#can you tell I love drawing fashion illustrations?

[thesedrawnpens]

I saw a post about dark fashion and knew our favorite snake needed to be dressed up.

Should I draw an angelic companion piece?

If you want to see the original outfit post, check it out here.

@neil-gaiman @goodomensonprime

[nitzeart]

A very, very late entry to @pinkishart.illustrator DTIYS on Instagram 😅 I just really wanted to paint it 💕 I love painting pink hair apparently. It was good for my art slump and to get some digital practice.

[swollenbabyfat]

How did you come to draw and paint the way you do? What inspirations do you pull from? All of your art oozes with some strange, almost ethereal emotion I've not quite seen anywhere else, something similar to what I'd like to capture with my own works.

I’ve always had a bit of a hard time answering this bc like…I honestly think aesthetic/inspirational/taste stuff is a library you build up over your whole life, or maybe a closet that you try things on to see what does and doesn’t work for you. My biggest advice to this kinda stuff is to experiment a lot and take in a lot of media in a purposeful way, and try to actively apply things you like about said medias to your work. And don’t just consume stuff within your field, I take inspiration from a ton of stuff that isn’t art. I also recommend having somewhere to keep a kind of reserve of inspo, wether it be on tumblr or Pinterest or what have you.

So with that being said I’ll try to sum up what I can about myself.

I’m a horror lover, have been since I was (too) young. I’ve consumed a ton of horror movies, read a lot of books, and certainly have digested a lot of art about it. I am a bit of a haunted person haha, and I’ve always really attached myself to horror, and with some exception to just purely cute stuff I truly am always thinking about it with my work. I am not really aiming to make people feel comfortable with my stuff, in fact often the opposite, but many feel understood anyways which feels nice. I don’t think horror for horrors sake is always as fufilling to me, it always pulls from something internal that I’ve been wrestling with or are afraid of myself.

I am classically trained in fine art due to the kind of art program my highschool had (magnet program if that means anything to anyone), it was incredibly good and I always feel so lucky I got to go there. Bc of this I learned a lot of techniques in painting as well as the fundamental of art. I don’t think my art would be the way it is without this training, but I also think with how the internet is now you can probably do the same thing at your own pace, just have to be dedicating a decent amount of time and mental energy into it.

Bc of my highschool training I also learned about art history, which had a big impact on me, particularly renaissance, baroque, and rococo. Religious imagery as well had a huge impact on me, particularly catholic (probs cause we learned about it it the most). I would say doing master studies with these would be a huge help.

I would say it’s important to me that each “full” illustration tells a story of sorts, I can’t really help it, I’m a story teller at heart. I use a lot of symbolic imagery, I pull a lot from religious imagery but also within fruit, flowers, personal objects… I think “what am I trying to say with this work” and kind of go from there with what I choose. Make your own personal symbolism language.

There’s like this certainty digital painting aesthetic I really enjoy by niche furry artist lol, many of them really nsfw so I don’t feel comfortable linking to them. It’s like…highly detailed well rendered pieces that they make with literally one brush that is often without any kind of pen pressure, just layering things with opacity. It’s crazy and yeah idk they’re definitely up there in inspo for me.

I really really care about fashion. Lolita was my first love in terms of clothing, and I pull a ton of inspiration from it, but also a lot of other street styles and runways stuff. I like drama and frills.

I play with my art and stories in a way that I don’t know how to describe other than childlike. It’s important for me to do so in my process, but basically, I let my imagination run wild, I talk to my characters, I listen to music and think about them. A lot of my bigger pieces take a lot of time of me thinking about them ahead a time, I draw in my head a lot. Sketchbooks are a huge help in this.

I thiiiiiink that’s all I have to say for now…I could probably list a million things but this feels like a good core to start with. I hope it’s not too vague, but I’m always good to keep answering stuff like this if you wanna know about one part in depth.

[chiptrillino]

How the hell do you find every accurate representative culture fashion for the avatar gang? Like it pains me the hell how people this good and hardworking can find these gorgeous cultural clothes and accessories and draw them so well and detailed like you- TELL ME YOUR SECRETS (Please)

idk about accurate. at the end it is still a fantasy world inspired by real life cultures contrasting or soothed out to fit a charakter personality and traits. listen if i spot an option to have a older fire lord zuko with his titts chest out i will go for it and nothing can stop me not even accuracy i say this as if i didn't already do it in private with seethrough material hahah

there is not much secrets behind it though, sorry its research, fact checking. often even the most random things. at least that is my method. you go to google and type in what you need and would like to know. read the wikipedia article for some general understanding on the topic but them go to the source part and check these out. or like double check these. if reading is not your thing there are lots of dedicated youtubers or ticktockers that love to share and explain parts of their culture or tradtions (clothing included. depends on what you research.) contemporary to that or after that you build up your visual library by collecting images on pinterest, or google or websites covering the topic you are researching. make your own folders or pin boards.

an amazing blog for atla real life culture sources is of course or beloved: @atlaculture blog!

https://www.tumblr.com/atlaculture who recently began to dedicate some post in flashing out more water tribe and air normad cusine, also instruments. its a delight to read through.

of course you have an easier time with some research than with other. some things are clear others a contradicting some are barley documented. it is also necessary to have an occasional reality check. like reread your sources see if there is something new. replace what you misunderstood before. don't always go for what looks pretty and aesthetically good to you. there is a reason why things looked like they did. was it the material, was it protection, was it culture.

a part looking at contemporary photography i personally preffere to look at how people liked to depict themself at that time. Statues, wall painting, illustration, old fotos from that time and compare them to current pictures to see how they used to stylize this element or to see what was essential to them. thats probably my old art-history phase flaring up again though hahah. at the end it is also how you Interpret and headcanon the atla world for yourself. before i were able to redesign jet i had to figure out how i want to draw fire nation armor. because to me jet repuporses a lot of the armor from the enemy. a shin guard will be used as an arm protection. the red shirt he wears is fire nation, a shoulder guard that fits will just be used as it is. i just assume that FN armor is better in being fire resistent than earth kingdoms ones.

but fire nation armor is a chellenge on its own again. because is it tang dynasty? is it song? but the collar protector is a typical thai armor element. how do i combine that? is there a history behind it?

speaking about armor what would be the southern water tribe one? if it is lamellar ivory armor, how and why does it look so different by season 3 at the day of the black sun? did the southern water fleet separated form their home begin to adopt EK styles. switching out kuspuk and parkas in for sleeveless wrap shirts and armor with inside plating like they have in ba sing se? because that what was aviable to them?

(appart everything the talk of armor is in general really curious because... what do you wear when you go in to fight against fire??? in the poles you can argure that it is not a concern. if you burn you roll in the snow but in the EK... hm.. they dont have fancy heat resistand clothing like fire fighters have now.... armor is ment to cushion off impact and or slicing. our standard armors conzept can work well against earth-, water- and air bending (to some degree) but fire burns what do you idealy do against that? leather helps to some degree)

while the southern water tribe is clearly circumpolar people inspired (although lacking lots of world-building which you can kind of excusing it with... the war destroyed everything but also... uh.... its a nearly 20 year old show.... ) the northern water tribe shows korean or even mongolian elements. so what do you want to focus on? i personally like to make things connect because these characters live in one world togheter and trade and exchange happens. (yes even during a 100 year war or at least there had to have been a time of influence and the lack of exchange froze(*snorts*) this culture in time) you know... migration? and transition of style and life through out history.

maybe i overthink things to much for just drawing some clothes... -srugs-

[hypersomniagame]

HYPERSOMNIA JUNE DEV LOG : “FASHIONABLY LATE”

Hi! I already wrote this entire dev log but I closed the tab by accident, so it's now 10:55pm and I'm going to try and speedrun writing something that took me an hour to write.

