Umi (sea) took me quite a while to create. She is a NDR prerooted No. 1 head and SAJ enhanced body. She started out as a guy, but I didn't know how well the pony tail would hold over, so she was quickly converted to a female.

I painted the eye shape and hated it. I threw her down and didn't touch her for two or three weeks! I came back and finished up her paint just so she wouldn't have a blank stare on her face. Lo and Behold! I liked the way her face was turning out, so I actually tried a little harder and this is the result.

I realized that the NDR heads stain horribly when I wipe my paints with acetone, no matter the color. My solution was to use a ka-bob stick dipped in water to gently scratch away unwanted paint. It worked very nicely (and no stains!)

Another tactic I used to get the alignment of the eye down correctly was to mark with a white pen (Sakura gelly-roll pen) the crosshair of where her eyes should be. I also drew her eyebrows with the white pen and then painted over. When I was done, I simply wiped away the white pen marks. The crosshairs served me well; her eyes are amazingly even!

She stole Mitsuki's customized outfit. It matched Umi's hair so well that I gave it to her without a second thought. Poor Mitsuki's without clothes now!

Clothes donor Mitsuki

Umi created by Pretzel on August 19, 2000