APPLETASTIC

So this is the end product of rewatching a beautiful drama.. Well! MatsuJun and Takeuchi Yuko’s on-screen romantic chemistry was one big factor that upped the show’s ranking on my list of favourite dramas, and besides, Taiga is such a charming man; I’m sure fans do see traces of Jun’s roles in HYD and Bambino in him, but still very different. Taiga has underlying passion, learns to takes failure in his stride and is unassuming (rather silly as well, sometimes), someone who knows when to back off and when to seize opportunities. The best thing about 夏虹? JUN’S HAIR. It’s one of those few hairstyles that suit him most, methinks.

As you can see I put a bit more effort than usual into the overall lighting, as opposed to copying wholesale from photo references – this time a screencap of Jun. I actually discovered that I like creating the folds and creases on textiles, a process that seems like can be done randomly but awfully tedious because you’ve got to consider and imagine the lighting and the mass beneath that creates that particular form. Time spent on Tumblr has been fruitful; I’m currently following this realist portrait artist Euclase and she sometimes posts pretty comprehensive tutorials and show her drawing process, which I have learnt a lot from.

Anyway, right after exporting the image I dropped my wacom pen and now it works as a dysfunctional mouse, which means I’ve got to buy a new one to replace (for the second time). Daaaaaaayum.

Back to work then.

It must be painfully obvious for you to tell when I’m tremendously inspired and when I’m not. This was one of those rare instances that I felt would dissipate as rapidly as the imagery had formed had I not translated it into an actual illustration on the spot, the sort that absolutely has to be completed in one sitting to get it out of my system.

Red Wine, Whiskey and You (Natsunonamae @ LJ) tells the bittersweet story of “Jun and Sho, in the span of three years”; realistic, quiet and not overly dramatised. I love fics like these, where strong imagery builds up steadily as soon as the reader starts drinking in the words. Silverfa would probably love it too :)

Illuminated by the hazy lights at the bar, Sho and Jun settle at the familiar bar stools, with not a word passing between them. Simply lost in the moment.

Digital illustrations, 6 hours on Photoshop.

Based on a scene of a fairytale-remixed-into-fanfiction by *someone* currently in the works. ^^
Coloured in greyscale as a practice for shadow and lighting (although it felt more like trial and error), and failing pretty badly as you can see. I was attempting to steer away from total realism when using photo references, but it’s not easy because I don’t draw manga.. or rather I can’t. More details on this project later, maybe.

#1 was supposed to be set in the forest during the night; the tilt of the moonlight spilling on the lone horse-rider as he seems to have discovered something.

#2 Hello.. stranger.

( ほら、ばれちゃったよ! )

A couple of selected sketches out of the whole lot that I did while cracking up at the video. Sketched in black ink on paper, coloured in Photoshop – I had to force myself to stay away from the Smooth Round brushes :< Colour scheme was referenced from arnistotle @ DA. Comments are greatly appreciated! <3

Started on a whim two days back when I had too much time on hand and my wacom tablet plugged into my laptop. I guess it would do good to dump them all here in the same entry. Working on the many drawings simultaneously, part of this spree attempts the never attempted as a form of practice; illustrating what’s not right (technically speaking), but what feels right. Aim is to be unreferenced / be flexible using as little ref as possible. Also kind of inspired by this Arashi fan who did awesome nude figure drawings, that I decided to give it (male figures, body proportions, muscles etc) a try, because I do suck at it very much.

Well, be warned. I will not be responsible for the loss of blood through nosebleed, and/or whatever consequences you suffered after browsing my art – and nope I don’t mean the quality, but rather the content. (no, really, I might get stoned for posting those. lol) Most of them spontaneously sketched while some ideas were discussed/planted in my head beforehand. Basically, this continues until I run out of steam. (pray pray it won’t be today..) I foresee it to be until.. Christmas? Or when there are more pieces than can be counted with one hand.

14 Dec. Confused? Mulling? Looks like he forgot something. If you think his top looks familiar, it’s what he wore on the shukudai narikiri talk episode.

02 Naked

14, 16 Dec. Not totally, but. That’s the title of Matsumoto Jun’s solo. Yes, I finally got down to drawing some nice pants on him, plus a new perspective I never tried drawing before. He certainly does not own such a well-toned body.. (like Sakurai’s, hmmm) Nonetheless, somebody everyone would be really happy, ’cause I know you all wouldn’t mind XD Unreferenced, hence the purrfect bodey (remember? hehe).

Take off, take off　夜を超えて (and overcome the night)
もっと自由に　君に会いたい (I want to come face to face with you more freely)
Naked, naked　何も言わず　抱き合うだけ… (We only embrace wordlessly)
それだけでいい　君と (With you, this is good enough)

03 Kissing faces キッスの顔

16, 17 Dec. <3 Ohno + Ninomiya = 大宮 Ohmiya, of course. Trying out different perspectives (for Nino), human interaction and a slightly new style. Now that I look at it, they seem to have taken on the forms of carved stone figures; dream-like, in a world of monochrome. For such a pretty picture I can only describe it quoting lyrics from an old Arashi song I've been very addicted to.

