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

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 tracks. 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

And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

One of the most incredulous and bizarre books I’ve ever read – that’s not to say that I’ve read a lot in my entire life, but. – and my slight fascination confusion at the entire concept clearly doesn’t explain why The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and Norwegian Wood in Japanese, newly bought, sits also at my desk. I’m extremely doubtful I’ll be able to make it through even the first few pages of the latter.

(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 the unknown lurking beneath the 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 (thanks g!) a wonderful article by Keri Smith which you can find HERE.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
ほしの王子様「第6章」

「あるときなんて、おひさまがしずむのを、４４かいもみたんだよ！」
　そして、君はこう付け加えた。
「しってる？人はとってもかなしいとき、夕日を見たくなるんだよ」
「じゃあ、その４４回見た日って、きみはとても悲しかったんだね？」
　星の王子様は答えなかった。

Move forward, move on, move off, move up against, move back; directions are but choices circumstances offer you in a platter, whether of expensive silver refined and highly polished to reflect our blank countenances or caked in flaky rust and inflicted with scratches aplenty.

We will all find our way, eventually.
And it boils down to the matter of whether you want to or not.

I think I’ve grown significantly more keen in my daily fashion than any time else in my life ever since I started going to work. And by paying attention to all these details and aesthetics, I’ve probably picked up something on coordination and styling. Now I do understand and appreciate why people spend heaps of time looking for the right look, and simply looking good. To some it’s more of a skill than a gift; if you don’t work on it you won’t realise how much you can achieve. But no one says you have to, anyways.

I’m intrigued by this photo to no end; not only because it truly depicts the era (1880s) of Japan that is often seen only in period dramas and in illustrations, but because of the striking resemblance at first glance. I couldn’t help but imagine Ohno living in this very surreal world – he would most probably enjoy making umbrellas and fishing at lakes all day, no? 「優しい傘そっと差して行こう」嵐

See more of these, taken by Adolfo Farisa, the man who shot old Japan.

And it sure gets even more surreal. The portraits are beautiful.

Alice in Wonderland post-its a gift from the lovely g; the second design from Totally Hot stuff and the last from a stationery shop in SH (they’re both from the same manufacturer btw)

Mini face and character stickers bought in Taiwan, originating from P714, a design house specialising in really cute merchandise. P stands for planet, while 714 marks the birth of their little planet, just as how The Little Prince has his home named B612.

I quite certain my love for snowglobes stemmed from this particular one.

9/7. A leisure trip with the entire company to Johor, my first in many many years, to mark this day. It was great to know I could speed on in the impromptu races while go-karting – no need for a driving licence – minus the minor crash incident which earned me bruises and a weak wrist, as well as submerge myself in the satisfaction of street photography once again (dad has gotten the Fujifilm F30 fixed, and I’m bent on selling my Canon point-and-shoot; a long story but it goes all the way back to the Japan trip, which I never got to blog about) surrounded by a quite disparate kind of flavour.

( continue; 29 images under the cut )

//

Look at: Pann’s | Jonathan’s