Brainstorming

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “Sengoku High Yearbook” (temporary title) ♦ Summary? The gang in a series of yearbook-style photographs, each with his/her accomplishments, personal sayings, and the ever-popular “Most Likely To...” listed underneath. ♦ Notes? I was bludgeoned by this little idea while simultaneously reading Newtype and contemplating my oft-postponed continuous IY doujinshi. I already can see Miroku and Sango’s yearbook ramblings (and maybe Kikyou’s and Ayame’s), but the rest are still blurry. Hmm.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “Boys’ Life” (temporary title) ♦ Summary? The IY boys goofing off, unsupervised and unchaperoned, in the modern age. ♦ Notes? I really don’t know how this came about, except that I wanted an all-male pic as a counterpart for the all-female “FFX-2/IY” one. That, and I had this visual of Kouga wearing a T-shirt with one of those old Max Fleischer cartoon wolves, Inuyasha discovering the finer points of dog care in the 21st century, and Miroku pulling a “Risky Business” and lip-syncing to “Good Time Rock ‘n’ Roll”. (Yes, that scene. Because you know he would.)

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “Sunlight” (temporary title) ♦ Summary? Miroku and Sango in a lake. Or is it gonna be a hot spring? ♦ Notes? I was looking through photos I’d snapped with my digital camera, and came across one I’d taken of my friend on an extraordinarily bright day. I was fascinated by the way the sunlight bounced off of her skin, and got inspired to make a picture using that effect. I’m almost absolutely certain this one’s gonna have mild nudity in it, a la “Kama Sutra”.

♦ What? CG/Sketch ♦ Title? “Attack of the Fangirls” ♦ Summary? Miroku encounters a new breed of woman: the rabid fangirl. ♦ Notes? This one also came from a suggestion in the “Ideas” section, and the details inspired by random conversations with some similar monk-loving friends and some Japanese fansites. I’ll probably end up drawing myself as one of the pack, brandishing a sketchbook. Even Miroku would be freaked out by the stuff some people want to do with him (like that Miroku okonomiyaki preparation page and a certain oekaki board).

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “The Angel and the Warrior” (temporary title) ♦ Summary? Inspired by two suggestions from the “Ideas” section: a winged Miroku and a sword-wielding Sango. This one’s probably going to be two separate CGs with the same background.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “The Actor” ♦ Summary? Based on the happenings of Episode 78: a tight-lipped Miroku contemplates the possibility of losing Sango to a richer, better-mannered, better-looking (older?) man. ♦ Notes? I’m usually ambivalent about filler episodes, but there was something about Episode 78—one of the first IY episodes I’d ever seen—that stuck a chord with me. Maybe it was Miroku’s reaction to a rival: instead of becoming territorial and openly hostile as befitting the typical (Takahashi) male, he was quiet and polite even though it was clear that he was disquieted by the whole matter. He seemed resigned to give up the fight before it had even begun, and appeared to understand what it meant to place Sango’s happiness above his own. It’s stayed with me to this day, and it was only when I was listening to an MP3 of an old melancholy song called “The Actor” by Michael Learns to Rock that spurred me to think about drawing something off it.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? None as of Yet ♦ Summary? A club scene, inspired by a suggestion from the “Ideas” section. ♦ Notes? Too bad you’re not gonna see Miroku do a tango anytime soon, ’cause I have the feeling that he’d be a good dancer (anyone who can take their first bike ride on a mountain path with a girl in the front basket while fleeing from an enraged half-demon has got to have a supernatural sense of balance). In that case, I was kind of intrigued by La Loca Del Caribes’ visual of Miroku and Sango doing the club thing. Toss in Ayame, Kouga, Kagome, and Inuyasha as possible fellow dancers, and you’ve got one promising CG. It’ll be interesting to see if I can paint sweat.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? None as of Yet ♦ Summary? A solo pic of a character I haven’t done yet, like Shippou, or Rin, or Kaede. Or maybe another one of Kikyou, because the first didn’t do her justice. ♦ Notes? This comes about because I really, really need to draw the less popular characters, and they really, really need to be drawn more. Especially Kaede. I haven’t seen a single fan art of her anywhere.

