I’m sorry to those waiting for Chaos of Beauty updates, I keep putting the lastest chapter aside but I will definitely have it posted around the weekend.
Ok, so with this very post, I have decided try something new…all you faithful followers of c-novel translations must know that us translators have our own collection of illustrations ready to add into our updates in order to help you visualise the stories better, same illustrations may be used here and there on different blogs and you may also have noticed that a lot of these illustrations comes from the same artists. Those of you who did a little searching may already know some of the illustrators but for those who don’t and perhaps those that may be new to c-novels, I wanted to start a series of posts to introduce you all to the lovely illustrators that has provided us with the beautiful artwork, and it is also the least I could do to honour them and bring them more love as I continue to use their illustrations in my translations haha.
Updates for these posts may not be frequent, and for now, I don’t have that many illustrators lined up, but I will of course continue to be on the lookout for more illustrators, and would love to keep you guys updated with them should you enjoy these posts.
To kick it all off, when it comes to c-novel illustrations, how could I not start with everyone’s favourite Ibuki Satsuki, even if you have not heard of her name, you must surely have seen her illustrations around, be it illustrations of the Three Lifes Three World books or illustrations of Faithful to Buddha — her illustrations are scattered all over my blog, I can tell you that. Anyways I am not here to analyse these artworks and give you overly detailed reviews of it, but simply to introduce the names behind the beautiful illustrations, and although I will only be posting a few images here as I don’t want an image overload, links will be provided at the bottom of the page.
There may not be an official website for 伊吹五月 Ibuki Satsuki but her illustrations tend to be posted up on her weibo page anyways: http://tw.weibo.com/ibukisatsuki
Or there’s always the simple method of copy and pasting the name into google or the website I tend to use is http://www.duitang.com/
If you really really love these illustrations you can try searching up 伊吹五月畫冊 for the artbooks, I know they can be bought on the taobao.com but I have no idea how trustable the site is, not to mention the website is in chinese.
d3wynightunr0lls 
She/he is chinese or japanese?
LikeLike
She*, I don’t know much about her background but it is stated that she is from Hunan in China, probably of japanese descent hence the name
LikeLike
she is chinese. Ibuki satsuki is her art name. Normally illustrators in china do not use their real name.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She is Chinese. From what I know, she got her first job in a chinese manga company, that’s why she used a “art name” in Japanese style. Chinese illustrators almost never use their real names. But now she does stuff for chinese style music album cover and games, some chinese novels as well….
LikeLike
Well there you go JD haha and thank you Annie for explaining, you clearly know more than me XD
LikeLike
Thank you so much for sharing !!
LikeLike
No problem 🙂
LikeLike
I LOVE THESE WONDERFUL PICTURES!!!!
Thank you so much for sharing this! 🙂
LikeLike
You’re very welcome! They’re just so fabulous aren’t they? There’s a sort of soft tone that makes them seem so delicate, perfect for adding to novels 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow! Those are wonderful drawings! 🙂
Is she the official illustrator of some c-novels? Or a freelance illustrator who loves to draw pictures based on c-novels?
LikeLiked by 1 person
She does sometimes get commissioned to produce illustrations for some novels be it covers, posters or illustration cards, she has entire artbooks for the Three Worlds Three Lifes novels, I believe she did some artworks for Hua Yu Xin too and I think she’s been involved in some games and comics/manhua also 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks so much!! It’s nice with a bit of beauty on a dreary, rainy day.
LikeLike
You’re welcome! These illustrations are perfect for rainy days, the soft undertones and ancient vibe she creates in her illustrations just makes your dull rainy days feel so much better
LikeLike
These are lovely illustrations – I’d like to know more about does she match them to particular novels or are they simply fantasy? I keep track of beautiful illustrations over at Pinterest – these will be a nice addition.
LikeLike
I think she tends to match them with ancient novels, whether it’s just in ancient settings or even xianxia settings, I only ever recall one modern illustration from her haha. Oh I’m sure there would be plenty of her illlustrations ready to repin or to add to your own boards on pinterest hahaha
LikeLike
Thanks. Was wondering who drew the pictures.
LikeLike
And now you know hehe 🙂
LikeLike
I love love love illustration from c-novel. Really adds up my reading experiences.
Though, I didn’t know who’s the author, so I’m collecting those from c-novel translation post and from searching the web with the copy-paste novel title. Hehe ^^~.
Thank you for sharing this knowledge. I can appreciate them more.
LikeLike
You’re very welcome Alice 🙂 I didn’t think there’d be quite a lot of people here that didn’t know the artist name behind all these illustrations, so it’s great to know I made the right decision to start this introducing the illustrators series haha with all the love for c-novels and c-novel translations, it’s only fair that the illustrators get their own fair share of love and gain new fans too 🙂
LikeLike
Eeeeeee!!!! I absolutely adore her!
LikeLike
I was just wasting some writing time (procrastination at its best!) rereading this series today. Once again, a lovely set of illustrations. I was wondering if you knew anything about the middle, four-section illustration with the four seasons. It tells such an intriguing story that I wondered if it went with a particular story.
LikeLike
I may be wrong here, but as far as I can tell, it seems to be illustrations for the novel Faithful to Buddha, Faithful to You, which Haru is translating 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yea! Thanks!
LikeLike
I wanted to buy the artbook from Taobao cuz my Uncle bought most of his furniture from Taobao but I only understand half the stuff from the website lol
LikeLike
Haha so I’m guess taobao is pretty reliable then?? Does your uncle live in china, maybe you could get him to do you the favour of buying the artbooks, request a christmas gift from him XD
LikeLike
Do you guys know anywhere else where we could buy her work? Its so amazing! I really want to see it in real life. I dont think http://www.taobao.com ships overseas (when I checked on google translate) plus some of the site I dont understand. I’m here in London at the moment.
Man I would literally pay someone to buy it in China and then ship it here to England.
LikeLike
Hi Nips 🙂
From what I gathered, there seems to be a thing called taobao agents that helps international buyers get what they want from the site, I personally never shopped from taobao so I’m not exactly sure how it works, but there seems to be a lot of these ‘taobao agents’ sites to choose from, so you could look up on that. Also, do make sure to look up reviews for these sites, just to see how trustworthy they are.
Hopefully that was of some help 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you for this very useful information. If I may be frank, I think every illustrator should be credited right after or before the artwork. It frustrates me that so many wuxia translation websites don’t properly acknowledge the artists of the illustrations they used on their pages. If they know the artists, the names should be properly acknowledged right away under the associated artwork. If not, then it has to be disclaimed that the author has no clue who the artist is, and any input on the artist’s identity should be welcome. I try to do that to the many artworks in have on my blog, and it brings me joy every time I can identify the artist of an artwork. Without their arts, my blog wouldn’t be the same at all.
LikeLike
I simply love manhua Yi Chui Wu Yue Tiao Man Ji by Ibuki Satsuki ❤
LikeLike
At last, I’ve found her. She has the most distinct art style and she portrays chinese historical setting so beautifully!! Her pictures tell stories. God bless✌✌
LikeLike
somebody please tell me where can I buy manga books of cherry blossom by Ibuki satsuki, I only speak English please, please her art is beautiful and best manga ever makes me cry.
LikeLike
Omg omg omg so the artwork about the monk and the girl is related to the c-novel faithful to buddha, faithful to you? 😭❤️❤️ I love the story so so much, with her illustration i can imagine about the novel more! Thanks for sharing❤️
LikeLike
Wow her art style is so pretty! I have always loved these style of art! Is there a form for people interested in these things? Also what is the backstory behind the arts
LikeLike