I've got an Achievement Unlocked! Said the Red Panda, as he looks at you on an oddly chilly night down in Sumida Park, Japan.

About this drawing:

When I was thinking of what to draw next, I wanted something interesting and fun yet, that was also highly challenging. From the contrast of light and dark, wet & reflective surfaces, to detailed structures, that's when I came up with this!

So why this scene exactly you ask? Well.... It's no secret that though I love Raccoons, I have a soft spot for Red Pandas as well. I also wanted a setting that encompassed both nature and structural aspects.

Now, where would something like that coexist? Well, pretty much everywhere honestly. But! I chose Sumida Park in Japan (because I want to visit there one day, too).

Ok, so I got the location. Great. Now what? Going back to my desire to have something that would be truly challenging, I landed on this particular area that had both complex structures ( like the train/bridge and buildings) and nature.

But I wanted a little more. So I thought alright, let's make it a night scene with everything being illuminated. So far so good on hitting the "challenge itch" but I still wasn't quite satisfied - so I wanted some weather aspect, too.

So, now I've got the location, time of day, and a checklist of ideas that I wanted to incorporate. Sounds like I've got the workings of my next artwork!

To take a chapter from Bob Ross, "There are no mistakes, only happy accidents." Indeed this held true with this drawing as well. Initially, the RP wasn't supposed to have a scarf - just the light jacket. But while sketching, I just doodled it on him and ended up loving it. Thus, it had to stay.

But now there is a problem. I thought to myself why on earth would he be wearing a scarf - wouldn't that be too hot?

Hmm... Back to the drawing board (no pun intended) I starting to figure out how to make this drawing all come together and make sense with the new addition. The answer came to light after some research, of course.

So here's a "fun fact" of this drawing - the actual time of day for this drawing is March 15, 2025 at approximately 20:30 (8:30 PM). And let's pretend that the temperature dipped down to, say, 38ºF that night.

There are more things incorporated into this drawing, as always, but I'll leave that to you all to see and figure out~

-RJ


(Artwork Created by RJCoony using entirely Sketchbook Pro)