB (Western Indonesia Time) or UTC +7. Below are more trivial details about me, so feel free to read them (or not)!
NOT JUST ABOUT SKILLS
Drawing has been my hobby for as long as I can remember and becoming a professional illustrator has been my dream job since I was a kid. Thanks to my major during college, my art skills improved, and I also got more knowledge about graphic design and marketing skills which helped me build my art commission services.
Being a full-time illustrator who relies solely on art commissions, I understand very well that reputation is crucial to determining one's success. I believe not only skills that are important in this line of work, but also communication and dedication. That's exactly what I've been practicing throughout my 4 years as an illustrator. And as someone who's perfectionistic and hard to satisfy, I constantly strive to be better.
MY INTERESTS
Aside from art and design, I'm into many things, such as movies, games, and music. I like horror, action, and comedy movies. I like action-adventure, point-and-click, sandbox, exploration, and story-based games. I like Vocaloid, EDMs (especially drum and bass), 2000s bands, and classical music.
I'm also into many fandoms, but my main ones are Fate franchise, Arknights, Undertale/Deltarune, and SCP. Feel free to message me anywhere when you want to discuss these things with me!
SPECIALIZATION
I mainly work on anime/manga style artworks, cute concepts/characters, dark-themed concepts/characters, and character design illustration
WILL ACCEPT:
• Original character (OC)
• Fan Arts (safe for commercials only)
• Crossovers (OC x Fan Art)
• Animalkin (humanoids with animal properties) & kemonomimi
• Light armor/weapons
• Gore
• Suggestive
WILL NOT ACCEPT:
• Realism/semi realism
• NSFW (pornographic scene/concepts)
• Elderlies
• Full-suit mecha
• Furry (OK for emotes only)
• Overly-detailed backgrounds and characters
• Heavy-referenced concept
Got anything that is NOT on both of these lists? I'm willing to try it!
If the result doesn't suit to your liking, revision/changes will NOT charge extra
Below is the step-by-step of my commission progress. After each step, I'll always send the progress to the client for revision. Credit to Nascha Noctua for commissioning the portrayed illustration!
1. ROUGH SKETCH
I always start with a blockman of the character — consisting of the expression, the pose, and the perspective. When the client asks for a detailed background, I'll draw it in this step. Sometimes I add small notes such as the light source or tiny details.
2. HARD SKETCH/LINEART
I draw the details of the character starting from the face to the most-bottom part. I usually go straight to the lining (I'm still unsure whether it's a lineart because to me it looks messier than a lineart but cleaner than a sketch) and only sketch-to-lineart (two steps) when the character design is quite detailed or hard to draw.
3. COLOR
After coloring all parts using the references sent by the client, I'll calibrate the colors to match the desired environment/mood. I also add some blending layers if necessary — the ones I use most are multiply and luminosity/add/glow. Sometimes I shade the background as well for testing — making it easier for me to calibrate the colors.
4. SHADE AND RENDER
The hardest step and the one that takes the most time. To make it easier for me to change the colors in case the client isn't happy with the result, I separate the layers as base color, lineart, base color render, and shade render — additional layers excluded. I use brush for the shading.
You can check my services, portfolio,
Terms of Service, and prices here!
You can check vacant slots, work progress (from ready to completed), and waitlist here!
This page is dedicated to my awesome friends — artists and creators alike — who I recommend you to check out! Will add more people soon!