TERAI YUKI FAN ART PAGE

Terai Yuki, "out of the box" in Tokyo Bay

Terai Yuki, or, to be respectful of Japanese customs, Yuki Terai, was created as a virtual idol by computer artist Kutsugi Ken-ichi, I think in 2002. Virtual idols have been in existence for several years in Japan and other countries, bringing fresh young faces to help promote products like music, games, magazines or other things. The ready acceptance of these characters in society by younger people only goes to reinforce the role technology is playing in our daily lives. The popularity of virtual idols, many with their own legions of fans, is something spreading beyond Asia to other countries in the developed world. While western audiences still persist in looking at virtual characters as little more than highly textured cartoons not to be taken seriously outside of the entertainment world, the attitude is beginning to change. Julius Wiedemann, in his book, DIGITAL BEAUTIES, published by Taschen, has noted how the declining prices in computers with sufficient power to run user friendly animation porgrams (like Poser) has made it possible for people to literally create or interact with virtual beings. Terai-chan is the product of one such expedition into the virtual world.

I first became involved with Terai-chan through E-Frontier's Poser 6, while reading one of the company e-newsletters late in the summer of 2005. I 'adopted' her (I use that term instead of 'bought', considering Terai-chan is a virtual person, and even the idea of 'buying' virtual people seems unsettling) because I was looking for a pseudo anime type figure to use in new art projects, just as the basic Poser 4 model became the template for the Kaiten Angels. Imagine my surprise when later in the fall I 'Googled' Terai-chan to see if other computer animators were working with her, and discovered that she was originally a virtual idol. My view of her as a mere tool changed after that, and strangely, my students and I (she models for my junior students) speak of her in more personal terms, using feminine tenses rather than saying 'it'. In a conversation with my colleagues about virtual models, they talked about younger people are much more willing to embrace them and respect them than older people- by implication, some of their teachers. Quite possibly, Kutsugi-san's model may be the first used in a classroom to teach basic figure drawing. I certainly don't know of anyone who has done this. (As a sidebar, she makes a great launch point for further instruction on body types, stereotypes, and stylized versus naturalist representations in Art.)

What follows here is a selection of pieces I've created with Terai-chan, using the basic Terai Yuki 2 model, with various add-ons available in Poser, or purchased through third party sources via Content Paradise or DAZ 3D. Those of you who are familiar with the basic Terai Yuki will see I've made a few changes... Eventually, as I develop more skill, I will be working more with my own creations in terms of clothing and props.

Just scroll down and, with the exception of the big images, click on the thumbnails to bring up the bigger piece.

TERAI YUKI EXPRESSIONS

TERAI YUKI GESTURE POSES

TERAI YUKI ROLE PLAYING

Image may not be reproduced in any way without permission from the artist.
Last revised: December 02, 2007.