[Arashi] Ohno - FREESTYLE II Member Crosstalk (1/2)
Just got my copy of FREESTYLE II today and decided to translate the two interviews in it. One is with Ohno on his own, and one is with the other four members because they drew sketches of him again to celebrate the launch of his second art exhibit. Instead of leaving messages for him, they did a long crosstalk together and saw what each other drew.
This is the first half, with the reveal of Jun's and Nino's drawings. I'll try and get the second half up soon and then get started on Ohno's (which is 14 (!) pages long compared to 6 pages between four people). In the meantime, enjoy!
Ohno - FREESTYLE II Member Crosstalk (1/2)
FREESTYLE II Member Crosstalk
Sakurai Sho, Aiba Masaki, Ninomiya Kazunari, Matsumoto Jun
To celebrate the launch of Ohno's first ever art exhibit and artbook, Arashi's members sent "congratulatory" messages and Ohno's "caricatures" (as they were referred to at the time). (※ They can be found in the "FREESTYLE" artbook.)
Those "messages", brimming with each member's thoughts and personalities, were very Arashi-like "farewell gifts" from the people who intimately knew Ohno up to that point.
Seven years have passed. Coinciding with the opening of Ohno's second art exhibit, the four of them once again strove to fulfil Ohno's wish and created "portraits of Leader" (as they will be referred to this time).
From here on, we have a crosstalk from the four of them that took place on the day of their portrait deadline, a "celebration after 7 years" for their leader.
---We asked you to write messages and draw caricatures of Leader last time. This time around, we'd like to make it a crosstalk with the four of you and include both your artworks and your "congratulations" in the artbook.
Everyone: Sure, let's do this!
---Before you look at each other's artwork, let's talk about how that "attempt" went for each of you.
Sakurai: I... talked about it a lot with MatsuJun.
Matsumoto: Yeah. "It's still not coming to me", right?
Sakurai: Yes (laugh). I couldn't get my pencil going until the last minute... I think it was two days ago (prior to this talk)? That was when I finished drawing.
Matsumoto: It didn't really "come to me" either. It was really tough this time!
Sakurai: Hahaha (laugh) ....so we had this group (Sakurai, Matsumoto), and then these two (Aiba, Ninomiya)... were probably much quicker, no?
Ninomiya: Weeeeell~ I mean, I've done this countless times, you know? This is the result of lots of practice!
Aiba: I drew it right away too. It was the same day they gave me the supplies, I think? Pretty much on that same day.
Sakurai: Didn't you draw it in our "VS Arashi" dressing room?
Aiba: Yeah. I took what I drew back home and added some finishing touches. My pencil was just running wild on the paper. It was absolutely unstoppable!
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
Aiba: I was probably the fastest one, wasn't I?
Ninomiya: But... I drew mine on the first day too. (T/N: When they were given the art supplies)
---So up until today, you have no idea what everyone else drew?
Matsumoto: Yeah, no clue.
Sakurai: More like, I thought we weren't supposed to know.
Aiba: I'm looking forward to it!
Sakurai: First off, I think everyone had the thought of "let's take this seriously" in mind, didn't we?
Ninomiya: We did!
Sakurai: We have to give it some actual effort and be serious, right?
Aiba: Yeah, I put in effort drawing that. It's... it's the first time I ever put that much effort into drawing something.
Sakurai: Hahaha! Aiba Masaki's first real effort?
Aiba: Yup!
Sakurai: From the man who doesn't run because he says he'll run his feet off if he does it for real! And now, he's actually taking this seriously!! Is this really true?
Matsumoto: Well... this doesn't really have anything to do with "running", you know (laugh).
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
Aiba: I put in some serious effort, yeah (laugh).
Ninomiya: I... kinda want to see it soon. He's really busy, you know. He's filming a drama ("Youkoso, wagaya e") right now, you see.
---Now... how should we reveal the drawings to everyone?
Matsumoto: Let's talk about how we "drew it with this in mind" or something along those lines before we look at each drawing.
Sakurai: Alright... shall we janken for it? Whoever wins goes first?
(※ Thusly, from the janken results, the order was determined to be Matsumoto -> Ninomiya -> Aiba -> Sakurai)
---And now, Matsumoto-san. Please go ahead!
Matsumoto: Right. Like I said earlier... it took a long time to "come to me" (laugh). I started drawing last night around midnight.
