Old Art works part 1

Time to post some old artwork. First would be "orchids at dusk"... This is one of the old artworks that I did at the start of this year. Well, it's a good first try for watercolour and pen art. Well, it's not all the best artwork I've done, but it's pretty good I got to say)even though most of it is accidental spillage of the watercolour.

Hey, so enough talk already and show me the art already!(is this what you are thinking now?) Well, okay...


anyways, enjoy tonight and have a Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween

It's finally nearing Halloween already yet, I am not feeling too well at all. Plus, I think my luck is running dry. I had my phone blank out on me, my friend suddenly doesn't want to go overseas(after agreeing almost 5 months ago), my entire body feels like its breaking apart and this constant abdominal pain.

But, with the Halloween around the corner, (even though I don't celebrate Halloween here) A happy Halloween to all who celebrates Halloween(especially when most of my blog's viewers are Americans). So to celebrate, I did a drawing a week ago which is in the theme of halloween. It's not the usual drawings because it's incomplete and almost certainly all pencil!



Once again, I wish all my blog viewers a Happy Halloween(enjoy trick-or-treat-ing)and a great weekend ahead! :)

Not Manga Art?

Yes people, it's not manga art I am presenting today! It's my randomly, fantastic looking, beautiful, inspiring, and difficult to do pen and watercolour painting. Yeah, its not very easy. Well, first you need to use a waterproof pen of course(but not all are waterproof when they say so on the labels(so be careful).



Anyways, first I have "Dawn at the Pier". It's a artwork that displays my views on life. Like this pier, one has a choice to walk to the end alone or with someone else. If so, the journey will of course be tough(from the broken planks - filled with obstacles). Also, it is fairly long, and failing will plunge you into the deep abyss(unknown outcome - the sea). But if you ever reach the end, dun worry, life doesn't end so easily, you can always take the small boat out for a paddle and explore more of life's wonders. If you confine yourself to the pier however, you will always be filled with boredom and you will finally reach the end point without much knowledge of the world you lived in. So, get up and be brave, explore the world and enjoy your life. All you have to do is choose wisely and get over those hurdles!



Second is "Harbor Blues". This is done because I had extra watercolour left that I hate to just throw it away. Hence the noob artwork. Pardon me. It has no deep meaning as compared to dawn at the pier. Anyways, to any singaporeans... If you wish to buy my art prints, you can either contact me or comment on my flash web. Prices range from SGD$7-60(dependent on the type and size of print). Oh, by the way, it is HQ prints taken with an SLR camera at its highest resolution.

No drawings again. Bad mood :(

Today has largely been a roller coaster ride. But it isn't the fun one, neither is it something to look forward to. Its so terrifying that you will regurgitate your heart out. For the first time in my life I am looking back at the possibilities of choices and where I would have been now, and I also feel for once disappointment beyond the norm.

One, the day started badly. I failed a subject of course(not by a lot) but enough to seal my fate. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

In view of my tiredness, I will not be posting a drawing today. I'm so sorry for those who regularly check my blog out everyday. I will resume posting tomorrow.

Secondly, I received results of subject that I was Acing. Not that it was bad, but I lost to 2 people. I really wanted to comfort myself for the one "wasted" year. But I guess I wasn't good enough. I got to congratulate myself for still getting an A even with so many careless mistakes. It's still a wonder. Maybe I was a wee bit too complacent. I'll take this as a form of lesson.

Then, now I realise how my friends felt last year with my horrible results. They are genuinely worried, asides their scores about their friends' fate. Yes. I am worried for the outcome of my entire class, not just those few. It's rather worrying. I just hope the school will be more flexible. Not hitting the gauge slightly shouldn't get you into such shit! I can of course just blame the school for their inflexibility, rigidity and self-centeredness, but if one thinks, its everyone's fault. The student didn't work hard enough, the school system is screwed up, and many more(that I cannot think of). So, I just wish everyone of 10S16 all the best. No matter what happens, just follow what you think is best for you. No matter what you choose, I'll be behind you all the way.

ps: to those who missed by a few marks, dun be so pessimistic. The law of Attraction states that all negativity will only stand to attract more negativity. So think more positively. The teachers will push you up. Trust me on this.
Plus, its really not that bad retaining(take it as a year more to play around with your basics and set them right). Of course the bad part is having to pass all(but you will come to realise that it isn't all that difficult). Anyways, goodluck.

