Draftophilamaniacal Neoretrography

Happy Year of the Dragon!

2012-01-03T06:35:00.000-08:00

Freaky Field Guide for CNN

2011-09-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

WOO HOO!!! Now I can show everyone my gig for CNN!

It was a ton of fun making these 10 images of mythological Japanese creatures to go with Matt Alt's accompanying vivid descriptions.

Be sure and check out all 3 pages of the article.

1. Kirin

2. Nue
3. Shachihoko
4. Baku
5. Houou
6. Maneki Neko
7. Komainu
8. Ryu
9. Catfish God
10. Gama's Toad

"Of Staves and Sigmas" Cover

2011-08-21T17:02:00.001-07:00

After somewhat of a hiatus from the page (which included an intercontinental move), I can finally show the new art!

Here's my cover for Geoffrey Verdegast's "Of Staves and Sigmas," the first installment in his epic "Souls of Ergos" series.

Mr. Verdegast describes his vivid, richly detailed story thusly, also offering insight into the cover's dual-world theme:

The SOULS OF ERGOS saga is a sinuous, multi-layered tale centred around two men, two worlds, and a bizarre twist of cosmic duality. Both men rousted by Fate, both displaced by undeflectable circumstance onto foreign spheres, each finds himself striving to remain grounded amid the peril of unfamiliar terrains and hostile peoples while simultaneously trying to unriddle the mystery behind their intersidereal abductions. With one protagonist stranded on contemporary earth, and the other on mediaeval Ergos, their respective existences come down to an ability to brave the travels and travails born of faithworthy comrades, of treacherous situations, and of the handful of gradually-manifesting mystical abilities that threaten to make both men unwillingly unique to their surrogate worlds. (Taken from the author's site)

And here's a view of the entire cover, including the back's illustration and blurbs.

It's available now in paperback and Kindle versions through Amazon or Smashwords.

(More posts soon - including a job I'm working on for CNN!)

New Piece for Group Show in Kobe, Japan

2011-05-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

"the first step is the last step"
Drawing and Digital, 5/2011
This piece was made for a show in Kobe called Transitions, and had this statement attached:
"My own impending transitions: After living in Japan for 4 years, I will be going back to the U.S. to live and work in a place that will be both familiar and strange at the same time. I thought of someone getting ready to take a risky, if necessary leap. One that, even with ample preparation, can still inspire that *oh shit* feeling of being on the edge of something - the feeling of that last step before there's nothing familiar to stand on anymore."

Great big prints (36"x20" or 93cm x 50cm) are available for ¥9000 ($110.00) plus shipping. Smaller sizes are also available - please contact me for prices at: me@chipboles.com

(detail)

Custom V-Day Portrait as Gambit and Rogue

2011-03-08T21:31:00.000-08:00

Custom "Gambit and Rogue"-style portrait of (and for) some friends, as a V-Day gift :)

(Shoot me a message if you're interested in getting your own portrait!)

St. Patrick's Day Monster Karaoke Party - Part 2

2011-02-18T19:11:00.000-08:00

A behind-the-scenes look at another (gigantic) guest at the St. Patrick's Day Karaoke Party for Irish monsters / mythological creatures / cryptozoological folks.

Banshee Sketch

2011-02-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

At the St. Patrick's Day Karaoke Party for Irish monsters / mythological creatures / cryptozoological folks, who's singing? You guessed it - the Banshee.

More members of this merry band coming soon :)

2011-02-12T00:05:00.000-08:00

I made this years ago, and thought that it, as a setting, would suggest some appropriate inhabitants. Ideas?

Cover of Planet Eigo

2011-02-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

Check this out - finally got a copy of the Planet Eigo book i did the cover for :)

You know, for JETs... (insert "rimshot" here)

It's a big book too - thick, glossy cover stock, colors came out like intended... Makes me happy.

Wanna order one?

Interviewed by SpeakingKorea.com!

2011-02-11T23:54:00.000-08:00

I had the fortune to be interviewed about my work by SpeakingKorea.com by the talented Andrew Farrell :) Cheers, dude!

Un/Real Portraits

2010-12-15T15:56:00.000-08:00

Ever wanted to be a superhero?

Fighting zombies? Be a zombie?

How about a historically-themed family portrait in awesome period clothing?

Would your kid like to be knight in shining armor slaying/riding a dragon? (I personally favor riding, but...)

Shooting the biggest gun on the planet at a spaceship?

The possibilities are truly endless, and there are no limitations on settings or props.

I'm happy to finally be able to show off Un/Real Portraits - a new kind of service I'm offering for this Christmas :)

I'd been wanting to try this for a while - drawing over photos of folks and adding whatever they like. Rob (pictured) digs the visually-entrancing world of Steampunk, so he gets to be a kind of uber-tech-ed out Sherlock Holmes-meets-Doc Brown (from Back to the Future, 3 especially)-meets... well, you get the idea.

The only thing I need from you to make one of these is a *good photo,* which for our purposes means:

______________________

1. High-resolution

2. In-focus

3. Not too cluttered with stuff (I'll clutter it myself, ha)

4. Good lighting. This mostly means that it's NOT taken with a flash. Those wash out all the wonderful shadows that I will attempt to bring out in the photo. Something better would be a photo taken in daylight, or under a light, next to a lamp, etc.

5. A good, fun pose. And they don't need to be smiling, necessarily. Actually, might be better if they're not. You know? Ninjas and folks fighting monsters, for example, don't often bust out some cheesy grins, ha.

_______________________

Shoot me a message at

me@chipboles.com

for more info, scheduling, and prices.

The Perry Bible Fellowship ROX

2010-11-08T02:45:00.000-08:00

I like my comics like I like my laydeez - intelligent, gorgeously crafted, shameless, and with a disturbing sense of humor.

For anyone who hasn't seen The Perry Bible Fellowship comics, do yourself a solid and keep hittin that random button.

Obama vs Zombies featured on The Zed Word

2010-10-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

The awesome blog of all things Zombie, The Zed Word is featuring my Obama piece! I know a lot of zombie-addicts that will love this site. It's awesome to be included in such company. Cheers, dudes!

OBAMA VS ZOMBIES!!!!!!!

2010-10-25T05:37:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the best day of the year, Obama vs. the Evil (Un)Dead is finished! Regardless of your opinion on the American President, you have to admit the man is facing some problems that just won't die. Undead issues, if you will...

Bad Art Night

2010-10-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

Whether it's our Drawing Club (sitting and drawing one coffee shop or another), the new Life Drawing Group in our town here in Japan, or the Project Nights of a couple I know (one of the more romantic notions I've heard), getting together and makin stuff is good. Just solid good.

Bad Art Night is a great one from my friend Laurie and her dude Jon. What I love most about it is how the central idea of making something "bad" is so freeing. "...No standards, no expectations..." Just making stuff.

Recoil

2010-10-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

"Recoil," from the sketchbook...

Collaboration: James and the Giant Cannibal

2010-10-19T00:12:00.000-07:00

My first (of many, hopefully) collaborative piece. Drawn by the honorable James Tohill and with colors by me.

‎Obi Wayne Kinobi & Garth Vader

2010-10-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

‎"Obi Wayne Kinobi & Garth Vader"

More photoshop-playin with a pop-culture mashup of my own creation... Thinkin this might be a Halloween costume idea.

Now fair is fair: looking it up this morning when I had the idea, I did see a few different kinds of "Garth Vader" (the best one brought up a black-guitar-wielding "Darth Brooks," ha), but never did see anyone with an "Obi Wayne."

(And again, please no one sue me :D)

Crown, from the sketchbook

2010-10-13T05:48:00.000-07:00

Worked on this mostly on trains, got all caught up on that headdress of hers, and added the hair today on my commute to and from town. You know, I do love the Japanese trains.

Pop-Culture Mashup: Tin Man+Iron Man=Ti(ro)n Man?

2010-10-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday mornin' photoshop-playin of my own creation :D

Was thinking someone could make an awesome Halloween costume out of the idea. Loving the pop-culture mashup!

(please no one sue me)

Poster for Halloween Rampage in Osaka

2010-09-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

If you're in Osaka on 10/30 this year, there's no place better to be than the multi-venue, multimedia, multi-genre extravaganza known as Halloween Rampage. I'll be "performing" by doing some live drawing (projected up onto the wall over an hour or two as I work on it), so come by! Find out more on the fb event page.

"Intoxicating" Fan Tattoo

2010-09-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

Just got this pic of "Intoxicating" tattoo submitted to the FB Art page. Thanks Christy!

The finished "Intoxicating" :

Tho I think Christy was partial to this earlier version of the drawing:

"Lady Gaga Devouring a Unicorn Carcass"

2010-08-13T16:57:00.000-07:00

I know it's not technically a carcass if it's still kickin, but "carcass" just sounds so much cooler...

After deciding between a few choices, I went with the sparkly background. For her eyes I was thinking of those nature movies that show jackals or hyenas feeding at night, eyes caught spookily in the lights from the "cameras."

