Tea Party and Manga

Shirt.Woot customers can vote for
my entry "Tea Party v.2."

I entered a Shirt.Woot contest for the third consecutive time. The theme was kawaii (cutesy and adorable).

I 'm skipping out on the next weekly contest. Whew! I tried some new techniques such as fading out the side of a scene on a shirt and alternating warm and cool colors in main areas.

I guess I got really into the tea party scene, especially after reading manga about cafes and bakeries. 

Cafe/Dessert manga has become one of my guilty pleasures. After reading about takoyaki at a New Year festival, I tried some at Genki Living. Takoyaki is like a ball of bread with octopus bits and veggies. I would order it again. :)

Takoyaki

This type of manga genre can be very simple, but I think it makes the attitudes more pure and heart-warming. The heroines usually want to create happy moments for others and have strong determination. I stopped reading Kitchen Princess when the plot got complicated and tragic.

Kitchen Princess

My First Tee Design

"Night's Kiss"

My first tee design, "Night's Kiss" is on RedBubble. :)

After reading Batman: Hush comics, I was inspired to draw Batman and Catwoman in the pose of the Art Nouveau painting "The Kiss."

"The Kiss"

For the tee design, I went with the WB animated series outfit for Catwoman. As for Batman, the cape is the color of the shirt you choose. Your choice affects Catwoman too.

Shirt color options.

The image is also available on Society6 as a print, iPod case/skin, and laptop skin. Plus I have "Night's Kiss II," which has a night city background.

"Night's Kiss II" as a laptop skin.

Impact on a Child

I thought the following chinese proverb from my daily planner was worth sharing.
"A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark."

There are humorous villains who cry about the toy he didn't get or not being hugged enough.  However, the quote applies to everyone as the influence and as the one influenced.


Here are three villain examples with an impacting childhood moment anyway:

Gru from Despicable Me,

Ego the critic from Ratatouille (Spoliler),

And Megamind.

Megamind at the top.
Metroman at the bottom.

The last two are cast into the roles of villain and hero according to looks and homes.

Can you think of an example? It does not have to be a villain or from a movie.

The First Shirt Artist I Follow

I am now following artist Megan Lara because of her Art Nouveau shirts.

The Labryrinth shirt mentioned in my last blog lead me to TeeFury. Then an email showcased pop culture characters like Harry Potter. I had liked the outline used, but the sneak peek at Megan Lara's other works drew me in because they had more Art Nouveau aspects. Here's a poster of 3 Nintendo heroines:

Art Nouveau is one my favorite art styles and Lara's use of it is breath-taking. I just started adding more layers of color and sections when influenced by Art Nouveau. Lara also has the intricate designs, double outlines, and a foreground that pops out!

Recently, I decided to check out other era styles like Baroque or Rococo. But after seeing Lara's work, I want to still be influenced by Art Nouveau at this time. With all those features, Lara's composition still holds together. Maybe the glue is in color theory.

Thank you, TeeFury for showcasing her work. And thank you, Megan Lara for listing your Facebook and website. :) I am geeking out.