KATE'S TOMA FAN ART (PART II)

i am still feeling bitter about what happened...
as expected, if feels bitter ne~
and right now, the skies are grey, filled with dark clouds. it might rain tomorrow.
ah~ very Maou-like, right?

before i talk about the last 2 drawings, just wanna describe
how i found out yesterday...(this is kinda long, sorry!)

OH, I ALSO WANT TO REQUEST, AGAIN,
THAT IF ANY OF YOU HAVE A COPY OF WINKUP, NOVEMBER 2009~
COULD YOU PLEASE TELL ME IF U SEE MY FAN ART IN THERE OR NOT??
THANK YOU!!^^

so, i went to mitsuwa. i had thought about it before, that i'd immediately go to the bookstore and check to see if my drawings were in the magazines, i had to know right away!!! but i was too nervous when i got there. lol, it kinda felt like i was at an actress at an awards show, and i didn't know if i would win or not, that level of suspense...kowai!! and i even kinda dressed up for it. lol. and there were a lot of girls at the magazine rack, so... i did other things first, had a piece of cake and coffee and wished toma a happy birthday ^_^ (with neesan), went to the market, bought a new cellphone charm, also looked for the Cinema and Flix magazines that had toma's ningen filming pics, but they don't have it there =/...but then things started to go wrong when i actually went to the main magazine stand.

1st, i didn't see Winkup there! (i always thought i had more chances of my drawings showing up in Wup cuz toma's got his montly ikita kotoba in it, i feel as if they're more likely to print toma fan art.) 2nd, the POTATO nov. issue was there, but it was sealed up in plastic. they were never before, but i guess to prevent ppl f/looking thru them and not buying... this means i couldn't check to see if my fan art was in there before buying. but i had some confidence it'd be in there, so i grabbed it. then i asked the lady at the cash register, where's the wink up and duet november issue? she said the winkup might be sold out, and went out and got the Duet for me.

NOOOOOO!!! i've gotta get the winkup!!! how could it be sold out so fast??!! she came back with the Duet. i keep asking if she's sure there's no more winkup and she says yes, but i seem so desperate, she then says that it's possible for them to try ordering it from japan for me, there might be some left, but it would take 2 weeks to get here. so i said, that's fine and thanked her and filled out the form. they'll let me know if there's any left in a couple days. PLEASE PLEASE, LET THERE BE SOME LEFT!!! WHETHER MY FAN ART IS IN THERE OR NOT, i think i'd like to have this issue, this issue that my fan art COULD HAVE been in....also, i hope there are some toma fan art in it??

BUT ONE GOOD THING THAT HAPPENED WAS THAT I COMPLETED THE BOOKSTORE'S STAMP CARD RIGHT THEN, SO I GOT 1 STAMP ON A NEW CARD AND I GOT 2 $5 GIFT CERTIFICATES. ^O^ yeyyyy!! at least i feel i've "won" something this night!! xD

but after that, i went home, still feeling so shocked and worried that i might not be able to get a copy of the winkup, even IF my drawings are in there....it took me a while to get me out of this funk and remember that my fan art might be in this Potato issue, and the 1st episode of Maou was airing soon!! but i had to eat dinner and do some other things first, and also was still too nervous to check...the suspense was killing me...

finally i got the nerve to open the magazine to see (my heart was beating so fast!!)...it's actually a good thing that i wasn't able to in the bookstore, cuz when i didn't see my drawings in both the bday fan art and the regular fan art section....EH!! i felt like just collapsing on the floor, so sad!! (cries) i re-checked both pages several times, even looked at the other pages...no, i don't see them anywhere. :( i failed. (cries) it hurts!