The whole thing started when my buddy Joe sent me this, as featured on regretsy.com,

While I missed the actual commission deadline, I still wanted to make the piece. I want to send some caricatures to MAD Magazine sometime soon, and this one seemed as good as any to do for that. I really like Lady Gaga ("Bad Romance" is surprisingly addictive) for her show(wo)manship an the vivid spectacle she offers. One has the idea that she has the biggest creative hand in it all (as opposed to some producer/record label churning out more shiny dreck). So I present this imagined portrait with all due respect.

Stork Tattoo

2010-06-08T18:10:00.000-07:00

A recently finished tattoo design for my buddy Paul.

New "Planet Eigo" Cover

2010-05-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

Planet Eigo is a book used by JETs (get it?) teaching English in Japan. It's fulla useful lesson plans, activities and stuff for Assitant Language Teachers.

Queztal Tattoo Design

2010-03-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

The finished Guatemalan Tattoo design for A.M.

It will begin at the small of her back ("growing out" of an older tattoo already there), the trunk will continue up her spine to the large part of the tree, where the Quetzal sits. Per the aforementioned tattooee's request, plans are to do it in the pictured monochromatic brownish tones, tho she's mentioned adding the Quetzal's vivid colors to the design at some future point.

I also enjoy this process pic of the Quetzal drawing. That's a helluva tail :)

"From West to East"

2010-03-03T17:45:00.000-08:00

"From West to East"
Pencil and digital, 2010

This is a poster/cover for the upcoming short film series "From West to East," links and more to be posted soon...

Yokai Explosion! Japanese Cryptozoological/Mythological Creatures

2010-03-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

My abiding love for monsters of all shapes and sizes continues unabated in this series of Japanese Yokai, first shown in "Cryptozoology", an exhibition at the MIR Gallery in Nashville, TN, March 2010. The exhibit features six artists displaying their diverse interpretations of various cryptids including Bigfoot, the Lock Ness Monster, etc. Here are mine.

"Nekomusume" (Cat-Daughter)
pencil and digital, 2010

"Karakasa Attacks! (Rise of the Demon Japanese Umbrellas)"

pencil and digital, 2010

"Rokurokubi" (Long-Necked Woman)
pencil and digital, 2010

"Noppera-bō" (Faceless Ghost)
pencil and digital, 2010

"Kappa"
Pencil and digital, 2009

Originally made as a spot illustration for Metropolis Magazine's "Last Word" section, published on October 16, 2009.

"The Last Word" article this accompanied is a wonderful piece about the importance of Yokai in Japanese culture, written by Matt Alt. He, along with Hiroko Yoda and Tatsuya Morino, produced the great "Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide". Check it out.

For more info on this awesome member of our cryptozoological community, you can see this awesomely comprehensive guide by Mark (who also has good taste in illustration :D)

Metropolis Year-End Special

2010-01-13T17:03:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks,

Got some new images I did for Metropolis' Special Year-End issue for 12/25/09-1/7/10.

They always do a "Best of/Worst of the Year" feature, in multiple categories like Entertainment, Politics, Sports, and Arts & Culture, including text from multiple writers.

(Check out Metropolis-Japan's No.1 English-language magazine - and the original article here.)

Above is the section opener. The text reads:

"2009 was a year of extremes in Japan. For every Oscar-winning Departures that stirred national pride, there was a drug-sniffing Noripi who brought fans down to earth. Almost as soon as a fresh political party assumed power, its leader became embroiled in an old-school funding scandal. Sometimes, the year’s highs and lows were embodied in a single person: a teen golfing sensation inspired awe by winning the Japanese money title, and revulsion thanks to his hideous fashion sense (see page 22). For our pictorial wrap-up of 2009, we looked beyond the headlines to uncover the lesser-known stories that best represented an extreme year."

"Japan’s variety programs usually steer clear of political hot potatoes, since entertainers have a history of foot-in-mouth disease. Yet veteran TV emcee Mino Monta, 64, managed to embarrass himself in May when he glibly suggested on his TBS morning program that Japan should offer to buy back the four Northern Territories from Russia. The occasion? A state visit by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Monta made the remarks to four panelists, all of whom avoided any response. He went on to say that because of the depressed state of the Russian economy, Moscow should jump at the chance to earn some extra cash. Monta’s comments immediately caused problems for the Foreign Ministry and, the next day, TBS representatives released a statement saying the remarks were inappropriate but made in jest.—Chris Betros"

"Giving new meaning to the term “portable television,” the emergence of BeeTV was the most notable—and most notably Japanese—entertainment success story of 2009. The keitai-exclusive broadcasting service, co-produced by cellphone giant Docomo and entertainment group Avex, launched fully formed on May 1 with a roster of top-name talent, led by the doyenne of female entertainers, Akiko Wada. Some 350,000 users signed on for the monthly service (at ¥315 a pop), and the number is expected to grow to 3.5 million in 2013. With brief (5-10min) episodes of all-original programming that subscribers can tune in to whenever they like, BeeTV offers a tantalizing glimpse of the future of television.—Steve Trautlein"

"An ignominious end to a memorable political career: that sums up the events of July 21, when former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi missed his last-ever Diet session… because he was stuck in traffic. During his tenure as PM from 2001-2006, Koizumi displayed a populist touch, and thanks to his maverick leadership style (and trademark mane of silver hair), he became the most recognizable politician of his generation. The humiliating finale to his 37-year Lower House career came as he got hung up during the commute to Tokyo from Kanagawa—a situation that, like so many of Koizumi’s maneuvers, his admiring countrymen could identify with.—Steve Trautlein"

"2009 will forever be remembered as the year the DPJ wrested power from the good ol’ boys of the LDP. But it might also be known as The Year of the Woman. By enlisting a cadre of female political novices to run against entrenched LDP stalwarts, DPJ honcho Ichiro Ozawa helped ensure a landslide victory for his party. Foremost among “Ozawa’s Princesses” was Mieko Tanaka, a 33-year-old former sex columnist who once appeared topless in a horror film called Blind Beast vs. Killer Dwarf; other candidates included a swimsuit model and a former hostess. Tanaka’s opponent in the Ishikawa Prefecture No. 2 district race, dour 71-year-old former PM Yoshio Mori, groused, “She was picked only because she is young and has a nice body.” Perhaps. But Tanaka acquitted herself so well that she made it to the Diet under Japan’s proportional representation rules; in total, she and her sisters claimed 96 Lower House seats.—ST"

"Brave boy, Ryo Ishikawa. The teen golfing phenom took on the world’s best and returned home to win the Japan tour’s money crown. He played with skill. He played with guts. And it looks as if those guts were used to decorate his clothing. There’s nothing wrong with pushing the envelope when it comes to golf fashion, but when you use vomit as your primary color—as Ishikawa’s clothing supplier Yonex has clearly done—then we have to draw the line. If you’re going to wear outrageous, it helps if you are: a) really outrageous; b) strong on irony; c) coordinated; d) Ian Poulter. Ishikawa was none of these things and came across as a kid with an overbearing fashion-designing mum who’s strung out on acid. Hopefully, with $2 million in his pocket, the King can buy some new clothes.—Fred Varcoe"

"Japanese volleyball reached its peak in the ’60s and ’70s, when the women’s team took two Olympic golds, two silvers and a bronze, while the men won a bronze, silver and gold in successive Olympics (1964-72). The women have occasionally sparkled on the world stage since then, but the men have struggled after taking the silver medal at the 1977 World Cup. However, things have finally started to come together thanks to a stable, tough and progressive coach (Tatsuya Ueta) and a number of world-class players, including spike-happy Kunihiro Shimizu. After qualifying for the Beijing Olympics, the men did even better this year, taking the bronze at a major international volleyball event—the World Grand Champions Cup in Nagoya—for the first time since 1977.—FV"

"Granted, I’ve never much liked alternately whinging and preening Oasis. But even from the perspective of their expectant fans at this year’s Fuji Rock Festival, it was obvious that the group was just a highly paid headliner going through the motions. Guitarist Noel Gallagher and singer bro Liam didn’t so much as glance at each other; less than a month later, the band had split up amid reports of fraternal guitar smashings. Wish we could say farewell and good riddance, but apparently Liam and the Oasis backing boys have the misguided idea of continuing on without main songwriter Noel. Talk about going out not with a bang but a whimper…—Wendy Miner"

"With arts budgets deflating as fast as a banker’s bottom line, Tokyo’s decision to throw cash at the sinking Tokyo International Arts Festival and reinvent it as the Festival/Tokyo was nothing short of miraculous. Granted, Governor Ishihara had the ulterior motive of securing the Olympics by fostering a hypothetical “New Wave of Culture from Tokyo.” But if the end result was not one, but two full-fledged international theater programs in one year—who cares? Under the sure hand of Chiaki Soma, F/T brought cutting-edge dramatics to Tokyo. And at a time when English-language theater is scarce, we were even treated to the rare spectacle of productions by leading contemporary Japanese playwrights captioned in English. In the wake of Tokyo’s failed Olympic bid, will the cash run dry? Over 100,000 delighted theatergoers hope the answer is no.—Dan Grunebaum"

Happy New Years! (Hyogo Times cover - Year of the Tiger)

2010-01-01T05:29:00.000-08:00

Album Art for fit's "Today Is, Tomorrow Is Not"

2009-12-20T18:41:00.000-08:00

The (intentionally lowercased) band fit is "a progressive rock band formed in September 2006, based out of Tokyo, Japan. Consisting of members from three countries (Canada, United States, and Japan) the band blends a mixture of different backgrounds for a full, original sound, much greater than just the sum of it's parts. Stretching across genres including hip-hop, rock, pop, alternative, funk, and metal, fit's musical range fires wide and unrestricted."

