TIKTOK logo in SURREALISM art

Social media + art. This was a concept of social media logo in surrealism themed illustration which heavily inspired by Joan Miro style. No AI used in it. I drew it for a surrealism art appreciation event last year.

As any other social medias I've been into, the use of it (Tiktok) is merely as a hobby or showcasing some portfolios without delving too deep by scrolling the mixed contents in it and spending too much time without any beneficial gain. This illustration was for portfolio purpose only. Any use/copy/share/re-post of this illustration is not allowed.

SQUID GAME 2 (2024): Short Review, Actors' Controversy & Was it Inspired by True Story?

 

SQUID GAME 2 is South Korean dystopian survival thriller television series Squid Game season2, created by Korean television producer and writer Hwang Dong-hyuk. It was released on Netflix on December 26, 2024 with a total 7 episodes. It is a sequel from its original series in 2021.

It is set three years after Seong Gi-hun won the Squid Game in season 1. A little flashback to season 1, squid game or ojingeo game which was released on September 2021 with total 9 episodes, tells a story about Seong Gi-Hun (Lee Jung-Jae) gets fired from his job. His life is miserable. Seong Gi-Hun was offered by a stranger in a train station about a secret survival game, with a 45.6 billion won prize for the winner. He decides to take part in the game. Meanwhile, Cho Sang-Woo (Park Hae-Soo) is Gi hun's best friend which is like a brother to Seong Gi-Hun and vice versa. They grew up in the same neighborhood. Despite his poor family background, Cho Sang-Woo graduated from a prestigious university and found a good job. He now faces a crisis, due to embezzlement of company funds that he did. He decides to join the secret survival game with Seong Gi-Hun. The ending is tragic when you have to sacrifice everything just for money. 

Back to the 2nd season, Seong Gi Hun is finally canceled his plan on going to the United States  to see his daughter and instead returning to the games with the intention of stopping them once and for all. He once again dives into the mysterious survival game, starting another life-or-death game with new participants gathered to win the prize of ₩45.6 billion. Unknown to him, his plan won't be easy to be done no matter how meticulous his plan was. The third and final season, which was filmed back-to-back with the second season, will be released this year in 2025.

As successful as it is, squid game also has its own Controversies surrounding the actors and story. Some actors are allegedly related to criminal cases such as sexual misconduct, marijuana, prostitution, DUI, etc. and inspiration for its story was said to be the case of Brothers' Home: South Korea's 1980s 'concentration camp'. As quoted from BBC; According to testimonies and evidence gathered from the site, detainees say they were used as slave labor at construction sites, farms, and factories during the 1970s and 80s. They were also allegedly tortured and raped, with hundreds dying under the inhumane conditions.The facility at Hyungje Bokjiwon has been compared to a concentration camp, but its story is not widely known, and nobody - to this day - has been held accountable for the atrocities that reportedly happened within its walls. Although it was not officially confirmed by the producer. 

 

As for personal review, this series is definitely not suitable for minor or below +18 and quite a good watch but somehow made me uncomfortable with gory and adult scenes. And I also have to say that the previous season was far more superior than this 2nd season. The thrill to what's next on the game, how they're going to be eliminated in the game and the prominent characters are not so intriguing as the first one. This is my fan art for the drama based on its poster. The iconic part from this series perhaps related to the simple green with white combination jumpsuit costume for the game participants, the pink soldiers costume and also the simple front man black leather coat. 

 

FASHION IN MANHUA (CHINESE COMIC): Zheng Shuyi's outfit in Accidental Love/ Only For Love manhua

I happened to read it randomly a couple of months ago on website for this interesting Manhua named Accidental Love /Only for love. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to pronounce the original title in Chinese language. 

It was released since last year in 2024 by author Qiao Yao with genre a mixed of romance, comedy, office, drama, and josei. This manhua is an adaptation from the novel which previously already adapted into live action drama played by Bai Lu and Dylan Wang in 2023. However, some people said the manhua has a bit different approach in storytelling. 

 

I was instantly hooked since the first time I read it in English version. Starting from the art, the story, and most of all the fashion wore by the female lead character, Zheng Shuyi. I would give the art a French kiss of 9.5 out 10, simply awesome. As for the story, although it might be a little cliche or cringe office - rich handsome young guy vs ordinary but pretty girl -slow burn romance, I still love it. The thing that I admire the most is the fashion. It seems like the author does really take her time in doing it to be able to show some great office attire examples for the characters, most of all the main girl. It ranges from coats, dress, blazers, casual clothes, hoodies, bags, etc.

 

I put some of the reference pictures from the original Manhua which belong to the rightful owner and not mine.

MOVING - The Superheroes Disguised as Ordinary People (Korean Drama 2023)

 

    Moving is a 2023 Korean drama which aired on August 9 - September 20. The story is about Kim Bong-Seok, Jang Hui-Soo and Lee Gang-Hoon who attend the same high school.    

   They look like ordinary students, but actually they have special abilities that they inherited from their parents. Kim Bong-Seok has the ability to fly with sharp senses. Jang Hui-Soo has excellent athletic abilities and she is able to rapidly recover from injuries, like being shot or stabbed. Lee Gang-Hoon has uncanny power and speed.

    These three students try to hide their special abilities from other people, while their parents struggle to protect them from being used by other and it is related to their past with secret government agency. 

    Based on webcomic "Moving ” by Kang Pool (published from February 2 to September 21, 2015 via Daum). I decided to watch it after I noticed the drama and the actors got a lot of awards in several occasions. I was pretty curious of what it had to offer in the story and It was indeed one of a great and out of the box Korean drama although I can't say if the theme or the idea of super power people is something new or original. It kind of reminded me a lot of marvel X-men mutant superheroes even some of the background story, school and such. The only thing different would be in this drama there is no flashy and colorful superhero costumes. Just special people with normal appearances.