Aiba: Ehh!? Seriously?
Sakurai: That's practically today!
Ninomiya: That is today.
Matsumoto: Yup, just a little while ago (laugh). I was like... man, I really need to get going. So I put Leader's picture on the table. I looked at that, and then... I poured a drink and drank that as I looked at it.
Ninomiya: So fancy.
Sakurai: That's so fancy! So Satoshi was like your snack? While you drank!?
Matsumoto: That's right (laugh). First, I looked at the picture from all kinds of different angles... for about 30 minutes. Then, I was like "Alright, let's draw this!" and took a seat, and it just came right out. When I asked Leader how he usually draws things, he told me "When I'm drawing faces, I start with the eyes". He draws the eyes... er, then the eyebrows. Then the nose, the mouth... I think that's what he said? So I did it in that order too.
Aiba: Hehhh, is that so.
Sakurai: You stayed true to what the master taught you.
Matsumoto: Yeah, I did exactly that. And it turned out really nice! Um... that's, well... that's something I'd like your thoughts on once you see it (laugh). It was really good along the way, when I was drawing the eyes and the brows. After around half an hour, I wanted to give up and call it quits. But then... then I thought to myself, it's not like people are expecting it to be good anyway.
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
Matsumoto: I gave it some serious thought, you know... like, what exactly are my own expectations?
Ninomiya: It's not about the art, after all (laugh).
Matsumoto: Right, I figured that my artistry isn't really necessary anyway (laugh). So I wanted to make this one piece of art more entertaining instead...
Aiba: Entertainment! That is so you.
Sakurai: Yeah, typical MJ!
Ninomiya: As expected, right? He always puts emphasis on the entertainment factor.
Matsumoto: Yes (laugh). So that's what this artwork is like! Now, please have a look. It's not fancy art or anything, my apologies... Ah, and I took pictures of my progress with my phone just in case. If you want to see it, please let me know.
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
---And now, here is Matsumoto-san's artwork!
Others: (leans in closely to look as it's unveiled) Bwahahaha! Haha, hahaha! (intrigued laughter from each member)
Ninomiya: Ahhh, not bad! It's not bad, it's pretty good!
Sakurai: Not bad at all! Ahh... it kinda has the same feel as those 18th century French painters.
Aiba: I know what you mean. It has an artistic quality to it.
Matsumoto: (shyly) Seriously, um, take a look at just the eyes. It really looks like him, the eyes and the brows.
Ninomiya: It does, it does.
Sakurai: (looks at the drawing again) The shading's really good.
Ninomiya: What is it... um, the top left (of his face) was erased a bunch of times, wasn't it?
Sakurai: Yeah, I know what you mean (laugh).
Matsumoto: Ahahaha (laugh). Yeah, it got really fat at one point. So then I thought, this doesn't look right. And when I tried to add some shading, this time... it looked like he took a beating to his cheeks.
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
Ninomiya: Man... you fixed it up really well, when you think about it that way.
---Wow... compared to the last "FREESTYLE" drawing, you've taken this to a whole new dimension. Both skill-wise and artistically speaking.
Sakurai: What was the last one like again? (after comparing) Ahhh, your style has completely changed!
Matsumoto: Yeah... my style is different. I didn't mean to change it... but in the end, it turned out different (laugh).
---You've even developed the skill of "gradation"...
Matsumoto: That was because I had these paper napkin things on the table. I used that to rub against the paper and make smudges. Though I used my hand to do it at first...
Sakurai: As expected.
Aiba: Yeah. It's great, isn't it?
Sakurai: Yeah, it is. Very good.
Ninomiya: That depth, right? It's amazing.
Sakurai: Oh man... I thought my (drawing) was pretty good, but... now I've lost my confidence.
Aiba: Yeah... I don't want to reveal (my own drawing).
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
---Continuing on, we have Ninomiya-san. What did you have in mind when you drew this?
Ninomiya: Um, well first of all... I'm thinking, why not just take a look at it?
Matsumoto: Oooh~ you're going for the "show first, talk later" style!?
Ninomiya: Yup, please reveal it first. You'll understand everything once you see it.
---And now, here it is!
Others: (takes one look together) Hehe... hehehe.
Aiba: Erm, this is...?