DOUSHITTE??? though my drawings were not really really great, but i thought it was pretty good, and just as good or maybe a little better than the fan art i've seen in these magazines!! (just that it might not be as colorful or creative, i guess??) but i had a feeling these days...that they were not chosen, cuz i thought that some1 might have told me by now, if they saw my fan art in these magazines (i know i said to not tell me, but some1 might have not seen my message). also, cuz i have a feeling they only print drawings f/fans in japan and not overseas. if that's true, then IT'S NOT FAIR!!!! =0 and you'd think that if toma's fan art is rare, they would try to print toma fan art whenever there are some pretty good ones???

oh well.....it can't be helped. I GAVE IT MY BEST SHOT!!! (my 4 best shots, in fact) I HAD TO AT LEAST TRY...even if they don't like it, i don't regret doing this. i spent a lot of time and energy on them, put a lot of thought into them...the whole process...it was difficult, frustrating, and drove me crazy at times, but it was also a fun, cool, happy, unique, and unforgettable experience for me. in the end, i'm proud of myself and my drawings!! at least i can share my drawings with everyone here and maybe even toma can see them here later...

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO LIKES MY DRAWINGS AND, LIKE ME, HOPED THAT THEY COULD MAKE IT INTO THE MAGAZINES!!!!! hounto ni~ ARIGATOU GOZAIMASHITA!♥

so...yeah...after a while, i had accepted my defeat and i consoled myself by listening to some loud rock music and taking silly pics of myself giving toma (his pic in the Duet) a late bday kiss on the cheek. xD baaaaka. while i was doing this, it was time to record maou!! i let it record on its own and continued doing some things to make myself feel better...i put the new cellphone charm on my phone, it's got a pretty RED string and a small see-through red flowery rectangle block with a japanese word on it that i don't understand. lol. but i like the RED, Maou is just starting, of course i gotta support MAOU TEAM this way!! heehee~

much later, i finally got a chance to check if i was able to properly record Maou, and YES!! seeing toma on my TV so clearly, seeing naoto-kun again!!! ahhhhhh!!♥ though ep.1 is split into 2 parts, so i am gonna wait till later in the week to watch it so i won't have to wait so long for the 2nd part...but just that short glimpse of toma!!! so kakkoii and i all my strong feelings for naoto and maou world just come flooding out....(btw, they stopped at the scene where, it's that night, they are just coming out of shiori's home, and naoto says he doesn't believe in her ｐＳＹＣＨＯＭＥＴＲｙ and leaves...NOSTALGIC!!)



.....so, this was actually part of the bday project too, but i've made u wait until now to see my drawings. gomen! well, even if my fan art can't be in the Winkup or Potato magazines, i'm glad i can show everyone here my drawings. i hope u like them!!! i really worked hard on them, i really put a lot of thought into them!!! douzo~!!



and here are all the progression pics i took of them while drawing, take a look, kudasai!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/happybirthdaytoma2009/sets/72157622353853887/

i have looked at my drawings so much, while i drew them, after i drew them....dakara~ i'm not sure anymore...i think these 2 are pretty good, right?! ehhh.... and below are a bunch of pics and comments about why i drew toma in these poses, those clothes, etc. eh....most of it is mainly for myself, to remember what i went through while drawing them, and how it was certainly not easy!! so i don't mind if u don't read thru all my comments. haha.

(**i wrote all this soon after i sent off these last 2 drawings! just now posting it all up. ^.^ **)

-i like this sketch of what the Potato drawing should look like. haha. it's too bad i couldn't keep this pose in the end though.

- i took A LOT of pics of toma's pics from my computer, with my digital camera. his poses, hairstyles, clothes, etc...and i'd look at them while drawing, zoom in, even, to see the details...

-toma's transition hair!! i forgot to talk about it in my fav toma hairstyles post, but i really like it, his transition hair, after maou and be4 voice. ~_~ his short black hair can make him look more mature, but boyish and cool, too. kakkoii!!


-toma, lying down. wah... *_* i noticed that A LOT of times, when he's lying down, he'll rest his head on his left hand and put his right hand on his stomach. that's why i drew him lying in this position. =) and he also often has 1 leg raised too. haha.