Tutorial(Facial Components) by Masaru Takahashi

Now its time for the tutorial. Since the tutorial consists of many parts, eyes and facial components, this first tutorial will consist of eyes(basic) and face structure(female). The next shall be ears, mouth and face structure(male). All these shall be kept to the basic however, if you would require the intermediate ones, kindly post in the comments or the message box on the right side of the page. You could of course use the basic face components and experiment with them to create your own style. That is the most satisfying for me.


This is the complete page(but I doubt you can see the words). So, I have taken zoom ins for the different parts of the tutorial.



This is the basic eye structure of the protagonists. Happy trying it out!



This is the basic eye structure of the antagonists.



Part one of female face/head structure.



Part two of the female face/head structure and the incomplete(almost complete) final drawing of the female head structure. Of course you can play around with the hairs and eyes to make her different.

This is Masaru Takahashi. Thanks for viewing my tutorial. If you could kindly leave a kind remark or a compliment(or critics), I will be very thankful. Anyways, I'll leave the Halloween surprise for tomorrow. Till then.

Hardwork=Results=Good Mood?

In view of my good mood today... guess what? We'll have 2 posts. One would be me ranting on why I am in a good mood. Plus a Halloween special manga art piece I did yesterday.

Okay. So nothing can get as cliche as "it's definitely not me"..."and YOU are the top in *whatever subject*"? Wrong. It just happened. Totally shocked. It's really not because I studied properly. To tell the truth, I only studied for human geog for half and day and 2 hours before the exam. And I left it to the last hour and a half to complete it. Little did I ever expect to receive such marks. I guess life sometimes does bring extreme surprises you never think was ever possible. Well, that's about all. It's one of the rare moments that my hard work has actually paid off. Even in my manga, so much hardwork is being poured in, yet, there are so little returns. I'm not saying I am feeling sorry for myself. It's just a little heartbreaking. But, I'll continue working as a freelance manga artist until one day I make it to be on par competing with my fav manga series, Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, and Fairy Tale.(not forgetting kekkeishi and Bakuman!)

So of course I am rather happy with results that has results, more than I expected.
I'm going to take a rest first. So, I'll post the tutorial on faces and eyes later, plus the Halloween special art! :)

Manga tutorial 2

Well guys, here's another manga tutorial I had on how to draw poses and figures. I did this because I was kinda bored of drawing all the Kieran Chase stuff all day and needed to draw other random stuff. Even this is amazing though. I still managed to keep to one post a day schedule after a few weeks. And there is drawings done. It's a one day per drawing schedule now. Sadly, I have no mood to do the recurring page for the "FaeHunter Slime!!!" story. I have another page on that. A super cool and handsome guy is going to appear!!! Woots I can't wait to ink that page down! And I know you can't wait for me to post that up. Of course, you will have to wait.



Okay as I said, one must start with basic shapes and lines. So see, the base of how I want my boy/man to be. First, the head is important(I could of course make the head into a smaller circle instead) but because of its importance, I decided to add the head into step one(to have the overall feel of his direction facing i.e whether it is possible or not). So, next, we move in to drawing circles on the lines to highlight the joint parts. then of course we try to make the basic shape of the human from the lines and circles. After that, you can actually start adding the details to the shirt and the pants, and start with the face later. You can of course do so otherwise. It's base on your own preferences. I prefer to start with the clothes because it gives a more complete feel. Anyways, you can then either ink the sketch or add in extra details if you like. And then, you are done with a manga man/boy! :) I like that pose!

FaeHunters, slime?

Sorry guys for not posting this yesterday. All morning I was trying to stop the bleed in my mouth. I found a remedy that actually works wonders... even though it takes 30-50 minutes or so. But hey, at least it works. It's to bite on a warm moist teabag(black tea is the best).