♦ What? Parody Series of CGs ♦ Title?To Be Determined ♦ Summary? A CG series with the IY cast shoehorned into posters of movies like “Charlie’s Angels” and “The Matrix”. ♦ Summary? When I was new to drawing the IY cast, I did a little doodle of the girls in poses mimicking those of the poster to the movie “Clueless”. Though I can barely look at that pic now without feeling overwhelming shame, a recent suggestion from the “Ideas” section kind of re-sparked the movie-poster premise.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “Fire and Water” ♦ Summary? Um...they’re underwater. And there’s fire (sunlight?) above. ♦ Notes? *sigh* Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure the romantic-underwater theme’s been done countless times before, much like the “kiss” premise (and I’ve already seen at least three done for Miroku and Sango, on a couple of Japanese fan art sites), but I can’t think of any other theme wherein I get to experiment with watery/firey hues.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “Wanted: Dead or Alive” (temporary title) ♦ Summary? Got this idea from a cover to one of Chris Claremont’s X-Men: Days of Future Past storyline (y’know, the one with those “Apprehended”/“Eliminated” posters?) and a Cowboy Bebop image. Sango with a gun? Blasphemy!

♦ What? Second IY AMV ♦ Title? None Yet ♦ Summary? Er...the usual hijinks with Miroku and Sango (and the rest of the IY gang). With soundtracks. ♦ Notes? Even though I have, like, no spare time, no more space in my CPU, and no real vision as to exactly what I want to do, now and then I still get seized by the urge to do a second IY music video. I have vague ideas for TLC’s “Damaged” (Sango POV, serious), Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” (Sango POV, humor, UST), and Britney Spears’ “Toxic” (Sango POV, UST, humor). Other songs I’m interested in are Sugarcult’s “Pretty Girl” (Sango piece), Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle” (Sango POV, humor), Zebrahead’s “Playmate of the Year” (IY couples, humor), and Korn’s “Freak on a Leash” (IY boys piece). Maybe I can actually get started on this when summer comes, and if I can afford a new hard drive. And a faster connection. Me and my lofty goals.

♦ What? Printed English IY Doujinshi ♦ Title? None Yet ♦ Summary? After tangling with yet another female youkai, Miroku ends up being doubly cursed when he loses his most important weapon—and no, it’s not his Kazaana. ♦ Notes? Aside from the aforementioned main story, I thought that maybe I’d throw in a couple of one-page baka mangas and sketches of various IY characters. I don’t know how many pages this is gonna be—it’s probably gonna be 32 or 38 6.625 x 10.25 saddle-stitched pages. Unfortunately, printing this thing is gonna cost money, and since I’ll have to blow all my money on college stuff, I don’t know how I’m gonna start on this. Someone suggested that I...uh, sell it. I don’t know. And what about those Japanese copyright laws?

♦ What? Short IY Doujinshi ♦ Title? None Yet ♦ Summary? After a hard, hot day of demon exterminating, Sango goes home and finds in her bed the last thing that should be there. ♦ Notes? Here’s a side-effect of translating a hentai doujin: you start thinking about doing one of your own. For some reason this idea refuses to leave me alone despite the fact that the rating’ll probably go to hana (soft) hentai. Since I can’t even draw that sort of stuff without laughing hysterically at my art, it’ll be interesting to see what I actually manage to get down.

♦ What? Fanfic ♦ Title? To Be Determined ♦ Summary? On a sweltering hot day, Miroku tries to get Sango to skinny-dip with him by telling her—of all things—a love story. ♦ Notes? Of all the fanfic ideas I have on the backburner, this one has the greatest chance of being written, just because it’s a one-shot. It was originally going to be part of that “slices of life as a shard hunter” fanfic, but I think this one can stand alone.

♦ What? Fanfic ♦ Title? “Musings of a Third Wheel” (temporary title) ♦ Summary? First-person narrative of...well, a third wheel.

♦ What? Fanfic ♦ Title? To Be Determined ♦ Summary? Weird little train-of-thought slices of life as a shard-hunter in the Sengoku Jidai.

