HOME | DD
Zucreelo — A broken moon, a morning star
by-nc-nd
Published: 2011-07-17 20:36:23 +0000 UTC; Views: 3657; Favourites: 73; Downloads: 83
Redirect to original
Description
This is RIDICULOUS.I've gone back and forth so many times between big highs and lows trying to get this blasted piece done over the last almost two months, and maybe it shows ... is it trying to be too many things at once? Reflective yet tongue-in-cheek? If you poke deep enough then you'll see the grave-ish themes I've tried to explore … otherwise, it's simply a darker take on your regular crack Touhou: two oversized fairies charging down a pack of flail-toting toad-minion-thingies which are going to get ka-REEMED because Cirno has unleashed her gosu-Godlike-modo. Bleeh.
Is there room in the Touhou-fanverse for sober reflection and real-world commentary, alongside the supreme silly-Bakaness? I hope so. Up each viewer I guess, whether they wanna embrace it or not. =]
Long story behind this. Original inspiration: THIS [link] gorgeous vocal of Cirno's theme. Never before had I found a version of Beloved Tomboyish Girl that I'd really liked, so I had to do something to celebrate. First try was this [link] . Then I wrote the first poem, which I decided was too BIG for the first picture, so I started the pic again. After about a month, the picture outgrew the poem, so I penned the second to balance out. (I really felt like doing a response poem, sort of like a dialogue; Daiyousei's first being submissive and quaintly resilient, whilst Cirno's reply more openly defiant and uplifting.)
The two sad-ish poems together for two lonely characters eventually became hellas grim … So I watched Madoka to cheer me up (oh the irony), and spent Saturday adding in frog-monsters and yesterday finishing them. And thus was how this crazy thing came to be.
Theme song for piece: [link] I KNOW IT'S PATCHY'S SONG I DUNNO WHY THIS … but it became my fave for so much of the time working on this, and the emotions attached to the piece are entwined with the song. There's even a short film I've dreamt up, paced in time with the music, portraying Daiyousei and Cirno's friendship, and events leading up to this scene … if I get around to it, maybe I'll storyboard it? =3
The poems crafted the picture, but a lot of the poems' imagery was inspired by Make It Stop by Rise Against [link] , the catalyst for the first poem. The second's motivations were different, and more personal, but nonetheless, hopefully it's clear that the common theme of hope in the face of despair unites the two? ^^
This piece goes out to all those who were ever stepped on or put down for who they are, or the choices which are theirs to make; and those who ever doubted or hated themselves because of what others said or did to them, or because of their own buried fears. May you persevere and prevail, alongside friends who see you for the treasure that you are, not the filth that the heartless others, or your inner demons, might have you believe.
It's always darkest just before the dawn,So stay awake with me, let's prove them wrong!
(Tim McIlrath)
<3
- D.
Touhou and its characters belong to ZUN.
(With cameo characters from Shaft, Inc. ;3)
Art and poems by me, art done with Wacom Bamboo tablet in Photoshop Elements 3.
Related content
Comments: 42
Ah I meant to say "A new take on a well-known and over-meme'd character."
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Awesome drawing with a new take on a well-known and over-meme'd, and I see a Rise Against quote in the description. Double points.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you. ^^ Well, just trying to follow the other version of the meme without any irony I guess - 'the strongest' played straight.
And awesome, you a keen RA fan? I like so much of their stuff from their latest three albums, still need to check out earlier ones. Alongside certain TH vocal circles, they're the soundtrack to my life at the moment. I don't know if there are many bands out there which rock as hard as them in both music and lyrical themes. <3
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Am I keen RA fan? I dunno, I only have almost every album and single from "Revolutions Per Minute" all the way up to "Grammatizator" and practically everything in-between. I even have their version of "Making Christmas" from Disney's "Nightmare Revisted." AND, I've seen them at the Warped Tour.
"This is Noise-Ep" and "The Sufferer and the Witness" are by far my favorites.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
*bows down* Okay, you win big time. 83
Oh the tour
And I had no idea they were on "Nightmare Revisited". How could I miss out on such coolness?
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Gaah this is.. this is so.. -brain explodes like the others-
Auto-favorite >w<
ALSO, Is that Utsuho I see in the top right? Has the middle piece she has... Or is that just a coincidence?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks so much, ^^ and yes, that is Okuu up there in the corner, one of the three Easter-eggs I've thrown in for the heck of it. =3 Glad you spotted her!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This is something that you would see in a 19th, 18th, 17th, 16th, 15th, or 14th century European art gallery. It's really captivating.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank-you dearly for this kind comment. ^^ I'm so happy you're able to see this piece in such a way.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Good lord thats alot of detail in this pic! But I gotta say, it is abit overwhelming though. Its like ever aspect of the pic is cramming for attention till the main point of it doesn't receive the true attention it deserves. The moon and the castle in the background are vice versa, I can hardly notice them amongst everything else supposedly if they were one of the main pointers of the pic.
Dont get me wrong, the level of detail is spectacular, but everything else gets either too messy or over shadowed.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I'll admit, this was something I never thought of before, the amount of detail getting in the way ... o,O Thank you for pointing it out! It seems to be a grey area to look out for that I've stumbled into, I think - I mean, some pieces I've seen by others are much more detailed than this, but perhaps the subject is highlighted well enough, and the detail becomes extra but noticeably secondary? I'll have to keep experimenting I guess, and ask others on this point too.