Check out fit here! (http://fit-noise.com/) and on Facebook, too.

Mascot concept for PRAP, Tokyo

2009-11-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

Part of PRAP's campaign to secure a major soybean client, they commissioned this mascot concept. And in a break from my usual style, I think I managed to make something that would qualify as cute! They were awesome to work with, and I hope to again soon.

Hosokawa Illo for Kansai Scene

2009-11-16T18:21:00.000-08:00

"Hosokawa: The First Ronin Prime Minister" (Seeing Ourselves Through Hosokawa)
Pencil and digital, 2009

This is a full page-illustration for Kansai Scene, published November 2009. For the article "Hosokawa: The First Ronin Prime Minister".

This piece features a former Japanese Prime Minister who, in 1993, was the first and only one to accomplish what many thought to be the impossible: gaining power for his Democratic Party of Japan. This was such a feat because it was the first time since WWII that anyone besides the Liberal Democratic Party had this power. Did it last? No, the entrenched LPD put him thru the ringer, dug up/created dirt on him, and essentially destroyed him as PM, forcing him to resign after only 8 months - one of the shortest terms for the post ever.

Why does this matter today? Because the DPJ again has power - real power - for the first time since Hosokawa's 93 attempt. Many are calling this Japan's chance to have a "real" democracy for the first time in its history, where the elected officials have the power they are intended to have, and the bureaucrats do not.

I guess we'll see what happens. Check out this article when it's published for a really interesting analysis of this situation.

Learn more at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morihiro_Hosokawa

Happy Halloween 09!

2009-11-01T00:29:00.000-07:00

Quick peak at this year's costume from last night...

Japanzine - Cover and 2 Interior Illustrations!

2009-10-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

Cover for Japanzine, October 09

Download the issue for free, here:

My cover above is based on this old print by a Japanese artist named Utagawa Kuniyoshi. I saw his triptych with the skeleton (first in a book, then later in person at a museum) during my time in Japan, and loved it. I has since wanted to draw my own versions, mostly for the fun of it, and the Japanzine cover gave me that chance!

Illustrations for Japanzine, October 09

Article written by Ken Aichi

"Eating Fugu (Blowfish)"

Illustration for Japanzine, October 09

From the article, written by Ken Aichi:
__________
9. Eating fugu
Designated by the Japanese government as a “living national treasure” for his work as a prominent kabuki actor, Bando Mitsugoro VIII wanted to show off how much fugu he could eat and not die. He demanded a few too okawari and, well, died. His demise came after four plates of fugu liver prepared by a chef who felt he couldn’t possibly refuse the requests of a “living national treasure”, even if that attitude turned him into a dead one...
__________

"Choking on Mochi (a sweet rice paste and popular Japanese desert)"

From the article, written by Ken Aichi:
__________
7. Choking on mochi
In 2007 alone, four old people died after not chewing their New Year’s mochi properly, with many more hospitalized. The toll of old mochi victims has become something of an annual event, as news reporters inevitably tell the nation how “This year 'x' old dudes left us because of failing to sufficiently masticate their rice paste.” If mochi gets stuck in an old person’s oesophagus, the best bet is to hold a vacuum cleaner to the rojin’s mouth and turn the power on. (A few years ago, an old relative of a Japanzine’s writer’s wife was killed by mochi; the deceased’s family still look back and laugh at the silliness of it – it’s become something of a comical source of pride for his descendants.)
__________

Metropolis Illustration - Kappa!

2009-10-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

"Kappa"
Pencil and digital, 2009

Spot illustration for Metropolis Magazine, (to be) published on October 16, 2009.

(An updated/more polished version of this earlier sketch.)

For Metropolis Magazine's "Last Word" this week, readers can enjoy a wonderful Halloween-ish piece about the importance of yokai in Japanese culture, written by Matt Alt. He, along with Hiroko Yoda and Tatsuya Morino, produced a great book (which I happily own) called "Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide". Check it out.

For more info on this awesome member of our cryptozoological community, see here.

Sooner or Later

2009-10-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

"Sooner or Later"

Pencil and digital, 2007

For the NYC band Agua Trip’s "Genetics Release Concert and Fundraiser", 20 artists contributed artwork, each based one of the 20 songs from Agua Trip's new "Genetics: A Visual Songbook".

These companion pieces were displayed at Aqua Trip's concert/art show/multimedia extravaganza held in Times Square on Nov. 5, 2008. Those lucky enough to have been within the NYC vicinity uniformly reported an amazing night.The concert/multimedia art event benefitted CONNECT, an NYC–based non–profit organization dedicated to the prevention and elimination of family and gender violence.

Metropolis Illustrations Published!

2009-08-21T20:57:00.000-07:00

Yay!

The August 21, 2009 edition of Metropolis Magazine is on the streets! In Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, and points in-between, you can now find my Cover+7 full-page interior illustrations - all about the most famous Japanese political scandals ever. The article comes now, just a week before elections here will decide on the next round of seijika (politicians) who will have their own shot at fulfilling the adage about power corrupting...

Check out Metropolis Magazine here!

Text by C.B. Liddell

Art Director: Kohji Shiiki

All images' media are drawing and digital.

Cover (1 of 8 images)
This one shows Kakuei Tanaka, former Prime Minister and so called “paragon of corruption.” (more info on him further in...)

Lineup (2 of 8 images)
Intro page to the 6 page feature article.

Text:
_______
The Usual Suspects

From suicide by dog leash to drunken sprees in the Vatican, Japan beats the world when it comes to political scandals

Text by C.B. Liddell

Illustrations by Chip Boles

Power is said to corrupt, absolute power to corrupt absolutely. But in Japan, just getting elected seems to have this effect—politicians here have one of the poorest reputations for honesty and integrity in the world. In honor of next weekend’s Lower House elections, we take a colorful look back at some of the country’s most memorable political scandals.
_______

"Kakuei Tanaka" (3 of 8 images)
______
KAKUEI TANAKA: LOCKHEED & LOOPHOLES
The wide-ranging Lockheed scandal, involving a diverse cast of politicians, businessmen and yakuza fixers, is often seen as the culmination of the career of Kakuei Tanaka, once described by Time magazine as Japan’s “paragon of corruption.” When allegations surfaced in 1976 that the Lockheed Company had been paying billions of yen to secure aircraft contracts, Tanaka had already stepped down as prime minister over an earlier misdemeanor. When eventually found guilty of taking $2 million in Lockheed bribes, in 1983, the former PM was able to stay out of jail thanks to legal loopholes and with the full support of his Niigata constituents, many of whom had benefited from decades of lavish pork-barrel politics.
______

"Sosuke Uno" (4 of 8 images)
______
SOSUKU UNO: THE FEMINIST GEISHA
When Sosuke Uno became Prime Minister in 1989, the LDP was reeling from an affair known as the Recruit scandal. The dweeby-looking Uno hardly seemed the man to restore confidence, and support for him started ebbing away almost immediately. The killer blow, however, was struck by his former geisha mistress, Mitsuko Nakanishi, whose revelations about the PM’s arrogance and stinginess were picked up by the media. Divorced before becoming a geisha, Nakanishi clearly had an agenda of her own, telling reporters that Japanese women have “always been beaten down by men and have always quietly endured the pain.”
______

(Note: For the record, No - I don't think Feminists are big scary monsters - but I'm pretty sure dude here probably thought so... :D )

"Shin Kanemaru" (5 of 8 images)
______
SHIN KANEMARU: DELIVERY GRAFT
With yakuza connections, a propensity to “forget” important details after a few drinks, and his own personal mahjong parlor, LDP lawmaker Shin Kanemaru (1914-1996) was the epitome of the crooked political fixer. When Sagawa Kyubin, a growing provincial delivery company with no connections to the old zaibatsu and little political leverage in Tokyo, wanted to make the step up to the big league, Kanemaru was the go-to guy. Distributing billions through late-night mahjong games with other politicians, he was able to set the scene for Sagawa’s meteoric growth, while also choosing a few prime ministers along the way, before scandal downed him in 1992.
______