-actually, i really liked my drawings better when it was only halfway done or still in pencil. u can see all the details better....but of course i couldn't send it to them looking like that!!



here are a bunch of comments i have about/to explain the process of drawing these last 2 toma drawings. in case any of u were wondering (but i don't think u are. :P). it might not be interesting to u, but this is more of a way for me to remember what i went through to get these drawings done. haha...i hope u don't mind, it's kinda long.


-MANY MANY THANKS TO PAIGE, who showed me the macro function on the camera!!♥ cuz of that, i was able to take lots of clear pics of my drawings!! lol, i wish i had known about this function earlier. yappari, i didn't read the manual, and i don't know much about cameras...

-i woulda finished sooner, but drawing (at least 4 me) is one of those things that u can't do when u're in a bad mood or u just don't feel like it. sure, i could have just forced myself to do it, but then i didn't want that negative energy to go into the drawing, if u know what i mean...

-also, it was often TOO FREAKING HOT at that time. the high was around 90 degrees F, or 32 degrees C. and no, not all of us have air conditioning here in california (cuz most of the year, we don't need it). like conan said on his show, it was so hot, "i stepped outside, i almost burst into flames!!" xD

-each of my drawings, i think of each as being, like a HUG for toma-kun.♥ haih~ i really really hope if any of my drawings get printed and he sees it, it would make him smile. ~_~ ahhhhh....

-i was having trouble thinking of a good pose for the WU drawing...finally i remembered that i love toma's sleeping/lying down pics!!

-i really thought of giving up a lot. lol. "well, i already drew 2 bday toma drawings...i don't really NEED to draw 2 more...". but then i already said i'd draw 4 in all, and with 4, i had more chances of them choosing my drawings, so I KEPT GOING!!!

-i often glanced (ok, stared!! xD) at the wink up march2009 pullout of toma, the one where he's looking and smiling so sweetly out at u, to give me more energy to keep going, keep drawing!!♥ must FIGHT the heat, FIGHT sleepiness/fatigue, FIGHT all the distractions/inconveniences, to keep going...FOR TOMA!!! GAMBARIMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!! (laughs)

-i used my digital camera a lot to look at/zoom in toma's pics to help me draw his clothes and hair, how his body is positioned...i even had to take pics of myself in that position sometimes to know how to draw it!! lol.

-i almost forgot to include the extra info that POTATO requires be4 sending the drawing!! *whew* luckily i remembered be4 i sent it!!

-i put so much thought, time, and effort into each drawing, i pray that they all get there safely!!! ONEGAISHIMAS! even if they are not chosen, i want them to be able to get to those buildings safely, so someone can see them, at least.
ACTUALLY, THE 2 WINKUP DRAWINGS that are on postcards, EVERYONE THAT WORKS IN THE POST OFFICE SORTING MAIL OR THE MAIL CARRIER WILL SEE THEM!!! it's a little embarassing to think about a lot of strangers looking at my toma drawings. it's different when i post them up here, cuz we're all toma fans. but random ppl that might not even know who toma is...it's a little weird to think about ne...(laughs)

-from what the man at the post office said, it seems like the drawings would arrive at their destinations around sept. 16-19. i'm not sure if that will be in time for them to be in the nov. issue of WU and POTATO if they r chosen...if not, and they show up in the dec. issue, i'll have to buy those 2 issues too!! but of course i'll still be SO HAPPY to see my drawings printed!!! LOL.

-i put a lot of effort and love into all my drawings, so in the end, it's like they're my "babies". LOL. i got so sad and nervous when i had to send them, thinking "bye! stay safe on your long journey!!" hahaha.....it was really kinda like that. i like all of my drawings, and had fun drawing them, too, though some of them took sooooo long and many tries to draw right. especially the LAST ONE, the potato drawing. argggh!! i came so close to giving up on it, but the top half of him was done and kawaii, so i had to just finish it!! but i got so frustrated and mad when i kept not being able to draw his legs right. =0

here's all the drawings in order of which took the longest, to which took the least time to draw:

1) WU bday drawing (pencil portrait of toma)
2) WU regular drawing (toma sleeping)
3) POTATO regular drawing (toma sitting)
4) POTATO bday drawing (toma gives you a piece of cake!)


