SPECIAL – A present to JunJun (Li Chun)

Let me start off by saying, that just like JunJun’s mother I seemed to have messed up JunJun’s birthday by a whole month… (yeah, really smooth…) But better late than never, and in a way this is kind of like her Morning Musume birthday (yeah, I’m just making excuses now). Now back to the description.

JunJun is one of the only two foreign members on Morning Musume (would that also include all of Hello! Project ???). I really feel she along with LinLin had it tough. For one, they both had to master a new language, adapt to a new culture away from their families, go through the difficulties of adjusting to the hardships that come from being a Momusu (learning how to; sing, dance etc), and to top it all off, also trying their best to over come and tolerate some of the hate that came from some of the racist fans. Truly a lot of hardships. It really is easy for one to not pay attention to such details, specially when some girls from outside of Japan would do anything to join Morning Musume.

Although her time in the group was short, I’d say she did make quite an impression on a lot of people. I really cannot say what the full plan was when Tsunku decided to incorporate two members from China. He kept saying things along the lines of expanding to Asia. But I wonder if he also had some other plans to go along with it? I wonder if in some way he was trying to change the image that people had of Japan out in the Mainland? Whenever I start reading about Japan, people always seem to make them out to be as racists who think of themselves as more than (or above) the rest of the people on their continent. All I have to say is that like in many countries (if not all), there will always be racists. It just seems to be a very sad truth about humans. But what people just don’t seem to understand is that just because there appears to be a large group of people who speak of hate to other countries and/or ethnicities, you should not group a whole country as if it is filled with these types of people. In many cases (if not all) the groups are actually very small, but they appear to be big because they just happen to be the loudest (in other words they are big loudmouths). It is these types of groups of people that ruin the reputation of people that can range from a small group to a whole country. I should know, there are a lot of these types of people in my home country of Mexico. A beautiful place filled with really nice people, but there always happens to be some idiot who ruins the image for everyone.

Kind of off topic again… In any case I found her to be a hard worker, who tried her best to get incorporated into the group. She also seemed to be a really funny person from what I saw on Haro!Moni (too bad it ended so soon).

Now that she has moved back to China I noticed that she has gotten far too thin. When in Morning Musume she was already thin to begin with, but looked really healthy. Now she seems so fragile. She’s also not the only one, it seems that Ogawa Makoto has also slimmed even further, and just like JunJun, she seems extremely frail. Maybe this was the reason Hello!Morning and Haro!Moni always seemed to incorporate food into the show. Like most man I do prefer a women who is in shape, but there really is a thing as too thin.

I also hear that she now has a boyfriend (one of the perks of graduating from Morning Musume). I’m happy to hear that. I think she is the first of the Platinum Era.

In any case.
If you happen to see this message:

お誕生日おめでとうございます.

Happy Birthday.

FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS.
Hope you enjoy it,

– XERO

SPECIAL – A present to Mitsui Aika

And so we finally have another drawing of a Morning Musume member. This time we are drawing Aika the first of the eight generation. Strangely, she is not as popular as many of the other members. I really do wonder why that is, every time I go online people just seem to spit out the same words, from my experience it just seemed that someone out there started this and it spread till it got out of hand. I do wonder what is with humans and our inability to go against the norm. In any case, what ever others have said I really do like her. Although I will admit that she isn’t my favorite.

If there is one thing that people should appreciate is her amazing perseverance while in Morning Musume, and even now while in H!P. Despite her many difficulties and weaknesses she pushes on and tries to overcome them. This quality of hers is something I hope many look up to, I know I do. This I believe is her strongest charm that many (for whatever reason) over look.