Ninomiya: Right? That's what it's like, isn't it? It makes you go "Eh?" "Huh?".
Sakurai: Well... but I do get what you're saying.
Matsumoto: I get it too. That look in the eye on the right side facing me... I get it.
Ninomiya: (grinning) Right?
Sakurai: Yeah, I get it. You tried to take it seriously, and then it turned out this way.
Ninomiya: Right. I tried a lot of different things too. Dark Ohno, light Ohno... different drawing styles, you know? When I tried all these things, it kinda... I looked at it objectively, and be it the dark one or the light one, they all kinda had this "mockery" feel to it. It really felt like I was mocking him... but we're trying to be sincere this time around. At the very least, I didn't want to make it a joke. That was when I decided, "Let's fix it one more time and make it simpler" and did it over again.
---Which means to get to that point, you've actually drawn a lot.
Ninomiya: I did. I drew a dark one, I drew a light one. But in the end, it was kind of...
Matsumoto: This ended up being the right one?
Ninomiya: (nods) To me, something like this is the best... the fact that I sincerely gave it a shot, so to speak. That was the conclusion I came to. Seriously... no really, seriously! (with much emphasis)
---This is it, when you're talking about a drawing that conveys a sense of "sincerity".
Ninomiya: Right! It's like... I pruned off a lot of excess info and tried to nail that one point of doing it "seriously". And this is how it turned out this time around.
Aiba: You gave it a serious shot, right? I get it.
---I was wondering if you perhaps used a lot of shadowing, since you added some detailed shadows last time. Perhaps you'd decide to delve further into that.
Ninomiya: No, see, that's why I drew so much. For sure. I did all kinds of drawings. Dark, light... but I tossed them all out.
Sakurai: (looks at Ninomiya's last artwork) Ahh~ it's true, there's a lot of shadows...
Aiba: Yeah, you added shadowing to it. You liked shadows, and yet...
Ninomiya: Yeah. But I wanted to set aside that whole "This is scary so I'll just dress it up a lot" thing. Like, let's try something simple for a change!
Matsumoto: In other words, you explored around and this was the result.
Ninomiya: Right. This was it.
---You were prepared to prune things off, I can really feel that.
Ninomiya: But it does make you go "Eh?" at first. Or "Huh?". Right... but yeah, definitely. Even though I wanted to pile stuff on because it's scary, I decided to not do that for a change.
This is the first half, with the reveal of Jun's and Nino's drawings. I'll try and get the second half up soon and then get started on Ohno's (which is 14 (!) pages long compared to 6 pages between four people). In the meantime, enjoy!
Ohno - FREESTYLE II Member Crosstalk (1/2)
FREESTYLE II Member Crosstalk
Sakurai Sho, Aiba Masaki, Ninomiya Kazunari, Matsumoto Jun
To celebrate the launch of Ohno's first ever art exhibit and artbook, Arashi's members sent "congratulatory" messages and Ohno's "caricatures" (as they were referred to at the time). (※ They can be found in the "FREESTYLE" artbook.)
Those "messages", brimming with each member's thoughts and personalities, were very Arashi-like "farewell gifts" from the people who intimately knew Ohno up to that point.
Seven years have passed. Coinciding with the opening of Ohno's second art exhibit, the four of them once again strove to fulfil Ohno's wish and created "portraits of Leader" (as they will be referred to this time).
From here on, we have a crosstalk from the four of them that took place on the day of their portrait deadline, a "celebration after 7 years" for their leader.
---We asked you to write messages and draw caricatures of Leader last time. This time around, we'd like to make it a crosstalk with the four of you and include both your artworks and your "congratulations" in the artbook.
Everyone: Sure, let's do this!
---Before you look at each other's artwork, let's talk about how that "attempt" went for each of you.
Sakurai: I... talked about it a lot with MatsuJun.
Matsumoto: Yeah. "It's still not coming to me", right?
Sakurai: Yes (laugh). I couldn't get my pencil going until the last minute... I think it was two days ago (prior to this talk)? That was when I finished drawing.
Matsumoto: It didn't really "come to me" either. It was really tough this time!
Sakurai: Hahaha (laugh) ....so we had this group (Sakurai, Matsumoto), and then these two (Aiba, Ninomiya)... were probably much quicker, no?
Ninomiya: Weeeeell~ I mean, I've done this countless times, you know? This is the result of lots of practice!