"Toshikatsu Matsuoka" (6 of 8 images)
______
TOSHIKATSU MATSUOKA: STRINGING A LIE
In Japan, suicide is often the honorable way out—but not when you do it like Toshikatsu Matsuoka. In 2007, the then Agriculture Minister was found hanging in his pajamas from a dog leash in a parliamentary dormitory. This followed allegations of bid-rigging, dodgy political contributions, and perhaps the most pathetic excuse in the history of Japanese politics. Asked by reporters why he had claimed ¥29 million for “utilities” for his parliamentary office—where rent, electricity and water are free of charge—he replied, “We’ve installed nantoka (whatchamacallit) rejuvenated water in our plumbing.”
______

"Shoichi Nakagawa" (7 of 8 images)

Drawing and digital, 2009

(Note: While I imagine Mr. Nakagawa didn't hoist himself all the way up to Laocoön's shoulders, he was said to "molest" the 2000 year old statue of this Trojan priest who was already having a hard day. I hardly had to invent a scene for this one - the actual events were so perfect for a picture!)
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SHOICHI NAKAGAWA: DRUNK IN THE VATICAN
Exemplifying the trend in Japanese political scandals toward the baffling and pathetic rather than the sinister and malign, Shoichi Nakagawa’s inebriated performance at the meeting of G7 finance ministers in Rome in February has nevertheless spawned its own conspiracy theory. Nakagawa’s behavior was so odd—15 minutes after drunkenly dozing off at a press conference, he visited the Vatican Museum, where he crossed a barrier and sat on the famous statue of Laocoön—that some saw it as a concerted attempt to devalue the yen by undermining international confidence in Japan’s financial stewardship.
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"Yoshitada Konoike" (8 of 8 images)
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YOSHITADA KONOIKE: RAILING AGAINST HIS DNA
Following the Nakagawa scandal, Prime Minister Taro Aso’s poll rating dipped below 10 points, until a financial scandal involving the opposition DPJ saw it bounce back to 30-plus. The surge lasted until May, when it was revealed that Yoshitada Konoike, the 68-year-old deputy chief cabinet secretary, had been using his official rail travel pass to take a younger married woman to a hot spring via shinkansen for a romantic weekend. “It is in my DNA from my grandfather,” Konoike explained to his forgiving constituents. “My father was the same, drank heavily and ran after women. That DNA is in me, too.”
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Intoxicating

2009-08-16T17:24:00.000-07:00

Decided on the title "Intoxicating"...
pencil and digital, 2009

Indeterminately-Aged Genetically-Atypical Samurai Tortoise

2009-08-14T17:58:00.000-07:00

"Indeterminately-Aged Genetically-Atypical Samurai Tortoise"

pencil and digital, 2009

I remember tracing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle over and over out of a Nintendo Power magazine in the 5th grade. I think it was a big part of learning to draw.

Later in Mrs. Bill's Art II class in high school, I chose a particular panel from the original Eastman and Laird TMNT comics as the basis for my clay project, a shot of Raphael perched on the corner of some NYC roof ledge, all cool and stuff.

Anyhow, here's the new one... : J

(and for purists, tho I based dude here on a Box Turtle - Brits and Aussies calls those tortoises)

Ladybug Tattoo Design

2009-07-17T04:24:00.003-07:00

Ladybugs have always been a powerful images in my friend KGS's childhood memories, linked to influential women in her life.

For this tattoo design, changing the ladybugs' spots into the initials of 4 of these women makes the idea more personal. Putting it all into a tattoo makes these personal images into a visible, significant statement.

And this below isn't a photo of the actual tattoo, but an image I made to see how the design might actually sit on the foot.

I thought it was a fun idea to try and do the ladybugs in a trompe-l'œil (French for 'trick the eye') level of detail, like they are actually still on her feet after walking thru some tall grass.

(KGS described having the tattoo on one of her feet - but never said which - so, I sent this one with examples on both just in case.)

~pics of the finished tattoo coming soon!~

Pinup #2

2009-05-27T06:21:00.000-07:00

Just drawing today and thinking about posture. Fun.

Picture Experimentation and Osaka Show and Print Info

2009-05-26T16:52:00.001-07:00

I'm just taking a few days to play around with this picture, seeing what background and texture change about the basic image.

In other news, my art show in Osaka nears. See this page for solid info:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=89473465867

All are welcome, and my prints will be on sale. As of Friday, May 29, prints are available for 2500 yen (around USD $25.00) each.

All prints are on high quality B4-sized (9.85" x 13.9") semigloss paper. Prints can be pre-ordered - just let me know which one you want:

(l-r)

"Himeji Joe vs. Ultra Takoyaki" ,

"Halloween in Japan" ,

"Happy Place" ,

"Sumo Wrasslin' "

See you there!

-c-

My first pinup, an experiment in the unknown...

2009-05-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

I finished the drawing tonight, and couldn't help playing with some colors, seeing what different kinds of layers did with hair, etc. Anyhow, as of Day 2, this is where she stands. Still thinking about her background.

May09 Hyogo Times cover, Facebook Fan Page, and Osaka Art Show coming up!!!

2009-05-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Quick note to

1. Post my latest Hyogo Times cover, titled "Sumo Wrasslin' "...

...and

2. to link to my new Facebook Fan Page! Enjoy!

3. Let folks know about my show coming up in Osaka for the month of June. It will be at a shisha bar called L&L, and promises to be a super-chill night for all involved. Details and directions will follow as the date approaches!

Japanzine Art Issue-I'm Profiled!

2009-04-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

This month, Japanzine's Art Issue has come out and I'm quite happy to say that I have a 2 page spread it it! Japanzine selected and profiled 8 foreign-born artists currently living in Japan.

(The image is probably hard to read, so the text is pasted in below.)

Link:

Japanzine's Art Issue Awards page

----------

Chip Boles

School: BFA in Drawing at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN; MFA in Illustration at Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Media: Though I still love and use traditional media, most of my professional work begins as a regular pencil drawing before being scanned into Photoshop, where I add color and otherwise polish the image to its finished state.

-www.chipboles.com

-me@chipboles.com

What are you presenting here?
My pieces presented here come from 3 different projects: the 3 images with the small boy come from a children's book that I made for my graduate thesis project, about a small boy who comes to see monsters all around him, and which he learns to deal with and conquer. "TV Man" is a slightly older image made combining my media studies with images I've taken from 1950s ads. "Himeji Joe vs. Ultra-Takoyaki" is part of a series of images I've made during my time in Japan, and this one features the most famous castle in Japan, from my adopted hometown of Himeji. I thought a giant takoyaki would be funny. It's not exactly symbolic of anything, as some have asked - I just like giant monsters.

Why are you doing what you're doing?
I love the act of drawing, of making something that's in my head. The process itself is a pleasure. I love language and get ideas from everywhere, from things people say. Reacting to life in Japan - becoming familiar with a whole new culture of images with its own aesthetic - has been awesome for my work.

What are your aspirations?
Some fun, rewarding collaborations with various writers on different comics/picture-stories are really catching my interest now, exploring the ways that words and pictures can together tell stories in ways that no other medium can. I think making and publishing stories is my real next step.

Our take
Celio: "Boles' work has a strongly defined style: it's filled with volume, weight and wit. His renderings of the human figure in a wide array of situations showcase a masterful use of media to communicate ideas clearly and concisely. His figures are filled with emotion and seem to suck us into the dreamlike worlds his characters inhabit. Fear, sadness, anger, worry, joy, passion are all exquisitely captured and emphasized with dramatic composition. Bold colors and dramatic lighting round off this talented artist's work."

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Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

Map for Wall Street Journal Asia - City Walk: Macau - published Friday, Jan. 30, 2009

2009-02-01T17:43:00.000-08:00

This time, I have the final piece for you. Below is the map of Macau that I made for the Wall Street Journal Asia, but have been unable to show until it was published this past Friday. You can see it and the full original on the WSJA website here, as an interactive graphic, and the original travel guide text by Jennifer Welker is pasted in below.

Making this, I learned its challenging to get so much information across in such a small space. Their News Graphics Director found me though my online portfolio and said she thought my style would fit her needs. She also asked me to make something with an oblique shape, around which the layout would be designed. The rest, she said, was up to me.

To make the piece, I started with the icons. Macau is a city that brings together Western and Eastern religions in one place where these cultures lived together. Portuguese Catholics, Chinese Buddhists, and converted Japanese immigrants made for a wide mix of faiths, and therefore churches and their architecture. So I began drawing my own "caricatures" (if you can say that for a building) of many of these churches and temples. These individual drawings of Macau's notable buildings began to come together, and eventually I had too many and even had to cut some.

Other choices included the extra icons of the refreshing beer and the street side painter. These are both sights/experiences that are mentioned in WSJA's article in that general area of the map. I'm happy with the torn cloth shape as a background. I'm working on integrating textures into my images digitally and having them all look natural with my drawings.

The WSJA was really easy to work with and I certainly hope this is the first of many pieces I'll be making for them.