For all of you who follow HYPERSOMNIA, you should already know what the gist is here I've been saying this for 6 months.

if you don't know what this is or are confused on what HYPERSOMNIA is read the other dev logs i've said this like every time lol

So, just as a heads up this log isn't going to be super long with new content because I have been insanely busy these last few months! I just graduated High School and the last few months have been me cramming to make sure I pass and could graduate and now I am!!! Yay!!!

I won 2 awards at my grad (One of them being excellence in arts :D) and the other I was given a check for 200$ so I snagged one of these!

Super happy I finally got a display tablet for drawing, I've wanted one of these since I was like 14 and it feels awesome to have one now. I got this thing super cheap too, this thing usually goes for like 300-350 Canadian and I got it for 130! Super super happy about this.

That's all from me personally, but I would like to say just as 1 last thing before the updates, Happy Pride Month to all who identify as LGBTQ+, I myself am queer and just want to remind all of you that you are loved and accepted. Hopefully I can get this out before midnight so it's still pride month LOL

OK! NOW FOR UPDATES! I don't have too much to share today but I do have somethings I want to show off.

First things first, I've been respriting some characters! Ross and Jack are the biggest edits I've made so far so I'd like to show them off.

(Left is old, and right is new!)

Ross' walking sprites were updated! I was kind of dissatisfied with how Ross looks like he's struttin' everywhere so I redid it to give him a more casual walk. I'm very happy with this change and I plan for it to be the base walking animation going forward. I also updated his side profiles slightly to look closer to the key art I illustrated.

Jack also had his idles redone! He I think was the biggest thing I needed to resprite, his old sprite is kind of cluttered and poorly detailed so for his new one I simplified a lot of the shading and reshaped his hair and mask. I think it came out really well.

Also, just earlier I was working on music for the game.

I'm really happy with how this came out, I just got high and made Half-Life music (Which is what I was aiming for LOL)

Hopefully I can get to a point where I can finish off the soundtrack for the demo and post it all. Some friends of mine were a bit sad I delisted the tracks I had up initially so I hope to get those up again soon.

I've also been storyboarding out some early game cutscenes, I can't show a lot because it's all a bit spoiler-y but I will put this in the log.

And one last thing too, THE MOTHER DIRECT!

on July 27 at 6PM ET, MOTHER FOREVER will be hosting the MOTHER Direct, which HYPERSOMNIA is a part of!

There'll be a ton of indie games, fan projects, and other things relating to or inspired by the MOTHER series! Please give it a watch if you can. If you can't make it, the event will remain on MOTHER FOREVER's YouTube channel, and I'll be uploading HYPERSOMNIA's trailer on YouTube, Twitter, Steam, and here. If you do catch the stream or end up watching it after, leave a comment! Tell 'em Ferris sent ya. Do it, or I'll cry. I'm expecting at least 1 "Ferris sent me!" or I'll cry. I swear, I will do it!

If this is your first log you're reading, or even your first time seeing ANYTHING relating to HYPERSOMNIA, I got a whole bunch of links for you to check out if you wanna know more about me and my stupid little game.

TWITTER

YOUTUBE

STEAM

UNIQUE INDIE RPG'S [SHOW US YOUR GAME!]

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[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

hey! this is chance & here’s week 3’s prompt. share an excerpt that you’re very proud of from any of your wips.

(I'm a little late to the party but shhhh—) (maybe this will help me actually finish the wip—)

@gloomiermood-so tagging u since I know you really enjoyed the mermaid!au before :3

. . .

Cole’s life is hilariously ironic.

He knows down to his very soul that he's a man of the earth through and through. He loves the feel of a cliff against his palms while climbing mountains, the crunch of dirt beneath him as he hikes along a trail, and even finds himself enthralled whenever there’s a quake rippling through the ground. Regardless, it’s easy for him to understand why his mother had been so drawn to it all as well.

And yet, he was still inexplicably drawn to the sea.

He uses the excuse that the sea is his muse: he does his best thinking here, gets inspired for new setlists for his nightclub DJ gigs, finds a renewed motivation to draw whenever he gazes into the mysteries of the waves…but, while all of that is true, he knows the real truth.

Normally, he’d put his headphones on while he draws, to really zen out while getting lost in his sea of creativity. But lately…there’s a certain subject of the sea that he can’t help but have his eye on.

...and also an ear.

Cole's gaze falls shut, letting his hearing become the dominant sense. It takes a few minutes, but Cole catches it—mellifluous notes born from a voice of velvet, copying the ocean waves as they both crash against the shoreline. Though no words are formed within the melody, there's still a...beckoning sort of quality to it, one that has pulled Cole's attention since the very first time he'd been privy to it.

And with a song that magical, it could only be conjured up by a creature both musician and magician in equal parts.

Hoisting his bag closer to his body, Cole moves stealthily down to the rocks beneath the pier, down to a secret spot he's been visiting frequently for the last few days.

From this vantage point, he can see—the mermaid that sings the song of sirens.

In a rather cliché fashion—if Cole does think so himself—the lithe merman lies himself upon his favorite rock at the crack of noon, basking in the unmarred rays of the sun. The scattering light makes the pink scales of his tail glitter like the stars of a late evening sky. The tip of his translucent tail-fin traces absent circles in the water, in time with the beat of the ethereal notes tumbling from his lips. The song floats along the sea breeze, capable of fishing in boats just as boats fish in...well, fish.

A lesser human, certainly, would fall victim to those dulcet tones in a heartbeat. Cole would claim he is not a lesser man, but…not even he is immune to the charm.

Still, the merman seems to only sing for his own pleasure and amusement; the notes aren’t loud nor intense enough to truly drag a sailor into the depths. No, Cole can tell—the creature’s only singing for the joy of it…and when fueled by the pure act of creation, that’s when the most memorable art is made.

Perched upon his own rock, though one bathed in cool shadows as opposed to the welcoming sun, Cole sketches the scene before him–the latest in his growing batch of mermaid illustrations. He's a bit upset that he can’t capture the song itself in strokes of charcoal, but he does his best to put the rest of the mer’s striking features to paper—the silly swoop of his pink-tipped burgundy hair, each fishy prong of his extra little fins, the delicate droplets that cascade down the expanse of his back, the way the scales of his tail fade into smooth sun-kissed skin, and those iridescent fuchsia eyes…

For lack of an actual name, Cole decides to nickname this mystery mer Fuchsia.

Cole never makes a move to draw the mer’s attention, nor ever get any closer. The days when he catches even a glimpse of Fuchsia are rare—as the merman is a rather jumpy one, and flees at the first sign of potential trouble—but the potency of his music keeps the pencil gliding across Cole’s page anyway. Even without his so-called muse sitting directly before him, Fuchsia still manages to inspire Cole.

The thought makes a certain warmth bloom in Cole’s chest, but he crumples it into a ball and stamps it down. Alluring, mystifying, and pretty though the mer may be, there’s no way he’d want anything to do with Cole, especially if the siren song isn’t being used to lure anyone in. Fuchsia's got his own world to live in, just as Cole has his.

Yet...a certain amount of longing remains present in the notes. For what reasons, however, Cole can't place.

It's simply a feeling that resonates in his heart...and, if Cole could, is a tune he'd like to resonate back.

