#art by Maiji/Mary Huang

[maiji]

[image 1: digital ink-brush style illustration of Shen Wei/Heipaoshi from Guardian, in a reversible composition reminiscent of the design of a court card in a playing card deck. One orientation shows Shen Wei, eyes closed, a necklace with a rounded pendant floating just above his slightly-cupped hands. The reverse shows the masked Heipaoshi ("Black-Cloaked Envoy") with his sword extended above his head, pointed behind him, and his black hood billowing and framing his face. Organic, inky lines whip about the figures, creating the sense of ink trails, billowing fabric and wispy shadow, cloud, or wave-like forms.

images 2-3: very rough scribbly sketches of the above composition]

A commission for yaaurens of the two identities of the “Black-Cloaked Envoy” from the Chinese SF/fantasy-danmei drama 镇魂 (“Guardian”)! I haven't seen this series myself, but I learned a great deal while working on this, and it’s epic. I haven’t done a flippy reversible composition in a while, and it was awesome to get to draw such a fantastic character who is so perfect for a brush-style illustration!

It was really fun to conceive the image in a way that would show off what I call his super cool flippy-back sword move (I am not very good at naming moves) and lots of wispy brushy flowiness.

Thank you so much yaaurens for this opportunity to create this very special piece for you!

I’m currently still open for commissions! More info here.

#shen wei #heipaoshi #guardian #black-cloaked envoy #commissions #yaaurens #art by maiji/mary huang #digital arwork #fanar

[nowrecharging]

Read the latest Now Recharging! :D 

http://www.nowrecharging.com

(For more info about the move, please see the notes on the previous comic page.)  

#now recharging #robots #androids #comics #webcomics #brush pen #watercolor #watercolour #art by maiji/mary huang #smack jeeves

[maiji]

"The most precious gift you can give to the one you love is your true presence." ―Thich Nhat Hanh

Wishing you all many precious gifts.

🎨 Work in progress photos 🍃 1 small quiet somewhere

#watercolor #watercolour #comics #webcomics #1 small quiet somewhere #little yi #kanthaka #art by maiji/mary huang

[maiji]

"Winding Nine Turns" - The elegant Nine Curves Bridge in Bihu Park, Neihu, Taipei.

Read more at https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/4325842

Prints available on INPRNT  ♥  art for charity

#artists on tumblr #taiwan #taipei #neihu #bihu park #bridges #architecture #nine-turn bridge #ink #travel #pencil crayons #art by maiji/mary huang #taiwan tuxiang

[maiji]

James O'Brian and Tiffany Liu from the incredible webcomic @soultocall. The story/world is as dark and dramatic/traumatic as the characters are engaging and full of heart. I love all the protagonists (and am in speechless awe at more than a few of the antagonists), but James and Tiffany are probably my favourites. I have so much respect for them and I find their personalities and their interactions super compelling. And their mutual support is just wonderful! Ugh I love them so much!!

Also I'm not gonna lie, I have such a weakness for adult male characters with tired mom energy

#soul to call #webcomic #comics #fanart #art by maiji/mary huang #james o'brian #tiffany liu

[maiji]

This year I finished my hua series! Here are several I haven't posted on tumblr before, with links to full commentary and stories:

蓮花 liánhuā / lotus flowers (two versions)

是櫻花還是海棠花? Shì yīnghuā háishì hǎitáng huā? / Is it cherry or crabapple blossoms?

彼岸花 bǐ'ànhuā / red spider lily

Prints available at INPRNT / Art for charity

#art #flowers #flower #lotus #crabapple #red spider lily #digital art #affinity photo #hua series #art by maiji/mary huang

[maiji]

At last I have gotten around to updating my shop with original art - that is, physical drawings and paintings 🙌

This first batch 1 up has lots of tribute/fanart, including several Repostober features I featured already. A large number of Yu Yu Hakusho, of course, but also some Star Ocean, Saint Seiya and Drakengard 2. And several original subjects! Some pieces even have bonus art or sketches/doodles on the back 😆 This is noted in the description and there are photos!