   

    I give it 8.5 to 8.9 out of 10 and highly recommended to watch for adult. Beware the gory and bloody parts that might not be uncomfortable to watch. And the moral value would be: be kind no matter what. This is my fan art drawing based on one of the official poster.

ANAGLYPH ART: 2 Colors with Optic illusion look / 3D effect result with Special Glasses.

A couple of months ago, I participated in one competition to create an Anaglyph art poster for a shop. It was something new for me, or rather unknown at first until I saw the reference picture of what Anaglyph art is looklike. Actually, as I saw it, it was rather familiar but I just did not know the name of the effect. So, this was the final illustration I drew for the competition and managed to reach the final round but not win it in the end. 

What is Anaglyph? Anaglyph art is a 3D effect or optic illusion effect which was created by combining two slightly offset drawings in contrasting colors on a single image. Mostly it uses bright blue (cyan) and red. When  the artwork or picture is viewed through specially colored filters or special 3D glasses with the same colors, the brain fuses the two images together to create a stereoscopic 3D image.The eyes will see the artwork or picture in 2 different pictures separately.

Here are several things to know about Anaglyph art in short:

1. Colors:The colors used in Anaglyph art are typically red and cyan, which are chromatically opposite. 

2. Brief History: Wilhelm Rolan invented the anaglyph in 1853, and Lou Duraron first produced printed anaglyphs in 1891. 

3. Viewing:To view an Anaglyph, you need to wear special "Anaglyph glasses" that filter each image to the correct eye. 

4. Adjusting the image: You can adjust the depth of the image by changing the distance between the red and blue. For example, if you want the image to be in the foreground, move the blue to the left. 

5. Creating Anaglyph art: You can create Anaglyph art using tracing paper, light tables, windows, or transfer paper. 

 

 

 

RED SWAN (K-DRAMA 2024): A Confusing and Predictable Bodyguard & Chaebol Story

   Red swan is 2024 Korean drama which aired and has finished just recently. The story revolves around Oh Wan-Soo (played by Kim Ha-Neul) who reached the top of her sport career as a golf player despite having a rough life background. Her life is nearly perfect as she managed to live a life within the upper class by marrying the successor of the Hwain Group. Now, Wan-Soo retired as golfer to work as the chairperson for Now family foundation and has gained worldwide fame through her charity work. 

   Her life suddenly changed and always in danger right after her father in-law died. She then has Seo Do-Yoon (played by Rain) as her new bodyguard. Do-Yoon graduated from the police university. He joined the security team for Hwain family for a certain reason. One by one, both of them eventually find out the dark secret within this chaebol family they live in. 

   That's a short spoiler about this drama. after finished watching the whole 10 episodes, I would personally rate it as 4.5 to 5 out of 10. this came from an awful plot and characterization also lack of chemistry. It was a total failure and mostly predictable too. Unfortunately, I would not recommend it to watch for it's not worth the time. To be honest, I felt disappointed to waste my time on it. Anyway, this is my random fan art drawing based on the official poster. 

As for fashion sense, the main female lead wore some expensive branded clothing from gown, dress, blazer, work suit, etc as shown in the photos above. The poster and photos belong to the rightful owner and not mine. 

FASHION STYLE in webtoon 2: Royal Family's Couple Matching Costumes (Remarried Empress/Second Marriage & Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story)

   The most common bed time princess story   began with 'once upon a time..' and ended with 'they live happily ever after' when the lucky ordinary girl or true princess finally found her happiness with the prince or rich royal or noble family man. 

   

   However, these manhwa (Korean comic) webtoon series took a different approach in their stories. I took two out of many manhwa out there and will only discuss based on their choices of costume designs rather than the story itself since it should be explained better in my other blog, My Little Sekai by noodlemie. Remarried Empress/ Second Marriage and Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story are the titles  of these royal manhwa story.

   Firstly, Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story (NYTRS). It is a story of a woman who lost her life in real world as she fell down the stairs and given a second chance to live but as a character in a novel she read. Unfortunately, she woke up  as the 'villain' girl character Edith in the story who supposed to have a tragic ending. She was forced to marry the 2nd son of her family's rival noble family, Killian, out of both family agreement. Surprisingly, some things changes along the way. I guess that's for a little spoiler.

   What caught my attention the most was their couple costumes. The designs are quite complicated with intrinsic details as it should represented royal western family, but the colors were calm instead of shiny bright colors with glittering gold to show the elegant and rich aura. The chosen colors also complimented each other to both their characters and costumes themselves. I applaud the author for taking their time to put this into thought and showing it gracefully in their story.        

   As for the second royal manhwa story is Remarried Empress or also known as Second Marriage (RE). The story revolved around Navier, a noble-born woman turned queen -  turned ex queen and then became a queen again in new country. Basically She married twice and the story explained why. 

   Her royal costumes with her new husband Heinry, also represented royal, elegant complicated designs which unlikely to be available in real life. Since both of them have blonde hairs, the designs are mostly using less gold color and only lighter close to earthy color tones. Nonetheless, it is still quite an eye-pleasing imaginary designs as seen in these reference pictures both both series which obviously belong to the rightful authors and not mine.    

   One of the main reason I like manhwa lately, it is because the comic pages are colorful and page positioning which defied general comic page arrangements aside from amazing illustration art. Once again, the pictures belong to the rightful owners and I only use it for reference only in this article.