You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May 2007.
Hitotsume-kozō ( 一つ目小僧 ) literally translates as “One-Eyed Little Monk”, and he is Obake, a Japanese Ghost. He is also an omen, a sign of bad luck to come. Even so, he is near the top of my list of youkai (also means ghosts) to meet, mostly because, unlike a lot of other ghosts, he will not bite, eat, pierce, shred, decapitate, freeze, burn, or drown me. Instead, he likes to tease. I can handle that.
I’ve been wanting to do some Obake art since I came to Japan, and hopefully this will be the first of many. A great source for Obake stories is the Obakemono Project. Special thanks go out to Shigeru Mizuki for keeping the world of the youkai alive… well, dead, but still fun.
Sumo isn’t cool because it’s a sport where deceptively fast, huge guys in tiny shorts slap each other until one falls down. It is cool (and it IS cool) because of HOW deceptively fast, really huge guys in very tiny shorts slap each around. Sumo is as steeped in tradition and ritual as ikebana or tea ceremony, but with better snacks (yakitori!) and big guys getting thrown around instead of flowers. There is all the drama and reversals of a football or baseball game, but crammed into 30 seconds or less. Read the rest of this entry »
The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.
-Gilbert Chesterton
I’ve lived in a lot of houses and apartments in a lot of places around the world, and wherever I go one of my neighbors is always “that guy”*. I think this holds true even when the neighbors are closer than, say, next door.
Playing with the dark and light areas and the mood of the background paper was a lot of fun. Not to mention I’ve been trying to find a good use for the dark brown-black paper for a over a month. The big guy here seemed like the right time. Click the pic to Embiggen.
*not necessarily a guy
Illustration Friday
Golden Week lived up to its name this year, nine days of gloriously warm, sun-lit spring. In marked contrast to last year, I actually got to leave Tokyo and get out of the studio. My wife and I headed down south to her ancestral home on one of the islands of Japan’s Inland Sea. They don’t get much press, but if you have a chance to visit the Setonaikai, take it. Read the rest of this entry »
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