Chapter 24: How To Draw Pantyhose
「The author is a genius! Hype it up and done!」
「Binged it all at once and couldn’t stop, looking forward to updates!」
「Finished reading, felt like my heart was healed, thank you Miyuki Haru Sensei for bringing such a great work.」
Mikazuki Haruna pouted her little mouth and posted several more in her comment section.
Refreshed the page, and a real reader’s comment popped up.
「I was drawn in by the cover, the drawing is really impeccable, background and details are handled perfectly, you can see the author’s care. Especially the sheen and wrinkles of the stockings are very meticulous, like artwork, can Miyuki Haru Sensei draw more legs?」
Haruna’s previously sullen expression immediately relaxed, her beautiful eyes curving as she happily looked at this comment.
There are still readers who like my manga~
As for the stockings mentioned in this comment, she casually spread out a sheet of manuscript paper.
This is what she’s drawing now; every time the heroine appears, she draws it with particular care.
The entire manga’s plot, storyboard, and other designs come from that dream, but in terms of drawing, she made some improvements.
Sitting in the ergonomic chair, Haruna stretched lazily for a long time and reorganized her desk.
She turned off the laptop, pushed it to the corner of the desk, and brought the manuscript paper and drawing tools to the center.
Suddenly full of energy, let’s finish this page!
Perfectly, this page has a close-up of the heroine, and she used an unconventional storyboard technique.
That is, having the character break out of the storyboard panel comfortably, with the image penetrating through and overlaying other panels.
The scene is in the student council office, where the heroine, normally an ordinary JK killer, wearing her JK uniform, sits in a chair with her legs crossed, shoes already removed and placed on the ground, her raised right foot extending toward the shot, while her foot also spreads its toes.
Originally, this scene wasn’t designed this way; from the memory brought from the dream, this moment was just the heroine sitting ordinarily in the chair, looking at the male protagonist in front of her.
But Haruna felt the illustration lacked flavor, so she made some modifications.
Now the sketch is done; the next step is inking.
For an action like this…
Mikazuki Haruna lightly poked her lips with the pencil tip, conceiving the illustration in her mind.
Daydreaming isn’t enough; she needs to see it for real.
So, Mikazuki Haruna stood up and went to the large wardrobe in the room.
She opened the wardrobe door and pulled out the dedicated drawer for storing various socks.
She likes black socks, whether short socks, long ones, or pantyhose, all black without exception.
Matching the style of pantyhose the heroine wears in the illustration, she picked out a pair.
About 60 denier thickness, the kind that faintly shows the leg skin tone when worn, yet not too transparent.
Haruna didn’t go out today, so she wasn’t wearing socks; she gathered both sides of the pantyhose and held them in her warm palm.
Then she slightly bent down, this action causing the dress hem to bunch up upward, revealing two straight and even legs, sculpted like ivory.
Haruna lifted one foot, her fair and delicate toes curling slightly, and probed into that soft mass of black silk fabric.
The silky material gently wrapped her toes; as she pulled upward, the semi-transparent black layer extended inch by inch along her instep and ankle.
The pantyhose clung tightly to her skin, outlining the curves of her legs perfectly, the leg skin tone under the black like chocolate with added milk.
Soon, the other foot was on as well.
She stood up, her hands skillfully pulling the pantyhose waist over her perky hips, securing it at her slender waist, the whole motion fluid.
The girl sat back in the ergonomic chair, moved the chair, and went to the full-length mirror.
She imitated the pose in the sketch, elegantly crossing one leg over the other.
She slightly lifted her right foot, pointing her toes forward.
Then, the five toes wrapped in black silk spread open like petals, slowly, and she gently twisted her ankle to different angles.
“So this is the feeling…”
Haruna looked at her feet, examining them closely, memorizing the image in the mirror.
But for some reason, a certain boy’s face suddenly came to mind…
In that particularly realistic dream, that guy really liked her…
Hmm… not strange at all.
After all, he’s the one who put “pantyhose” in the book title; his interests are uniquely peculiar, easy to understand.
Eh, no?
Right now, I’m the one copying his manga, even the book title!
I’m the one who used “pantyhose” as a keyword in the book title.
So does that mean I’m actually the foot fetishist?!
Pfft, what nonsense!
I’m not a foot fetishist!
How could I be a foot fetishist?!
Mikazuki Haruna immediately shook her head, shaking out the weird thoughts.
Back at the desk, she picked up the paintbrush again.
“Hmm… the transition of light and shadow, and the wrinkles when muscles tense… details should be handled like this.”
She continued the creation of the manga.
And so, until late at night.
It’s because her parents aren’t home tonight; otherwise, mom would have Kazuko Aunt come urge her to sleep early.
Her parents actually spend more time in the apartment tower in Minato Ward, since it’s closer to the company.
Kazuko Aunt usually stays on the first floor and won’t come up to check when she sleeps.
Finished the whole page; the girl leaned back in the ergonomic chair’s backrest and let out a long breath.
So tiring…
Originally thought just copying would do, but she ended up modifying so much, making the illustrations even more refined.
This adds a ton of extra work.
Although better than pure originals where she has to conceive plot and characters herself, if the main selling point is the illustrations, two chapters a week would be hard to keep up.
Not necessarily…
Mikazuki Haruna thought, since right now she’s drawing alone, she can probably finish one and a half chapters a week by herself, but she can hire assistants.
After seeing the strong performance of 《Chainsaw Man》 competing with her in the same period, Mikazuki Haruna became more serious about her own work.
She immediately opened a recruitment site for art-related positions; it has a special section for manga artists to recruit assistants.
Mikazuki Haruna posted the recruitment notice:
「Seeking three manga assistants for modern urban background manga, need good grasp of illustration details and character dynamics, preferably with rich manga assistant experience, pure hand-drawn so offline cooperation required, location in Shibuya Ward, Shoto, remuneration 30,000 yen daily, full traffic expense subsidy, nanny prepares three meals and afternoon tea, females only, those interested please send resume and personal works to email.」
Ordinary manga assistants are about 10,000 yen daily wage, skilled ones can get 15,000.
For famous writers, maybe over 20,000 remuneration, but such opportunities are rare.
At this price, she can find assistants exceptional at drawing, though it means she makes no profit herself.
Of course, she never planned to make money from manga anyway, pure hobby.
Haruna has already planned: once assistants arrive, redo all storyboards from scratch for optimized drawing, every panel meticulously inked with all details, so readers can enjoy just appreciating the illustrations.
Her work absolutely won’t lose!