_____________________

CITYWALK

JANUARY 30, 2009

Macau

This Former Portuguese Colony Is a Treasure Trove of Religious Sites

By Jennifer Welker

Centuries ago in Macau, people of different faiths -- Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants and Taoists -- built their own unique places of worship within walking distance of one another. Back then, the peninsula measured a mere 2.7 square kilometers. Today, a different kind of construction boom has taken over, and the peninsula is now a "sprawling" 8.9 square kilometers.

As flashy new casinos and splashy resorts nudge their way into the city, these spiritual monuments -- most of which are located in the historic center of Macau, a Unesco World Heritage site -- are evidence of the rich diversity in religious beliefs in this Chinese port city. And they provide a sense of this former Portuguese colony's historic past as you stroll along the colorfully tiled or cobblestoned paths.

Try this walk on a weekday -- preferably Tuesday to Friday -- when there are fewer people and all the sites are open. On weekends, particularly in the afternoons, the crowds can get thick. (Visitors can check on daily opening hours for all churches in Macau by calling the Cultural Affairs office at 853-8399-6699.)

9 a.m. Senado Square

Start your walk at Señado Square along Almeida Ribeiro Avenue (Sun Ma Lo in Chinese). Here coffee houses, restaurants and shops converge on the pedestrian-friendly square with distinct, black-and-white stone tiles designed to look like waves, a reminder of Portuguese adventures at sea centuries ago.

Walk along Senado Square past the Holy House of Mercy on your right and a Starbucks on your left. Turn right into a small lane called Travessa de S. Domingos. As you make your way up this lane, you will find Ou Mun Café (Ou Mun means "Macau" in Chinese) on your right. Locals like to gather here in the mornings before work or for leisurely afternoon conversations with friends (closed Mondays). Enjoy a Portuguese espresso here before you begin your journey.

9:30 a.m. The Holy House of Mercy

Retrace your steps to the Holy House of Mercy (Santa Casa de Misericórdia), the white, neoclassical building beside the gray post office. Walk up Travessa da Misericórdia, a beautiful little lane of potted plants that leads to a bust of Dom Belchior Carneiro, Macau's first Catholic bishop and founder of Holy House of Mercy, a charity established in 1569. For centuries, this aid organization played a vital role in helping widows and orphans of navigators and missionaries who perished at sea. The museum within the Holy House of Mercy exhibits historical and religious objects.

From here, return to Travessa de S. Domingos and walk up the lane toward the Cathedral, which boasts two towers and massive doors. It was originally known as Our Lady of Hope of St. Lazarus; today it is known simply as the Cathedral.

Head up the hill until you reach the square, Largo da Sé, which has a fountain. With the square behind you, straight ahead is the Paço Episcopal Bishop's House and at your right is the Cathedral.

The first stone church, consecrated in 1850, was destroyed in a typhoon 24 years later and reconstructed. The Midnight Mass at Christmas and a procession from St. Augustine's Church each February or March are important occasions for the Cathedral. The Bishop's House next door is the administrative seat of the Catholic Church in Macau.

10:30 a.m. St. Dominic's Church

From the Cathedral, turn left and walk down Travessa da Sé, a narrow, downhill lane that will lead you to St. Dominic's Church.

Take note of the Lou Kau mansion, open to the public, on your right. This 1889 two-story home with oyster-shell windows once belonged to a wealthy Macau businessman and has been recently restored. It is a traditional Chinese home, with two courtyards and three separate main halls.

Returning to the religious trail, back on Travessa da Sé, walk to the end of the lane until you reach Rua de S. Domingos, where you will turn left. Walk toward the bright yellow St. Dominic's Church (it has green shutters). Founded in the early 1600s by three Spanish Dominican priests from Acapulco, it is part of the Unesco heritage site. In 1644, a military man who pledged allegiance to the Spanish king was murdered at the baroque altar because he acted in defiance of Macau's decision to remain loyal to Portugal's Dom John IV. The present-day St. Dominic's Church is peacefully packed with people at Sunday Mass. A museum was added to the belfry of the church, which has a collection of some 300 religious relics (open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily).

Step out of St. Dominic's, turn left on Largo de S. Domingos and turn left at the Body Shop store onto Rua da Palha. This road winds its way up to St. Paul's ruins. To your right and left you will encounter row after row of Macanese food specialties for sale, including fresh warm biscuits and sweet slices of dried pork. Antique lovers will enjoy the Chinese furniture shops here. On weekends, though, you can barely move, as throngs of tourists crowd the hill along the way to the Ruins of St. Paul's.

11:30 a.m. The Ruins of St. Paul's

Protected by Unesco, the Ruins of St. Paul's include the facade of the old Church of Mater Dei (Mother of God), which was constructed in 1602 by craftsmen from Japan. Many Japanese Christians sought refuge in Macau in the early 1600s from religious persecution at home. This helps to explain much of the East-West decoration of this so-called "sermon in stone," which features engravings of Western biblical symbols, Chinese characters and distinctly Asian decorations that reflect the interchange of cultures through the Jesuits.

Although St. Paul's burned down in a disastrous kitchen fire in 1835, its solitary baroque facade still stands atop a flight of stairs, one of Macau's most prominent landmarks. This area -- from the top of the stairs to Mount Fortress, which successfully helped to ward off the invading Dutch in 1622 -- was built as an "Acropolis of Macau" by the Jesuit community to further their missionary work in Asia.

At the top of the staircase, face the facade and look to your left to find the small yet significant Na Tcha (the god of the neighborhood) Temple, built in 1888. It doesn't look at all out of place, and instead serves as testament to the Eastern and Western faiths that coexist in Macau. In front sits a large urn -- full of incense -- that bears the characters "St. Paul's" in Chinese. (The temple is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.)

12 p.m. Corner's Wine Bar and Tapas

Around the corner from the Ruins of St. Paul's is the aptly named Corner's Wine Bar and Tapas cafe. Sit indoors or walk upstairs to the rooftop bar where you can gaze out at the facade of St. Paul's, enjoy refreshing drinks, have lunch, and listen to great music.

1:30 p.m. St. Anthony's Catholic Church

Make your way back down the hill and turn left on Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro (directly behind the Ruins of St. Paul's), which leads to St. Anthony's Catholic Church. Pass a school on your left and an elderly persons' home on your right. Walk down a flight of stairs into the residential courtyard of Edificio San Wan (not to worry, you are on the right track) out onto a square. To the right is St. Anthony's.

Founded in the 1560s in honor of the seafarer's favorite saint, St. Anthony's was first built of bamboo and wood planks and is one of the three oldest churches in Macau. Sadly, it has suffered a number of setbacks. An inscription on the wall of the neoclassical-style church reads, "Built in 1608. Burnt in 1809. Rebuilt in 1809. Burnt again in 1874. Repaired in 1875." St. Anthony is also honored as the saint of marriage, and fittingly, many wedding ceremonies are held here (open 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily).

As you exit St. Anthony's, turn right, walk around the back of the church and turn left onto Praca de Luis de Camões. Cross the street and you will see the Camões Gardens where locals come to practice tai chi, walk or just chitchat.

The gardens were originally part of property where the chairman of the British East India Co. lived. Once the British left Macau, it was taken over by a local Portuguese merchant who made it his residence. Later, it was donated to the government and opened to the public as a memorial to the great Portuguese poet Luis de Camões.

To the right of the gardens is a small, obscure entrance to the Morrison Chapel and Protestant Cemetery (open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily). This small Protestant chapel, with just 12 pews, black-and-white photos on its walls and swirling fans on the ceiling above, was founded by the British in the early 1800s. Its cemetery sat on property owned by the British East India Co. and renowned British artist George Chinnery is buried here alongside other prominent figures of that time including missionary Robert Morrison, for whom the chapel is named. Morrison translated the Bible into Chinese and compiled the first Chinese-English dictionary.

After you have recharged, walk toward the main road of Almeida Ribeiro Avenue. Before you reach it, turn right into an alleyway -- Rua Sul do Mercado de S. Domingos -- lined with colorful local stalls selling fruit, roasted chestnuts and clothing.

On your right is a wet market; on your left, the unassuming Buddhist temple Kuan Tai (also known as Sam Kau Vui Kun), devoted to the god of war and riches. Located in a neighborhood near Senado Square that was the center of Chinese trade, this temple was used as a meeting place for merchants in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, it is just a temple. Walk inside and you will find a humble red and gold interior with bronze statues, burning incense and a few friendly people.

From here, retrace your steps to Senado Square. Turn right and walk across the main road of Almeida Ribeiro Avenue. As you stand in front of Leal Senado (the former Senate building of Macau), turn right and then make a quick left around the corner onto Calcada do Tronco Velho. Walk up a rather short but steep hill.

