Perseid meteor shower makes me feel nostalgic. Silly, but it reminds me of this couple.

I have sketched many portraits and other than my husband and kids' portraits, this is my most favorite one. Just thinking of this couple is enough to make me smile. If you are Chinese (or Asian) there is a high possibility that you recognized them. If you don't well I am not surprised too.

Jerry Yan and Barbie Hsu. Or on screen better known as Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai, the main casts of Meteor Garden, a 2001 Taiwanese drama based on Japanese shōjo manga series, Hana Yori Dango, written by Yoko Kamio. 2001?! Yeah that long and that old LOL.

I am not Chinese and I don't speak Chinese but I do watch Chinese or Taiwanese drama now and then. Kinda odd.

Long before Korean drama craze spread in Asia (yes even before Winter Sonata), I think many girls of my generation relates to having Dao Ming Si as their first tall-dark-and-fictional first love. Meteor Garden (MG) paved the way for us girls realizing that yeah Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp were pretty but these Asian hunks were better. MG was immensely popular back then that people literally stop what they were doing to get giddy-ish about the love-you-hate-you relationship between Shan Cai (Barbie Hsu) and Dao Ming Si (Jerry Yan). The absurdity of their relationship was so comically and painfully endearing.

It has been 16 years since MG aired in Taiwan and across Asia but this couple still occupies a special space in my heart.

On the 16th anniversary of the series, it was announced that Meteor Garden fresh remake is slated to air in 2018; new casts, of course, to cater to the new generation of viewers (the original casts and many fans are in our 40s now...just saying LOL).

I completed this portrait of Jerry Yan and Barbie Hsu within a week, as a tribute to the original series. I used 2 reference photos and Photoshopped them together.

Media: graphite and charcoal on A3 paper.

Please ignore the grid marks. This portrait is for practicing and my personal collection. Grid marks are not visible on commissioned portraits.

I am going to write portrait sketching tutorials for complete beginners and post them here on Steemit soon. If you want to learn to sketch portraits (and impress your loved ones LOL) feel free to give me a follow so you won't miss my posts.

Here are the progress photos for this portrait.

And couldn't help but share this beautiful and haunting music from the series - Lovely Memories by Alvaro Pierri.

What do you think of this portrait? Please leave your comments below. Thank you!

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