君の横顔を見てる (I’m looking at your side profile)
夏の日射しに似たシルエット (Your silhouette is just like the rays of summer)
これまでの僕の心には (Up till this moment in my heart)
一度もなかった感覚なんだ (Is a feeling I’ve never once felt)

迷わず抱きしめてKissからはじめようよ (Without feeling lost we embrace, and let’s begin with a kiss)
水しぶきのように　キラめいて (It’s glistening, like splashes of water)
21世紀はKissからはじめようよ (The 21st century begins with a kiss)
胸こがれて君と　つないだ手 (Yearning in my heart for you, our hands are linked)
まるで夢のよう (It seems quite like a dream)

Rating: R (for obvious reasons), don’t view if you’re not comfortable with the idea.

( Under the cut! )

04 Death of the DS

18, 22, 23 Dec. Ninomiya mourning his broken DS (that’s equivalent to 1/4 of his life.. the second quarter = magic tricks, third quarter = ..Oh-chan), based on Silverfa’s ingenious prompt “broken DS” and statement “that’s the only time he can be sad”. A very detailed piece considering my usually lazy approach to art, but extremely fun to draw. This entire picture stemmed from a mental image of angsty Nino in boxers (hence, the focus); a little bit of weird humour and cuteness amidst the sadness. His pose took the longest to correct, while the remaining details filled themselves in naturally.

There’s suppose to be some kind of back story to this? *fiction, of course* :3 Someone said Ohno did this to his DS in revenge because Nino broke Ohno’s favourite fishing rod. Now that’s an idea, isn’t it ….XD Super Mario characters and elements (c) Nintendo.

05 Itterasshai いってらっしゃい

18, 24, 29 Dec. A pity this piece did not make it on time for Aiba’s birthday, though #miracleboy did make it to the trending topics on Twitter *happy*. Featuring Masamune and his little girl Koharu from the drama My Girl. I referenced, tried and.. oh my, I must admit, that I don’t know how to draw Aiba.. *gomen* D: Anyway, alongside the cute squeaky-voiced Koharu, Aiba does make a wonderful daddy <3 Glad the producers noticed that lol.

06 The Dreamfisher

29 Dec. I’m really sorry that this is so ugly. It didn’t even turn out, it was from the beginning; about 15 minutes ago. Sorry for the nonsense hahahaha XD

( Do you fish when you dream? )

07 Right Back To You

23, 28 Dec, 3-6 Jan. Sakumoto AU; the end product of Silverfa’s and my constant discussion about how utterly HOT Sho would be if he was a vampire (DoM, but the concept never made its way into this drawing). I owe her, because she drew me this! By far the most difficult piece; I relied heavily on picture references for Sho’s side profile and figure, whereas I gave up on Jun’s weirdly angled face T___T”. A first attempt on this theme; it did turn out as dark as I had intended. So, sue me. *though sceptical about the general responses*

Rating: R (for violence?). Please, I don’t want you to be scarred for life ^^

( Well, if you really insist.. )

08 Ohoku 大奥

24 Dec. A quick sketch and colouring — the first thing I did when I heard about the live action movie adapted from the manga Ohoku Nino’s going to star in, alongside Shibasaki Kou. Movie’s to be released in October 2010. Reverse harem sounds like an interesting concept doesn’t it.. I’m equally curious how he’d actually look in the film. Well there isn’t much about this drawing except that it’s shamelessly referenced from the manga character Mizuno and a picture of Nino from the winter season AU KDDI CM. Haha.

09 Mr Sloping Shoulders ミスターなで肩

1, 8, 11 Jan. OMG, Sho has the hottest sloping shoulders in the world (especially when sulking). NADEGATA. Period. I wonder why Maoh-chan didn’t quite appreciate it XD And recently I started calling him “Sunny Sho” <3 because of Arashi's song exchange "Sukiyanen Osaka~" by K8 during JE countdown. *flails*

10 skmt untitled

14, 15 Dec. One of my first experimental figure drawings of this spree.

Rating: R (the same reason as Ohmiya).

( Stop gawking at the drawing already. Even though you haven’t seen it. )

11 Jan – We have reached the end of the fanart spree lasting for a month from December 2009 to January 2010! Final artwork count: 10 (excluding drafts and sketches). *Big hugs* to Silverfa and Atikah; your aksjdfjkl;stalker comments make me really happy ^^ You guys = FREAKING AWESOME DA YO!~ <333333333333

I feel rather accomplished knowing that this is the most number of non-sch related artwork I've created within a single month, and they're not simply lineart/sketches. Varying themes and styles for practice was definitely worthwhile and had piquedpeaked my interest in drawing Arashi. XD じゃ、またこんど！