-my right hand, my drawing hand-- started to really hurt after i sent the drawings. it's as if be4 i was done, it was holding back, but now that i'm done, my right hand knows it's ok to hurt now, and started aching. lol.

-i said it be4, but i'll say it again: THANK GOODNESS I BOUGHT THAT BIG, thick, MANGA MAGAZINE (THAT'S AS THICK AS A BIG BOOK, LIKE ALMOST 2 INCHES THICK!) THAT HAD ONLY 2 PAGES OF TOMA'S PICS. I REALLY RELIED HEAVILY ON THE DRAWINGS OF VARIOUS CHARACTERS INSIDE THIS ISSUE TO DRAW MY 3 MANGA TOMA FAN ART!!! originally, i thought i'd just copy the drawing style of some of the fan art i saw in the issues of WINKUP or POTATO that i had. THAT WOULD NOT HAVE WORKED OUT WELL!!!

-WHEW!!! SO RELIEVED AND PROUD THAT I WAS ABLE TO KEEP MY PROMISE AND SEND IN 4 DIFFERENT TOMA DRAWINGS. BUT IT REALLY TOOK A LOT OF TIME AND ENERGY, SO I DON'T THINK I'LL BE DRAWING ANY MORE TOMA FAN ART ANYTIME SOON!! but if they do print any of my drawings, MAYBE....MAYBE i'll be crazy enough to try it again next year, but only for his birthday!!! (laughs)



____________THE WINK UP DRAWING:

-i was gonna have him wear a black suit jacket too, but then that would be a little more complicated to draw, and make him not look as comfortable. haha. and i like how toma looks in just a tie and shirt, w/rolled up sleeves. just like nakatsu in hana kimi!!^^

i love love ties, and i especially love to see toma wearing ties, so i knew i wanted to draw him wearing a tie. also, i think really...the 1st pic of toma i ever saw is from a magazine photoshoot while he was filming hana kimi, the pic above, and he's wearing a simple short-sleeved white shirt and a black tie. *_* kakkoii!!! i love the simple, yet so cool white shirt and black tie look. like in Maou, when naoto was dressed up, looking formal (and semi-formal, at the bar, afterwards), for the funeral. kyaa!!!♥

-i really like seeing pics of toma lying down. not in a provocative/sexy way (though of course, i like those too! haha.) or anything, just like, looking relaxed and natural. just resting. ~_~

-he's got a styled H&C kinda hairstyle. like i said, my fav toma hairstyle. ^_^ and it's black cuz his hair is black for filming ningen, and cuz i don't wanna have to try to shade it/add highlights to it. and cuz i remember paige likes toma's hair black. (laugh)

-it was actually so so hard to draw him lying down in that position!! cuz (and this will be a problem for me in the next drawing, too!) the picture i'm trying to copy, THIS ONE:


it was cut off, so i wasn't sure how to draw the rest. AND he's sleeping on a sofa, while i'm trying to draw him sleeping on a bed. anyway...it took a LOOOONG time for me to draw it right, get the angle right. but now when i look back, i think i made his left arm too small??? ehh... i have trouble making things all look proportional with the next drawing too. big time!! anyway, in the end, i'm not sure...please just think that he's lying on a bed w/white sheets?? eh....


-i think this drawing really looks like toma!!! :D more than the potato bday drawing, cuz this one, i can draw his nose bigger, and draw his lips so it looks full and soft...kinda...anyway, this drawing was a lot more realistic-looking. =)

-THE SKULL ON HIS TIE!! remember that toma likes to wear things with skulls on it??? though i haven't seen him with skulls on his clothing in a long while... but he did wear a tie with a skull on it in that super cute photoshoot f/jan. 2008. that pic that i'm sure u've seen a million times, of toma wearing a black suit and tie, and looking bored while blowing a party noisemaker thingy, and there's confetti, and the text says "the life of the party". :P so i wanted to recreate that...i love how he's all dressed up in formal clothes, but the skull on his tie shows he's ready to rock!! lol.

