Sunday, January 17, 2016

Happy Birthday Hanayo-chan!

Hanayo Koizumi
Support the artist!

Good evening everyone! Today is January 17th, which is Hanayo Koizumi's birthday! I'd like to take the chance to say, Happy Birthday to one of my favorite Love Live characters; Hanayo. As usual for those who don't know, Hanayo, is a character from the popular idol anime, Love Live. The anime also has a video game version known as Love Live: School Idol Festival; which features a rhythm game like play style. I recommend checking it out!

Hanayo being born in mid January makes her a Capricorn in western zodiac. This sign is an earthen sign which represents balance and a more down to earth personality. She is somewhat of an introvert, but is very knowledgeable about idols, and sports glasses at times. The main trait that people know her for is her famous white rice obsession.

Although I relate a bit more to Honoka Kousaka, Hanayo is definitely an amazing character. I admire her passion when it comes to idols and I love that she just eats as much as she wants, without paying too much attention to her figure. Hanayo gives off the feel of someone you can easily spend time with, without worry of mistakes or errors. I believe she is a very inspirational character!

Please wish Hanayo a wonderful birthday, and as always, thank you for reading!


Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Anime Artist Spotlight: Mynare

Fire Emblem: Awakening "Olivia" by Mynare

Hello everyone and welcome to 2016! This is Shooting Star Dreamer's first post of the year, so Happy New Year! For today, I'd like to take the focus off of Shooting Star Dreamer and pass the spotlight to another creative individual. Today's topic is Mynare: a digital artist that creates extremely superb work.

Focusing mostly on art of video games and anime, Mynare has composed many art pieces which showcase a more "cute" feel to most characters. Attached in this post are many of his works, as well as links to his social media accounts. This time, I was able to get feedback from the artist himself on work, anime, and personal life.

Artist at a Glance

Ranma 1/2 by Mynare
"I am a digital artist, and I mainly focus on drawing fan art from my favorite video games or anime. I actually consider illustration nothing more than a big hobby, I don't see it as a profession... I really just have fun drawing!"
"In the real world, I'm currently an art student studying visual effects for film....Simply put, my job is to create and integrate CGI elements or other things into live action shots and make them look as realistic as possible." 
In my spare time, I love to play fighting games! I like the 1 vs. 1 competitive interaction. Admittedly, the only franchise I've been decent at is the Street Fighter series, but I enjoy almost every fighting game under the sun..." 
"A little dream I have is to create my own fighting game, and if I can start learning now, maybe that dream can be a reality someday!"
"My all-time favorite film is actually My Neighbor Totoro, and a little interesting fact is that my artist name, Mynare, is derived from "My Neighbor". "
"I also love candy and sweet sugary drinks. To anybody reading this, if you can find me and surprise me with these at an anime convention, we'll be best friends. = w = *hint hint*"


Fire Emblem: Awakening "Tharja" by Mynare

From my point of view, the thing I love the most about Mynare's works is the sense of innocence and playfulness in his art. Upon viewing his work, I can see the character's in a different way than they are normally portrayed, yet they are still recognizable. When it comes to fan art, I believe it takes a certain level of skill to achieve this.

In addition to this aspect, you definitely can see Mynare capturing defining traits in characters. For instance, the article's thumbnail features the character Olivia from Fire Emblem: Awakening. She is a more quiet, reserved, and endearing character and is reflected as such in her image. Meanwhile Tharja, (pictured to the left) is a more menacing, mysterious, and gloomy character. Even though both artworks are done by the same artist, there is a clear difference in the two.

Mynare represents a great part of the moral message here on Shooting Star Dreamer; breaking the stereotype. He's taking his anime interests and dreams and running with them, which is something I greatly admire!







Inspiration

Urusei Yatsura "Lum" by Mynare


However, enough about my thoughts, let's look at some more input from Mynare! One of the main things I look for in an artist is their inspiration. Without inspiration there would be no art, and the same is true for most creative projects.  Fortunately, Mynare has a lot!

Mynare states "Inspiration for me can be as easy as scrolling through Tumblr, or looking up my favorite artist's blog...I enjoy so many styles of art, but I tend to be inspired by pieces that are highly technical in terms of anatomy, color, lighting, etc. I resonate and study Japanese/Eastern artists a lot more as well."

I can definitely relate to this, as I get a lot of my inspiration from viewing other's peoples work, even if it doesn't apply to my own. Watching anime gives me inspiration to write, but listening to music created by others and seeing amazing art work amplifies this even more. Yet, there was another point that was stated that resonates with me greatly.

Mynare says "I think the constant encouragement from my family, girlfriend and artists I've met through Tumblr and Twitter also inspire and motivate me to continue and improve myself as an artist. They're a great collective of people who are also just genuinely nice and respectful, which I appreciate about them very much. They keep me going!"

A lot of my friends, family, and other bloggers help me keep going as well. I think it's very interesting to see that regardless of the creative outlet, a lot of the inspiration and motivation lies in the same places! This last quote from Mynare sums up the closing factor of his inspiration, for both him and other anime artists alike.

"I attribute anime to being the inspiration for all of my current artistic endeavors, because of the quality of animation, the creativeness of storytelling, and the character design. Personally, I love series that break the boundaries of the real world, and have really unique and quirky universes. My favorite series, in order, are: Ranma 1/2, Gurren Lagann, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Sailor Moon. "



Creative Process

Gurren Lagann "Nia" by Mynare

With that being said, let's delve into the mind of Mynare and his creative process! Usually when it comes to designing art, every artist has a specific process they follow. Some plan out all the steps necessary to making their work, while others just go freehand, without any specifics. In regards to our wonderful artist, he states:

"I still consider myself a beginner when it comes to art, and the way I approach every drawing has been extremely different! I have no 'set in stone' process, rather I tend to challenge myself and always try something radically new..."

Which I think is a good approach to many things. Being flexible and able to create works of many different types and styles is a wonderful ability. Still Mynare has a process of sorts which he tends to follow.

"I collect pieces from other artists and try to break them down, figuring out their creative approach, and try to apply their techniques to my own drawings, while keeping my particular style of drawing"

Although this style comes with many advantages it has it's drawbacks; such as being prone to failures. Despite this Mynare still keeps working hard and strong, and learns from his mistakes, which is amazing!


Conclusion

In conclusion, I believe that Mynare is a wonderful artist that deserves heaps of attention. His art style is really amazing and I think he can do great things with his art. Not only is he talented, but he has a wonderful outlook of the world and of others; which is something I truly admire.

So with this in mind, please everyone, take time out of your busy schedules to support him! He deserves a lot more attention. I have provided links to more of his works and social outlets below!

As always, thank you for reading!

Links