Sometimes if I don't have a particular idea in mind to sketch or paint I listen to music.
I just re-imagine what if the song looked liked something in a tangible form what would it look like? Whether if I am paying attention to the instrumentals, lyrics or take the title of the song.


One song I stumbled upon was Eat the Sun by Tora.


https://toramusic.bandcamp.com/track/eat-the-sun


I know where you get that from 
Get that from 
You were lying in-accused so long 
All we might have missed in a sense is gone 
But you're a buyer in a tin foil suit and you eat the sun

For the longest time I was pretty sure he was saying
"But you are lying in a tin foil suit and you need the sun.

Until I looked at the lyrics. 

I also like the like the line "Is it so finite?" 

 Generally I'm terrible with listening to a song and catching lyrics I have to listen to something multiple times to get a gist of what it saying.   

Also if I have a particular image in mind I don't like to look at the music video. Most of the time it doesn't live to my expectations or the fact it is someone else's interpretation and I don't want to sub-consciously copy them. It conflicts. 

I drew another thumbnail at a different angle didn't like the feel of it. 

So I reverted back to my original idea. 

Once I get a gist of what I want to do I up the resolution of the thumbnail
to a high print quality standards of 3000px to see more details when I do a detailed sketch,
I use an older version of Perfect Resize called Genuine Fractuals. 

? Now to bring the thumbnail to the next phase. 

Since the game Age of Empires II I was fascinated with Joan of Arc. I thought it would be cool to draw her. With stained glass and the mystical feeling I feel when I hear this song. I do like history and got into a geography bee in middle school and in high school had better history grades than the valedictorian with minimal studying.

So this drawing stems from two different sources of inspiration.
Music and Joan of Arc,










So about a month ago or so I injured something in my rotator cuff. For awhile since I was so swollen, that the doctors could not determine if it was a sprain or a tear in one of the muscles for the first few weeks.I had an mri done this past week and it was a strange experience... I had to fill out 3 different forms if I was claustrophobic... I'm not, but I felt my gephyrophobia well up at times...

 Hopefully when I get my results back this week I won't have to do surgery. In the first time in weeks I feel good and not having to take painkillers regularly. It is humbling at times that since I can't do certain things by myself and at the moment people that that I know have been accommodating in helping me do basic tasks. Even people that I thought didn't care for me a bit! 

Thank you as always -K

In a time where there was no such job title as a concept artist twenty something years ago a Graphic Designer and Animator named Yoshitaka Amano illustrated concepts and illustrations for Square Enix's Final Fantasy game.

Despite being the company's "Final" game it became a commercial success and thus saved the company and became their flagship series.

  Amano has been a staple and set the groundwork for Square Enix's look for future games until FFVI and contributed to designs until 7. Even now Amano has designed pretty much all the Final Fantasy logos which are symbols of what the game is about or a theme.

Amano works in a distinct mixed media style with sumi-e, watercolors, inks and other materials.


Since I got the book at a used bookstore at a extremely discounted price, the sacrifice is I didn't get the cool awesome cover flap... I'm not a hardcore collector where it has to be in extreme pristine condition.

The book is hardcover, spans 115 pages of high grade glossy paper. 

Published by Dark Horse, the price has gone down to justify the price of the book. 

It is relatively thin with the hardcover and without. 

One interesting aspect of the book is that it is purely a picture book with no text just letter and number annotations. In the last page there is an index matching the annotations with the title of the work. I have mixed feelings about this. The titles of the images are not long and could of been placed on each page but then again it would ruin the flow and consistency in the design layout of the book. 

It is difficult to convey the expansive panorama pages in 

the book that have high volumes of detail with multiple figures and such.   

All the images are in high resolution and fairly large where one can see the bleed and noise of the watercolor and inks being used. Even un-intentional tiny ink splatters!

Dawn: The Worlds of Final Fantasy is a nice forgotten gem that is from my library. 

When I was a fan it was awesome to see the artwork from 

these illustrations was the base for sprites in game. It is a nice edition to your library seeing Amano's work with his elegant brushstrokes that sweep you into his images. 

Watercolor and inks are one of those mediums that require a light touch because it can look overdone and sloppy without careful precision to achieve vibrant translucently.  

Yoshitaka Amano is definitely a master of his craft.

My favorite character in the Final Fantasy Franchise. Gilgamesh. 

Screw Cloud, Squall, Balthier and other bishis of the series. 

He wields weapons from other characters and is generally a hard boss fight.