It's funny that you mention the castle ... that part was completely meant to be background and the quite unimportant, just a location detail The focus should be on the mid-ground figures primarily, and then on the dark minions about to attack them. Did you not get this from the piece? And was there anything I could've done to highlight these more over the rest, do you think?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Oh so it was? In that case, forget about what I said about the castle. XD
Perhaps its just a misinterpretation on my part.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
No, no, not at all, and everything else you said still stands. It's something very valuable to keep in mind for future compositions - thanks for bringing it to the front of my agenda.
As I asked though: have you any ideas on how to bring out the two central characters, and their enemies, better in this image?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hmmmm perhaps making them larger would work. Im not sure, but some part of me tells me that if they were both abit larger and center to the picture, with a wee little less stuff going on in the background.
In this case, somehow your Violet Ash picture worked out better.
Of course this is just on pure opinion, dont take my word to greatly for what it is. =x
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
AHHHHH! AHHHH! OH GOD
WHAT IS -HE- DOING IN THERE?!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Stalking some Cirno. After all, she is THE STRONGEST magical girl in existence, no?
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
What an interesting take on the world you have.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Oh? What do you mean by that? o,o
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Everything you create has a similar style. Dark, dull colors, smoke and clouds; it's all very cool.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Great to know, thanks a heap man. =]
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I'M WITH EVERYONE HERE.
SPEECHLESS.
GOOD GOD THIS IS JUST TOO AMAZING.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
HOLY GOD AMAZING.
I'M SPEECHLESS.
This is so beautiful. Wonderful wonderful job. <3
Took me a couple of minutes to tell it was Cirno & Daiyousei
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank-you most kindly. 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
No problem.
and I know Daiyousei can be very beautiful. <3
I mean, just look at her wings, they are beautifull!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
So very near speechless again O_O
This is absolutely incredible, a wonderful companion to Violet Ash. Your composition skills have always been impressive but this takes it to new heights. The spiralling of the perspective the deeper into the picture gives such a great impression of the violence of the sea and sky. The slopes give it another angle to view from and the way the figures lean slightly immediately makes sense with their wings.
There is so much here. It's haunting. There are touches of Darkshore in Wow, Spiderwick Chronicles, of Hopeless, Maine [link] and it's so different from anything I've seen of Touhou that I feel you're exploring something enormous. As you said, it's a graver view and I'm sure it changes the fanverse perspective a bit like the first time you start reading into a sinister undertone of something like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or a Grimm fairy tale.
The details give the viewer the chance to keep coming back to the fullview. The smaller toads, an owl in the corner, the castle, and that chain in the foreground. I especially like the detail of the bottom centre creatures arranging themselves in a semi-circle...reminds me of a fairy ring of mushrooms.
Something I need to critique though is the moon. Even with the title it took me a moment to realise that's what it was. My first thoughts were that it was a spotlight of some kind over the castle, and then had that question of "but where's it coming from?" before I realised it was a half-moon. I suppose we don't often see half-moons in art, mostly crescent or full. It's much neglected.
Also is it just me or are the wings a lot larger on these two than they've been on any other depictions of yours? I fear they won't get through the woods in one piece.
I hope this gets the attention and love it deserves after all that work.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks so much. It's been exhausting, but most worth it I think. ^^ I think one big difference was having a scene in mind from the offset - with others I'd always finish the characters completely before starting on the background. The adding of the toad-foes was a random but essential decision too I think, to give the picture more life - it's been two central characters in in Parallel and Violet, but precious little for them to interact with. Finally the fact that about halfway through I found someone, at the heart of the second poem, to dedicate this to, might have helped fueled it emotionally and brought out more than I would've otherwise been able to give.
On the topic of the moon, did you think it could be repositioned to better frame it as a moon, or detailed more to define it better? I'm awfully fond of the half-moon; it reflects the duality that runs through this series of works, as well as echoes an anime series that has stuck with me which always used it as a motif. =]
Those wings ... ^^ Don't I always have a thing for massive wings? I may have taken it further here, I'm not sure ... Let's just say that Daiyousei's snakelike ones can bend and fold enough to pass by, whilst Cirno's icy ones could reconstitute into vapor or mist. 
One thing my mother and a friend mentioned was that the characters look too simple compared to the background. Is there a point, do you think, where there's so much detail in a painted background, that the simpler, lined characters might look out of place? I'm worrying a little at that prospect, and wondering what I might have to change to keep it viable. Or perhaps it's simply a stylistic choice, which some people will always like less or more than others? Good to know you enjoy it though. ^^
Thanks so much once again.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I think the reason I didn't immediately recognise the moon is perhaps that it just sits there perfectly semi-circular without enough of a transition...I would have expected a bit more wispy cloud cover, whereas a spotlight wouldn't have that.
The wings make sense (in the way that magic forgives everything 
Oh hey, critique from your mother - mine does that too and it stings
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Holy crap! It took me a while for me to figure out that those were Cirno and Dai! This is AMAZING!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks so much. ^^ Well they're not in their usual childlike fare for once, heheh, so I can't help but expect double-takes from people, portraying them like this. =3
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
