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Spikey Hair?! for SamCyberCat

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Hello everyone! :wave:

How are you? Are you doing well? I sure hope that you are! It's been a little while hasn't it?  I'm so sorry about that everyone! :forgiveme:  I'm still quite behind on messages around here and though I have been trying to work on art more consistently, some changes in my life have slowed me down a little.  I'll post more about that a bit later in a new journal entry, but don't worry!  The changes in my life have been GOOD, but they're relatively big ones, so they've taken a bit of my time that I would normally pour into my art and writing! :phew:  I'll talk more about that later though, so be on the look out! :) 

For now though, I wanted to unveil my latest piece, which I've FINALLY been able to finish after all this time! I posted the sketch of this work a few months ago, as seen here.

Spikey Hair?! for SamCyberCat Sketch by Yamigirl21


But given the detail, particularly that of the background, it took much longer than I expected it would.  Don't get me wrong though! I was HAPPY to do it, as I consider this image part of an early Christmas present, for my wonderful friend, :iconsamcybercat: 

My goodness, where do I begin? ^^; Well, this certainly isn't the first time that I've spoken of :iconsamcybercat: who's been so very *very* kind to me, as well as being endlessly supportive, for many many years now! :wow: Her encouragement and amazing words truly know no bounds, and as times passes, I always try to think of new ways to repay her for her kindness, such as in this previous work below:
Gift: Anzu with Layton Plush for SamCyberCat by Yamigirl21
:iconsamcybercat: has even commissioned me in the past, for the following work as well!
Commission for SamCyberCat: Yugi and Anzu by Yamigirl21
But no matter what I do, in truth, it still never seems like enough!  I can't even compare to how kind she is! :)  Honestly, :iconsamcybercat: is just that awesome! :w00t:

For a long while now, we've bonded over our mutual love of the "Yu-Gi-Oh," series, particularly our fondness of the character Anzu aka Tea, in which she manages one of my favorite clubs on Deviantart, the :iconthe-anzu-club: the-anzu-club.deviantart.com/! :airborne:

As many of you know, I also have a soft spot for this character, her various incarnations, and especially my own rendition of her past life, in the form of my beloved Teana.
 Yami + Teana: Illustration 1 by Yamigirl21
Though we initially met on Deviantart, :iconsamcybercat: and I have also become friends outside of the DA community, emailing each other, sharing stories about out lives, and even exchanging various doujinshi titles related to Yu-Gi-Oh!  She has commented on virtually EVERY piece of art and writing that I have done, and always finds such interesting and insightful things to say about each work!  It amazes me every time! :)

She has even become my patron on Patreon, which I also found quite flattering!  Patreon Banner! Please visit my site! :) by Yamigirl21 www.patreon.com/Yamigirl21?ty=… 

In the past several months too, she has even been encouraging me in regards to my fan-fiction, Transcending Memories: A Bond Unsealed- Chapter 1
Author’s Note (April 2010):  Wow...  It’s hard to believe that I started this fan-fiction almost 6 years ago.  So much time has passed, and yet at the same time it feels as if it were only yesterday since I created this work.  Even though I put it away for a while, as I focused on other things in my life, my love for this story never faltered.  And I’m quite sure that it will always be special to me, no matter what... 
     In recent months, I found myself rediscovering the intensity of the love that I felt for the Yu-Gi-Oh anime and manga series, and as a result I was compelled to revisit this fan-fiction, rework it, and maybe even attempt to complete it this time around!  It’ll be a daunting task, especially given the extent of what I would like to rewrite before I continue onward, and because despite everything that I had written previously, I had barely even begun
.  Being a writer herself, I've been asking input about her creative process, how to continue the passion for such a project, while getting a lot of feedback about the story of Yu-Gi-Oh (both mine as well as the original) as a whole!  That also has meant a lot to me, on top of everything else even! :wow:  If you haven't checked out her wonderful stories, be sure to do so!  You won't regret it! :D

Getting back to the image above, I wanted to do another piece for :iconsamcybercat: to combine two more of her great loves into one image!  I had already known, of course, that she was a fan of the character Anzu, but she told me relatively recently that she was also a big fan of Sonic the Hedgehog, which inspired this piece! :w00t:

The idea almost came to me immediately!! Though I *briefly* thought about having Anzu holding a Sonic plush doll,  I didn't want to simply reuse the same idea in the earlier image of Anzu holding a Professor Layton doll.  :P  When I thought about it, seconds later however, I came up with the idea of Anzu admiring Sonic's spikey hair or fur, and being reminded of a certain pharaoh that she has a crush on!