Another thing that really surprised me was that she seemed to have an interest in Mexico! My native country. Upon hearing of the news I truly was overjoyed that a member had set it’s eyes on the beautiful country that is Mexico (which sadly is trying to overcome some harsh problems at the moment, I really do hope that things get much better). And not only did she just talk about it, (information on whether she had anything to do with it, is based on my judgement, only some wishful thinking and deduction) but it seems that plans had been planned to take a concert to the soil of Mexico. They even sent a video where she and Ai Takahashi (which made it even more amazing and filled me with such joy) talked in Spanish hinting of one day going to visit the Mexican fans. The video is at this link:       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbCPH94c-xw

Sadly the fans screamed every once in a while so some of their speech was muffled (I can’t blame them though). But alas the members that I actually cared about are now gone, and even then four other members had already graduated as well. It’s not that I would have been able to go if they did happen to visit Mexico, but just the thought that they took to the time to visit my country would be a great honor.

Well it seems I got a bit off topic, in any case I really do hope you guys enjoy it.

And
If you happen to see this message:

お誕生日おめでとうございます.

Happy Birthday.

FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS.
Hope you enjoy it,

– XERO

XERO Drawing OPERATION – Tiger

It is a new year and also a new era for this channel. After drawing requests for two years using this channel and my closed account: zero9archangel, I have come to the realization that it was finally time for me to be selfish and start drawing what actually interested me. In any case, I would like to thank anyone and everyone who either participated by asking for requests or just happened to stop by from time to time to watch my videos.

How to draw Challenge was designed for me, so that I could try out various different art styles (which mainly seemed to focus on anime and manga). One other challenge was so that I could try and increase my speed when drawing while still maintaining good form and technique which would become apparent at the end, when the drawing was actually finished. Doing good speed drawings was … tough. It seemed that my drawings always seemed to lack something, I just couldn’t really figure out what though. And then I started drawing for my self these past few months, and that is when I realized the difference of a rushed drawing and one that had an ok amount of time given to it. Getting frustrated and wanting to produce better pieces I decided to give in to my selfish desires. Not only will I not be taking requests, but drawings might not be posted on a scheduled basis as they were before. This will give me the freedom to draw to my hearts content.

But you as the viewer will also gain something. A much better display of my skills and what can be possible to create with just your hands and a pencil. I also plan to incorporate color every once in a while. So I hope you will look forward to that.

Aside from this, I am also starting a new project where I draw a character from an anime/manga or game and draw them the way they would look in real life. I plan to call this project: “If they were real”. My plans are to determine every single factor from name to nationality and any descriptions till I can finally flesh out a character. I’ve noticed that many artists just get characters and completely change them, mainly making them white despite being Japanese or from some other ethnicity. So I hope you guys look forward to that.

Lastly I suppose I should talk at least a little bit about this drawing. If I could liken my self to any animal it would definitely be the tiger. That amazing power, agility and speed they possess is something I have always tried to achieve. There reputation around the world is definitely noteworthy. And let’s not forget about their aesthetics either, they are amazingly beautiful animals. Having looked up to them, I have had an urge to draw one for quite some time. Looking at the the many types of tigers out there I would probably be a Sumatran Tiger, although they are not the biggest they are still rather fierce. And there is something about that cheek hair that looks cool.

It would be utterly amazing if I could achieve a title that reads: The Tiger Emperor Xero, when it comes to drawing. Although that’s clearly me just fantasizing.

Hope you enjoy it,

– XERO

 

SPECIAL – A present to Kamei Eri

It has been quite a while since I last uploaded something. But I personally prefer it this way. I really do think that quality over quantity is much better. For this installment I have added another SPECIAL video to commemorate the birthday of another one of my favorite Morning Musume members… Kamei Eri, the sleepy turtle.

I found her to be extremely beautiful and cute when I first got into Morning Musume, and as I got to know her and the rest of the members more, I just could not get enough of her and her segments. She really made things so funny and interesting. I recently found some of her old appearances on some variety shows and couldn’t stop laughing when they declared her as the person who would most likely communicate with aliens. At times her expression really made me think she actually was.

It’s a shame I was only present to see her last year on Morning Musume (that’s what I get for learning about them late). Whatever she decides to do on her future, I can only hope her the best. I’m sure she is capable of forging a path just for her, whether we as fans are able to witness it or not.

