2017 was a pretty trying time for many people. I know I wasn’t immune to the difficulties that the year brought on. But 2017 also harbored a lot of great things for me in terms of growth as an artist, and it wouldn’t be without help from the many people that I’ve intereacted with and helped me to grow and improve as an artist. And so for my Christmas pic (which was uploaded earlier today), I made ornaments of chibi represenations of these people. But now I’d like to take this opportunity showcase and thank each one individually.

Pixiv/Pawoo

Here’s the mascot for both Pixiv and Pawoo. Compared to previous years, I’ve had a lot of growth on Pixiv, probably the fastest of all my galleries. I’m also one of the few foreigners active on Pawoo, where I post artwork previews as well as photos around New York City, whether it’s in the neighborhood or in Midtown Manhattan. I was also one of the few (if not, only) foreigners to contribute artwork to the Pawoo Maintain contest. As a consolation prize, everyone got 10 Pawoo stickers. I showed pictures of my stickers to join in with the crowd of users posting theirs, and even on of the main Pawoo tech guys, Norio, was taken by suprise. Overall, the community at both Pawoo and Pixiv are cool people and motivate me to continue show them cool photos and and artwork. So thanks to them, as well as Norio!

DeviantArt

One of the oldest galleries I’ve maintained. When I was celebrating my 10 Anniversary of doing artwork, it was really my 10th Anniversary of being on DeviantArt. I’ve had some ups, as well as some downs. At one point, I even considered abandoning DeviantArt (topic for another day). However I remain on there. While the place has its fare share of controversy and… certain fanbases… one thing I learned to do on DeviantArt is to simply build upon your own circle, and stay out of the ones that you don’t like. I also have quite a few older fans on there that’ve stuck with me since 2006. There’ve been some that sadly deactivated their accounts or abandoned DA altogether, and it’s sad to see them go. But to those that are still there and like my artwork, many, many thanks for sticking around!

Artzie Music

For many years while doing artwork, I mostly listened to videogame music. Then in 2016, one night while browsing youtube for some new music, I came across Artzie Music and his collection of music from other musicians in the Vaporwave and Future Funk genre. This opened the doors wide open to music that I never would’ve thought I’d listen to. I listen to more Future Funk and NuDisco nowadays, but thanks to Artzie Music, I now listen to old school music too, like Motown and Japanese City Pop. I also got introduced to Japanese music from the greats like Junko Yagami, Toshiki Kadomatsu, Tatsuro Yamashita, Mariya Takeuchi, etc. I also got introduced to new school talent too, like ミカズキBIGWAVE, Android Apartment, Night Tempo, TANUKI, 彩花 Ayaka, and several others. And I’m also grooving harder than before while drawing. So thanks to Artzie Music!

Also, when you see Lum in the thumbnail, you know the music’s gonna be good!
(And yes, thanks to Artzie Music, I’m gonna watch Urusei Yatsura)

RCTR

I spotted RCTR’s pixel art (which is actually a 3D model) over on Twitter where it was retweeted by one of my followers.The design of Iristar looked so awesome, I had to try drawing it myself. When I showed a preview of the Iristar pic, RCTR drew my profile pic, which at the time was Big Al from Pilotwings. I knew from there he’d be an awesome friend to have. All throughout 2017, he showed updates of his game, Space Adventure Iristar. Overall it’s coming along nicely. He had to delay his game to 2018, but I wish him the best of luck on its completion. Can’t wait to play it!

RCTR’s Twitter

Xiaowoo

Xiaowoo’s artwork was another that was retweeted by one of my followers. Xiao’s artstyle is very distinct, with a light and soft watercolor look to each pic, not to mention some very attractive ladies. And the chibi artwork is cute too. Every time I see either Mieko or Makoto on their bikes, I can’t help but make little pocket engine noises with my mouth. But yeah, every time I see Xiao’s artwork pop up on my Twitter timeline, even if I’ve already seen it before, it’s always a delight and a mood lifter. I’ve been tempted to buy a keychain charm from Xiao, though I don’t know if they ship overseas. Some day in the near future, I hope to draw fanart of Mieko. But for now here’s a chibi.

