I Tried Drawing Konoha-chan! PART 1: "Internal Member Edition"
This is M-da.
At LeafWorks, we have several members who are skilled at illustration, and they occasionally draw our official character, "Konoha-chan."
In the past, we introduced these in our printed internal newsletter from time to time, but due to space constraints, they were always"Wait... is this... reduced by minus how many percent...?"
so small that they were barely visible, and inevitably, the image quality would degrade...
As someone who knows the beauty of the original artwork, I, M-da, felt frustrated every single time.
Just then, we started our open internal newsletter on note.
"That's it, let's do it on note."
We decided to release them not just internally, but to the public as well (lol).
※Permission for publication has been obtained.
Well then, let's get right to the introductions!
MA Division: Kato-san
A masterpiece that she spent a week drawing, carving out time from her busy private life!
I mean, really... starting with those squishy cheeks, the mouth, the gestures, the pose...
Everything is just so cute!! (I'm using hiragana on purpose)
What's especially noteworthy are these sparkling eyes☆
Ivy green eyes that you could get lost in.
The way she added depth through careful layering without losing transparency—in fact, enhancing it—is truly impressive.
Production Division: Shikata-san
Konoha-chan taking a little break in the 1F cafe space at LeafWorks.
A collaboration illustration with the Roomba that works hard cleaning the office every day. It really captures the atmosphere of our office.
Her wide-eyed expression is so charming, it makes you wonder who she's looking at...
※Since Konoha-chan is our eternal new employee and everyone's idol, she doesn't do office romances♡
Despite the pop style of the drawing, the chic color palette makes it stylish and mature-cute!
MA Division: Kato-san
Kato-san is back!
Compared to the last one, this is a Mucha-style Konoha-chan overflowing with a mature and artistic vibe.
The fresh, bright color scheme and the elaborate decorative background are eye-catching, but
above all, this gentle expression is the best!
It's incredibly soothing.
Honestly... I just want to stare at it forever...
In fact, whenever I was exhausted from working on the internal newsletter, I would look at this to get a boost of healing power. I really appreciate it!
Production Division: Shikata-san
Konoha-chan, who made her sensational debut with the song "Hello Konoha" the month before last.
This is a piece drawn by someone inspired by that music video.
In addition to the various outfits and accessories, they respected the PV down to the smallest details, such as designing a spectrum analyzer into the background.
With the meticulous attention to detail typical of someone working as a web designer, Ms. Shikata has created a piece that makes you feel like you can almost hear the "sound"♪
Production Section Manager Morimoto
Following the cute Konoha-chan illustrations from our regular in-house artists, Mr. Kato and Ms. Shikata,a new challenger appears!!
This piece is an homage to a certain famous manga. To all Konoha-chan fans,please try zooming in without fear.
If you look closely, even the thick lines were drawn with a single ballpoint pen, not a brush pen or marker.
You can really feel the craftsmanship that values the realistic pen touch and texture unique to analog work!
In addition, the high design quality and excellent balance of the KONOHA logo placement are exactly what you'd expect from a web designer.
We look forward to your next work!☆
President Kenta Sawa
Pr... President! Amazing!!What is this overwhelming artistic power!!
To generate four Konoha-chan illustrations with subtly different expressions in the blink of an eye...
Are you a god?!
...Hmm?
In the blink of an eye... generated...?!
That's right, this wasgenerated by President Sawa asking the AI Midjourney.After having it draw a few rough versions, he then brushed up the one closest to the official design.
No... really, from now on,let's leave what we can to AI!
Let's only do the fun tasks that are meaningful to create by human hands, or that we personally want to do! Let's do that!
(M-da, an AI advocate who wants to use convenient tools as much as possible)
As an aside,"AI Artist"is not an accurate expression. I recently read an analysis that AI is just a tool that performs an"output"based on instructions, and that the person requesting it is more accurately called a"director"rather than an artist.
I see...
Adjusting parameters to get the proper output is also a respectable skill.
In the future, where coexistence and co-creation with artificial intelligence will become the norm, we will likely be required to have different skills than before.
What did you think?
This time, we had a variety of illustrations with different tools, from digital illustrations to analog drawings with a single monochrome pen, and even AI.
For everyone who saw this article and became interested in Konoha-chan, whether inside or outside the company, please send us your work!
※ We do have rejections. Naturally, we cannot accept expressions that violate public order and morals.
Also, from the perspective of company branding, sexy themes are also a no-go. Sorry about that♡
(Are you listening, Section Manager H-no??)
Next time preview!
Well, the next "I Tried Drawing Konoha-chan!" will be the "Family Edition".
We plan to collect and introduce Konoha-chan drawings by members' families!Look forward to it☆