Batch 2 will be mostly original subject matter. I'm aiming to have that up later this month... is what I was thinking, but I may also add them here and there over the course of the next couple of days. It does seem to be a lot easier to do that every so often now that I have the first bundle up than to amass another giant wave.

As I note in the description on each listing, because these are the original drawings (not prints), they can't be replaced. Thus, the shipping method shown includes tracking. If you purchase several pieces, the additional shipping will generally be super minimal because these are flat sheets of paper! (Do note - the shikishi boards, like the ones in the first photo above with the yamadori, are flat, but rigid. They can't be rolled up so if you pick one of them plus a big piece that needs to be in a tube. The materials are all clearly labelled in the descriptions.)

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

#art #fanart #original art #yu yu hakusho #star ocean #star ocean 2 #star ocean 3 #saint seiya #drakengard 2 #ink #watercolor #art by maiji/mary huang

[maiji]

Fortune Lenormand oracle/art deck - new edition + limited time free readings!

I'm excited to announce my Fortune Lenormand oracle/art deck is available again in a new edition (the biggest change: it now has a custom box!) yay!!

To celebrate, I thought it'd be fun to offer some free readings, the kind I used to do back when I was tabling at events! I personally find the 36-card Lenormand system accessible and enjoyable for both personal and creative prompt-type purposes. These readings will use the 2-card spread, which is easy to do!

How this works

To submit a request for a free reading, send it through my ask box between now (Fri Oct 27) and Sun October 29, 2023 midnight EST.

Optional: Along with your request, include your question and two numbers of your choice from 1-36.

I'll do as many readings as I can before the end of October. 

One question per person please!

I am not taking anonymous requests and these readings will be posted publicly. So don't share anything you're not comfortable with strangers on the Internet seeing!

I reserve the right to turn down a reading for any reason (the most likely reasons are if a question is rude/tasteless/inappropriate etc. or if I get too busy and can't do all the requests I get).

Asking your question

Your question must be an open-ended one, and not a question that can be answered with "yes" or "no".

Ironically, even though this deck is called "Fortune", I use them as tools for self-reflection and creative stuff, not fortune telling. It is an opportunity to open a dialogue with your self/subconscious!

For example, instead of "Should I [go to this event, do this thing, ___" or "Am I/Is someone/something else going to ___, try something like "What should I consider if I were to ___?" "Why do I want ___?" "What am I afraid of/hopeful for with regards to ___?" "How might I approach ___?" and so on.

You can learn more about this philosophy, and also get ideas for phrasing your question, on my site - check out the section that starts with "Framing your question" and up to/including "Reading Examples".

Also, you can have fun! Ask a question for your OC or a character you're writing! Ask questions for creative prompts! "I'm stuck in a fanfic I'm writing about X, Y and Z doing [whatever they're doing] and need an idea!" "I'm designing a new character, what could I incorporate into their personality or backstory?" "I want to draw a picture of my OTP and would like a prompt for inspiration!" and so on.

Decide what your question is before you make your request and don't forget what it is!

Seems obvious, but I'm reiterating this because you don't have to tell me your question when you make your request.

If you do tell me your question, it may help me give you more specific suggestions for how you can interpret the cards. If you're asking a creative prompt question, having details means I can suggest more relevant ideas for you to use as jumping off points.

If you don't tell me your question, please write it down somewhere or do something so that you don't forget it by the time I get around to your reading.

Obviously this is an honour system thing, but it doesn't really matter because if you sneak-change your answer, the only person it really affects (and potentially confuses) is yourself, haha.

If you wish to reveal what your question was afterwards, feel free to do so on the reading post!

