‘Festival’ by Cherriuki
And so here I am. Yep, I’m a nobody, but one of my many aims with this blog is to introduce amazing visual artists to the world.
Let’s kick off with a budding manga artist: Cherriuki!
Cherriuki is a watercolour pro who creates cute and beautiful shoujo- themed images , such as the one above .
What I particularly like about Cherriuki’s art is the attention she pays to clothing. She doesn’t just draw clothes on a character, she gives the clothes a personality of their own with intricate little details like ribbons , corsets, lace, and accessories like gloves , earrings and veils, which can be seen in this magnificent illustration of a Deathly Bride To Be.
What also strikes me in this image is the background. The background, too, is stunningly done. It really adds up to the overall cold and, indeed, deathly feel of the illustration. You can really see that the bride is shrouded in an air of death and decay. The skull and the falling rose petals add up to this athmosphere . But she’s strong; she has a fierce look in her eyes. She knows what’s going to happen and doesn’t fear it.
Which brings me to the next point. Cherriuki’s art is generally bright and happy, but she’s not afraid to experiment with dark, emotive themes , such as this piece, titled Drown. 
The water , and the depth of it, is wonderfully done. It’s realistic, but at the same time it emphasises the darkness of it all , as if the girl is sinking deeper and deeper into despair , until she reaches the hands which in turn are reaching out to her, pulling her in so that she can’t escape. The dress in this picture is also amazing (I seriously wonder what amount of patience Cherriuki must have to draw the black and blue squares), and the ribbon forms a neat contrast with the amount of blue and white.
This festive piece was done to celebrate the Year of the Dragon. I think this is my one of my favorite pieces in her gallery so far because of the breezy and light feel and the perfectly chosen colours. The rich colours of the dragon and the character’s dress work well with the light background and the details are equally well done. The decorations in the upper corners really add up to the mood of the piece without making it too crowded.
Some other favorites of mine include Heart’s Lock .
And Dream of Fairies and Tales
Last but not least, an illustration from Cherriuki’s webmanga, Phantom Pirate.The main character, Maria , is a lively , spunky girl and I think that really shows in this illustration. I absolutely love the elaborate sword hilt and the worn look of the ‘Wanted’ posters .
It’s also interesting to see how reminiscent Cherriuki’s work is of manga artist Matsuri Hino’s (author of Vampire Knight) , escpecially the profiles of her characters. However, Cherriuki has a unique style of her own that to me stands out even among shoujo manga published by industry artists, and I hope she will achieve her dream of becoming a professional manga artist. Why not stop by her website and say hi? Or visit her DeviantArt page where she posts a lot of her artworks. Oh, and be sure to check out Phantom Pirate too!
pen , paint & pencil 