A boat honks in the distance, cutting Fuchsia's song short. He flails in a startled panic and immediately dives—well, tumbles—back in the water with a resounding splash, while Cole sighs with disappointment. But, he's still faintly amused at how skittish his little mermaid muse is. It’s endearing.

Cole lingers, waiting for the boat to pass and waiting to see if Fuchsia will return for an encore. But Fuchsia appears to have had his fill of singing for the day, and Cole catches no glint of shimmering scales beneath the waters.

That’s fine, though. Cole’s seen and heard plenty enough today to work with…and daydream about.

...and besides, he likes to think he’s very good at keeping a seaborn secret.

[thecollectionsof]

Soulmates au 12 + crygi

Crystal’s journal appears on her bed three days after she turned 23. 

She sees it out of the corner of her eye, at first—just a glimpse of purple hiding inconspicuously under a pile of clothes she’s been putting off folding. She doesn’t know what it is at first—nobody tells you that, nobody tells you that it just finds itself hidden in your things like it’s always been there. But there it is.

She flips it open with gentle, almost reverent fingers, not knowing what it held. Has her soulmate found theirs already? Have they written in it? It can’t have been too long, she only did her laundry a few days ago, but what if her soulmate was mad at her for not finding it until now?

There are words on the first page, a neat script written in pen taking up the first few lines. 

Hi, I’m your soulmate I guess! I’m excited to hear from you!

Her heart feels like it’s beating out of her chest, the words etching themselves into her mind. Her soulmate! Her soulmate wants to talk to her!

There’s more, a line down. 

I’m not sure when you’ll find yours, I guess. I’m Gigi, by the way, it reads, a heart drawn next to the words. 

Crystal scrambles for a pen.

My name is Crystal! she writes, then takes a moment to think. How do you introduce yourself to your soulmate, anyway? She’s spent countless hours dreaming and fantasizing of times spent talking about everything, sharing love notes and funny thoughts, but never how to start. I’m glad you’re a girl, like I knew I was gay but I was still scared I’d get some guy named Jared or something. 

She regrets it immediately, but she thinks scribbling it out would make a bad first impression, so she doesn’t. The page remains the same even after she watches it for a reply for a few seconds, and she doesn’t know whether she’s glad about that or not. She doesn’t feel like she’s done but she doesn’t know what else to say, so she takes out a pack of colored pens (she was currently writing in orange) and doodles herself (and her cat, for good measure). It’s not perfect but she makes it colorful, hoping that Gigi would like it.

She really, really hopes that Gigi will like it. That she’ll like her.

Gigi doesn’t respond, not yet at least. Crystal doesn’t want to admit how long she spent watching the page, then scrolling on her phone and only glancing at it every few minutes. (Four hours by her count, each minute dragging on until she can hear more from her soulmate.)

Crystal!

Crystal’s usually fruitless glance shows the neat script written in the blank space under Crystal's portrait. The way she writes her name, the exclamation point, and the sheer excitement of seeing more of Gigi makes her shoot up from the slump she had fallen into as she waited.

I’m also glad. I’d hate a Jared, you’re much better. She signs it with another heart. Crystal scrambles for her pen, knocking it off her desk in her haste, but when she picks it up she finds that Gigi wasn’t done. Is this you? Do you have a cat?

There’s a space, and then she went down one line. You’re cute, Crystal. :)

Crystal watches, mystified, as the space on the next page is slowly filled with thin lines and an elegant figure that starts to take form. It’s slow but she can’t look away—Gigi’s drawing herself and Crystal wants to watch everything about it. 

The figure is thin, almost like a fashion illustration, and the pen strokes are measured as she perfects the outline, streaks of hair framing a narrow face with some kind of dress taking shape on the page. She feels almost giddy as she watches. This is her soulmate! This is Gigi!

This is me. I hope, Gigi starts writing, then she crosses it out swiftly, and replaces it with a smiley face.

Crystal scrambles for her pen. So pretty!  she assures, and then underlines it, trying to show Gigi how much she means it. 

So is yours!

I’m so sorry but I’m at work and that was my break and I have to go right now but

There’s a pause as Gigi hesitates, and Crystal watches the page carefully for the rest of the sentence.

but will you be here in a couple hours? I really want to get to know you.

Crystal finds herself nodding quickly, before remembering to put her pen to the page. 

Yeah! Of course!!! I’ll be here :) Have a good day at work!

Great see you then!!!!

Crystal sits back and closes her notebook with a sigh. She met her soulmate! And she wants to talk to her! And get to know her! She doesn’t know what to do with herself for the rest of the day, knowing that she’d just be distracted by the purple notebook no matter what she did. She just wants to learn more about Gigi, but she’ll have to wait.

But it doesn’t mean she can’t talk about her. She opens her phone in record time, hitting call on the first saved number before she even has time to think about it. “Daya, you won’t believe what I just found.”

[titles-for-tangents]

In conjunction with @silvermoon424’s new project to scan and archive Mitsukazu Mihara’s 6-volume manga series Dolls: IC in a Doll, here is a copy of an interview Mihara gave in 2006 with Manga Magazine at Otakon, recorded here by Tokyopop!

What a Doll! An Interview with Mitsukazu Mihara

(On the left-hand side):

Goth Loli goddess Mitzukazu Mihara has garnered an impressive level of fan devotion in Japan, largely due to the intricate and inspired Gothic Lolita fashions worn by her characters.

A master of the manga short story, Mihara-sensei began her career as an illustrator, gaining recognition and acclaim for her distinct illustrations in the Gothic Lolita Bible. Going on to create such noteworthy titles as Happy Family and IC in a Sunflower, Mihara-sensei took storytelling to a new level with Doll, a six-volume anthology series about a world where humankind coexists with an intelligent race of androids called “dolls”.

Gothic Lolita enthusiasts and sci-fi lovers - Mitsukazu Mihara fans are passionate, dedicated and intelligent. And with the release of Mihara-sensei's Beautiful People in February and Haunted House and R.I.P.: Requiem in Phonybrain in the fall, they're about to grow significantly in number. Get on board while you still can.

Manga magazine sat down with Mihara-sensei at the Otakon convention in Baltimore, where she discussed fashion, fandom and some of her surprising influences.

-Tim Beedle

(At the bottom:)

MIHARA-SENSATIONAL: FIVE FLAWLESS FABLES

New to the work of Mitsukazu Mihara? For those looking to sample the best of the best, we offer a few suggestions.

"A Maid Servant" (Doll, Vol. 1) When Tokiko's fiancé leaves her for another woman, Tokiko assumes it's because she's ugly. But when someone starts defacing Tokiko's doll, we soon learn that ugliness has many forms.

"Beautiful People" (Beautiful People) Telling the tale of Mimi, a strong-willed woman who achieves beauty through plastic surgery, Mihara-sensei reveals where the true beauty lies, while serving up some of her most intriguing character design work to boot.

"Grave" (Doll, Vol. 4) Mihara-sensei gave life to the dolls, but in this story, she gives them death. "Grave" takes us to the SG Corporation's press room, where retired or illegally remodelled dolls are scrapped. A fascinating look at mortality, "Grave" is chilling...and life-affirming.

"Haunted House" (Haunted House) A very black comedy. "Haunted House" tells the story of Sabato, a hapless teenager whose attempts at romance are continually ruined by his outrageous family. Boasts detailed gothic art and plenty of dark humor.

"Home" (Doll, Vol. 6) An emotional story that serves as a denouement for the entire Doll series, "Home" is only fully appreciated when read after the stories that preceded it.

(In the center:)

Manga: Welcome to Otakon, Mihara-sensei! Is this your first time in the United States? Mitsukazu Mihara: Not only is it my first time in the United States, it's my first time traveling abroad. I'm having the best time!

