Comic 1 - Arana's Story

 

Comic of a sort

I've been having this idea for a while of drawing a light-hearted comic that records some of the happenings incidents that occur to foreigners in Japan, which had somehow stuck to my memory. I had been an absolute lazy-ass when it comes to doing it. Today, finally I went and made the title page! *gives herself a high-five*

It's not a very skilled comic, but I hope everyone who lives in Japan can relate to it and it can give you a chuckle! It features alternate universe versions of some of the friends that I know from real life. Here is a introduction of the main characters:

kids

Long time no post!!

Here are some doodles of some kids at the airport, kiddies from school, and one illust of lady in shades. 

future bf

it's so nice to dream~

LOFT cafe sketch

Some rough sketches done in LOFT.

I wanted to try drawing quickly. Maybe it was too quick.

Train peoples

 mom and boy.

Seeing from what they were wearing, I think these people were college students going to take recruit-exams. In Japan, if you're a senior in your college year, basically 70% of what you do is going to hiring exams and interviews all over the city.
They were all wearing black and white suits/shirt combo.

hipster and her grandma

 Hi guys! Long time no update. The weather is getting ridiculously hot and humid now. If you stand outside for more than 15 minutes, your clothes will get damp.


random illust of girls in Shimokitazawa from a bit ago. It's a district in Tokyo. Before I went there, let's say I didn't know it was possible to love a place this much. Being in Japan already quite feels like you're in hipster-land (vintage-styled shops everywhere, seeing dark rimmed glasses and goatees, men in shorts/skinny jeans, etc), being in Shimokitazawa is like being in the hipsterest of the hipster capital. The crowd is not as young and rawdy as in Shibuya or Harajuku, the people here are a mix of thrift-digging/shisha-smoking/freespirited 20-30somethings and their equally openminded grandmas and grandpas. 

 A lot of my drawings were done while festering on the couch of cute cafes in Shimokitazawa.

Granma was done on the train back. I messed up her right hand, she actually had a normal hand.

american girl and japanese girl in tokyo

just for fun~

cafe sketch

 Done while waiting in LOFT. The lines look rushed, but I kind of like the feeling.

random illust

blue

lately i've been wanting to draw people and make them look like they can get up and move, i think blue is a good colour for that.

The lady on the top remind me a little bit Sofie from Howl's Moving Castle, but only when she turned old. The lady on the bottom kept nodding off and falling asleep, it was funny drawing her.
the two other illusts are wannabe princes.

it's a bit troublesome when people leave while i'm halfway drawing them. sometime i wonder they left 'cause they saw me drawing them haha.

people and their clothes

old drawings from last month.

I feel sick today : ( it sucks! go away cold go awayyyyy

the weather it's super super hot out now, these people are still wearing winter clothes, what suckers :P

checkin' mah phone

 Long time no see!
Work had been busy this week

Lady is checking her cellphone,
 on the train train train~

curly haired boy

I saw him when I was coming back home from shopping.
I liked his curly hair.
I always thought boys with curly hair are very cute. When I have a son (on one very imaginary day), I hope he'll have curly hair.

Recently, I want to try a different line style, I want to make the weight of my lines lighter.
Maybe it would give the drawing a lighter feeling.

I want to try many new things, but I don't have enough time. If God is a bartender, and time is a cocktail, I want it to be "all-you-can-drink".

"Travel is my middle name"

Man with his suitcase. I always see him on the train.

I love going to places. Sometimes, the travelling process itself is actually more fun than the destination itself. Sitting on the train by yourself, listening to music, it's a sort of relaxed feeling, but with just the slightest uncertainty and anticipation for the next destination.

Maybe, he is having that kind of moment.

Train-Bound Hobo

Today, I found out that the word hobo actually stands for "home-bound".
It seems a little bit ironic at first, but makes sense: home is a place where you put all your stuff, and to a hobo, basically anywhere can be that.

This lady was definitely making herself at home on the train, she slept through 7 stations.

When I was in university, I used to see this hobo on the bus almost every single day. He always picked cigarette butts and put them in his fannypack, me and my friends nicknamed him "Cigarette Butt Hobo".

I wonder what this lady's name shall be?

Mobile-phones and thumbs

More drawings from the winter~
For you lads out there, these ladies are actually more lovely in real life. Somehow my drawings tend to be a teensy bit uglifying.


Today was very summery, on days like these, I just don't feel like doing any work.
Self discipline, you were so good to me last week, come back!

Travelling hat

I had a lot of fun drawing this guy.

At first glance, he reminded me of Tora-san. But as I looked at him more, he reminds me of the old guy, Nakata from Murakami's Kafka On the Shore (only the face, not his clothes)


He was so big he sort of reminded me of a bear!

The weather is getting warmer these days, so there's going to be less people who wear big furry jackets that make them look like bears~

Lady with a Handbag

Lately, the weather had been gloomy where I live.


This lady was drawn a while ago when I first got this sketchbook.
That day, the weather was also a little gloomy, does her face say so?

But, gloom is only temporary, sooner or later the sun will come out, so maybe she is savoring the feeling.

Girl with her book

Hi, my name is Michelle, and this is a blog about people on trains.
I like to draw people while they are doing something on the train.
It is a little lonely to look at the drawings by myself. So I decided, everytime I make a drawing, I will put it up on this blog.
I'm not good at making introduction posts, but hope this blog can be a bit enjoyable!

Lately, I've been really fond of reading books. Reading is kind of like having a silent conversation with someone.

When I saw this girl, I wanted to draw her expression as she read her book. I wonder, how is the conversation?