As for the drawing, I’d say that I had the most trouble replicating her face. I really took quite some time to draw her out. I had to redo a lot of details. Even at the end, I question whether I was able to truly capture her essence. In any case it was really enjoyable. Now, for those of you who do not know, recently Ai Takahashi released a couple of pictures of the current Eri, who actually allowed her self to get pictures taken of her. And that is where I got my reference material. In other words you are looking at Kamei Eri as she looks in 2012. She really hasn’t changed much, the only difference is that she has her natural dark hair. Which I truthfully prefer, she looks extremely cute and natural.

If you happen to see this message:

お誕生日おめでとうございます.

Happy Birthday.

FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS Tortuguita.
Hope you enjoy it,

– XERO

How to Draw Challenge – Iron man riding a nine-tail fox

request by: 1993KINGoo
This one really gave me a headache. It just had too many details I had to take care of… But anyway here it is. It was requested that I draw Iron man riding a nine tail fox with cup of tea and wearing a top hat. The background would consist of them being on the moon with cherry blossoms on the background. And so that is what I did…

Hope you enjoy it,

– XERO

 

How to Draw Challenge – Asuna Yuuki

request by: jackie85803 

I found this really cool cosplayer on the internet and decided to use her pose for this drawing. She was lying down on the ground and extending her hand to reach whoever the viewer was. Also, her body was pointing towards the other direction (if that even makes sense). In other words her head would be by one’s feet and her body would lay (from our perspective) forward. Which is why I had to draw her upside down. Now I know what some of you may be thinking, why not draw her upright then just flip the drawing over? That would be the easiest and perhaps the smartest thing to do, but I thought that it could be more fun to do it this way. As a challenge. Surprisingly I didn’t do too bad, although I did have to cheat at the end when I had to redraw the head (mainly because I didn’t want to use too much time). I hope you guys give it a try too.

 

Hope you enjoy it,

– XERO

How to Draw Challenge – SPECIAL – A present to Tanaka Reina

This is not a request, nor is it for some contest. Instead it is actually something personal. As some of you may know, I am a Morning Musume fan. I’d say I’m pretty hardcore, although I learned about the group rather late. This was the time when the “Platinum Era” was taking place. I absolutely loved the song Mikan, which was my gate way song to becoming a Morning Musume fan.

Reina Tanaka has really caught my attention since then, and after getting to know her a little better thanks to interviews the the old shows of Hello! Morning and Haromoni she began to take a special place in my heart. As of now she and Michishige Sayumi are the only members of my favorite era, which makes me rather sad. But at least they still remain.

This video is to not only wish her a happy birthday but to also say thanks for all these years of happiness that she has given me and the rest of the world. This present may not be much but it is the best thing I can give her. I made sure to pour all my feelings in this one piece and hope they can reach her. Reina if you ever get the chance to see this, I really do hope I can convey some happiness upon you.

I really don’t know how to make sure she sees this, so if any of you have any ideas please let me know/help me out.

I actually started working on this piece on my birthday a couple of days ago, as a present to my self (I seriously loved drawing her). The only phrase that came out in my mind when drawing was “Un regalo para mi Reina”. Those who know Spanish will understand.

Hope you enjoy it,

– XERO

How to Draw Challenge – Bayonetta

request by: jojo97Revenge
And so my week of rest (sort of) is over. Yesterday I opened a new account to take care of videos that contain narration and that are also much longer (around 30 minutes long). The reason I created it was because I was asked by various viewers over the months. Eventually I had to make it come true. Although the workload has increased, I’ll try to keep making two videos a week for this account like before. And only one for the other account (well one whole video, divided in a couple of parts). This account is for more advanced artists who already have their techniques and style, but may need a bit of help achieving a certain character or drawing. The new channel will be for those who may need a bit of more help. The videos will have somewhat, step by step instructions and a much slower and “clearer” display of my techniques and process. I would greatly appreciate it if you stop by. And also give me the next objective (the choices will come from the videos I have posted here). Here is the link, the channel is named XEROEXTENDED:

http://www.youtube.com/user/XEROEXTENDED?feature=mhee

The next objective for this week is Bayonetta, a character from the game of the same title. I haven’t played the game yet, but all the descriptions always compare it to the Devil May Cry series. I saw a couple of trailers and I gotta admit, I was impressed. It seriously looks really fun.