Anyways, since the bleeding stopped, I decided to draw another one page manga on monsters. But after I did it, it was so beautiful that I've decided to incorporate it into my current manga project, i.e Kieran Chase. This acidic slime is known as Fae hunters. They usually only feed off magic from faeries while consuming them. But time to time, they actually prey on the humans because of the massive amounts of them on the surface. Think of it like having to hunt in a forest for food as compared to having an entire buffet table right in front of you. Hey, the choice is rather obvious. Besides, the faeries are protected by enchantments and basically have a police squad that has weapons. Why injure yourself from hunting your food when you can have food that is just there for you to take? So well, if I were the slime, I'd choose the human even if it means less magic abilities. Meh, I'm too hungry to care about that anyways. Just to fill my stomach. Wait, did I say stomach? Oh, I forgot that I don't have one. Hahas. *Slurp*



Oh, and remember to visit my flash web for a higher quality viewing.

Update on the operation and Manga Tutorial

Can't say the "operation" when well because I vomited straight after the "surgery" and it was more of extraction than surgery, i.e. the dentist pulled the tooth out rather than cut and take it out. So well, its painful. And that's why I am still awake even at this ungodly time.

Anyways, I've decided to do some manga tutorials on basic manga skills. Like eyes, face, head, ears, hands, feet, shoes. Hair, toning, background, inking, and accessories are more intermediate skills. So, it's way beyond what an amateur like me can teach a normal person. Of course its largely due to my lack of experience in drawing that I've no idea how to go about doing it. But, today I'll be posting pics of basic head shapes(at different angles) for both female and male. And, I'll be posting the "basic hand how to".



Here it is. The first is a 360 planar view of a women's head. The next is the same but for a man's head. Then at the bottom is a rough sketch of a side view woman and the steps to drawing basic manga hands. If you noticed about the hands and the head, they are basic shapes that work together to make a natural form like the shape of a hand for example. Firstly, you work the base which usually consists of triangles, rectangles and circles. Then working on the base, you add the general look and add the details. Then voila, you get whatever you wanted to draw.

Fantasy Realm

I'm finally done with the one-page short-story manga titled "Fantasy Realm". I got the idea from reading a book that I really thought would be good if everything in the book could come out in real life. It would be awesome. Then, the "light bulb" thing came and this idea of having a person capable of releasing the fantasy of the realm of trapped imaginations of writers that in their ink and writing, seal their thoughts and imagination into a space somewhere unknown.



This is only the low quality one. If you want to see a high quality one, you could visit my flash website or my facebook album though I'll only be able to upload them later. Check in a days time. Happy viewing.

So, there are people who are able to release these trapped imagination and make them into reality. Of course this is good as well as bad... But then again, I am only making this story for the fun of it(it is interesting but it will hardly make shonen jump material). I can make a complete chapter or even a one shot to enter it into a comp but its rather time consuming. I'd rather work on Kieran Chase(much more shonen jump stuff) but, if there are request to have a one-shot I'll try my best to follow through and complete it! :)

Anyways, I may not be able to post much or draw much in the next few days. I am going for a minor surgery tomorrow. So, it may be a little inconvenient and uncomfortable to draw manga. So, instead I might rest. :P

Kieran Chase Cover one and a new short story?

If you have seen my flash web, you probably would have seen this pic too. But nevertheless, there are other drawings that I am currently doing. Apparently my plans of drawing during the study break has been twerp. So I am doing it during my leisure time. Now, I am working on a short one-page story for my best friend as a birthday present. It should be done by tomorrow. So I'll post it tmr. I've already done half the inking. Not bad eh? :)

No Drawings today.

Worst day(s) of my life. Travel for such a long time. Bad dreams all night long. Sleep in the day. A damn sore throat. And I didn't get what I want! What is this man!?

So in view of the inconvenience of even posting this, I am not posting any drawings at least for today. Sorry to those who genuinely like to see my drawings up every day. Today is just not that kind of day.