Readings completed so far!

delphina2k: Creative prompt-type reading regarding Sydney from the webcomic Sombulus

lucylyall: Personal reading on changing habits/automatic ways of thinking

and-his-hands-were-24-crows: mystery reading!

blue-moonlight-sirens: Personal reading on what is coming in general

rootandbranchcomic: Personal reading on surviving a huge change

rawwrr04-blog: mystery reading!

crabbng: Creative prompt-type reading regarding Hana from the webcomic Kings of Sorts

supreme-sauteer: Personal reading on what's stopping me from putting myself out there

ancient-trees: Personal reading on sparking creative energy

#lenormand #oracle deck #art deck #shop #ink #art by maiji/mary huang #readings

[maiji]

fight / flight: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 (this is it!)

Alt text, full transcript and commentary continue below the cut.

A YYH North Bound story. This is “fight / flight" part 5 of 5 parts. This takes place after I Heard A Cicada Cry and Survive.

[page 32]

*A flame on a stand flickers in a room. A pair of hands wring out a piece of cloth. Hokushin, hair loose at his shoulders and upper body and arms bandaged, is sitting up in a simple floor-bed, his armour off to the side. Tomoe Gozen, her back to him, is just to his left with the cloth over a wooden pail.*

[page 33]

Hokushin: Lady Tomoe... Thank you, but… I cannot help but feel that your efforts with me are wasted.

Tomoe: Was it not you who told me you were commanded to seek out a master to serve long and well? Are you going to fail him now?

[page 34]

Hokushin: *Tomoe's words sink in, and his expression is devastated. He lowers his head, face in his hands* Ha... ha ha ha... ha ha... *he lowers his hands* Lady Tomoe, I owe you a great deal-

Tomoe: You owe me nothing. You have saved the lives of a number of our men, and of Lord Yoshinaka himself, enough times. This is the least I can do. 

[page 35]

Tomoe: You may be a demon, but… *she gets up and walks over to Hokushin, cloth in hand, as he looks up soberly at her* I have seen the words your actions speak. And now you must go.

[page 36]

*Hokushin says nothing, only continues looking at her*

Tomoe: *closes her eyes and turns slightly away from him* I know what you are thinking. I heard what Enma Daioh’s emissary said. I will not leave.

Hokushin: It will likely be the path to your death.

Tomoe: Ha! You forget, rokurokubi. I am human. Every day I live is the path to my death. And what of you? Would you not have stayed with Semimaru till the end, had he not tricked you into leaving?*Hokushin looks devastated again*

Tomoe: *abashed* Ah, I did not mean- 

[page 37]

Tomoe: *reaches/sits down and places both hands over Hokushin's hand* …but you understand my feelings. My place is here with Lord Yoshinaka. Fighting at his side is everything to me.

[page 38]

Hokushin: And what if he commands you to leave?

Tomoe: *looks stricken, then determined* Only if he commands so. And even if he does, I will still fight before I depart his side. *she gets back to her feet* As for you, you must go. So that you can find the master you are destined to meet.

*Hokushin nods*

[page 39]

*A horse paces restlessly. Hokushin, hair tied back again and in full armour, reins it in and turns to Tomoe Gozen who is seeing him off.*

Hokushin: Lady Tomoe. If our paths should cross again, may it never be as enemies. *He reaches his hand out to her*

Tomoe: *grasps his hand* May that be so.

*Hokushin rides off through the tall grass, into the distance*

*fight / flight end*

---

Happy New Year!! I dddiiiiiddd it!! This is the last (planned/that my conscious brain is aware of lol) flashback of the North Bound prequel!! We now return to main prequel time with Raizen and Hokushin and Seizan. Or we will once I get around to drawing the next story. Every year we inch ever closer to the climax! Inch inch inch.

