“Valentine’s Day” by Ruru

A thousand unsaid words

Today’s piece on the analytical easel comes credit to the wonderful “Ruru” an artist that I’m working with directly, whom you can find @merururuu on Instagram and Twitter. Her use of color and her refined, stylized, needs-to-have-webtoon technique, which I would say the art provides proof enough of, constitutes a lot of what inspired me to reach out to her in the first place.

At first glance, perhaps this one appears somewhat simple in it’s focus, but there’s actually a lot of subtle things happening here I want to bring attention to. The very first thing that I noticed about this piece, was the way in which the shadows cast on the characters tells a story of setting, without being overbearing. To me it looks as though Ruru has brilliantly captured the effect of this couple standing under a tree in sunlight with the use of small perforations of light in the shadow. Even at a glance, the details shown to us through the negative space among the dark areas reflect the shape of the environment just enough to guess at what’s there. What really makes this effect so powerful from my perspective, is that the light and shadow doubles to make the piece look like it’s sparkling, or glimmering in the sunlight. Regardless of how you interpret the environment however, one can appreciate that gestures are used expertly here to suggest the setting.

Speaking of gestures, let’s take a look at the energy around the face and hair. From the expressions of the characters, the gentle parsing of the lips to the finer details of the hair in conjunction with the lighting effects, this art conjures a spot on romantic vibe. Rather than an over-the-top, 90’s romance anime cheesiness (think Fushigi Yugi) I find that this piece captures an authentic, romantic moment. There are enough sparks between the characters that they don’t need to do anything more to communicate the feelings present. Other subtleties such as the man’s hand give the impression of just barely touching and further add to the gentle scene, and support the theme of so much information in so few signals. Additionally, the sparkle of the girl’s earing, yet another subtle detail, almost represents this special, ephemeral moment as a glimmer in time, which serves as a beautiful analogy for the scene as a whole.

This piece likely carries a special energy because it was made in tribute to Ruru’s significant other for Valentine’s Day, hence the moniker given to the piece. Surely enough, capturing emotions truly felt is much easier than shaping a scene based around a dramatization of a mere performance. In a few gestures, expert use of light and shadow, and a noticeable connection between the art and the artist, this piece speaks volumes without saying a single word.