Xiaowoo’s Twitter
Xiaowoo’s Pixiv

Sakimichan

The character up there is Sakimichan’s OC, Kimi. If there’s one way I can describe Sakimichan’s artwork, it’s beast mode! My GOD this lady can draw! While the pics are nice to look at, they’re also pics to learn from as well. She was the first creator I became a patron of on Patreon. While it was to see how exactly Patreon worked and how she distributes rewards (since I started a Patreon campaign myself recently), I got hooked on the vid processes and seeing how exactly she works and how I could apply those techniques myself. What helped the most was her video tutorial on Grayscale Shading vs. 100% Color Shading. In combination with other tutorials (particularly from another artists that I’ll get to in a bit), I got a better idea of what to do with certain shades and how to “nudge” them to get the shapes and sizes that I needed. I also learned to embrace Pressure Sensitivity. So many thanks to Sakimichan! Her pics and tutorials helped me improve quite a bit with the execution of my artwork.

Sakimichan’s Twitter
DeviantArt
Patreon

MagicPotion

A blast from the past! Helena of Saffron is one of MagicPotion’s OCs. As for MagicPotion, she’s one of my OG followers from waaaaay back on DeviantArt (like around 2007-2008). 2008 was actually the last time I drew Helena, and marked something of a turning point in my artwork back then. She’s got a badass warrior design, and I see lots of other artists have fun drawing her. I always see Magicpotion comment on my artwork on DeviantArt, and I’m always appreciative of her feedback. So as a resolution for 2018, I wanna make it a goal of mine to comment on her artwork more (as well as others). So thanks to MP! And congrats on the new baby! May she have good health and a happy, creative life with ya!

Magicpotion’s DeviantArt
Twitter

Gashi-Gashi

If there’s one life changing event that happened last year, it was Gashi-Gashi’s stb-chan making me a Starbucks addict! I became a fan of Gashi-Gashi after a… certain event (from a group a people from a site that rhymes with Fumblr). It’s always interesting to see Gashi put his own spin on things, one of them being the Starbucks siren, which he then named stb-chan. Many other artists joined in, including me, in drawing her and putting our own spin on it. Outside of artwork, I remember always going to the Starbucks across the street from Book Off to use their bathroom. One day I got delayed from going home after going to Book Off. So I decided to spend time at the Starbucks there. It’s like stb-chan creapt into my brain and whispered “….DRINK  IT!”  My very first coffee was their Pumpkin Spice Latte. From that moment on, I was instantly hooked. Here, she’s drawn with one of my fall addictions, French Roast blend. I’m hoping to do a small comic of Chelsí and stb-chan with this blend soon.

Gashi-Gashi’s Twitter
DeviantArt
Pixiv

J-List

Woah, it’s Megumi again! Though this time it’s not for the contest, but just for fun. J-List was integral to my artwork in 2016, when I made my first purchase, the Sexual Nude Pose Book featuring Hibiki Oootsuki. I also ordered a lot of fun products from them as Christmas gifts for family, which included little cat paw squeeze toyes, a cat mug, and a small plush of Gudetama for my newborn nephew. I admitedly didn’t order much from them in 2017, but I’m hoping that changes soon. Regardless, I’d like to thank J-List for being there for us weebs for all these years!

J-list Store
Twitter Account

Double Maximus

HONK! Here comes the clown loving mushroom fanatic herself, Double Maximus! If there’s one word to describe Maximus’ artwork, it’s Skittles! No seriously! She has probably the most colorful artstyle among the artists I follow. She’s also got a quirky sense of humor when it comes to the modeling side of things. For her chibi, which is her clownsona, I tried to give it just as much color as she would.

