Convention Mascot Character Design Process (Patreon)

I was asked by TOKYO, OK, a convention in Tulsa, OK that specializes in Japanese pop culture and anime, etc, to design their mascot for their 2026 convention. In the past it looks like they ask two different artists, so there may be artwork that pops up in their ads by someone else, but this is my contribution.

I was told this year's theme is HERE AND NOW, and I was told I could basically design whatever I wanted to that fit the theme and included colors used in their official logo.

I'm going to give a pretty thorough look into character design processes, so I hope this is educational for anyone wanting to become a professional artist!

Inspiration

The theme is pretty open-ended, which some artists prefer, but I was supposed to have something ready by the end of January 2026, so I was hardly going to have an idea of what would be popular by June! But I thought the theme sounded like a concert feeling, like you're in that moment, and because Kpop kind of exploded last year I thought there might be some of that leftover for 2026. The other idea I had was a cute magician girl pulling out a Labubu from her hat surrounded by maccha lattes, Dubai chocolate, and whatever else was popular at the time I got the job a few months ago. I figured Labubus would maybe still be a thing in summer of 2026 but the other two things would be over by then, so that part carried over to the new Kpop idol idea I was working with.

I looked up KPop fashion and liked the image on the top left but thought the asymmetrical top and boots on the right were interesting. For accessories I also used the earrings on the bottom row.

TIME TO DRAW

For the sketch, I did something kind of weird. I drew a base and it looks like an Indian goddess, to be honest, haha.

I from this pencil sketch I roughed out a final sketch:

Time to clean it up and get some solid lineart!

Spot blacking, and then the silhouette:

The silhouette stage is important for me because it makes it a lot easier select her whole area for coloring separate layers.

Now, I new what my color palette was but I didn't know how I would mix it up. So I did a handful of color tests:

I had my 8 year old tell me her two favorites, and I had my two favorites (pink jacket and the pink hair on the right). She also liked the one on the right so I used that as my base inspiration.

Flat colors (and some gradations and patterns) are finished. I think I did a pretty good job of balancing the four main colors while keeping things interesting! In my head I named her Kokoro Imano. KOKO meaning "here" and IMA meaning "now". Kokoro also means "heart," but I thought it was a good idol name.

I added shadows... for this I did both level 1 shadows and level 2 shadows.

I accidentally didn't take a screenshot of her with her gradations/highlights stage, but this is that stage plus the final stage, which is where I add blush, line effects, textures, and I added the sakura petals behind her.

I really enjoyed working on this, and she is a character I would totally like to draw again in the future. My daughter is really excited to get a shirt with her and see people dressed as her-- this is the first time I'm letting her come to a convention I've worked for, so it should be fun!

I'm also really happy to be working with the rebranded Tokyo in Tulsa again. They used to be my favorite convention hands down and were my hometown con, but I haven't been since they've changed leadership. If you'll be in Tulsa in June, come check us out!