At the top, on your left is St. Augustine's Church, founded in 1591 by Spanish Augustinians. Inside is a statue of Christ carrying the cross, the centerpiece of the annual procession to the Cathedral. Attended by thousands, it takes place on the first Sunday of Lent. St. Augustine's was the first church in Macau to hold English Mass and is open for visitors everyday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

3:30 p.m. St. Lawrence's Church

From here, walk down Calcada do Teatro and turn right onto Rua de São Lourenço. Follow the signs directing you toward St. Lawrence's Church. As you make your way, you will see the bright pink Macau Government House on your left at the bottom of the hill. Up ahead on your right, at the corner of Rua da Imprensa Nacional and Rua de São Lourenço, sits one of Macau's most beautiful churches, St. Lawrence's.

Built by the Jesuits in the 1560s, it is also one of the oldest churches. The families of Portuguese sailors used to congregate here and pray for their safe return from the sea. Recently restored and painted cream and white, it stands amid a garden of palm trees and boasts two towers, one of which was formerly an ecclesiastic prison, and a Chinese tile roof. (The church is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.)

—Jennifer Welker is a writer based in Macau.

_____________________

Wall Street Journal Asia and more

2009-01-19T17:53:00.000-08:00

-I have just completed an illustration for the Wall Street Journal Asia, a map for their City Walk section. I don't think I can post the image now, but once its published, I'll will post it and the process for it, too.

-Also, Himeji Joe vs. Ultra Takoyaki will be featured in the Art Issue of Japanzine come April. They seem like a great magazine and site with a lot of very relevant, interesting articles focusing on life in Japan with a foreign audience in mind. I'm very excited by the chance to connect with more and more Japanese publications like this.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with Squiddy Octopants, my new friend that I saved from the takoyaki shop...

Art Design Award at Himeji Art Museum Prefectural Competition

2009-01-18T17:49:00.000-08:00

Yay! Just found out that the updated version of my piece "Himeji Joe vs. Ultra Takoyaki" has won an award in the Himeji Art Museum Prefectural Competition. Awards were given from various civic offices in each of 7 categories. I entered mine in the design area and found out this weekend that it received the award from Himeji's equivalent of the Chamber of Commerce.

This is the updated version of the older September 08 Hyogo Times cover. I inserted drawn versions of elements that had previously been altered photographs, including the city background and the two figures in the octopus' arms.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, all that jazz

2008-12-23T22:56:00.000-08:00

Hope your season is going as great as mine so far! WOOOO HOOOO!!!

Kansai Scene

2008-12-17T02:26:00.001-08:00

Hi folks. Here are the bits of a job for the Kansai Scene in Japan, an article on a Shinto cat funeral. This has been a two day job, drawing the first day and color-finishing the second, so I hope they successfully take me into the wonderful world of Japanese magazine publishing.

I was lucky to actually visit a Shinto Shrine and Cemetery in one afternoon after I explained to some Japanese friends that I was making images for the article and they took me. It was a nice afternoon and proved to me that I work in the nicest school with the nicest teachers in the whole country. So without further ado...

Hole

2008-12-08T19:46:00.000-08:00

This is sketch I did a while back and started experimenting with today. I'm more ok with it now than I was before, so I guess that's good.

Water ripples? Also thinking of someone standing on the hole's edge, their reflection blurry in the water's reflection. That might finish it off.

Christmas Music Animal Variation and Zipline Illustrations for Allen Broussard Conservancy

2008-12-07T01:23:00.000-08:00

More for the Allen Broussard Conservancy:

They really liked the Harvest Music Jam Poster from October and asked if the animals could be re-cast for Christmas. It was a fun process, deciding on a role for each.

Afterwards, they explained how in January, they are beginning their process of promoting a Zipline that they are setting up on their nature preserve as part of their Eco-Tourism. Continuing the animal theme, we decided on using the Florida Panther as the Zipline Spokescat, since tons of Florida stuff already uses an aligator as a mascot. I think they turned out fun! And I've totally got dibs on that zipline. It makes me think of Medicine Man with Sean Connery and Loraine Brocco (sp?), going thru the treetops to a heavenly Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack (and which btw, made me really excited about environmentalism in the 8th grade - the circle is complete...).

(Quick personal fun fact: The day-care center I went to from around 3 to 7 years old had a zipline from the top of [what at the time, seemed like] a huge hill all the way down to a space between two trees where you would be jerked to a swinging stop. The way that one was built, it seems now like something too ramshackle and fun for a day-care to have for their kids today, but it was awesome. It almost made up for the terrifying and mentally unstable male owner of the place. Oh, memories...)

My Happy Place: December Hyogo Times cover

2008-12-03T17:19:00.000-08:00

For Assistant Language Teachers, December in Japan means cold. Whether huddled before a kerosene heater or under your kotatsu, this is the season for seeing your breath in your apartment (or my kinda gross favorite: seeing steam rise from the toilet as you use it...).

In this spirit, I considered an image with a class being conducted in a frozen wasteland, students in their uniforms (girls still insanely in their officially-required skirts!), with polar bears and penguins in attendance for pronunciation practice. (Of course the focus would be L's and R's...)

However, I simply couldn't face it. Ladies and gentlemen, I just had to go to my Happy Place. And this Happy Place is what I drew. Maybe you'd like to spend the winter there, too. Plenty of room in the pink castle...

In actuality, this is all just a giant rationaliation for a drawing I had the urge to make after seeing one of my student's drawings of a unicorn, or Pegasus or something. As my English club kids sat discussing their school festival project in Japanese, I sat sketching out the composition for my idea of the girliest drawing I could imagine - something that would have been on some 4th grade girl's Trapper Keeper.

I couldn't fit in the group hug between the teddy bear, kitten and puppy, but maybe next time. I'm kinda proud of the dolphin's splash and the sparkles. The grass was purple at first, to push the insane "Barbie - isle - at - Walmart - feel" that I was going for, but the green really helped the wee cutsie primary-colored citizens of my Happy Place stand out better.

I've realized that its so much easier for me to get my shading completely worked out on the sketch beforehand than to do it later on the computer, which I use primarily for color and emphasizing the shading I've already done. The flexibility of digital colors has really allowed me to experiment while letting me retain the sculptural quality that I like in drawings.

Some things I wanna work on are

-Really integrating the pieces that I make separately because initially I am unsure about composition... in my October cover, I made all the figures together in one drawing and its one of my favorites... can get back to that approach.

-Seamless use of imported textures. I really try to use textures that I find in my everyday life, and stay away from internet finds, even if I alter them beyond all recognition. The ingredients matter in voodoo spells. Regardless of where they originate, tho, I want them to blend better. Upcoming personal projects demand this.

November Hyogo Times Cover-The nail that sticks up...

2008-11-18T00:47:00.000-08:00

I think of this month's cover image as more of a question than a statement. I heard about Japanese education before I came here and have since seen many varied examples of teachers, their styles of teaching, and the seeming effects on students. Teaching styles differ between higher and lower level schools, between older and younger students. I don't know when I heard the phrase "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down," but it lead to this image. I know it certainly doesn't apply only to Japanese schools, if even then.

Halloween!

2008-11-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

Quick pic of my costume from last night's Halloween.

Murals "big" in Bulgaria, apparently

2008-10-20T17:35:00.001-07:00

So I'm going to be in a Bulgarian textbook on mural painting. How random is that?

I received a surprising letter a few weeks ago from one Prof. Oleg Gochev, an artist, muralist, and professor at the National Art Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria. He, thru his amazingly polite assistant Milena Kardaleva, was asking for permission to use images of some murals I completed at North Drive Middle School in Hopkinsville, TN during 2001.

As I had not featured these images on my site or focused on my murals for a few years, this was a surprising, if flattering, message to receive.

Cool, huh?

Here's a preview of some of the murals from that project:

Library Murals
One of my faves, outside of the library, they had these in-set doors that lead to this idea for the book case illusion. All of these books can be found inside on the actual shelves. I think we picked the books most often checked out for these murals. There's another bookshelf mural outside the library's other exit on the opposite side with different books.

Music Mural
Where the school band practiced... I remember the model for this face was a 13-year-old flutist with an attitude.

Math Mural How easy was it to come up with a "fun" idea for a math mural? I'm not sure I did, but the math problem about calculating the circumference of the earth kinda relates to a giant globe I painted down the hallway for the Geography classrooms. That bar over its left side is some cork strip for hanging things in the hallway that the janitors insisted on putting back up... art critics.

Art Room Mural If you look closely, you can see the left hand hands are sketching an in-perspective plan of that hallway itself, including the art mural itself. Get it?...

Flag Corps Mural This is the mural for the Youth Communist League... No, not really - this is for the Flag Corps. Do you have that in other countries? Some girls whipping flags about lethally, throwing them high into the air and catching them at the last second?

Some additional info: North Drive Middle was a school with an incredibly long central hallway running like a spine thru the center of the school. Standing at one end looking at the other was a disorienting optical illusion of geometric perspective. Anywhere in the middle, its was difficult to tell exactly where you were. Thus the murals as a solution to create visual landmarks in this seemlingly endless beige-brick corridor.

Featured Artist Profile for Agua Trip: A Visual Songbook

2008-10-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

Check out my profile...

