Year
2026
Source
Touhou Project
Category
Fanart
Project Duration
1 Week
The project began by exploring retro anime from the late 80s to early 2000s, focusing on cel animation techniques, dramatic close-up compositions, saturated colors, and grainy textures. Additional research included vintage poster design, VHS-era color grading, and expressive character illustrations to recreate a nostalgic atmosphere while maintaining a polished digital finish.
The visual direction emphasizes strong silhouettes, vibrant complementary colors, clean linework, and layered lighting effects. Decorative accessories, expressive facial features, and stylized compositions help establish each character's personality while reinforcing the retro-inspired identity of the series.
The artwork was developed through multiple stages, beginning with rough composition sketches and silhouette exploration. After refining the line art, flat colors were established before adding cel shading, highlights, atmospheric lighting, and subtle grain textures. The final stage focused on color balancing and finishing effects to achieve a vibrant retro aesthetic suitable for both digital display and print.
The concept revolves around evoking nostalgia through modern craftsmanship. Each illustration captures a single emotional moment using close framing, dynamic lighting, and simplified yet expressive forms. Rather than replicating vintage artwork, the goal was to reinterpret its visual language for a contemporary audience.
