Cover illustration for the eighth volume of Polyphonica’s Cardinal Crimson route has been released – and like any artwork of the Polyphonica series, it’s stunning as expected, adorned with a gorgeous loli.
Never does the sight of the Crimson Annihilator disappoint in the least – rather, it’s always one which fascinates with beauty, and this artwork certainly serves as a finer example. First of all, the implied motion simply can’t be missed – our lovely focal point is angled diagonally, tilted downward, with both leg and arm extending in a single direction to show the movement. Not to mention, her hair streams vivaciously outward, as does the article above her blouse – each, of course, doing magnificently in the way of representing a flowing, graceful movement.
Light obscures the tip of her arm, giving the impression of a transcending space and time as her physical embodiment seems to escape the reality of the canvas and onto elsewhere.
Yet before all else, attention will first be stolen towards the portion of visible flat chest, as well as her visage – this segment of skin and face is the absolute center of visual interest, surrounded in a variety of colored patterns and shapes to contrast, all whilst itself being brought out by her glowing eyes which nearly look to hold another realm within them. A swirled mixture of pink alongside a variety of other off-sets of red are blended together, with a heavy inclusion of white, for an overall soft radiance.
Harmony is achieved through a repetition of the creamy off-shoots of red – forgetting any of the typography unfortunately pasted over this fantastic illustration, red recurs as per Corticarte’s signature facet of cherry hued hair, transitioning carefully from a darker blood tone from the right, towards a notably tinted pinkish pigment off to the left, nearly identical to that seen in her eyes. It should also be mentioned that one can see violet escaping from certain areas in the proximity of her visage.
Her skin consists of such an alluring and tender fluctuation of shades – a sublime silken pink blush can be spotted below her eyes of a near-matching hue, and the rest of her form is composed of gradients based around a dominant tan with variances from dark, mid, and only short of pure white.
Two separate degrees of contrast are provided by her seifuku – the first being from the lighter color, which is white amongst an incredibly gentle touch of pink, as well as some darker mixes as necessary, to ensure a sort of reflection of the monochromatic scheme of red being attempted, and marvelously managed. And secondly, there’s the dark hue, seen on her vestment and stockings, serving as a substitute for black – a concoction of color composed with red and just enough blue to offer the extent of darkness seen, yet it’s all filtered with white.
Each of those layers of color do well to separate and divide different significant areas – such as the boundary of cloth and skin, alongside the barrier between different items of wardrobe as well, ultimately resulting in the display which we see, a strikingly exquisite, crimson annihilating loli character.
To contrast her overall, the background is made of a pure white, which is wonderful in making clear simply the delicacy of the lighter areas of her person, such as skin and seifuku, in that they stand out against the intensity of basic white – and there’s also a collage of relevant characters, a layer of low opacity drenched entirely in red, which results in the faded color seen when all is said and done.
Given such an unparalleled artwork, it’s already worth well-more than the price of the manga volume alone.
Jun 26, 2012 @ 0:49 CDT
You really love your Corti huh? Not that I can’t see where you’re coming from. Such a high-class loli deserves some spotlight.
Jun 26, 2012 @ 0:50 CDT
Greatest character design ever made.