~Chibis~

Chibis, or cuter, smaller versions of certain characters.

Chibi styles differ from people to people. But generally it comes with an oversized head and a smaller body compared to it. The usual proportion of body to head used is 1:1.5 (one head against one head and a half) as you can see below:

Chuubi by Momoko122

Of course, the 1:1.5 ratio is not the golden proportion. You can develop your own style, your own ratio. An example below by Momoko122 uses the ratio of 1:2; this ratio is more “human-like” and allows more possibilities in postures in my opinion..

Xephia here uses a ratio of 1:more or less 1, and look how adorable her chibis are!

Xephia’s tumblr

Calvariae uses the 1:1.25 ratio, and you can also find below her step-by-step to drawing a chibi in her style.

A very cute tutorial by rann-poisoncage

Even more examples from rann-poisoncage HERE

Some years back, I wanted to look for my own style of drawing chibis, so I carried out a series of “trial and errors”

On the left: a 1:4, On the right: a 1:2, both…nuhhh…

Next trial, on the left: a fatty 1:1, on the right: a 1:1.5, still…nuh…

Trying again, on the left: another 1:2, on the right: another 1:1, squared, but not that bad, right?

So I tried a series of doodles on it, and decided that I would use this style.

Just that this style has some drawbacks, like above and limited postures.for instance.

I also found out after some while that there is already something similar called the graphig

Basically the ratio for this chibi has evovled into 1:around 0.3, The head is really heavy.

There are so many types of chibis, yet no wonder there will be similar ones. How to stand out from all these similarities?

• Simplicity or Complexity

Your chibis can be simply clean in linearts and details or it can be made up of complexe linearts together with details. Sometimes a good background can add extra value to your chibis!

• Coloring style

My color style is somewhat flat and simple. Yet, your chibi, your coloring style! No one can impose how you color them! As this is your touch and will make your chibis stand out eventually!

Hope this not-so-professional tutorial can help you! Looking forward to your chibis! Do share them with me!

~Cosplay~

If you remember from my previous posts, I mentioned that I am a big fan of manga and anime. Ever since cosplay has made its appearance on the internet, I have admired how the cosplayers put their effort in reproducing the details of not only the costumes and the wigs, but also enacting their favorite characters from mangas, animes, comic, cartoons, games, movies, idols and even celebrities.

Some people might think that cosplaying is an immature act, but I consider it as a form of art. Taking examples of theatrical plays, and even dramas, series, movies; aren’t they all a form of cosplay? Where the actors and actresses put on make ups, wear outfits and play to be fictional or even real characters on stage or in movies. Cosplay is based on the same principles, only that more and more of them make their own accessories instead of buying ready made ones.

In recent years, cosplay has surfaced gradually in Mauritius (See photos here) and I have seen improvements in the quality of the cosplays since it first started. On this island where materials lack, the cosplayers still manage to fabricate their accessories, each year, they are getting better and better! I can’t wait to see what surprises the Mauritian cosplayers are reserving for us this year!

Meanwhile, Ting here tried one with borrowed wig. I also found out that make up is really important, see below…

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Please view the below content with utmost care, not meant for weak hearts… (> w <)

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First of all, simply wearing the wig results in the horror below…

My face has a lot of imperfections as you have observed. Pimples, pockmarks, well, you name it! After I have done basic make ups such as foundations, eye shadows and eye liners, here’s the not-that-messed-up result:

Still lacking something…Yes! You’ve guessed right! More eyelashes! My sister Judy helped me to put the fake eyelashes on. One eye done…See the difference already?

Here go my both eyes, ta-da!! So far so good~

With the help of my sister again, we did some photoshooting at home. And since we lacked a lot of equipments, Photoshop comes in handy when you want to enhance the photos a bit! You can see the difference below:

THAT POWER OF PHOTOSHOP!! (By Judy a.k.a. Momoko)

Cosplaying Hatsune Miku was a fun experience for me. I couldn’t hold back my laughter during the photo shooting sessions though, had to be zen, had to be zennn…!

You can view more of the photos HERE if you are interested! Thanks for reading till the end! Please accept a bow(?) from me!

~Figurines~

Happy 2014 Friends!! For the first post of 2014, let me share a post about my figurines~!

I am not a crazy figurine collector, but…once you see one worth collecting, I am sure you wouldn’t resist!

The above figurines were the very first ones I have received as gifts from parents and relatives. I have no idea from which anime the most left one is from though… The Sailor Moon figurine on the right is not of really good quality, it becomes sticky after a while and collects dust as you can see in the picture.

Next in my little collection is Himura Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin, he came along with Kamiya Kaoru when I was on a trip in Hong Kong with my family. At first sight I fell in love with him since I was crazy with the anime and manga at the time. I loved the details the figurine has, it captured well the expression of Kenshin, and loved even more his Sakabatou!! But…my brother broke one of it few years ago!! (T_T)

I didn’t mean to take the last photo above, but I did, niahahaha~Kenshin Face Plank! Below you can see where the Sakabatou is damaged…I have no idea how it broke in the first place!

Who is this beautiful lady? She is…(Mysterious voice: "You already spoiled her name above, バカ") alright, Kamiya Kaoru san!

I like her kimono, but why is she standing in such an inclined way!? Her facial expression is not that perfect as I had expected though.

There were also figurines of Sagara Sanosuke and Saitoh Hajime on sale if my memory is good, but since I wasn’t the one paying, I preferred not to ask for more~! But when you start working and earning…hehehehehehehehehhehehehehe~

While going to the Y zone in Taipei Main Station with my friend, I fell in love with her at first sight! Yes! And she is….

Hatsune Miku chan~! I was hesitating to buy it on the first visit, then on the last visit to the Y zone before I came back to Mauritius, I finally went for her and bought her~Together with…

Asuna from Sword Art Online~! Another cute figurine I fell in love with at first sight too!

Aren’t they cute together? (WHUT?!)

On the same day I got the two figurines above, my sister, Miki, out of curiosity and fun, tried the Capsule Toy Machine which was holding Shingeki no Kyojin capsules~As result of the two trials, we’ve got…

Levi, always so angry, and Eren, always so shocked~!

Eren, always so shocked, and nope, Miku is not a Kyojin…

Levi, standing on Miku’s head like a boss

To end this post, a little bit of fan service from Levi and Eren?