It is 15:50 here in the Netherlands and nearly midnight in my hometown, Tokyo, where my friends out there are excitedly waiting for countdown. Wish I were there too! More than New Years Eve, I do miss celebrating New Years Day itself in Japan, especially with the traditional rituals like visiting the shrine, greeting family and eating good food like toshikoshi soba and the pounded rice cakes known as omochi. Unfortunately that has not been possible for some years now, as I need to spend New Year’s Day with my partner’s family. Perhaps we need to take turns then and visit Japan for New Years 2027? What a blast that would be. Still, we hope you had a wonderful 2025 as we did and look forward to 2026!
As done annually, sharing here my New Years painting of happy us! Digital art on Procreate it is, and introducing new ideas each time. The background is black with colorful bubbles achieved by the Bokeh brush and playing around with the Blending Mode. Whilst Medium Airbrush was mainly used, I switched to the newly-obtained Pearls brushes to achieve the bubbly effect of our champagne and traced the glasses with Neon pen brush. Our furry collars were made possible with the Eldar Zakirov’s Fur brushes and our glittery hats with the Gold Rush brushes. So fun to learn new stuff and experiment! And now, a HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL, and a prosperous and healthy 2026!
My Kawaii Quarter 