Dance of the Firefly

LORD, have mercy. 3 days. 3 DAYS.
Who would ever have thought this picture would have taken so long to finish, eh? Certainly not me....I was actually planning to finish this on the same day I drew it.

So, about this picture.
I wanted to top the success that my other drawing "Follow Your Dreams" had, so I created this as a companion piece to it...more or less. So, that involved some serious brainstorming and a whole lot more attention to detail.

I wanted to appeal to Kimi's Japanese roots, so I delved into a more Pan-Asian backdrop....complete with pagoda-like structures, Japanese lanterns, and a nod to 'Grave of the Fireflies'. Originally, I wanted to make this a nighttime scene, but I figured that I've got to try something new this time around, so I made it a sunset scene instead.
I was rather surprised at how well it turned out.

Some interesting tidbits about this picture:

- There were actually three buildings in the background. One was removed from the final cut for two reasons. One, I had already spend a good couple of days rendering the pagodas, and I certainly wasn't in the mood to continue on that. And Two, it looked BUTT UGLY. The proportions were a mess, and made the composition look awkward.

- Also, the second building in the background also had a window on the side. Removed for looking too crooked and bent out of shape.

- Though not entirely intentional, the design of the pagodas in the background is supposed to resemble the helmet of a samurai...somewhat. It just came out that way and I thought it'd be a good story.

- Kimi's dress was originally green, but changed to red because it's a more exotic colour.


And now, a playlist of the songs that saw me through this, from beginning to end:

- "Jazz Maniac" by Michael Sembello (this actually inspired me to start this one. I suggest you download it from his website, and give it a listen.)

- "Human Nature" by Michael Jackson
- "Liu Kang's Tomb" by Dan Forden, Mortal Kombat Deception.
- "Voices in the Dark (Erotic Dreams)" by Enigma and Deep Forest.
- "Diary of Jane" by Breaking Benjamins
- "Addicted" by Kelly Clarkson


Also, I figured that I needed to show the DA fans some appreciation for nearly 10,000 pageviews, so I jumped the gun and did this. Somewhat ironically, I also did this because at the time, I had SEVERE artist's block. Let's just say that whenever I have troubles like that, Kimi always seems to help me out, in someway or the other.

So, please enjoy my humble offerings.