Anyways, anyone had a weird dream before? My dream is so weird that I dreamt of stuffs in a 4th person view. Can you imagine that? It's like dreaming something in someone else's head. Okay. Just downright weird.

Instead of me ranting today, why not you all post(in the comments) about some weird dreams that you've recently had? :P
I look forward to seeing the dreams you all had(maybe then mine wouldn't be so weird then).

Okays... but since there is no drawings... I thought a flash based website would be good. Why don't you guys visit it? Yeah? It's a gallery of my works. It's @ Masaru Takahashi's flash web.

Oreste

So, he's cool looking right? Yeap. But what has he got to do with Kieran? Believe me, nothing. He got more to do with the fairies than with Kieran. Wait... Did I say he got to do with the fairies? What? What is a human doing related to the fairies? Isn't the fairy race hidden far away from the knowledge of humans? Yes and No.

Apparently Oreste is a descendant of witches. They have been feared by the humans for a very long time especially in the 18th century. However, witches are humans themselves. They only have this fearful abilities like longevity and healing because they consult with the magic powers of the fairy race. In return for secrets to longevity(what most people would want), they are to keep all secrets sealed and do the bidding of the fairy race. They are like agents for the fairy race. They live among us.
Oreste is a modern wizard though. His weapon of choice fires energy bullet created by magic. Hence, a deadly and almost flawless murder weapon of choice.(the magic dissipates once asked to).

But of course there are slight disadvantages of becoming a witch/wizard. Though you get to live to 250-300 years, they can only give birth to children with only witches. Also, the witches can only give birth to a single child every decade. So, obviously living long isn't all that good for people who like children a lot.

Enough said. Oreste is but only one of the countless witches and wizards that walk among the modern human population.

Aoife Silverwind changed?

This is one of the best things about planning. You get to redo and change whatever you feel isn't go enough during the planning process. For me, I am changing Aoife Silverwind's look because she's not seductive enough to be the character she is supposed to be. So, here's here new look.



I have to agree that she looks too old now. But, I can tweak the next drawing I draw to make her more seductive. This is just the basic sketch of how she looks like. Quite a beauty I must say. I don't know why but all I draw about her tends to have "danger" associated with them. It's probably her looks and the gun she's always carrying around...



These are by the way, the drawings that I did last night... :P

It's finally over. Freedom again.

Oh yeah. The exams are over and Kieran Chase is now alive. :P
So yeah. I still don't have the name for his bodyguard. I was think of some random names but they seem so weird to call. Anyways, I think that all is well for my studies. That's not the only good thing though. I can go on drawing manga for 24 hours a day!!! And even after such a long break I am surprised that my drawing skills haven't deteriorated that much after all.



Rawr!!! This is the mighty troll... not one you would like to come face to face with... I wouldn't... Looks like Kieran's in for a surprise if he's about to go fairy hunting. Fairies aren't all that small wingy thingies. They have fearsome trolls, fraie dragons, stupid(not discriminating) and ugly(also not discriminating) goblins, and the hateful, smelly and rude dwarfs.

That's not all of the fairies though. To find out more, stay tuned to Kieran Chase and his adventures in manga. :P
I'm still working on the plot. The names and the final piece will have to wait.

It's almost over... wait a little longer.

Sorry Guys. It's been a real busy few weeks for me. I am placing my entire future on the two weeks alone. There's really so much at stake here. It's either I pass and continue or fail and never get the chance to do this again. So, I need to pass. With that said however, I seriously screwed up my General Paper. I just hope I can pass in the final tabulations.

Okays. So Masaru Takahashi is putting manga on hold for another 2 days. 2 DAYS!!! Then it's so back to manga, manga and more manga drawings. You can just wait to see a new drawing everyday. Though that point will stop once I get enough practice and move on to the names. I would still be posting the drawings when I am doing my names but just not into so much details. After the names I'll probably have to contact my editor to see if he likes the idea. I just hope he take a liking to it(if not I have to work on another idea and start drawing more sketches and names again...) That kinda sucks.

Thanks for viewing my art anyways. :)