I made sure to take my time in this drawing, seeing as most of my drawings are done quickly and are not showing all of my potential. So I will do my best to show that from now on.

Hope you enjoy it,

– XERO

How to Draw EXTENDED EDITION – Marisa Kirisame PART I – II – III

request by: DJKrisyKrisdude
So here it is, the first video to posses narration. And the honor goes to Marisa Kirisame. But because this is a new account I can’t upload 30 minute videos yet, so I have no choice but to split the videos for now.

Man was it annoying uploading it. First I had to make the final touches then I found out I can’t upload the whole video. And so I had to restart varios times. And what’s worse is that since the second part is over 15 minutes I have to split that as well…

In any case welcome to my new channel and I hope you guys like it. My first channel will be for advanced artist, while this channel will be dedicated for those who still need a little bit of help. As always, if you have any questions let me know. I would write more, but youtube already erased my description once, and I don’t feel like doing it again.

Anyway you can see the original piece here: http://www.zerochan.net/73526

And the reference I used for the pose was found here:

Hope you enjoy it,

– XERO

 

 

Ame and Obscurus Halloween Party

Originally meant for a contest that was supposed to close today, but apparently the creator meant that that they would not be accepting any more entries on the 28 of October. Oh well. I pushed my self to finish it but I guess it was not enough.

In any case since it will be Halloween I decided to post it anyways. I’m still taking a bit of a break so I wont be posting any more videos till the end of the this week. Hope you guys look forward to that.

The drawing it self looked a whole lot better without color. I feel that when it comes to drawing backgrounds, color pencils have a major drawback. I am in serious need of some Copic’s. When I draw characters in color pencil, I can manage since I can add as much detail as I want, but when the area is too large (which most background are), it takes far too much effort and time to make it look “incredible”. I’ll have to find a solution to this…

Hope you enjoy it,

– XERO

 

How to Draw Challenge – Yuki and Zero To Kiss Once Again

request by: XxHayateNoGotokuFanX
I finally got the request to draw Zero and Yuki together, the problem, I have never had to draw a kissing scene before. So this definitely was tough to execute. There are many things one has to pay attention to. The first is the of course the lips interlocking. There were a couple of references in the manga but not enough to make things easier on me. And I wanted to make it a bit different to give it my “touch”. Another obstacle was the positions of the head, so that the noses do not bump into each other they tend to go against each other sideways. But I decided to try something a bit different and have them face each other directly. The reason was because of the eyes. I wanted them to look at each other. Kind of like the moment just before they part from each other. Kissing then opening their eyes till they finally let go. I feel it is this kind of feeling I managed to draw.

I didn’t really have much of a plan when drawing, which I believe shows in the video. I was really lost as to how to position everything. In the end I had to just draw it out, if it worked leave it, if not then keep modifying it till it works. The hardest part was definitely the eyes. For onething their expressions were hard to imagine. It would definitely look good with eyes closed but what about when they are open? This was where I used up most of my time (specially on Yuki’s eye). The expressions were really tough, but eventually I managed to pull through. But I don’t feel it is good enough, I’ll have to think about them a bit till I manage to get them right at some point…

(SPOILER, kind of)
I decided to go with their looks from the latest chapters which is why Yuki’s hair is so short. Since it was kind of new I found it a bit hard to draw. Zero’s on the other hand was fairly simple. What I’ve noticed is that he looks a little too young, maybe I made his head too small? Finding reference pictures of him in his vest was a little painful since there aren’t that many. Luckily I found a lot starting from chapter 82.

It seems it is that time again, I have to take a break for at least a week then I will continue again. It seems like my drawings are suffering greatly from their full potential so I really have no choice. I apologize to those who are still awaiting their request.
Hope you enjoy it,

– XERO

 

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