Manga: What are you impressions of Otakon? Mitsukazu Mihara: I love it. All of these amazing cosplayers - I could sit and watch them all day long. This is something you just don't see in Japan!

Manga: In Japan, the vast majority of your fans are Gothic Lolita devotees. What attracted you to Gothic Lolita fashion? Mitsukazu Mihara: I just love the spirit of Gothic Lolita culture. When I first started drawing manga, Gothic Lolita was just taking off and I wanted to incorporate the trend. I think we've grown together. Actually, though, my first works were not Gothic Lolita - they were inspired more by punk.

Manga: Let's back up a bit. How did you begin your career as a manga-ka? Mitsukazu Mihara: When I was first starting off, I was very much inspired by the work of Yumi Tada (Yukikaze, Ludlow Garage, Sitting in the Balcony). I actually became her assistant. While working for her, I was scouted and asked to enter my work in an amateur manga competition and was very surprised when I learned that I won! I then went on to submit my work to Shodensha, who accepted it. I've been extremely lucky in my career.

Manga: Other than Yumi Tada, who are some of your influences? Mitsukazu Mihara: Kazuo Umezu (Orochi, Scary Books) and Junko Mizuno (Hansel & Gretel, Pure Trance). I also really love Tim Burton.

Manga: Really? He's an influence? Mitsukazu Mihara: Oh yes! He's my biggest. Edward Scissorhands is my favorite film of his. I find the way he balances dark themes with humor and heart to be inspiring. And I can't wait to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Corpse Bride!

Manga: What about the science fiction aspect in many of your books? Your stories in Doll and Beautiful People remind me of the work of Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury. Are you a fan? Mitsukazu Mihara: I'm a very big fan of science fiction. Blade Runner is one of my favorite movies. I'm also a fan of Asimov's robot books. In fact, the dolls in Doll actually follow the Three Laws of Robotics, even though it's never explicitly stated.

Manga: Let's talk about Doll for a moment. Aside from being a great piece of science fiction, there are a lot of social and psychological issues brought up by it. Did you intend for it to make so many statements? Mitsukazu Mihara: Yes, there were many issues I wanted to write about. Domestic violence, for one, remains a problem in Japan, and I felt Doll could be a good place to address it.

(Off to the left:)

Doll is fearless in its subject matter, tackling controversial issues such as spousal abuse, gender inequality, bulimia and sexual objectification.

(Center, continuing from previous page:)

Mitsukazu Mihara: However, it was never intended to be at the sacrifice of the story. Telling a good story comes first.

Manga: Your stories often cross into the fantastic or surreal, but the characters and their emotions always feel real and relatable. How do you pull this off? Mitsukazu Mihara: I take my inspiration from my own life and I only write about what I know. Now, I'll often take familiar things and exaggerate them for effect, but I have to stick to what I'm familiar with. For me to do it any other way would weaken the story.

Manga: How does Gothic Lolita fit into it? Mitsukazu Mihara: In Doll, Gothic Lolita fashion symbolizes eternal beauty. The perfect Ghotic Lolita never ages - she remains young. It's as if she's not human, but a machine - or a doll.

Manga: Do you have a favorite character in Doll? Mitsukazu Mihara: I like Ichiro, the Remodeler. Of all the characters, he's the most I like.

Manga: What has your experience been like working with an American entertainment company, as opposed to a Japanese company? Mitsukazu Mihara: It's actually easier to work with TOKYOPOP than with Japanese companies. Most publishers are not as concerned with quality, but TOKYOPOP pays extra attention to keeping the integrity of my work. I am extremely happy.

Manga: What are you working on now? Mitsukazu Mihara: I have a couple of projects I'm working on: Doku Hime and Shigeshoshi.

Manga: Do you have a message for your fans in America? Mitsukazu Mihara: Thank you for all your support! I'm so pleasantly surprised and grateful that the American fans "get it" despite all of the cultural differences! The fact that Gothic Lolita is so popular here in the States pleases me very much!

(End of interview and article)

[mymangakajourney]

Why did I become an Artist?

I used to draw a lot more. In fact, one of my favorite things to do was draw as a kid, but it faded away (we all know why).

As an adult, I feel it's harder to be creative, but I had that excitement when I was fresh out of high school and I was very much inspired by seeing these game environment artists at the time. I loved seeing their process and how you could make this amazing thing from essentially nothing...from your head! To me that was mind-blowing; coming from a family who had a pretty traditional view on things: go to school, get good grades, get a job, blah blah blah...if you didn't get good grades you were considered a loser.

That's where my art journey began, really.

I eventually learned the video game industry is not exactly great, and moved on to other things. I got inspired by illustrators and animators, but soon realized I was holding myself to too high of a standard, and a lot of the advice was not good for my mental health. along with the rise of AI art I had to take a break from doing drawing for a long time. I moved on to graphic design.

I studied graphic design for 2 years, I loved making things, but it felt impossible to be one. The amount of materials I had to learn was never-ending because jobs always asked new requirements besides knowing adobe CC and programming languages. The whole list of reasons why they wouldn't accept you to the job listed is a can of worms in itself. Then you could be a freelancer.

"but don't you manage your own time as a freelancer? isn't it more easygoing, and all that?" You may ask

Not really. first of all you gotta have a skill that people would pay you for. Secondly, you gotta check how saturated that market is on the platform you want to freelance on. Next, you have to market yourself to death because you will be flooded by other people from overseas working for a lot less money than probably you do. Also if you do creative work like me your "unique" style won't show up on the site's algorithm no matter if there's people who like it or not. it's a very cookie cutter way of creating work. Why did I explain all this? Because I am tired of living cookie-cutter. I wanted to tell stories, I realized that making art is much more than making pretty images. If you want pretty images go to an AI image generator there's thousands of them online. I have learn that art is a form of communication, so I wanted to tell stories with my art. I wanted to write a webcomic. "Wait but doesn't your blog say mangaka? what does that mean?"

Yes I am really inspired by anime. I watch a lot of anime and I love the stories from them. so I want to create stories in a similar fashion. I also really like the anime art style and im really inspired by that and hope to have my own manga one day. However I want to start off with smaller goals for myself and start with learning how to draw and do a web comic first. I told myself I am not going to stress a lot about the art because then nothing will ever come out of my hands. "But most successful webcomics have amazing art, mangas too" I know but you can't just have amazing art from the get go. Also I don't want to pause my whole story just because the art is bad. Take One Punch Man for example, if you look at its early chapters it looked really unrefined. a lot of people sad One's art was terrible, even from himself, but people loved to story and now it's one of the most popular anime watched. A similar story happened with the creator of Attack on Titan

[yuzukahibiscus]

のせ様’s (No-se-sama) Documented Events (February 2023)

(Note: This was taken from “Eto-Bun” (えと文) section in February Kageki 2023. Eto-Bun is a section written by a particular sienne in each troupe to share some little stories about them or about their troupe every three months. In this cycle of January-March, Ichinose Kouki is the one writing for Flower Troupe. And I thought, why not drabble and translate a little to see what Hanako* has for us!) *Hanako is her nickname as mentioned in OTOME, a biography of all siennes in Takarazuka.

A little introduction to Ichinose Kouki for those who are unfamiliar with her.

