Theory of a Deadman

Theory of a Deadman – they are a Canadian rock band that makes country, acoustic, as well as alternative rock music. They produce rock music which I really love listening to, as well as how funny the lyrics are at times. Their song, “I Hate my Life”, is my most wanted song from them because it literally depicts someone who hates his life, and the song’s lyrics are not just funny, but can actually be real, such as how he hates his boss, how come nice guys always lose, and how he hates everyone to the bitter end. Not just I find myself laughing on the floor because of the lyrics, but putting the video with makes it so funny to the point that I’m in tears and won’t be possible to work due to that. However listening to their music actually makes one better, because of how lively they are, and not just a band who writes lyrics that make no sense just so it can be called music. Another song of theirs, “Lowlife”, is also top-notch; just like the first song, this is also funny yet so true. It’s so charming that I’m so addicted to their music, and always gives me a ‘thumbs up’ like feeling that gets me going. Images: http://www.mtv.com/bands/t/theory_of_a_deadman/flipbook_05_05/01_H.jpg

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – this is a popular light novel in the series made by Nagaru Tanigawa. This novel, let alone the series, became so popular that it sold more than 4.5 million of its copies when in was published. It’s so great that it had been adapted to different media like animation and movie, as well as coming to the west being licensed by Little, Brown. This is one of my favourite books along with Mike Gayle’s My Legendary Girlfriend, and I openly tell everyone to read it whenever those everyone talks about books. It is a comedic science fiction story, whereas it develops a certain romance to the main protagonists. I really like how the story is told from a male’s point of view, since most books nowadays have female protagonist who somehow are serious all the time. In this book, however, because of the nature of the main character, named as ‘Kyon’, he keeps inserting comments every time another character say something or about the situation he is in. He is also the narrator of the story, which is both fascinating and funny as he uses sarcastic remarks at everything. This book also influenced me to like comedy to the point that I’d become a comedy writer in my own stories. Image: http://www.ultimateotaku.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/The-Melancholy-of-Haruhi-Suzumiya-Episode-01.jpg

Mike Gayle

Mike Gayle – he is a novel author and a freelance journalist who writes in different magazines. I had been a big fan of him when I first read his novel, my favourite book of all time, ‘My Legendary Girlfriend’. Gayle is the kind of author who advances in a subgenre of novels call romantic comedy, and I absolutely enjoy reading almost every book he wrote except for the new ones. I can say that every second I feel the effects of the book and how it made me smile every time. For most books that he creates, they are somewhat realistic since roughly every book the protagonist will be a man with a confrontation of love and life and the rest would be funny according to the situations he is in. I'm keen on writing stories on my own because of him, and as he is my influence I tend to include comedic effects or play on words in my pieces. It managed me to read more of his books, learn more about him like the books he like himself, and his life, about how he wasn’t just a brilliant author, but also how he gets his book published with meeting different kinds of terrible. Image: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/2008/01/30/MikeGayle460x276.jpg

Touhou Project

Touhou Project – this is actually a series of multiple games, often shooting games. The graphics, programmes and the music are all made by a single guy named ZUN and he is responsible for the popularity of these games. There are loads of distinctive characters that were made by him, and each of the characters alone, not to mention the characters, have their own huge fan base not only in Japan but also in the west. While I only have two of these games, I’m not in particular addicted to them. The music in these games is my absolute favourite of all background music in every game I played. The characters have their own theme, and the music varies on each character depending on their nature, which can range from a calm, piano piece to rock. I really love the different background music, especially the “Septette for the Dead Princess”, which has been covered by many fans however it still has the feeling of being lonely yet fierce, and angry but appearing calm. The music gives me a boost whenever I’m falling asleep from doing any work, and at times, I would be awake until I’m calm since there are some frightening themes as well which are really good. Image: http://news.pcrdist.com/files/2010/06/touhounew.jpg

One Piece

One Piece – a popular Japanese comic that has started since 1997 – I have been following the series ever since I was kid and it’s still going strong. For every media, be it a movie, comic, or a cartoon, the story and the plot is needed, and One Piece takes it to the top with the rich story considering the main characters, especially their backgrounds and the adventure unfolding before them. One of the key points that got me hooked is the characters – they’re not just distinct, but they have their own charm which makes it easy to remember them. The designs of the characters are somewhat weird and kind of childish however that is the selling point of One Piece. There are characters which have tons of different design, but few will also have a simple design like the main character which has a t-shirt for the whole arc of the story. Whenever I draw an original character, it will look more or less like a character from the comic. Not only the characters are beautiful, but also everything in the comic is a pleasure to the eye, like how the panels are placed, the backgrounds stand out, and just about everything. Image: http://im.glogster.com/media/6/47/4/73/47047323.jpg

Artist's Statement

When I start drawing, it reminds me of my friends for some reason. It may sound so cliché, but they appear as ghost and telling me that I need to finish an illustration. I'm currently on a path to be a freelance illustrator and an animator which is either a flexible or a troublesome job in the future. While day dreaming such goals in life, I’ve been dividing my time to practice, doing tasks such as writing a statement and doing shadow art of which I heard belongs to the subject by the name of Illustration. I use the pencil as the most, as an artist, and of course, it is made up of a graphite stick clothed with a piece of wood. It was because of my slow progression that I blamed the pencil as such a basic tool once, I became not only deaf but also blind for a limited time. My stubbornness finally reached its limit that it was almost complaining to me; I listened to the whispers of society and opened my eyes to a paradise the world showed me. Taking an advice from a friend, he said. “An artist never blames his equipment”, and following his advice I went home with full speed to research using my slow internet the images of various artists who use pencil as their main equipment. Learning from that little chat made me stick to the pencil, and it’s not for the sole reason of copying people’s style, but as a discovery of my self’s stronger point. There have been way too many detours and diversions to the path I wanted to go to until now, but with my stubbornness coupled with overconfidence, I can clearly say with a breath of relief that this road hasn’t been bad at all. To start with, I had no idea at all of what I was doing, even having underdeveloped skills of drawing as my trump card which I was so proud of. I really thought that I was the best, and still keep thinking that I am, but whenever I see other people’s greatest work, to me my work is just a baby’s scribble, if not better. I start to think that reality can’t be that far, and I’ll just get the urge to laugh at myself for being an amateur. Although they may be better than me, I just can’t keep losing to them any matter how widely known or new they are. The thought of competing never crossed my brain in the slightest, even using unfair advantage of being experienced or not, but for some reason I believe that if I want to grow and be the genius I boast everyone about, I’ll keep drawing until my bitter end. I stopped drawing once, and I’ll most likely burn all my brain cells than remember a reason why. There’s a huge world outside of mine, and there lives loads of people who can connect with others: my friends kept telling me to follow my instincts and never give up, and until this day I have been drawing and practising even if it sounds like a joke. That is how I became someone I'm proud of today and the future: my friends are my inspirations and will always be, that’s why I am always reminded by them whenever I start drawing.