APPLETASTIC

“Sunny days are good for hanging out laundry. It’ll be bad if there’s any rain, then my clothes won’t dry..”

I can never keep track of the countless times over the years I’ve walked past this everyday scene, and unconsciously pushed it to the back of my head, in the afternoons while the muted rumbling coming from the washing machine accompanied her unhurried pacing down the hall and up into the kitchen, biding for time. Grandma never leaves her load unattended for long.

She’s proven to have a bit of OCD from how the distance between each hanger on the clothesline has to be equal, aligned like a perfect art installation to face a certain direction, and no, they mustn’t ever be hung at the far end of the balcony under the air conditioner unit (or near of my family’s undergarments, for that matter). Why she thinks other factors, among these, will rub “bad luck” off onto her clothes and subsequently onto herself, I will never know.

On most days she argues with my mum about the softener, even if excessive amounts actually shortens the life of the washing machine. So do her frequent successive rewashing – especially the towels because towels somehow don’t, you know, end up clean enough – through the same routine.

Come nighttime, grandma is restless and still lingering on her usual spot, mumbling something about the sky being so dark it looks like it’s gonna start pouring the next moment.

I’d like to keep assuring her that her that it wouldn’t happen, that she wouldn’t catch a disease from wearing garments which are not so immaculate, that she didn’t have to insist on running them through the cycle a hundred times (equaling the frequency with which she would mop her room’s wooden floor so much so there’s a huge patch where the lacquer has come off, now) and even if it does rain a little -

- it’s okay.

Quick fanart scribble of an all-time favourite drama/movie series – Nodame Cantabile <3

A daydreaming Nodame is cute as a button; and full of love!

Now that the story has come to an end with the two-part movie finale, we’ll continue to spread the love for classical music and the endless fun and inspiration from the quirky duo alike. I definitely hope to see this golden on-screen couple, Ueno Juri x Tamaki Hiroshi, work together again in future.

ギャボーーーーーーーッ

I first noticed the oversized hair ribbon fad while tripping Japan in January, and it has gotten quite widespread here in recent months. I think I like ribbons very much even though I’ve never worn one as eye catching.

What was meant to be a girly scribble turned into omg have I been fed too much Japanese fashion this, which took a few hours in photoshop. She should be named Summer right? :D

Here, say hello again to my digital paintings after a two-month gap since the last one :) and currently there are two other WIP fanart that I can’t wait to complete soon.. Being a designer in the field has allowed me to strike a balance between visual design and illustration art, just as how it had been in school before, and personally the best kind of time after a long day at work – besides (trying to get sufficient) sleep – is undoubtedly the time I dedicate to my own little projects.

magician

The general idea of this painting stemmed from the time when Arashi’s single Monster was released, and I had in mind to draw a hooded phantom pulling the strings, quite literally, of a girl he’s infatuated with, based on the mysterious mood the tune creates as well as these particular lines from their lyrics:

僕の記憶が全て消えても (Even if my memories would disappear)
生まれ変わったら　また君を探す (I will search for you once again when I’m reborn)
見かけじゃなくて　心を抱いて (It matters not about appearance; just hold my heart)
満月の夜　君を見つけた　Monster (In the night of a fullmoon, the monster, I, have found you)

Through the 2 months or so of drafting, redrawing and more redrawing, it eventually evolved into something more influenced instead by Nino’s obsession with magic, hence the straightforward title, but the figure is not meant to be him and so I don’t consider this as fanart.

Symbols from the poker cards take the form of fish, buoyant in the chilling midnight air as the dog – a shibaken (Nino’s favourite breed) – and boy track. Time exists only beyond the fancy framed window, coming to a standstill as it gets caught in the branches. If you look closely, the picture of the girl in the other half of the waist watch is actually Son Ye Jin.

// Here’s something I want to try with this original piece:
If you could write a descriptive paragraph (or even better, a one-shot fic), do post it as a comment, I’d love to see what different results can be derived from this imagery .. and I’ll link the contributor(s) here :D

Otherwise, feel free to browse the more detailed portions of magician. As always, comments are love <3

01.

(courtesy of fromapapercup, 2007, because she let me ❤ )

I borrowed this particular photo for the purpose of illustrating some things, and after a round of psd, I showed g the results. Well you see, the thing about black and white photos is that the lack of colour obscures the sometimes unfortunate palette, in this case those hideous tones of green, the composition presents.

Now I can’t tell real grass from weed because it’s too much of a mess, methinks. It makes me wish that she was on an artificial grass patch when she snapped that shot. This is how it should look like:

02.

The benefits of an artificial grass patch include the time and effort it saves you on its maintenance that frees up enough time for you to organise a picnic with some sophisticated pocky, milk tea and delectably sexy ice pop made with bloody real fruit juices, with an entourage of your classified potentials to boot.

Besides, you honestly wouldn’t mind being on it barefoot cause there’ll hardly be any insect heading in the direction of your little tea party anyway.

03.

On the other hand, when it comes to the real kind of grass you find in green meadows and on mountain tops, treading on it is definitely out of the question.

When you imagine the unknown lurking beneath the soles of your shoeless feet, the dreadfulness – very much like accidentally stepping on a delicate animal, for example a beautiful swan – the kind that sends you leaping, shoots up both legs and much more if you actually do happen to step onto it.

The feeling clings like a leech you can’t shake off. (come to think of it, some people are also like leeches, no? just saying, lol)

04.

In the event that you really squashed the poor creature, an overwhelming gut-churning sensation would follow, not in the breathtaking way but that of which automatically renders you breathless, don’t you think?

*gasp! gasp!*

05.

A situation like this can be fatal, so at the very least, get the hotties to dial home first. You would be considered lucky if you even happen to have an inhaler along in your black picnic box.

On closer inspection, though, it says:

06.

However it does the trick of restoring your breath is beyond me. In your state of semi-consciousness, you woefully spin a coin – behold! your personal totem! – and wills it not to fall, while going off on a tangent, thinking maybe you’d still like to hop by (for the reason why they invented convenience stores) and extract inspiration nested within the synapses of your neighbour’s head after all.

Probably because your own originality has long emigrated to limbo and refused to find its way back.

07.

Dang! It dawned upon me swiftly that in reality that the green grass tones are still hideous, and the results of ignoring that in favour of black and white will barely make the cut as anything very awe-inspiring.

So I guess in future, having gained this insight, I would have to happily make do with a highly feathered standard blue border effect, using psd, framing every picture hereafter.

P/s: Oh by the way, if you haven’t noticed, I’ve given the picture a watermark – how’s that FTW! So uber original I can’t help but heart it ❤ The other day, I also read a wonderful article by Keri Smith which you can find HERE.