I love the idea of Hokushin and Tomoe Gozen building a relationship from suspicion and survival to a deep, platonic understanding full of mutual respect and support, especially due to their like-minded roles as loyal retainers wholly devoted to the ones they love/serve. I didn’t realize till after I had firmed up the script, but Tomoe’s response to Hokushin that “Fighting at [Yoshinaka’s] side is everything to me” is exactly Hokushin’s answer to Yusuke on why he follows Raizen. It just fit perfectly, and makes so much sense to me as a narrative reference. In this universe and version of events, we can imagine Hokushin’s words to Yusuke are tied to his memory of this conversation… 

Japanese history/culture buffs will probably notice that the irony(?) of Hokushin and Tomoe’s conversation is that Tomoe would soon find herself in pretty much the situation Hokushin warned her about. According to tradition, Kiso Yoshinaka refused to let Tomoe stay with him. Shortly before he died in his final stand at Awazu, he forced her to leave his side, saying her presence as a woman would only be a burden. Harsh words for such a trusted, valued warrior! Though by some accounts Tomoe was at the time pregnant with their child, which one can extrapolate would have been an influencing factor in Yoshinaka’s actions.

If you’re wondering what ultimately happens to Tomoe in this universe, there is a very big hint in the fic We Walked Through the Past, Carrying the Future when Yusuke, Keiko and Hokushin check out the museum. This is not the last you’ll see of Tomoe Gozen!! Assuming I get North Bound far enough...

EDIT: Sneak fixes as I realized after the fact I forgot to draw Hokushin's magatama necklace! It has no importance to this story, but is a detail I care a lot about...

#yu yu hakusho #hokushin #tomoe gozen #fanart #comics #fancomic #fancomics #yyh north bound #art by maiji/mary huang

[maiji]

itch.io Spring Sale 2024 starts today and runs March 13-21! The full suite of Now Recharging 1-5 ebooks with all the extras is available at 30% off! 🙌 If a watercolour world of soft fluffy sheep and cute robots making friends sounds up your alley, please check it out 💖 Now Recharging Spring Sale!

#now recharging #comics #webcomics #itch.io #itch.io spring sale 2024 #spring sale #art by maiji/mary huang #spiderforest

[maiji]

Daigan (Great Vow)

Sort of Buddhist, sort of Houseki no Kuni/Land of the Lustrous fanart. Inspired by the part in Houseki no Kuni book 12 where Kongo mentions that a long time ago spoiler Aechmea spoiler. Reflecting on the symbolism and inspirations behind these characters, there is something extremely poignant about the idea of spoiler spoiler. For more context, please see my writeups “Kongo-sensei’s (full) name” and “Aechmea, Kongo and the Buddhist concept of Hell” here.

Insert my usual “I’m terrified of spoilers for this series, please don’t talk to me about anything after chapter 98”.

More commentary and sketches on my Pillowfort.

#houseki no kuni #land of the lustrous #buddhism #fanart #digital art #art by maiji/mary huang

[maiji]

You are a spirit beast living a simple and happy, if isolated, life on the late Spirit Wave Master’s estate. Today is another lovely, lonely day… [Puu’s perspective]

Read "The Autumn in My Heart Will Lead to Spring" at Archive of Our Own:

WIP process images of the cover

#yu yu hakusho #puu #fanart #fanfiction #fanfic #art by maiji/mary huang #lots of minor character love!

[maiji]

[image set: Four pages from a short comic digitally rendered in a brush art and muted watercolour style. First page: Cover showing a snake-level perspective of a white snake slithering along the ground in a village, clouds and mountains visible in the distance. The title reads "ssstudy" in a brush calligraphy style, and the words "by Maiji/Mary Huang" look like a red seal/stamp. Second page: The snake slithers along the ground, when a small rock suddenly lands near it. It looks up to find three unfriendly looking children, who point at it aggressively. Third page: The snake flees while dodging rocks being thrown at it. It runs into a foot, and looks up to find an old lady holding flowers. Fourth page: The old woman smiles at the snake, then bows and offers it a flower, placing it on the ground in front of the snake. The snake looks at the flower.]

ssstudy is a short story I made for the SpiderForest Webcomic Collective's anthology "Threads: Creatures"! It's one of my little Buddhist fantasy/slice-of-life tales.

You can read the full thing at https://globalcomix.com/c/ssstudy along with a four-page behind-the-scenes bonus!