On a serious note, she does put up some really good motivational posts on Twitter, one of which really helped to lift my spirits. I was felling particularly down one night about my artwork. I won’t say why exactly, but I started to doubt my artstyle again. The following day, Maximus put up a thread about artstyles. But one post in that thread had me go “Yes! Thank you!”, to which I responded. So consider this chibi as a thank you for the morale boost Maximus. Thank you!

DoubleMaximus’ Twitter

Bokuman

Okay, I’m not gonna lie, I had no idea as to what exactly to draw for Bokuman. So I went with my gut and recreated that Tentacle pic of Velma he did (which he’s also turning into a figure). If you’ve seen my Twitter posts, as well as the descriptions of some of my pics, you’ll see that I mention Bokuman quite a bit. His tutorials have helped me greatly when it comes to muscle, bone, and fat definition, as well as the tool to use for such things (even though I still stick with my Airbrush most of the time). It’s also through his tutorials on shading in particular that I was able to shade in some of these chibis as well (and also the gift boxes in the Chelsí and Belinda Christmas pic). He’s also the second creator I became a patron of on Patreon, merely for the love of his work (and he draws some fine ladies too!). So lots of thanks to Bokuman for the inspiration and for the tutorials as well.

Bokuman’s Twitter
DeviantArt
Patreon

Genzoman

The highlight of my year was when Genzoman followed me on Pixiv. I opened my notifications on there and saw “Genzoman started following you.” I was like “What? NO FREAKIN’ WAY! He followed me!?” Mind you, this is the guy I take direct inspiration from to shape my artstlye (one of a few actually), and also did the artwork for Double Dragon Neon, and most  recently the cover art for The Mummy Demastered. It was a huge morale booster. From that moment on, I had to up my game and push harder in developing and improving on my artstyle.

As a side note, I also had no idea what to draw for Genzoman. So I drew Fuu from Samurai Champloo (one of his favorite anime, as well mine) squeeing over the chihuahua in his profile pic.

Genzoman’s Pixiv
DeviantArt
Twitter

Kaho Shibuya

And here’s Kaho Shibuya, one of the many JAVs I follow on Twitter (not afraid to admit that). When not lookin’ pretty for the camera, she pulls out her trusty ukelele and sings a song. One of the first things I tend to do when I first wake up and get outta bed is check Twitter to see what’s going on. And many times in the “In case you missed it” section, there was Kaho on her ukelele singing a song. She has a cute singing voice, and is a delight to hear in the morning when trying to wake up and get to drawing.

Kaho Shibuya’s Twitter

Meru

If you follow Meru on Twitter, you can tell she’s proud of her butt. In fact she works out a lot to get that butt in shape. For that, it’s our duty to salute that booty! One a serious note though, last year I had gastric bypass surgery to lose weight. To keep a long story short as to why I did it, it was to stop the migraines that plagued me for over eight years (which was the result of morbid obesity). After getting the surgery, I was told my the bariactric doctor to keep up my activity, since excersise is only one aspect to weight loss. While yeah I’ll be encouraged to eat less, I still need to remain active. I don’t “workout” as much as would like since I sit on a computer all day drawing, but one thing I do almost everyday is walk around the neighbohood doing errands. And one aspect that helps here is Meru’s progress with her own workouts. She pushes herself to continue working out and get in butt in shape. So for me, I’ll intentionally take longer paths to a destination in order to increase walk time to push myself to continue losing the weight. It can get tough sometimes, but Meru’s a good motivator to keep going.

In case you’re wondering, as of this post I weigh in at 281 lbs. Before the surgery, I what a whopping 415 pounds! So yes, I lost 134 pounds. And I’m still losing! So thanks Meru!

Meru’s Twitter.

