‘Bleach’ Artist Shares Live-Sketch Of Grimmjow

Bleach artist Masashi Kudo shared a live-sketch video on Twitter this week, revealing to fans how he puts together a drawing of Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.

Kudo posted a video that was about two minutes long, showing an iPad screen set to the painting app Medivan. From the perfectly blank white page, a fully-formed drawing of Grimmjow bloomed, completely inked with immaculately fine detail. There is no telling how long the painting took in reality, but the video is an amazing look for aspiring artists who want to watch a veteran’s process firsthand.

Kudo works for Studio Pierrot, and is best-known for his time on Bleach. The animator worked closely with series creator Tite Kubo to bring the source manga to life in an anime. In addition to adaptation, he oversaw the design of many characters who only appeared in the anime, and worked on the original anime specials as well.

Fans dropped into the replies beneath Kudo’s tweet to praise his efficient work. The artist actually hung around and chatted with a lot of his followers there, exchanging light-hearted banter complete with emojis. He answered questions, revealing that the easiest character to draw is Kon, while the hardest is either Ichigo or Aizen.

Some fans likely got their hope up when they saw a Bleach illustration with Kudo’s name on it. The beloved anime series was cut short, with over 200 chapters of manga never adapted for the show. There have been many attempts by fans to get the studio to finish their show, while others have even taken matters into their own hands.

At the moment, a group of YouTubers called Tensei Productions is working on a fan-made adaptation of the series’ final arc, employing animators and voice actors that can match the original perfectly. The group has a lot of support, though many wonder how far they will get before receiving a cease and desists from Studio Pierrot.

Meanwhile, others question why the studio has not responded to the excitement with an adaptation of its own. They see it as a no-brainer for Shueisha and Studio Pierrot to throw their resources behind that last story, closing the chapter for the series’ many enduring fans.

At the moment, most Bleach fans are preoccupied with the upcoming live-action film adaptation, which premieres on Sept. 14. The movie already debuted in Japan, and Netflix recently announced that the streaming service would bring it to viewers in the U.S. next month.