Ichinose Kouki・一之瀬航季

Entered the Revue in 2014 as the 100th class. Her favourite roles include Oswald Vickers for "A Fairy Tale” newcomers’ performance. She was originally going to have a newcomers’ performance lead for “Haikara-san: Here Comes Miss Modern” in 2020 but it was cancelled due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, she went on Yuzuka Rei’s “Lock-On” Episode as a guest to talk about what she learnt from Rei, being Rei’s first “shinko kid” since she became Top Star. Later on in 2022, she starred in the Bow Workshop “Junjou” (or Complete Devotion) alongside with Mihane Ai as her partner. She also previously joined Minami Maito in her CAST side-A and was one of the members of Flor5. She will be performing with Minami Maito in her “One and Only” dinner show, also the final performance for Minami Maito as a Flower Troupe member before transferring to Senka.

Before you read February Issue, feel free to check the first of three series in January issue here.

Everyone, how are you all doing!?

This month is February. Very quickly, we’re at Valentine’s. Speaking of which I am Ichinose Kouki wearing an apron style fashion, pretending to be a chocolatier for taking the photo♪ In this season, streets are surrounded by heart-shaped objects and sweet smells, and it’s really a heart-fluttering feeling ✨

In this month, I’ll start by talking about Tsubasa Anju-kun who’s responsible for the drawing!

“のせ様’s Documented Events" Please enjoy reading for this month✨

🌻 Strange fish 🐟

“Can you help me with the illustration since I’m going to be working on ‘Eto-Bun’”? The first person I thought of handing this task is to Anju (Tsubasa) who’s a class lower than me (101th class). In Takarazuka Music School times, I received a letter from Anju who was still a primary course student (Yokasei)...The envelope had an illustration of a “very realistic but strange fish” wearing a mushroom T-shirt (She drew a fish with its mouth wide open and had sharp teeth, its lips were plump and its gaze was unusually strange...)

...THE STRANGE (LOL).

At that time, I asked Anju why she drew a fish...and she answered with a flashing smile, “There’s no particular reason~🥺✨” And that ended our little story and from then onwards, I love Anju’s art. This time, the title illustration is about waking up in the morning and immediately drinking red tea. It’s fancy! (LOL) She’s just a loveable underclassman. Anju, thank you for your best drawings. (*Okay somehow that illustration was not in the scanned copy? Haha sorry for those who are interested, here’s another illustration instead.)

🌻 How are you so cute!

And now, now. The next story is about what I didn’t document about in the last month’s issue, and that’s an episode about our Flower Troupe Top Star Yuzuka Rei-san✨ One day during rest time, I told her...

“Yuzuka-san! I’m responsible for writing ‘Eto-Bun’ this time, I’m definitely going to write something about Yuzuka-san!”

“Let me see what kind of story I can tell you 😊” she replied kindly and left but then at that time...! Madoka-chan (Hoshikaze) was close to her and thought of something, “Yuzuka-san!! Hey...the story of your sleep talking...” and whispered to her. Huh, sleep talking!? What is that, I feel like it’s something good to record about! So immediately I went to hear from Yuzuka-san and she was a little embarrassed and said, “Eh~Wanna hear?” and took her iPhone out. Yuzuka-san opened from her iPhone an app and in a tempo of Winnie the Pooh I heard,

Ka..Kawaii~...(Cute)

Kawaii~...

(A short pause)

How are you so cute~ huh~

Isn’t that Yuzuka-san’s voice when she was briefly sleeping! OMG!!

Right. The voice that I heard was Yuzuka-san’s sleep talking! When I asked Yuzuka-san about this more in detail, she said she used a sleeping app that could ensure better sleeping quality✨ Sometimes, there would be some interesting sleep talking recorded 😁

I wonder what she was dreaming about. I’m curious about the other sleep talking moments 🥺✨ Anyway, anyway, this is Ichinose whose lifespan increased because I heard Yuzuka-san’s precious sleep talking. I’m content.

Thank you for doing this...for “Eto-Bun”.

🌻 A perfume bottle full of love✨

And now, now, to our next topic... It’s about the show this time which is “ENCHANTEMENT–A Luxurious Perfume–”✨

There are numerous songs that are so Takarazuka-styled, so gorgeous that just by hearing it you would feel excited. From the start of the rehearsals I already felt that I love this show and this is Ichinose who continues to listen to the show songs even at home😁. Especially, I’ve been infinitely looping the Irish song from the “Sea Salt” scene led by Hito-san (Towaki)!! I want to join in this scene even if I’m going to playing a wood (from the wooden oar) or just a boat (LOL). Okay, maybe not that’s dangerous. There are so many points I like that I hope there wasn’t a word limit! But still I’ll start writing about it!😁

The perfume is the theme of this performance. Everyone, did you all look at the perfume props!? (the front panel at the stage sides) Because if you look closely, those are some cute perfume bottles✨ But it’d probably require a more condensed focus to realise the labels that...What! There’s actually all the names of the staff members and the Flower Troupe members names’ printed😊🌟 Besides, all those designs are only one (and unique to each other)! Isn’t that the greatest thing!? This idea was originally not proposed, but after Noguchi-sensei looked at the stage venue again, he told (the staff), “Later, let’s print all of our names (into perfume bottles).” Love! So much love!!✨ When there were performance suspensions in January, Kido-sensei responsible for stage setup said, “I hope you could take a look at this label and hope you like it!” and with that, they gifted us the design of the labels and we were so touched by it😌💓

It’s a perfume bottle full of love by our senseis. I hope that everyone could at least see a little of those labels.

And now, now, I’ve finished documenting the 3 episodes for this month and we’re at 2 pages. The backstage of Flower Troupe is often so lively and there are plentiful of episodes that I still have yet to document. For example my douki Izumi Maira did a “Mary Vestera-themed skit” and there was a big failure I did in my underclassmen times…there are numerous episodes I have them written in my Stuck Memo (app).

It’s suddenly getting terribly cold and it’s probably more likely to catch a cold in these days, I hope everyone would laugh a lot, and have the greatest fun!!

We will also be in one heart together with this!

Toi toi toi!!

[chiarrara]

Ok so I got more thoughts on the whole art school au:

Oh the Tokyo and the Kyoto schools are definitely rivals(which makes the whole shibuya art convention far more tense probably) . Which reminds me- Todo is also in textile/fashion and is either focused on making high quality gym clothes or on making pretty dresses (inspired by his one and only Takada)

I was really thinking on wether Gojo would be an artist in this au or not, since in all “no powers” au’s he’s in I just default him to a physics professor. But if he is then he absolutely just fucks around by incorporating physics into his art any way he can think of. Like very complex art installations or sculptures made to show off the weirdass stuff you can make by abusing the laws of physics. Geto on the other hand is into fine arts (mostly oil painting) but is obsessed with adding in philosophical or religious symbolism in his paintings. If Kenjaku was real in this universe then he’s probably the paint fumes Geto keeps huffing (that are most likely melting his brain as we speak)

Also just because this is an art school au doesn’t mean that Mahito doesn’t almost kill someone. Multiple times. I mean, it’s the viewers that should be more careful around the hanging sculptures, and yes he did make sure that the threads that attach them to the ceiling are secure! And him almost throwing a box cutter at someone was just a happy accident. (Side note I think his art would be focused heavily on body horror, the grotesque, or just generally being off-putting or gory. Something like Cao Hui’s “I Want To Play God”. Be warned for body horror tho when searching that up, but it is really cool)(another side note: Hanami would make beautiful ceramic flowers)

Since we mentioned throwing sharp objects at people and Nobara seems like the type to have chased boys with scissors in middle school, imagine how dangerous she would be now. Because not only does she have access to scissors to chase you with, she also has saws, lino cutters, hammers and many more very dangerous objects. Maybe don’t rile her up while she’s in the workshop. Or don’t rile her up at all.