You may remember me mentioning my involvement in a great big concert/multimedia art event to benefit CONNECT, an NYC–based non–profit organization dedicated to the prevention and elimination of family and gender violence, all organized around the music of NYC band Agua Trip, who will debuting their long awaited new album Genetics.

For Agua Trip’s Genetics Release Concert and Fundraiser, 20 artists have contributed artwork based on songs from Agua Trip's new Visual Songbook. These companion pieces will be displayed at their concert/art show/multimedia extravaganza in Times Square on Nov. 5, 7pm-10pm. Those lucky enough to be within the NYC vicinity should definitely save the date for what promises to be an amazing night.

As the date approaches, the band is profiling the individual artists, digging into the process and inspirations behind each piece as well as their connections to their companion songs from the album.

I can't ruin the surprise and show you the piece just yet, but soon we'll be able to see all the great work put into this whole project, and I'll be posting it here.

When and Where:

Agua Trip’s Genetics Release Concert and Fundraiser

Wednesday, November 5

7:00pm – 10:00pm

at the Sage Theater

711 7th Ave

Between 47th & 48th

Times Square

New York, NY 10036

Under the Auspices of Paradox Production Inc.

Hyogo Times October 2008 Cover

2008-09-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

So here's the final version of the cover for the October/Halloween issue of The Hyogo Times. Its the most wonderful time of the year.

I had a lot of fun working on this image. The characters on the left are some of my oldest friends, going back to some library books I checked out week after week in elementary school, each about one specific monster. From Wolf-Man, Dracula, and Frankenstein's Monster to King Kong, Godzilla, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Mad Scientists, Aliens, Zombies - I checked them all out a dozen times each.

But still my biggest influence was Michael Berenstain's Creature Catalog. In a complete stylistic departure from his parent's Berenstain Bears, he use a very intensely detailed pen and ink style that feels more like engraving. At first I thought Durer was his primary influence, but now I see a much more direct link to work by German artist Wilhelm von Kaulbach. Berenstain used this tight, sculptural style to create a survey of dozens of mythological and fantastic creatures from cultures all around the world. Anyway, I guess its the only book I still have from when I was 7, and its a treasure to me. As time goes on, its really my biggest influence, and its a pleasure to find its stylistic ancestors.

As far as my image goes, I'm pretty happy with the way the foreground and background are meshing. Anyhow, let me know what you think!

Potato Boy, for Ben and Becky

2008-09-26T21:33:00.001-07:00

I've had this rolling around the sketchbook for about a week, but only posted it now. All he needs now is some colors...

Inspired by true-life events / vending machines...

October 08 Hyogo Times Cover, step1

2008-09-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

I do not know what the problem is, but I cannot get Potato Boy to upload. Guess you'll have to wait till Christmas morning, kids. In the meantime, you'll just have to make do with a bunch'a old Hollywood Monsters having an awkward moment with a bunch'a Japanese monsters:

This is my step 1 sketch for the Hyogo Times October Cover. The center "o" in "Hyogo Times" will be the moon, and I see a dark blue bg with a dark/black tangle of tree branches across it and the o/moon, but the HYGO TIMES on top of those branches. This is one of those images that kinda just made itself after the kernel of the initial idea came up while talking to my Granny Dot on the morning of my day off. Actually, not many images fit that specific description, but you know what I mean - some images kinda make themselves, like I hear some writers say about stories writing themselves, or characters telling their own stories.

Western audiences will no doubt recognize the classic Universal line cast of characters to the left, but you may not know the Japanese ones.

-Rokurokubi: Long necked, but otherwise normal-looking traditional Japanese woman

-Kitsune: the Japanese word for fox, often seen as magical creatures indicated by growing more than one extra tail. 9 is especially magical.

-Oni: kind of a general horned demon, usually red or blue

-And my favorite, the Karakasa: an umbrella-monster-thing. A type of Tsukuogami which is an object that has reached its 100th year of existence and developed a spirit. Also happens with old sandals, apparently.

ABC Poster FINAL

2008-09-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

Aaaaaand I'm spent....

....Next time (or the time after...) on sketchblog: POTATO BOY!

Poster, v2.0

2008-09-16T22:34:00.001-07:00

Ok, this color sucks, but its just a tone to start with. The colors are really gonna pop everything and get the text out and visible. Oh Chromatic Diety(s), guide me into an eye-catching yet un-gaudy resolution.

ABC poster project, pt7-Poster Step 1

2008-09-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

Thinking things out... I finally got them on stage in an orderly fashion. And I've amended most of their looks. A kind, honest friend of mine unintentionally referred to the Florida Panther as "uh, what is it - a giant rat?", thus some editing. The Wild Pig doesn't seem to be suffering under the weight of his accordion anymore, I hope. And I'm also hoping the colors really pull the figures apart from each other.

Now what was the magic spell for perfect design & type?...

ABC poster project, pt6-That Wild Pig Accordionist

2008-09-13T14:37:00.000-07:00

I kinda feel like he's gonna come together in post-production...

ABC poster project, pt5-Gopher Tortoise on Drums

2008-09-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

Starting to get a critical mass of animal performers, and the specter of the background is looming... My hope is to finish this poster by Monday night, but am allowing myself until Wednesday night.

Listening to some This American Life episodes that I've let stack up on my iTunes. I love the show and in more than 10 years of listening, have never once been disappointed by it, but more than a few times have been moved to real thought, laughter, and tears. It strikes me as one of the biggest examples of a contemporary urge for sincere sentiment. I was talking with my friend Billy a week or so ago about his artwork. One important element in his work is his exploration of the line you cross from sincere emotional expression into something showy or false. He also contrasts it against "knowing" art, a kind that works from a (real or contrived) jadedness, a kind of defensive, cynical unwillingness to let one's guard down, to be real. The example in my mind is that of a wise-cracking sitcom kid, though I'm sure Billy could say it better. I'm seeing this impulse in different folk's art and media these days, and am really interested in it.

At the moment, I think of two artists from my grad school time at MCAD who's work I think in this same way: Molly Roth and Shepherd Alligood, though for now I have to leave it at that. Gotta get back to drawing a pig playing an accordion.

ABC poster project, pt4 -Florida Panther on Lead Vocals

2008-09-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

Mixing the details of the animals with human postures is getting easier and more natural overall, but this panther has really taken some messing with. May take some more yet, feels like somethings not quite right, but it'll need some sit time before I can see it. Still, I'm pretty happy so far.

Allen Broussard Conservancy poster project, pt 2.5/3-Banjo Gator

2008-09-11T13:33:00.001-07:00

This little dude is my favorite so far - and subsequently has taken longer. But I think he's happy, so I'm happy. :) Steve Martin said that you just can't be sad playing a banjo. If a cold blooded death-machine like an alligator can still look happy playing one, I guess it's true!

Allen Broussard Conservancy poster project, pt 2

2008-09-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

More members of the band, in process:

Poster for the Allen Broussard Conservancy's Harvest Music Jam

2008-09-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

I'm working on the anthropomorphized and musically inclined animal population of a poster to promote the Harvest Music Jam, taking place in St. Cloud, Florida's Allen Broussard Conservancy.

This is a gee-tar-in Red Tailed Hawk. It took a while to find a Hawk to pose for me, and even longer to find one who could play. I finally had to ask him just to pretend to play the guitar.

September Hyogo Times cover

2008-08-31T00:37:00.000-07:00

Hello again, folks. I've not forgotten the blog, but instead have been putting unusually concentrated effort into the unusually detailed cover for September. Truth is, I hope to use this image for more than this cover, but I'm excited to see how it works as one.

I wonder if it will throw folks, or if having "Hyogo Times Pictures Presents" in the credits will be enough to make it a "cover." I feel its certainly topical to a JET's life in the Hyogo Prefecture, including not only its most famous attraction (is that arguable? I'm not sure...) as well as a popular Japanese food.

For the uninitiated, takoyaki is the squid equivalent of a Chicken McNugget, sorta smallish, greasy, and oishi (delicious). I'm not so big on the texture of squid, but hey, there's no accounting for taste.

Plus there's the issue of dimensions, as this is not the typical height-to-width of a newstand cover. The only excuse I have is that the prefecture has been having a hard time finding money for printing, and most HT issues lately have been distributed only in digital format. In that case, the cover dimensions do not matter, and the conceptual limits of "cover" expand dramatically. Oh well, we'll see.

Btw, been in the US for a week and a day now, and 6 more to go. Its great to recharge, reconnect, and remember. Things are different, but not so much.

-My 6 year old twin cousins are becoming full-fledged human beings with fascinating and and unique personalities.

-More bypasses have been built, allowing those at point A to get to point B faster, and for at point B to do the inverse with A. (I refer you to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for my feelings on bypasses.)

-Going to Wal-Mart is still the most effective form of birth-control I know of.

-And we are all getting older, and we are all slowly, surely, becoming more fully ourselves.

God, Bless America. Please.

Back with the August HT Cover!

