Artist Spotlight: Yoh of Yoh's Monochrome World

I'd like to start sharing some of my favorite artists on my blog here!  I enjoy a variety of styles and mediums, and artists both internationally famous and small-time deserve to be seen ^u^v

Today I'm sharing one of my absolute favorite artists, Yoh of Yoh's Monochrome World. (Instagram) (Shop) Many of you may be familiar because he's been featured in Lolita bibles before, which is how I originally discovered his art, and there was also a collaboration with Alice and the Pirates!

I own the book Gothic Lolita Punk (Amazon link) which includes his artwork as well as a variety of other wonderful artists (including famous artist Kira Imai who often does Angelic Pretty illustrations)

His style is very detailed and almost always just ink lines on paper (hence "monochrome world") though occasionally there will be some color.

The pictures usually depict spooky-cute dolly girls and boys.  I especially love the hair and eyes!

Some of the artworks are very sweet-themed too~

I really enjoy the clean lines and hatching/dotted shading.  The illustrations seem to be sort of dark fairytale or dreamy, like the colored illustration above.  Even the dark Gothic pictures don't rely on gratuitous blood or gore to make it seem sinister.  It's more like a creeping shadow than a bloodfest, if you will.  This style appeals to me a lot more, as if you are being gradually drawn into the details and cannot look away.

As for the collaborations with Alice and the Pirates, there are cutsews from 2009 and can be found on Lolibrary (Princess Grape, Princess Pear, Princess Raspberry).  I believe there were collaborations with Tokyo Rebel as well, but don't really know much about that one ^^;

If you use LINE (messaging APP popular in east Asia) there are also LINE stickers you can purchase!
There are currently six sets, three in Japanese and three in English here if you are interested~

The example

Do you enjoy this style of art?  I will try to share more artists regularly, so stay tuned and thanks for reading!

Donut Time and Personal News

KC, JSK: BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT
Blouse: Little Dipper
Bag: Swimmer Japan
Petticoat: Classical Puppets

Starting out with a donut day photo!  I was at a local shopping center and there was this setup for "National Donut Day" in the center!  I don't think that's a real holiday, but it was a nice background for a photo~

We didn't really go out for doughnuts though ^_~

What is your favorite fake holiday?  Well, other than International Lolita Day I suppose!

Now onto a more personal update:
I originally moved here because I had a job offer here, however after orientation I decided that it is not a good fit for me and so have not taken any cases, despite having already paid US$50 for roster registration and US$50 for a background check.  To be honest, I had a bit of an anxiety attack at the place and had to hide it behind some sunglasses so people wouldn't see me crying ^^;  Most embarrassing behavior!

So I have been searching for other work with no luck.  Got some replies and tests taken but either was rejected or simply never heard back (most are doing mass recruitment so perhaps my results were lost as they said all applicants get a reply.)

I've also had an intake assessment at a job help center so I'm hoping I qualify for assistance to get work. 

If all else fails, I will move back to Taipei in September when ticket prices go back down and either try to negotiate office hours at my current job or look for additional work as all my work experience is in Taipei.

Though I have wonderful friends here, I don't think I am a good fit for the lifestyle and current culture.  It has certainly changed a lot in the last decade, more than I could have anticipated based on reading online!  Though Minnesota was a good home that my parents provided for me, Taipei is a good home that I made for myself.

So what happens next is really up in the air and I'm terribly nervous about that.  I've been losing sleep and not been doing very well in daily life, but on Monday I will have an intake for mental health assessment so I can get help.  Personally I'm not a fan of hiding behind mental illness as an excuse to not do anything or try to get pity or handouts from others (rather manipulative to do so, really) so if there is help available, I'm definitely going to take it!

Normally I don't talk about much personal news on here so I hope this wasn't too much ^^;

Thanks for reading!  How have you all been doing recently?  Hope everybody is doing well :)  I'm trying to comment more on others' personal blogs as well!

Dragon Boat Festival 2019

Happy belated Dragon Boat Festival!  I wasn't going to post about it because nothing happens for Dragon Boat Festival here, but I'm going to share the zongzi I made anyway ^u^v

Normally zongzi are filled with a lot of stuff like fatty pork, peanuts, water chestnut, shitake mushrooms, and even more stuff depending on each seller's recipes!  Because I made mine very last minute, I didn't have any ingredients, not even glutinous rice!  The middle-eastern grocer didn't have any either, so I used the leftover white rice we had at home ^^;

The sauce is normally very flavorful, but I only used soy sauce and spices!  I did manage to get bamboo leaves and cotton twine at least!  And the zongzi didn't fall apart when I wrapped them!

Once steamed, the inside is far more lacking!  The filling is really only tofu and white mushrooms!

I will need to plan ahead next time...

What traditional food do you like to make?  I guess it doesn't even need to be a traditional food :P  Just what festival or holiday food do you enjoy making?

Recent Days

Recent outfits!  I haven't been doing much other than looking for work and hanging out with friends to be honest.  I've met some new friends, gotten shots and fingerprints for job stuff, applied to so many other jobs @_@;;  I forgot how annoying it is to look for work...

Hair: Daiso Japan
Blouse: Little Dipper
JSK: BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT
Wrist stoppers: handmade by me
Everything else: offbrand

The weather here has been pretty nice, so that's good!

Blouse: Little Dipper
JSK: handmade by me
Everything else: offbrand

It was also my birthday on the 30th and my sister and friends threw me a surprise party!  It was nice and we played some board and card games and had cake!

Hopefully something more interesting is to come~