Each year Maki welds herself a sword to see how much she’s improved

Megumi loves drawing and illustrating animals and most of his sketchbooks are so full that they’re all puffed up and can’t even close properly anymore. They look like they’ve been thru war. He also uses his art skills to shitpost a lot.

Since Yuuji is a movie nerd I think he’s love doing subtle merch based on the movies he likes

ahhhhhhh okay i was watching basketball so i couldn't give this my full attention but i was itching to reply all nighttttt

eeeek i love a rivalry. Also, I love Todo in textiles. I feel like he would make such simple but meticulously constructed clothes. Like the kind that you don't even know how good they are unless you actually know shit about clothes. Also, por que no los dos, he can make really pretty athletic wear for women. Tennis dresses and lounge wear and golf skirts, and body suits. Oooh and his dream could be to get a contract with Takada, or do a promotion with her. And he would tell her she's his muse and everything he's made had been inspired by her.... or that's his dream at least.

OH and he would judge guys by their taste in girls because it's literally their taste in fashion as well and he's passionate about the type of girl you design for....oh it all fits soooo well. I love him.

okay, so to ME i always see Gojo as more of a math guy, because his powers are actually more math based and conceptual than they are physics based. Like he's not actually fucking with the extant laws of the material universe so much as he is bringing math concepts into reality through magic-infused imagination. But i'm a math person, and fundamentally there's not enough of a difference if you're not a math and physics person and it is physics in a way like he's applying math concepts to physical space so it makes sense to make him a physics professor like everyone does because you use a lot of math in physics especially quantum physics dealing in higher dimensions which is basically what he's doing morphing spacetime and it's getting really in the weeds and particular to make the distinction between math and physics at that point but I am who I am...

So ANYWAY my point is, it would be really cool for him to do like, some kind of digital art, computer graphics type thing? and maybe he like designs a lot on a computer based on math concepts and things and then translates them into physical space in ways that completely fuck your mind. like somehow he recreates infinite fractals in physical space and you can't figure out why your mind is short circuiting to make this work but it does. Idk I think that would be really cool. And he would design mcescher like gallery spaces that you get turned around in and can't figure out how you got to where you are from where you were. like somehow you went downstairs and ended up a floor up. And no one can figure it out but he does it somehow.

Not kenjaku is the paint fumes geto is huffing TToTT im deaddd. okay so what if in school he did a whole series on moral responsibilities and the burden of responsibility on the leaders of society and then it started getting weird and he started spouting off a bunch of nonsensical stuff about the weak consuming and overtaking the strong and how he had to fight back and his art started to get very warped and a little horrific and then it turned out the paint thinner he used was getting recalled and there was a class action lawsuit cause it was causing hallucinations and lots of other health issues and once he switched he pretty much chilled out but it was a very formative experience for him. and also that was his masters thesis project or something lmao. wouldn't that be so silly haha goofy.

YES DISASTER CURSES AS PART OF THE AU!!! I love it. I never know how to incorporate them but this is soooo perfect and I love your idea for Mahito. that series you recommended as inspo for him is so sick and i think that makes so much sense as something he would make. I actually love what you were saying the other day about how Mahito is maybe questionable with how they're portrayed in canon with their presentation + their power set, but making that more into the actual ideas of self-embodiment of perfection. like, I get to create my own body because I am the soul and I form my body around myself. But it doesn't have to be any less violent or gory. like I can see his ideal project being like a fucked up body works, like preservation and essentially taxidermy? but breaking more boundaries to form artistic depictions of whatever ideal human form he wants. But he probably can't actually find a way to get away with that, so he has to settle.

I could see him setting up performance art where he get models and twists them into still doable but grotesque shapes, or simulates their bodies being morphed, or makes them intertwine to form one larger body in an unconventional shape. and i could see him also instructing them to wail in pain for the full exhibit run time. And I could see it being very disturbing to the patrons lol.

Also, "I want to play God" reminded me of some artwork i saw on here that i can't find anymore. it was like marble tile and walls and stuff that decomposed like flesh. it was super gory and super cool. I wish I knew the artist or anything to search...

How cool would it be for Hanami to combine ceramics and earthenware with literal living plants and have a literal live exhibit. The plants could grow through cracks and holes and stuff in the pots and bud and flower. or there could be ceramic flowers mixed in and you wouldn't always know which were ceramic or glass or artificial basically depending on the day you went because they're so true to life that if the plant is in the same stage of flowering you might not be able to pick them out.

Ooooh or better yet, what if she used live plants as part of the process in making her pieces and then fired them in the kiln burning the plants alive. as symbolism basically. it's almost an invisible performance art because part of the art is the process of destroying nature to get a product. And also what if she tried to gas her audience one time at an exhibit as a commentary on fossil fuels.

I think it'd be cool for Hanami and Jogo to work together on something, being both earth based. Also, what's Dagon up to? Something to do with cycles of life and death in the sea. What school are they all at?

Lmaoooo I can just picture Nobara flailing saws and power tools and hammers around when someone pisses her off just completely negating safety protocols. She has definitely considered (or threatened to) shove someone's face into a running band saw.

Do you think Maki would give daggers as gifts? I like to think she would. Even when it is totally not appreciated by the person she's gifting to. She would totally be one of those people who caries a hunting knife around for some reason and says it's totally normal. And she'd be great in a pinch, so who's correct?

I love Megumi being incredible at animal anatomy of basically any kind. And just knowing lots of shit about animals. He gets pissed off if you call a koala a bear and he can tell the difference between a crocodile and an alligator immediately. One time Yuuji asks him to draw a tiger or something for a design and he whips it up in 10 minutes flat. ooooh would megumi be a sick tattoo artist??

it would be so cool if Yuuji started off like making fan designs and selling them on redbubble or something OR BETTER doing cosplay. He could make some sick hoodies and streetwear stuff based on like star wars designs and other sci-fi and horror.

You got my imagination going. If any of this is like not vibing to you feel free to discard, i just had fun thinking about it.

Did we talk about what Yuuta is doing? or Nanami???? Omgomg also what if like, the students have to have a sort of academic advisor except they're more like a mentor situation??? so like Megumi's advisor would be gojo probably. but it could also be Geto if he's focusing more on the fine arts aspects...or Nanami if he's got more of a business & product focus. Idk it would be really cool to pair them up. Like depending on where the disaster curses are would they be with geto? Oh also, are the twins here?? so much to consider!

forbidden pizza

[thirdtidemouse]

okay about the art school au

tell me if you have any bright sparkling ideas for this au bc god knows i would eat them up. like i said before i know johanna is a graphic designer now but she has roots in illustration theyre like siblings. she leans towards children's books, making up stories and weird wonderful characters out of thin air. her work is also very botanical - her doodles in the show are full of winding plants and flowers. she could fill a page with dense undergrowth.

gerda is a student too but she's like that one teacher that just LOVES fonts. she is graphic design, product design, interior design, going back and forth between the computer room and the workshop to lasercut something or to build a weird chair. she could probably run a company marketing department at 18.

i also said kaisa is an analogue photography girl. she doesn't really care for most commercial photography she's like a man ray superfan and probably gets snotty about using digital cameras sometimes but loves to mess around with unconventional and cameraless methods. she might smell like chemicals. she doesn't want anyone close enough to be able to tell. she has always been an academic nerd and it shines in her artist research, drawing from the most conceptual artworks and fascinating herself with what there is to discover about them. she would love mike nelson.