Finished

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “If You Need Her” ♦ Summary? Inspired by the aforementioned fan fiction. ♦ Notes? Read the story in the “Fan Fiction” section, and then you’ll know why I’m basing a CG off of it. ♦ Progress? My drawing style changed again, and I had to re-draw Miroku, but the Sango part is already loaded into Photoshop and being traced. The rough previews are here and here. I found that I couldn’t possibly smoosh the two together in a aesthetically pleasing manner, so I’ve decided to keep them separate. The preliminary colored version of the first sketch is located here.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? To Be Determined ♦ Summary? Fallen angel Miroku embraces the closest thing he’ll probably ever get to heaven. ♦ Notes? This one was also inspired by two suggestions from the “Ideas” section, one of which that involved a winged Miroku with Sango reclining against him. I already had a sketch of them long before the suggestion came into my inbox, and the way it was described made for quite a visual, so I’m digging out the aforementioned sketch for modification. Since my draft of the “Smooth” CG isn’t cooperating with me, I’m using this as my next layout image. ♦ Progress? I found the sketch and added the wings. Here’s the rough draft, and the version that’s being colored.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “Sango’s Stocking Stuffer” (temporary title) ♦ Summary? Sango, being the good girl that she is, gets something extra-special from Santa that barely manages to fit into her Christmas stocking. ♦ Notes? Got hit by inspiration while I was walking to the Metreon after class; for some reason my sense of humor’s been dampened lately, but I wanted to see if I can resuscitate it with this pic. ♦ Progress? Being colored in Photoshop. Totally missed my December 25th deadline due to...well, family functions and other assorted Christmas-related distractions. Oh well. Anyway, the rough preview’s available here, and the secondary colored version here. It’s actually much harder to paint an indoor scene than an outdoor one, I’ve found.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “Mine” (temporary title) ♦ Summary? Just a simple pic showing Miroku staking his claim on his favorite body part. Well, body part that’s not on his body, anyway. ♦ Notes? Basically it’s a study of human anatomy and skin tone coloring. And no, there’s no nudity in this one (then again, I’m practically immune to nudity now. Figure modeling class tends to do that to you). But there is underwear. Woot. ♦ Progress? Sketch is done and has been scanned into Photoshop. Rough preview’s here.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “The Disguise” ♦ Summary? Miroku, needing a disguise, somehow ends up with one inspired by Sango’s rather distinct ensemble. ♦ Notes? I was originally saving this scenario for a fanfic of mine, but since I doubt I’ll ever get down to actually figuring out the rest of the plot, this’ll just have to become a CG instead. It was supposed to be just a simple picture, but then I got an actual sequence of visuals, so more likely it’s going to be four CGs in one. Kinda like a colored manga, minus the word balloons. ♦ Progress? Sketch is ready and awaiting color. Rough preview’s here, and the preliminary colored one’s here.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “Ethereal Priestess” (temporary title?) ♦ Summary? My first non-Miroku and/or Sango CG, this one featuring Kikyou and her Shinidamachuu (soul-stealers/death soul insects). ♦ Notes? Haven’t really seen a single Kikyou fan art anywhere—at least, not on any North American IY site (though the Japanese seem to be more magnanimous toward her, because there’s a lot more fan art of her over there—lovely ones), so I’m being rebellious and making this. ♦ Progress? Sketch is 50% colored. Preview’s here.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “Spider Webs” ♦ Summary? The long-postponed sort-of cover to my “Kumo no Su” doujinshi. ♦ Notes? I’ve been working on this thing long before I even opened this site; I must’ve made about eight or ten different drafts before I settled on this one. It’s gonna be a bit dark and sexy and gory, but then again, Inuyasha’s supposed to be kind of a gothic horror series, isn’t it? Just thought it was about time I did a piece of art that reflected that. ♦ Previews? Already loaded and being colored in Photoshop. Very rough preview’s here.

♦ What? Anime Music Video ♦ Title? “Player” (temporary title?) ♦ Genre? Humor/Romance ♦ Summary? There’s every other girl in the world, and then there’s this girl Sango. What’s a player like Miroku to do? ♦ Notes? I should not even be making this, and with good reason: I have a grand total of around six subtitled Inuyasha episodes (damn you, dial-up connection!) plus a bunch of clips I either cropped from other eps or borrowed from the multimedia section of Yakusoku to Negai. That’s like a cardinal sin for any self-respecting anime music video maker right there. But I just bought this cool new computer and it’s got something called “Windows Movie Maker” on it, so I thought I’d try messing around with it. And then this came out. Well, it isn’t like I’m out to win any con awards or anything. But if you can somehow overlook the horrible, horrible subtitles at the bottom of the clips, I think it’s quite adequate for a first try. And...it figures I’d make a Miroku-centric AMV based on a song from an album named “Booty Call”.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? “Liplock” (temporary title) ♦ Summary? Self-explanatory, ain’t it? ♦ Notes? This comes about because I realized, amidst much heartache, that IY episodes 27 and 95 are the closest we’ll ever get to see this kind of oral action. ♦ Previews? Sketch is being readied in Photoshop. Rough preview’s here, and the preliminary colored one’s here.

♦ What? CG ♦ Title? None Yet ♦ Summary? M + S future, for site contest ♦ Previews? Preview of the first half is here, and the second half’s right here.

♦ What? Test Doujinshi Page ♦ Title? None Yet ♦ Summary? Miroku and Sango are up to something, and Kagome, Shippou, and Inuyasha have an idea... ♦ Notes? An attempt at a “proper” doujin page (as opposed to the sketchy “Fwoop” one). I styled it after those “baka mangas” they sometimes have in those doujin books—you know, single page with self-contained plot, which in this case revolves around the consequences of eavesdropping. ♦ Previews? The original preview’s here, and the newer, screentoned one’s here.