Aiba: I drew it right away too. It was the same day they gave me the supplies, I think? Pretty much on that same day.
Sakurai: Didn't you draw it in our "VS Arashi" dressing room?
Aiba: Yeah. I took what I drew back home and added some finishing touches. My pencil was just running wild on the paper. It was absolutely unstoppable!
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
Aiba: I was probably the fastest one, wasn't I?
Ninomiya: But... I drew mine on the first day too. (T/N: When they were given the art supplies)
---So up until today, you have no idea what everyone else drew?
Matsumoto: Yeah, no clue.
Sakurai: More like, I thought we weren't supposed to know.
Aiba: I'm looking forward to it!
Sakurai: First off, I think everyone had the thought of "let's take this seriously" in mind, didn't we?
Ninomiya: We did!
Sakurai: We have to give it some actual effort and be serious, right?
Aiba: Yeah, I put in effort drawing that. It's... it's the first time I ever put that much effort into drawing something.
Sakurai: Hahaha! Aiba Masaki's first real effort?
Aiba: Yup!
Sakurai: From the man who doesn't run because he says he'll run his feet off if he does it for real! And now, he's actually taking this seriously!! Is this really true?
Matsumoto: Well... this doesn't really have anything to do with "running", you know (laugh).
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
Aiba: I put in some serious effort, yeah (laugh).
Ninomiya: I... kinda want to see it soon. He's really busy, you know. He's filming a drama ("Youkoso, wagaya e") right now, you see.
---Now... how should we reveal the drawings to everyone?
Matsumoto: Let's talk about how we "drew it with this in mind" or something along those lines before we look at each drawing.
Sakurai: Alright... shall we janken for it? Whoever wins goes first?
(※ Thusly, from the janken results, the order was determined to be Matsumoto -> Ninomiya -> Aiba -> Sakurai)
---And now, Matsumoto-san. Please go ahead!
Matsumoto: Right. Like I said earlier... it took a long time to "come to me" (laugh). I started drawing last night around midnight.
Aiba: Ehh!? Seriously?
Sakurai: That's practically today!
Ninomiya: That is today.
Matsumoto: Yup, just a little while ago (laugh). I was like... man, I really need to get going. So I put Leader's picture on the table. I looked at that, and then... I poured a drink and drank that as I looked at it.
Ninomiya: So fancy.
Sakurai: That's so fancy! So Satoshi was like your snack? While you drank!?
Matsumoto: That's right (laugh). First, I looked at the picture from all kinds of different angles... for about 30 minutes. Then, I was like "Alright, let's draw this!" and took a seat, and it just came right out. When I asked Leader how he usually draws things, he told me "When I'm drawing faces, I start with the eyes". He draws the eyes... er, then the eyebrows. Then the nose, the mouth... I think that's what he said? So I did it in that order too.
Aiba: Hehhh, is that so.
Sakurai: You stayed true to what the master taught you.
Matsumoto: Yeah, I did exactly that. And it turned out really nice! Um... that's, well... that's something I'd like your thoughts on once you see it (laugh). It was really good along the way, when I was drawing the eyes and the brows. After around half an hour, I wanted to give up and call it quits. But then... then I thought to myself, it's not like people are expecting it to be good anyway.
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
Matsumoto: I gave it some serious thought, you know... like, what exactly are my own expectations?
Ninomiya: It's not about the art, after all (laugh).
Matsumoto: Right, I figured that my artistry isn't really necessary anyway (laugh). So I wanted to make this one piece of art more entertaining instead...
Aiba: Entertainment! That is so you.
Sakurai: Yeah, typical MJ!
Ninomiya: As expected, right? He always puts emphasis on the entertainment factor.
Matsumoto: Yes (laugh). So that's what this artwork is like! Now, please have a look. It's not fancy art or anything, my apologies... Ah, and I took pictures of my progress with my phone just in case. If you want to see it, please let me know.
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
---And now, here is Matsumoto-san's artwork!
Others: (leans in closely to look as it's unveiled) Bwahahaha! Haha, hahaha! (intrigued laughter from each member)
Ninomiya: Ahhh, not bad! It's not bad, it's pretty good!
Sakurai: Not bad at all! Ahh... it kinda has the same feel as those 18th century French painters.
Aiba: I know what you mean. It has an artistic quality to it.
