(no subject)

had an absolutely lovely day chilling at the bookstore after a friend had to cancel plans and picked up some books on the book-list as well picking up nagabe's manga on a whim. it's so head-tiltingly funny to see artists i followed 15 years ago on pixiv when it was all still in japanese having their own published series in "mainstream" bookstores over here. the pixiv compediums that you used to have to order on amiami or something....

reconnected with another old family friend who i hadn't seen in a decade, he was the kind of little bro i would hang out with and play video games (minecraft, halo, strategy games) all the fuckin time with lol. he hugged me twice and said he heard one winged angel on spotify recently and thought of me ;aa;;;;;;;   fujo chick x COD-esque gamer bro solidarity, always - we must have talked for at least an hour and a half.

about to have appetizers outside after i draw a little more of this doujinshi. sometimes the world is wonderful.

(no subject)

i get a lot of different (very kind and sweet) compliments on my art - there's the folks who like specific fandoms of course, and then a slightly more common specific compliment of the dynamism of the figures.

but what i find interesting is the one commonality is almost always 'your characters look alive'.

my style shifts quite a lot so it makes sense it wouldn't be a consistent technical quirk that's pointed out (eg a coloring trick or an iconic angle). but man, i find that 'they look alive' comment so interesting. (and flattering - it's indeed something i always deliberately aim for, though sometimes subconsciously). looking back i can see the precise moment i get bored or in trouble with longer projects when i can't make them feel/look alive. it's a tricky balance, maintaining efficiency and endurance with comics (in as few lines as possible) while also still capturing that alive-ness.

though me being me, i wonder what does it for people.

body language that always speaks to power dynamics? slightly more varied/specific/exaggerated expressions than most? i can say i do always try to make characters .... look embodied on the canvas - like even if it's a blank white canvas, who are they posing for? are they posing? do they act like they're aware they're being watched, or totally in private? are they reacting to another character on the canvas? are they somebody that likes posing or would be annoyed?

to me as an artist, i let those questions drive the composition rather than the other way around; i wonder if that's what makes me slightly weaker at bold, striking book cover compositions, but far more flexible with "talky" interior scenarios.