Hunting the Elusive

I decided to debind Grand Preview, the Touhou fanbook by Shimeko, since there was no way I would put this artist’s illustrations through my book scanner again. The colours are too subtle, the shades too sublime to risk that scanner wiping everything out with its wonky gamma. Grand Preview is one of Shimeko’s Comic Market 76 releases, and in fact, the artist’s most significant one for that event, eclipsing the joint book with Pixel Phantom (which turned out to be predominantly manga). That said, Shimeko’s stuff remains appealing scarce on the ground, since only a little more than half of this very thin book (18 pages) consists of his/her (I think her) art. [Release] [PNG]

The cover of Grand Preview has a lustrous finish, and immediately we have the great colours that Shimeko prefers, along with the watercolour-like shading and profound eyes of her characters.

The first illustration at the landing page is Reimu, a dreamy depiction of her in front of a Torii on a starry matsuri night. Note the lycoris radiata (spider lily, higan-bana) motif repeated here from the front cover, giving both pictures a distinctly autumnal theme.

The next picture is a page spread. Unlike the Reimu illustration, colour fills the entirety of both pages, and Shimeko uses all shades of purple, and its constituent colours of red and blue in this composition. Edges between colours are layered and transparent, giving a distinctively ethereal feel to this very excellent work of art.

The next picture, also a spread, is much darker, with scarlet and black being the main colours. Additionally, unlike the smooth and flowing colours of the above illustration, the colours here have a more textured, violent feel. At the same time, the faces of the characters remain half in shadow and almost merge into the darkness – this again, is a demonstration of Shimeko’s grasp of the subtle, which must needs be compromised by the analogue-to-digital process.

Even the line art utilises vague colours. The untrained eye may simply dismiss this illustration, but learn to look closer and you will be awarded by details hidden to the quick observer.

I am also a great fan of the illustration on the left, with its great contrast of Green and red, and the very sweet and pale face. The chibi Reisen and Tewi is a simpler type illustration with relatively well-defined boundaries.

This Marisa and Reimu illustration is the last one by Shimeko in this book. Note the slightly different style used here.

What follows are guest illustrations.

Of these, I think this one by Uki (below, left) stands out most in terms of complexity and detail.

And that marks the end of this book and release. As blog readers know, I have long been a fan of Shimeko, with two posts already dedicated to this artist. Grand Preview further extends my absolute admiration of Shimeko. Despite the length, here, we find this artist’s attention to detail despite the sublimity of her colours and shading. This subtlety gives the characters themselves an ephemerality which really suits them as Touhou personalities.