12th Moon_2010

12th moon, roughly translated as April 12th, Aka today.
Aka Van Fanels Birthday




Most my viewers won't recognize this character, but he's one I will never forget.
Back before Anime was unanimous with teen culture, It had a small humble following for those who knew where to look.
Rouroni Kenshin, Yu Yu Hakashu, Inu Yasha, Gundam-These were a few of the initial shows to hit cable before anime came into its prime.
For those of us who had regular television, we get rare gems like Cardcaptor Sakura, Mon Colle Knights, and The Vision of Escaflowne.

I believe that every writer and artist is drawn to create because something somewhere inspires them in a pivotal way that nothing before ever has. It is their initial call to arms, the driving force behind what they eventually mold into something unique and personal. For me, Escaflowne was that start, because as a child I had never before seen anything like it.

In the months that followed I woke diligently every Saturday morning, and made recordings of every episode on our VHS recorder (blast from the past no?). Like most Animes in its generation, it was heavily plagued by edits and alterations as the American company tried to make it more 'guy friendly' and less adult oriented. I will never forget the first Saturday I awoke to discover the show had been canceled, and replaced by 2 hours of NASCAR racing.... _{I still hate NASCAR to this day}

Anyway,
I drew this piece two years back, and it was to be my first submission to this my new DA account, as I was looking for a fresh re-start.
Sadly I did not finish it by April 12th, tho I did manage to create this account that day at the very least ^_^

So here we are two years later, I finally put on those last touches and decided to call it done. I'm rather embarrassed by the awkward lighting and strange shading-But at the time I was still trying out alot of new challenging things- transitioning to Sai being one of them. (That and this picture contained ALOT of pink-a color I have only grown to tolerate over time XD)
Anyway, don't judge this too harshly. Count it as one of those Oh Wow pieces where u gain inspiration from the knowledge that u too can improve with time-If you stick with it.
And send some Happy Birthday love Vans way.

^_^ It would make me happy.


-S.o.S

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Van Fanel(C)Bandai Entertainment US
Drawing (C)