Moving along with the idea, I then remembered Little Kuriboh's Crapsule Monsters episode 2, in which he jokingly made reference to Sonic characters within the parody!  I then thought about using that forest landscape for this piece, as well as the specific outfit that Anzu had sported within the episode.  I also felt the need to address a line in the actual "Capsule Monsters" mini-series that 4kids commissioned themselves....

Overall, I will say that I rather enjoyed this storyline, which was a bit different than what the characters of Yu-Gi-Oh had done before, while still remaining true to the "gaming" themes that had always been present.  The animation was done well as a whole, the story was fun, and we were even given little glimpses of Yami's past as Pharaoh Atem, which for me was a welcome addition! :love:

But one thing that always bothered me about the series was in episode 1, when "Tea" was thinking to herself how she hoped that their supposed vacation to India would be a normal one, "without magic, and without pharaohs!!?!"  To this day I can remember not believing my ears, as I strongly felt that the *true* character of Anzu would NEVER say such a thing!!  Even if you take out the element of romance, which I admittedly like to entertain, I know that the character of Anzu felt very very strongly for Yami aka Atem, at least in terms of their friendship.  In the Japanese version of the series, she would often say how precious their time together was, and how she wanted to cherish every moment of it.  To me, this line felt very out of place and I truly did feel that it was a mistake to include it, as it did nothing to even further the plot.

As a result though, Yami appeared from within Yugi at that moment, in the episode, and though he did not hear what Tea was thinking to herself, he greeted her kindly with enthusiasm for their trip; while giving her a cute wink! :love:  I remember wondering if that gesture at least made Tea rethink her uncharacteristic thought, assuming that she was anything like her Japanese counter-part....  But nonetheless, this is also what inspired my piece.    

Within this painting, I wanted Anzu to be thinking of her feelings for the pharaoh, who is also winking at her in such a way.  It wasn't often that Yami aka Atem was content and even playful within the series, so I wanted to paint this scene in a better light in comparsion to the Capsule Monsters episode.  Given that it's also her imagination, I simply had to have him surrounded by roses, which is depicted typically in shoujo anime! :love:

Though I'm not too familiar with Sonic the Hedgehog, I did play the games a little bit in my youth, on the Sega Genesis.  I also watched some of the Sonic cartoons in the 1990s, particularly the one on Saturday mornings which I hear has now been dubbed by fans, "Sonic SatAM."  I wasn't a HUGE fan of this series, but I watched at least a handful of episodes and remember liking them quite a bit. :)  :iconsamcybercat: has since told me that she was a very big fan of it herself and that the background, which was originally meant to be the forest scene in Capsule Monsters (or argueably the one in Crapsule Monsters in which the Sonic game characters were referenced) looks very similar to the forest that needed protection within the "Sonic SatAM" cartoon!  That wasn't planned of course, but I'm glad that it seems like a happy accident that further connects both worlds!

As stated previously, I wasn't the biggest Sonic fan, but I do remember some of his quirkier qualities, such as his rashness and impatience.  For some reason I didn't think he would take kindly to Anzu petting him like a little dog, hence his expression and the classic anime vein popping! :P 

It definitely was a lot of fun creating this work even if it did take a while to finish!  But hey! It was worth it if :iconsamcybercat: likes the piece, and I'll even be able to display this work when I attend Anime USA at the end of this month!  animeusa.org/.  If you're planning on attending yourselves, please be on the look out for me ok? :) As always this piece was hand painted using opague water color paints! :)

I guess that about does it everyone!  Thanks SO much for looking, and for your continued kindness and support too!  It really and truly does mean more than I could ever express!  And once more, thank you TOO :iconsamcybercat:! You really are a great friend! I hope you know that! :) :D :hug: :huggle: :tighthug: :glomp:  Until next time then, you guys! :blowkiss:

Love,
Yamigirl21 :iconyamigirl21:
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