Imai Kira imitations

For those not in the know, Imai Kira is a popular illustrator of girls in frilly dresses, and I really like her art. Her website is at http://kira.main.jp/ and examples of her work can be found anywhere on the Internet.

I do show my appreciation through patronage. When I was in MaruiOne two weeks ago I bought Imai Kira trappings and nothing else. Having crowed over them on the trip home I thought it might be a good idea to channel her style into my lolita drawings.


Fabergé

I like books, frills, cats, AND jewels. While mulling over the kind of seat I should ensconce this little girl in, I let my irrational brain out through my fingers and was tremendously pleased with the result. The piece is named for the jewelled eggs commissioned yearly by the Russian royal family until the Bolsheviks chopped their heads off.




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The outfit worn by the queenly figure on the left of the second picture is inspired by a girl I saw walking to the JR ticket barrier in Shinjuku station, who wore Juliette et Justine's Coppélia OP in grey beneath a brocade Excentrique corset with enormous bronzy flowers in her hair. I only had a moment's eyeful of her gorgeousness but it was enough. .__.



I rarely do such detailed pencils because figuring everything out takes so much time. Each of these sketches took an average of four hours to complete because I was multitasking throughout. I might do more tweaking with the second one because I'm not pleased with the feet of the girl on the left -- they should be pointing up. I'll be preparing to ink the first one maybe tomorrow.

I have to say, this kind of stuff is really addictive. I might stay with it for a while. Don't accuse me of being boring now that I have a new toy. I haven't gotten around to experimenting with textures for the photogenic fantasy family yet.