edmund is perpetually covered in ink, of all colours, on his hands and his face. he's constantly workshopping prints of all kinds, one of his final pieces being a gigantic woodcut relief print depicting mythical creatures with lots of iconographic detail (think luke pearson's norse-inspired patterns o_<). he takes print room safety VERY seriously. do not put your hands or hair anywhere near the roller on the press. he will get you.

ive got like an outline idea for 6-8 chapters depending on whether i do it as a comic or writing? comics take so much effort for comparatively less story coverage so it would be a big endeavor but i would really love to have it all in visuals (also i'm not a superstar writer?) it's so difficult because some things i want to describe like in written word but some things i want to have visual 😭 artwork between paragraphs could be good but idk how cohesive it would be and it might be a bit jarring to suddenly be reading what you were looking at and vice versa.. that kind of thing works really well for a memoir like alison bechdel's fun home but not so much straightforward fictional story idkkkk... i can like see some panels in my head but i also want to do long descriptions and idrk if i want to mash them together. if i really do this it's going to take some PLANNING

victoria is still crazy but in a much more creative way. she loves to discuss everyone's work with them, she loves weird and experimental stuff. she likes to make elaborate and unconventional sets, props, and costumes for her colourful multi-media short films. she loves any art that moves, and makes great use of audio, sampling heavy thunderstorms pretty often.

AND! if i included the creatures (as people) then tontu would be a fashion & textiles tutor. i shan't be taking questions.

also thank you for the inspiring tags @the-hilda-librarians-wife 😭 your hospital au was so awesome i might find myself doing footnotes like you did, describing techniques and stuff where it would be out of place to just straight up write it down in the story.. bc i am gonna get SCIENTIFIC with the photography

(if it was a comic i'm thinking about the fun I'd have with speech bubbles especially in a classroom/studio - one of my hugest ever inspirations is anatola howard and this comic is so spectacular for speech bubbles lol)

[cooladddy]

Humanoid fish and the passion for the east by Elena Garofalo Banish

Elena Galofaro 's love for oriental culture does not manifest itself, as one might expect, through the classic re-proposal of icons and stylistic codes borrowed from Japanese art or manga. Her style, on the other hand, is faithful to the search for her own personality and is the synthesis of her creative path and the experiences gained over time. Raised in Milan, she graduated from the National Film School (CSC) in Turin, where she studied 2D Animation, and then worked as an animator and character designer. She then moved to Japan for almost two years, doing an internship at an animation studio in Tokyo. She now lives in London, where she did her master's degree in Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art, and works for clients such as Nature, BBC and Apple. We interviewed her for you.

Hi Elena and welcome to Picame. Do you want to introduce yourself to our readers? Hi everyone! My name is Elena, aka Elena Bansh, and I am an Italian artist born and raised in Milan, who however has lived/traveled in different parts of the globe (Japan, United Kingdom, South Korea...). By trade I am an illustrator and animator, but lately I prefer to define myself as a visual artist. Do you remember your first drawing? Not the first ever but I remember that when I saw some of my drawings from when I was 3-4 years old there was one that particularly struck me. It was that of an enormous insect, which covered the entire surface of the sheet. The teacher, in the bottom corner of the paper, had written 'a louse', ha-ha. Another memory is the collection of Pokemon invented by me, with more than 100 different Pokemon. I was 6-7 years old.

Is there one of your works that you are most fond of? I would naively say that I am fond of everyone. Until my 20s I always collected every single drawing I made with extreme care, cataloging them all. This has led to cultivating a somewhat obsessive feeling towards my works. Now I have improved but it is difficult for me to say which one I am more fond of… Probably the collection of portraits of my friends in Japan, also called Out of the Shell , is of great importance to me. Is your technique still that of freehand drawing, then integrated with digital color? Yes, always that one. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I can no longer draw well on a tablet. It always seems to me that the sign is too 'clean' and not expressive enough. Although I initially trained as a 2D animator using only software such as Photoshop, Toon Boom Harmony etc.

Elena's sketchbook Do you have any other passion or dream in your drawer? Traveling and eating. I really enjoy trying new dishes and looking for interesting restaurants, especially when I travel to Asia. Regarding my secret dreams... I think I have too many, and too ambitious ones. Maybe I can finally finalize a story about my humanoid fish and illustrate it, perhaps in the form of a graphic novel. Another dream I have is to travel to new places and get inspiration from them. I'm currently contemplating Thailand or Mongolia. Is there an artist or character from the past or present that you would like to meet in person? I think I would have liked to meet Utagawa Kuniyoshi to better understand the dynamics behind his imaginative works. As for the present, I would like to meet Watanabe Naomi (a Japanese model/comedian) and collaborate! Then of course I would like to meet all my favorite artists.

Can you tell us what you are working on these days? Lately I've been finalizing my lesson for Domestika, which I hope will be released between June and July. I just finished filming a few days ago. An incredible experience! Plus I'm working on a couple of projects for fashion brands. You have previously defined the dreamlike atmospheres of your drawings as a world “where no one is ever fully human, and no one is ever fully understood”. How did the idea of ​​involving the people of the sea come about? I began to develop this poetics while I was in Japan, even if unconsciously. Japan is an archipelago and has a vast culture based on the sea and the creatures that inhabit it. There I started drawing lots of fish, which then became characters and somewhat grotesque depictions of people I met on the street. During my Masters in Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art, I began to investigate why I was drawing non-human beings. I thus came to the conclusion that not being able to express myself well in Japan created a communication barrier between me and those around me, transforming everyone into fantastic creatures. Not understanding what others were telling me, or simply not understanding the emotions and intentions of those around me (and still surround me in any city in the world) gave rise to my poetics. I too am non-human for you who are reading me!

You are Russian-Milan, you have lived in Japan and South Korea, now in London... Do you also feel a bit alien? Yes, but it's a pleasant feeling. I like to come into contact with different cultures and try to understand them. Perhaps the fact that I grew up in an extremely multi-ethnic environment gave me an extra push. Lately your sea creatures are in good company with their land cousins. Is the audience of incommunicability widening or can we hope for a common Esperanto? I'm trying to broaden my themes more, but sea creatures are still my favorite at the moment! Lately I have also been interested in frogs and amphibians. I still don't know exactly why, but in Korea I feel that people are more amphibian than fish, so I think the appearance of other creatures is due to the fact that I have been traveling a lot in South Korea lately. As for England at the moment I don't I have yet to have any artistic stimulation… perhaps because I see England more as a place to work, rather than one to be inspired. I don't think I'll stay in England much longer.

You have condensed your work from the last two years, including your Royal College degree thesis, into the book “Behind the fish head” : is this a way to put an end to your career and your life and start a new path? I think it was a way to define who I am as an artist. I wanted to collect all my works and share them with my audience. Posting an image online doesn't have the same visual impact as seeing it printed in a book. Furthermore, the digital image tends to vanish over time, submerged by new 'posts'. I wanted all my work, my experience, the stories behind my illustrations, to re-emerge from the depths of digital and to be kept inside a book. This is why my art-book is titled 'Behind the Fish Head' . You also published your 2018 Japanese diary, do you want to tell us about it? Certain! 'Watashi to Karera – Me and Them' is a diary that I started writing as soon as I moved to Yokohama, Japan in 2018. At the time, I moved to Japan to study the language at Yokohama Design College. This school also gave the opportunity to participate in extra lessons such as drawing. I was already quite advanced, so my teacher just told me to draw whatever I wanted. So during those six hours a week I focused only on writing my Japanese diary. With this project I even won a prize at school! Unfortunately the diary does not cover my entire stay in Japan, but it certainly talks about the most exciting moments which are the first months of my Japanese life, my first friendships, my home, the supermarket... The last pages of the diary are very personal, and drawn in the form of a comic. I didn't really plan to print 'Watashi to Karera' , but since I already had more than 60 pages ready I decided to do so, together with my art-book. The final result was very pleasant, and I also had a lot of positive feedback!