You can also find the full Threads: Creatures, plus all of the other @spiderforestcomics anthologies, at https://ko-fi.com/spiderforest/shop ! Every book has so many fantastic stories in many different genres, art styles and interpretations of the theme! It was an honour to be able to be in a book alongside so many wonderful creators!

#comics #ssstudy #snakes #animals #spiderforest #spiderforest webcomic collective #digital art #art by maiji/mary huang

[maiji]

Me elsewhere

I've been reducing my tumblr activity for a while, and the recent goings-on do not inspire me to reverse course.

For now I'm still around and keeping an eye on things, but for obvious reasons I have been extremely unmotivated to post any of my work here. I'm definitely very actively making stuff though! If you're interested in my art, comics, writing, poetry etc. you can find me at:

🌼 humangray.com: my own site! It will have links to where I am active. At present two of my most active online presences are Pillowfort and Mastodon.

🛌 Pillowfort: I've been here for a few years, and it's my favourite social media site to post stuff on right now. It's quiet and cozy, so don't expect the environment of a roaring corporate algorithm/monetize-the-users-and-interaction-driven platform, which is probably exactly why I like it so much. (People often compare it to ye old LiveJournal experience, and while it is its own thing in a different day and age, I do feel and get the comparison.) It's one of the few places where I find it relatively seamless to post individual images, comics, and long walls of text. I also greatly appreciate their mission, values and policies a lot. The more I live the more I want to be, and am trying to be, more mindful about the kind of world I want to support with my time and energy, so that is a big deal to me. (If you're interested in checking Pillowfort out and need an invite link, feel free to drop a message into my askbox! If I've got any invites at the time I'll send you one!)

🐘 Mastodon: I went to Mastodon when Twitter started going (majorly) sideways, mainly looking for a place to follow science and healthcare news in a digestible bits-and-bites kind of experience. I appreciate the concept of the decentralized approach and how proactive the administration can be on some instances to create a safe space for their users. Again, there's a coziness to it that I appreciate. I ended up really liking like the instance I'm on, and also really enjoying the interactions I've been able to have. Lots of interesting people and lots of interesting things cross my feed every day, and I've already fallen into the habit of spamming friends with links of things I see there. Which is like the grand tradition of social media!

Meanwhile, with regards to stuff on tumblr, I'm scratching my head a little on what to do with North Bound.

The way things are shaping up, I'm not likely to post new parts on tumblr at present, but if I post them elsewhere, I may still link to them from the masterpost.

What I'm not sure about is the linking back to tumblr posts for the older parts. While the existing art, comics, stories, are already available elsewhere, so much of the original commentary only exists here. They're not really essential to the work, I suppose, but I still get a laugh out of reading my notes sometimes.

Anyways, North Bound is still very much an active project at present, and if you're interested in it, follow me on Pillowfort (or Mastodon, but it'll probably be on PF first) for updates! And/or keep an eye on the non-tumblr links in the masterpost, mainly AO3 and Pixiv, where bulk updates will be collected.

#pillowfort #mastodon #art by maiji/mary huang #yyh north bound #tumblr i am disappoints

[maiji]

their underbellies shining from the autumn sun clouds before bedtime --- earlier this month the tree outside my window was the autumn sun

- Poetry and art by Maiji/Mary Huang, humangray.com

Commentary, wip photos, and ink palette used: https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/4028390

#haiku #poetry #poems #ink #fountain pen ink #clouds #tree #nature #autumn #haiku ink series #art by maiji/mary huang

[maiji]

Flowers by the Jade-Green Lake - Bihu Park in Neihu, Taipei is one of my favourite places. How I miss Taiwan… 🏞️

Read more at https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/427195

Prints available on INPRNT  ♥  art for charity

#artists on tumblr #taiwan #taipei #neihu #park #bihu park #ink #travel #pencil crayons #flowers #art by maiji/mary huang #taiwan tuxiang