Matsumoto: (shyly) Seriously, um, take a look at just the eyes. It really looks like him, the eyes and the brows.
Ninomiya: It does, it does.
Sakurai: (looks at the drawing again) The shading's really good.
Ninomiya: What is it... um, the top left (of his face) was erased a bunch of times, wasn't it?
Sakurai: Yeah, I know what you mean (laugh).
Matsumoto: Ahahaha (laugh). Yeah, it got really fat at one point. So then I thought, this doesn't look right. And when I tried to add some shading, this time... it looked like he took a beating to his cheeks.
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
Ninomiya: Man... you fixed it up really well, when you think about it that way.
---Wow... compared to the last "FREESTYLE" drawing, you've taken this to a whole new dimension. Both skill-wise and artistically speaking.
Sakurai: What was the last one like again? (after comparing) Ahhh, your style has completely changed!
Matsumoto: Yeah... my style is different. I didn't mean to change it... but in the end, it turned out different (laugh).
---You've even developed the skill of "gradation"...
Matsumoto: That was because I had these paper napkin things on the table. I used that to rub against the paper and make smudges. Though I used my hand to do it at first...
Sakurai: As expected.
Aiba: Yeah. It's great, isn't it?
Sakurai: Yeah, it is. Very good.
Ninomiya: That depth, right? It's amazing.
Sakurai: Oh man... I thought my (drawing) was pretty good, but... now I've lost my confidence.
Aiba: Yeah... I don't want to reveal (my own drawing).
Everyone: (bursts out laughing)
---Continuing on, we have Ninomiya-san. What did you have in mind when you drew this?
Ninomiya: Um, well first of all... I'm thinking, why not just take a look at it?
Matsumoto: Oooh~ you're going for the "show first, talk later" style!?
Ninomiya: Yup, please reveal it first. You'll understand everything once you see it.
---And now, here it is!
Others: (takes one look together) Hehe... hehehe.
Aiba: Erm, this is...?
Ninomiya: Right? That's what it's like, isn't it? It makes you go "Eh?" "Huh?".
Sakurai: Well... but I do get what you're saying.
Matsumoto: I get it too. That look in the eye on the right side facing me... I get it.
Ninomiya: (grinning) Right?
Sakurai: Yeah, I get it. You tried to take it seriously, and then it turned out this way.
Ninomiya: Right. I tried a lot of different things too. Dark Ohno, light Ohno... different drawing styles, you know? When I tried all these things, it kinda... I looked at it objectively, and be it the dark one or the light one, they all kinda had this "mockery" feel to it. It really felt like I was mocking him... but we're trying to be sincere this time around. At the very least, I didn't want to make it a joke. That was when I decided, "Let's fix it one more time and make it simpler" and did it over again.
---Which means to get to that point, you've actually drawn a lot.
Ninomiya: I did. I drew a dark one, I drew a light one. But in the end, it was kind of...
Matsumoto: This ended up being the right one?
Ninomiya: (nods) To me, something like this is the best... the fact that I sincerely gave it a shot, so to speak. That was the conclusion I came to. Seriously... no really, seriously! (with much emphasis)
---This is it, when you're talking about a drawing that conveys a sense of "sincerity".
Ninomiya: Right! It's like... I pruned off a lot of excess info and tried to nail that one point of doing it "seriously". And this is how it turned out this time around.
Aiba: You gave it a serious shot, right? I get it.
---I was wondering if you perhaps used a lot of shadowing, since you added some detailed shadows last time. Perhaps you'd decide to delve further into that.
Ninomiya: No, see, that's why I drew so much. For sure. I did all kinds of drawings. Dark, light... but I tossed them all out.
Sakurai: (looks at Ninomiya's last artwork) Ahh~ it's true, there's a lot of shadows...
Aiba: Yeah, you added shadowing to it. You liked shadows, and yet...
Ninomiya: Yeah. But I wanted to set aside that whole "This is scary so I'll just dress it up a lot" thing. Like, let's try something simple for a change!
Matsumoto: In other words, you explored around and this was the result.
Ninomiya: Right. This was it.
---You were prepared to prune things off, I can really feel that.
Ninomiya: But it does make you go "Eh?" at first. Or "Huh?". Right... but yeah, definitely. Even though I wanted to pile stuff on because it's scary, I decided to not do that for a change.