-the text for this drawing took me a long time!! it's the font from the hana kimi photobook, the interview section 4 toma. BUT it really looks nice, huh?? ^^



___________THE POTATO DRAWING:

-unexpectedly had to change the pose 4 this drawing. -___- cuz i couldn't see the whole pic (the one on the left), so i had a hard time drawing his legs, and looking at other pics of toma in similar poses didn't help much. =[ i really tried hard to draw him crouching like in the pic, but somehow, i just couldn't make it look right. had to improvise, have him sit on an ottoman (almost forgot what they are called, and i spelled it wrong too. haha). THIS DRAWING TOOK A LONG LONG TIME TO DRAW. I WAS SO RELIEVED WHEN I WAS DONE AND COULD MOVE ON TO THE TEXT PART!! yatta!!

-the text...the font is copied from an ARASHI potato photoshoot. haha. a lot easier to copy than the japanese text of toma's name!! and i was gonna just randomly make some letters a different color, like they did in that arashi article, but then afterwards, i realized the parts in pink spell out "iko", which means "go!" in japanese!! cool, right? GO TOMA!!! ^o^

-sorry about toma's too long and skinny legs!! cuz i looked at diff toma pics, all at slightly diff angles...and then i combined them, and this is what i came up with. i like this drawing from the elbows up, though. lol.

-i had trouble deciding how to draw this last fan art. i wanted toma to look more boyish and the drawing style to be more simple....i almost drew him in that really really simply, no nose, just big eyes and mouth, and very sketch-like, simple, kiddy way. but that looked too weird, and i'm not good at drawing like that. so i went back to the manga book i bought and looked for a style in between. not too simple, but not too realistic. BINGO!! found a good in-between style. from the same manga that i used for the POTATO bday drawing and the WINKUP toma-lying-down drawing!! haha.

but i had a lot of trouble drawing the BIG EYES. the first time was easy, cuz 1 eye was winking. but with both eyes open, it's harder than u expected to draw!!! cuz if the eyes r too big, it just looks really weird!! but i finally got it right after many tries...


-but the bottom, HIS SHOES!! it's his MAOU TEAM shoes!! haha. remember, he and ohno bought matching tennis shoes, and even wore them when they went on the Tokyo Park show! toma's is red, ohno's is black, right? ...anyway, i tried to draw them exactly as i saw them f/the TOKYO PARK screencap. ^_^ MAOU TEAM, YEAH!!!!!

-did u notice that toma often wore vests (in photoshoots and on tv shows, and in real life) while filming maou? and toma looks awesome in vests. so, that's why i chose this outfit 4 him. and cuz he wore almost the same thing in one of the pics that went with 1 of his ikita kotoba pages. ^_^ (the one where he's in a "playing golf" pose!)



-i got so frustrated with the peach/skin color water color pen that i used to color his skin. i didn't know that it changes color under different lights!! i didn't know till after i was done coloring the WINKUP toma sleeping drawing. it looks more light/yellow in bright kinda yellow light than in regular sunlight (in which it looks darker/more peachy orange than yellow). so it was hard to color using that pen, u're not sure of how it really looks like if it's nighttime and u're under light that's not perfectly white. geez....luckily things worked out ok with the POTATO drawing, though i had to color it under not-white light and wasn't sure what it really looked like till i could see it in the light of day! confusing!! x__x

-it's hard to trace over my pencil drawings, even with that very fine black pen i bought that never smears. it's hard to control the ink flow, and i can't really keep the really small fine pencil lines most of the time. and coloring it with markers is tricky too, u have to do it very fast, or u'll leave streaks.

-i accidentally got a few smudges on this drawing, on the right side. it's not that noticeable, though. i hate how some markers leak ink on my hand!! which causes the smudges.

-in order to finish this drawing, i stayed up till around 1:30am, which is really late 4 me, and i got only 5.5 hrs of sleep that night. wow....but i just HAD TO GET IT DONE!!

-was so relieved when i finally finished the drawing. but then i got a little sad...it's the last one!! :(