Yurika Ten

Yurika Ten is a THICC Japanese model that I follow on Twitter. Gonna go ahead and admit, she looks good in them photos. But damn does she know how to work it! But on the serious, for anyone that wants to draw thicker girls, Yurika is a good model to reference, whether it’s for the body shape or the outfits she wears. I chose to depict her chibi form with a red dress she wore on one of her photos and looking f a b u l o u s! Not sure what else to say other, other than to keep up the good work Yurika!

Yurika’s Twitter

Swimsuit Succubus

If you’re in the erotic artists circle, at some point you heard of Swimsuit Succubus. She’s been an inspiration to many an artist with her sexy cosplays, me included. And I’m sure many of us agree when we say that she’s a fun person to draw. For this one, I chose a different route from how she’s drawn and chose the gym outfit that she wore for J-List. It was really satisfying shading in the wrinkles of the shirt since I only used one color for it (usually I’d use 5). Hope ya like the gift Susu! And thanks for the inspiration to do artwork. Hopefully soon I’ll do a normal pic for ya!

Swinsuit Succubus’ Twitter
Patreon

Bunny Ayumi

Bunny Ayumi returns, this time in chibi form! Last time, she made a small cameo appearance in my Megumi pic for J-list’s contest. So now she’s back. Like the cameo (where she was in calendar) I chose the one-piece outfit she had in her profile pic. It’s not often I get to draw a curvy chibi, especially one with the shading style like this. Like her gf Swimsuit Succubus, she’s also inspired many artists, whether it’s draw her or her outfits. And just like Swimsuit Succubus, here’s hoping sometime soon I get to do a full on regular drawing of her as well. So thanks to Bunny Ayumi as well!

Bunny Ayumi’s Twitter
Patreon

Jax Spade

The homie Jax Spade! He hails from Jet Set Radio Live and helped me with securing a commission from an up and coming Youtuber, Queen Juju. We always got some funny conversations over on Twitter, whether it’s about artwork, summoning the “Dark Lord” himself (he knows who I’m talking about), or general tomfoolery. Most convos we have are mostly on JSRL. He gifted me a game I really wanted over on Steam, so I chose to draw his Avatar. Actually the first time I drew a straight up skull. It was pretty fun to do actually.  Hope Ya like it Jax!

Jax’s Twitter

JetSetRadioLive

While we’re on the subject of JSRL…

JET SET RADIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Last but not least, I’d like to that all the Rudies on Jet Set Radio Live. I remember last year listening to some Jet Set Radio music on a now defunct site that had music from and based on JSR. Listening to all there was, I wondered where else I could find music like what was on there (mainly the music based on it). This led me to Jet Set Radio Live. At first I went on here just to listen to the music. I kept seeing messages pop up on the screen and didn’t quite understand where the shout outs were coming from. Little did I know there was an entire community hidden on the station itself, under “Chat”. So I clicked it, put my initials “DPX” on there, and entered. Some were talking about artwork, cheif among them being the homie DryWall. I mentioned that I did artwork too. Once I showed them this gallery, they were amazed! At first I wasn’t able to post images on there since you gotta earn your “colors” first to get that privlege. But I got colors once I did my Twintelle pic. But no lie, these guys are an awesome group of people to hang out with. Listen to good music while chilling and drawing some artwork, doing some homework, or playing some games. These guys keep me motivated to draw. And when I’m feeling down, whether it’s artwork I’m not feeling or Twitter’s algorithm screwing with me again, I always hit up JSRL to speak up. Special shout-outs on there to (again) Drywall Thief, Takkun, Vadell, ByByBlue, FlyntLock (you cheeky cad!), Faust, Funk (special thanks to him for the computer part reccs), Riisa, and the grandmaster himself DJ Professor K! AND to the composer of the JSR games, Hideki Naganuma! SEGA, PLEASE, GIVE US JET SET RADIO 3!!

Jet Set Radio Live
Official Twitter

And that’s that! Thanks to everyone mentioned on here for an amazing 2017. Here’s to an even better 2018! Cheers!