Cover for The Milaneser project

Cover for Nature magazine

Read the full article

[sekihamsterdiestwice]

Hi, I just discovered your blog and I have to tell you that from today I am absolutely a fan.

Your drawings are amazing, my English is not good enough to tell you how much I like them. And I love the ring collection too!

May I ask if you have any advice or sources that you use to read up on medieval clothing?

Hi, thanks for all your compliments! I don’t really have deep research into historical clothing, probably just looking at manuscript illustrations to understand some basic structures? But for more detailed structures maybe look for videos and drawings made by costume historians? I think you can find some on IG or pinterest :) Fortunately my fandom is in 14th century so the contemporary resources are still rich enough! And personally I think patterns really matter, but I would design my own for symbolic meanings which might not look authentic enough x I would also look for designs from this book which is in English - Medieval Costume and Fashion by Herbert Norris. There should be more books if you google the key words. Hope these help!

[noneuclideanwhimsy]

Snowdrop, Tulip and Violet for all of the Singularit+y members!

Corey is really interested in technology, she isn’t exactly an expert but she just likes to geek out about it, Zircon brings her to xir ship and points out what all the knobs and buttons do and she’s just like ‘:O’! She hates absolute silence, she calls it ‘dead air’, she needs something happening around her to function, preferably something interesting!

Sylvan likes when his art makes people smile, be it his music or his illustrations (he draws sometimes!). He’s had a bit of a rough life, his parents have been cast out from society for opposing the villainous government of this Earth and a lot of people still saw him as a social reject pre-Singulari+y for that reason, so all he’s ever wanted to do was play and sing for the other outcasts he grew up around and bring them joy, to which the rest of the band happily agree, so the reject towns get private concerts on the occasion! He hates being in the spotlight, however: he often stands out due to his gender-nonconformity which lead to some bad experiences in the center of attention in the past, and being center-stage still gives him really bad anxiety for that reason despite the fact that he’s now happy looking the way he does, long black hair, dresses and all. The rest of Singulari+y! respect this and allow him to perform slightly off to the side, so that he can be heard but never with the full focus of an audience on him.

Zircon loves physical affection, xe’s a really tactile person, xe’ll put xir hand on your shoulder and hug you often if you let xir, but xe does respect boundaries. Physical touch is seen as something very exciting and important among xir species, since they often travel alone and rarely get to do it to one another. Xe doesn’t like enclosed spaces, feeling ‘trapped’ makes xir really claustrophobic and nauseous, xir ship is mostly fine because xe’s familiar with it and it’s actually fairly spacious just for xir alone, but there’s a bit later on in the story where the villains briefly capture xir and trap xir in this glass tube for a bit, it’s super uncomfortable for xir, xe feels so relieved when Corey busts it open with a chair!

I’d show Corey an item of modern technology (Singulari+y!’s story takes place in 198X on an alternate version of Earth) just to see her excited reaction! I’d also like to go shopping with her, she has fantastic fashion sense, she’d love modern clothing (especially of various alt fashion movements!) it’d just be a really fun time for both of us!

I’d tell Sylvan about how things will turn out okay, on both his version of Earth and ours, because he’s overheard from his family what the government were doing and why they were resisting and is probably the most concerned about the state of Earth out of the group.

I’d infodump Zircon all about the funky human things that don’t really make much sense, possibly look up the histories of why we say and do certain things seemingly arbitrarily, xe’d be really eager about it and be glad to have a better understanding of humanity!

Ooh, these were tough, I’ve never done voiceclaims before, usually because I typically have a hyper-specific idea of what a character sounds like in my head and it becomes kinda frustrating when none of your ideas match but you also can’t really describe what would be different to make it match!

Anyway, Corey’s speaking voice is quite deep for an 18 year old girl, she usually speaks pretty slowly but the rate of her voice accelerates rapidly when she’s talking about her interests! I imagine she sounds something like the way YouTuber Yume’s Studio voices Marina from Splatoon, here’s an example of that!

Sylvan was a bit difficult to pinpoint and I still don’t have any examples in mind for how he talks, the way he sounds kinda has ‘older sibling’ vibes if you know what I mean, and he has an eeever so slight southern accent.

I’m done denying it, Zircon sounds like early 70s Bowie, but with the British-ness turned down a little in favor of the impossible to place accent I described that one time!

This was a lot of fun! Sorry it took so long, thank you so much for the ask!!

[greenb0i]

June 2023

I am rotting at this point. OK I'm not but like I've just been doing noting beside going on Mt phone. I am that one shinji meme

'•.¸♡ Films ♡¸.•'

Across the Spider-verse (2023) Dir. Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson

What can i even say about this movie. It one i haven't stopped thinking about for the last few days. Everything in the movie is amazing, from the visual to the story to how it portrays the characters. And the charater design!!!!! Literally, the whole reason i saw the movie!!!! And that one chase scene!!!! The whole part was just an amazing and deffo my favourite part. From beginning to end, i was wrapped up in the story the movie is trying to tell. It is probably one of the best movies I've seen all year. (10/10)

Erin Brockovich (2000) Dir. Steven Soderbergh

I like this. I thought Julie Andrews was really good as Erin. It was good (7/10)

Misha and the wolves (2021)

It grand. I thought the story was really interesting but like noting amazeing. I kinda forgot i watched it lol so (5/10)

Do Revenge (2022) Dir. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

I love this movie. This is probaye the 3rd time i rewated it. I love Just everything about it, especially the fashion, like it just say so much about the character abd everthing(9/10)

The Big Short (2015) Dir. Adam McKay

I thought this was good. I like the editing a lot. I feel like it makes the story more interesting, I guess. With the story being about something as over complex and honesty, bordering banking, the fast-paced editing really sucks you into the story. That, as well as the acting, just makes it really good (8/10)

White chicks (2004) Kennen Ivory Wayans

Funny as shit my god

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚Books ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

The Convalescent By Jessica Anthony

This is such a strange book. To both read and think about. It surreal to read, and can confusing to think about (im still not 100% sure about what this book is tryin to say) since so many events in the book reads like folk-lore, which i do really like. This addtions to almost folk-lore like storys telling make the events toward the end of the book (were it really goes off the rails) feel like a natrual progression and one you could maybe even see coming. The to what isn't a terrble complated novel story wise. But it levase enough there to make you want to read on and see where the fuck there going at points. It can be confusing as hell, but i like that, how it not complety clear on what it trying to say. 7/10

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me By Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell

I got this book ages ago and deicded to reread it and god I love this book. The story is good, and if i were to just read it as a novel i proabyeb think it was grand, but god the art. The art of the book adds so much. I think it evaleds the story to the point of being amazing. I love small used of colour and the way the charater are draw just adds to there charaterisaton alot. (8/10)

The guy she was interested in wasn't a guy at all By Arai Sumiko

Like every lesbian, i love this. It so cute to read about this two nerds bonding. I need them to kiss. Also i love how the artist draws charater, esalily there outfits. For the main girls, it feel like there chose in fashion says a lot alot them and why they like what they like (8/10)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*Fives songs i love*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Benefiits of lying (with your friends)- The Apple In Stereo

Caroline, Please Kill Me-Coma Cinema

Miku-Anamanaguchi, Hatsune Miku

Summer Again-The Wytches

Sleep Patterns-Merchant Ships