Ghibli characters come to life in time-lapse painting of magical My Neighbor Totoro scene 【Video】

This talented artist paints a detailed Ghibli movie scene every time a child is born into the family.

It’s always nice to hear about unique family habits and traditions that tie relatives together in profound ways. In Japan, we’ve seen families who live by interesting mottos and others who take pride in unconventional rituals, but for one family in Germany, they have a different way of bonding, and it involves some stunning artwork from Studio Ghibli.

Called “Son of Ghibli” on YouTube, this German-based artist has started up a beautiful family tradition, saying: “Every time a child is born into our family I a paint a scene from “My Neighbour Totoro” (となりのトトロ) as a present for them.”

Going by the first painting shared by Son of Ghibli online, these are some lucky children, as the beautiful image created looks exactly like a magical scene from the movie. The time-lapse video of the artwork being created shows just how much work goes into the process.

Take a look at the making of “Totoro in the Tree” below:

The video begins with the initial pencil drawing, which goes from a rough sketch to a more defined image after it’s tidied up with an eraser and some bold lines.

Once the initial drawing is complete, it’s time to give it some colour. Here, the artist uses Nicker poster paints, which are the same paints used by Studio Ghibli artists for their anime artwork.

By gradually building up the colour, the Ghibli scene comes to life, with a variety of brushes used to get the right amount of precision in all the finest details.

The final result is a beautiful painting that not only captures a magical moment from the movie, but also captures the heartfelt sentiment of joy and love from artist to child.

The fascinating journey from sketch to finished painting now has us inspired to take up our own brushes to try our hand at creating a Ghibli masterpiece of our own.

Looking at some of the artwork inspired by the famed animation studio, including a Stranger Things crossover and this Guillermo del Toro Totoro,  there are plenty of ideas out there to help guide us on our artistic journey!

Source: Kotaro Blog
Images: YouTube/Son of Ghibli

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