2008-08-18T00:49:00.000-07:00

Its been too long, ladies and gentlemen. This month brought many changes in my life, not the least of which was moving to a new town here in Japan. Between moving, quintupling the amount of biking I do, meeting new JET's and the subsequent/requisite/enjoyable socialization that includes, I was drawing but a little.

But I did slip in a new cover for August's Hyogo Times (I know it's over-photoshopped, thank you) and am planning on whipping out Himeji Joe for September's. Slight change on his intended adversary, tho: I'm feeling like Ultra-Ganguro will have to wait, but Ultra-Takoyaki (like Saturday Night) is "alright fo' fightin'." For the non-nihongo-learning crowd, takoyaki is a popular fried Japanese comestible made from squid. Ya dig? I like drawing tentacles, but you'll have to wait to see those. However, here's Joe's final pose, which I sorta like in all his bold black and white glory.

New Website Pre-Preview

2008-07-15T18:02:00.000-07:00

The new website, beta version, is uploaded and viewable! After some kind folks explained some glitches to me, the page should be looking solid. My goal is to have a portfolio site that is itself a portfolio piece, so feedback is welcome and appreciated!

Btw, on my Friends page you'll see how I am hoping to exchange links with folks. Its a two-for-one deal, as I'll be putting my Friends' links on two websites (homepage and sketchblog) in exchange for only one on that Friend's website. That's good for everyone, since more links to your site equals higher search engine rankings.

...

In local news, mid-Southern Japan is at the peak of its summer heat. At least I hope this is the peak. The humidity is astounding and stifling, and I'm from Tennessee where the air is so wet that we are practically amphibious.

Teaching English in Japan requires getting used to instructing in rooms with no A/C of any kind, summer or winter. After you resign yourself to the sweating, it's easier. Students have it hardest, never once entering a cool place the entire day (this doesn't exactly motivate them to learn), where as the teachers get to sit in the A/C'ed Staff Room with all the other teachers. Not complaining, just observing.

First Steps

2008-07-07T22:14:00.001-07:00

Today I made my first real efforts toward entering the Japanese publishing scene. The opportunity for this came in the form of a Creator's Lunch being held at a local graphic design office.

The challenges, pt.1: Of course it was raining for the 10 minutes I was on my bike, promptly clearing up as soon as I entered their office, visible through the huge picture windows with their incredible view of Himeji Castle. On top of this, it is the summer rainy season and so extremely hot and humid (mushi-atsui desu, I love it that one of their words for "humid" is "mushi," cause thats how it feels). So I was completely soaked in either rain or sweat, and spent the first 20 minutes trying not to drip on my own drawings. I'm sure I looked like a freak, but folks seemed nice about it.

The challenges, pt.2: Most interactions here serve to remind me of how bad my Japanese is, and today was no different. However, I lucked out in that the owner of the design office is passionately interested in learning business English, and was very nice about helping out with conversation beyond my initial introductions and job descriptions.

The good news: I met another illustrator (who coincidentally had drawn a picture of Himeji castle up and walking around, even though his was very cartoony and for a small animation), a few designers, a printer, plus a few others. I wish I had a chance to see more folks' work, though I did see the work of this one dude. Besides being a DJ, he meets with 3 other artists to make a zine. They set themselves a time limit of 2 hours to produce the zine from the first step all the way to the final printed copies. They were rough and spontaneous, and looked like tons of fun. I was happily reminded of SALart, a similar zine (minus the time-limit) that I (co)edited over a few years during my time in undergrad at APSU. Sounds like a great idea for a party...

Anyhow, decent for a first attempt. There will be another lunch next month!

Plus the new website is almost done!!! It'll be up asap, and of course it will posted here.

Drawing til my eyes hurt

2008-06-29T04:29:00.000-07:00

So, still working on Himeji Joe by doing him in pieces, which will come together to make the big man himself, just like Voltron. I'm putting off the website for another weekend. (But I worked on it lots this week! The image is all done, its just installing the plumbing in Dreamweaver thats got me held up, figuring out the rollovers, etc...)

Had to get out of the house for some hours today, so I spent a few hours at a friendly local (and American in origin) fast food joint. While there, saw a dude in line at the checkout whose posture and build struck me as interesting. Luckily, they were busy and he had to stand there for a while. I only got a few glimpses at his face and never saw his lower half anyway, but got this sketch made.

The drawing began with the full standing figure, proceeded to exaggerating the few looks I got at his face, and went to the drawing of our new friend on the left. When I saw the guy in line, I thought of a turtle-like Japanese mythological creature called a kappa that I read a lot about this week. There's a bowl-ish haircut named after the do they are supposed to have, and the dude in line had it. He looked like what I would want a kappa to look like, so I dug in while I could, playing with the posture. Real dude didn't look near as bad as my version of him.

My kappa has the haircut, and I tried to leave a space for its primary feature, a depression on the top of its head in which water must be for it to retain its dangerous mojo. If you are a polite person with a habit of bowing, then it will return this bow, lose its precious H2O, and you're in the clear. So remember kids, don't be rude little bastards or a horrific water-dwelling turtle monster will come up under you in the water and there'll be no more of you, no sir.

Brought up thoughts of one of my first affinities in drawing that I felt alright at - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I think I was tracing them out of a Nintendo Power magazine I had in the 4th grade, and its one of the first things I can remember actually drawing for other people's requests. Beginning of a bad attention-seeking habit. But anyway, knowing that their standard design is still my default for a humanoid-turtle, I tried to get as far away from that as I could, at least in the details. Hence the rib-y anterior plates and knobby shell.

Also been watching Spaced, a great British comedy series with the folks from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. The main dude plays a comic artist, and occasionally they show his drawings, which are wicked. Looked it up and found names of two dudes who've worked for 2000 AD, the big-deal long-running British comic magazine. Anyhow, my fave is Jim Murray, whose work follows.

Murray's colors remind me some of Glenn Fabry (of the Preacher covers), but its the drawing underneath these colors that really get me. He's so expressive! Jeez, its inspiring and great and kind of depressing all together, which I guess is a compliment to him. Its so open, loose and dramatic, but still retains a sculptural, rendered power and quality that I love in illustration. Ummm...

I realized that I have some of his stuff in my box of stored comic at home in the U.S., which I bought for the same reasons listed above. I love seeing this level of work going into telling stories. This level of stuff almost only makes it to covers, and a whole comic of this is a real treat. Not to throw judgement on the scripts he works on, but this kind of art can make crappy writing look a million times better, like movie stars can lend believability/credibility to some terrible Hollywood blockbuster. I guess thats a compliment, too!

Himeji Joe vs. Ultra-Ganguro, pt. 1, Cont.

2008-06-24T03:26:00.000-07:00

So I realized that my earlier post might not make any sense without some additional information/images.

I live in Himeji, Japan. Its famous for its castle, widely thought to be the nicest in Japan. In Japanese, its referred to as Himeji-jo.

I was drawing it one day from a nearby park and started to see a face in the castle. Thoughts of what it would look like if it stood up jumped into my head. I found/took some pictures and started playing with ideas. What would its body look like? Arms? Legs? Plus, might as well call him Himeji Joe, you know?

I knew I wanted to show it from the ground, looking up at it, towering over us. And what the hell - might as well make it fighting some other huge creature. After thoughts of the Statue of Liberty and Big Ben facing off against our hero, Jenai suggested I use a girl dressed in a Japanese style we were reading about called ganguro. They are sorta scary, which is a plus, AND they are often interpreted as caricatures of Western women. Awesome, I'm starting to like the layers coming up here...

So develop the pose, examine details...

With the other creature to be worked out later, I got into faking the perspective and exaggerated ground-level view. This was, like, a 3rd attempt. Pretty frustrating at the time.

After a few tries, I got something I was into, the sketch below. In the previous post, you can see how I am developing areas of this basic sketch, one at a time. So fun.

Himeji Joe vs. Ultra-Ganguro, pt. 1

2008-06-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

I've been taking a break from getting the new website ready to work on something thats a lot of fun. I'm making a fake Monster-Movie poster for my idea of "Himeji Joe vs. Ultra-Ganguro". It involves our town's castle standing up like a giant monster and fighting a giant ganguro woman. More to come on that later. But here are my two favorite drawings from this weekend. I'm learning that these architectural details take forever! God knows I'm adapting the actual design to fit my anthropomorphization (jeez, is that a word?), but I still want to get as much in as possible, and I want it to be instantly recognizable, at least to locals.

Having so much fun with this.

Watched Dexter all Sunday, too. Really fun, but makes me feel kinda guilty almost, like being able to understand a character like that makes you morally culpable for... something. I don't know.

Website Update Preview

2008-06-18T02:46:00.001-07:00

Been drawing all day, and will be drawing all night. I like the feverish, focused times like this.

The most immediate goal is finishing the webpage background. I really poured some effort into figuring out the lighting coming from the fireplace, and feel alright about the results so far. I'll put off the figuring out those damn rollovers till later. Anyhow, this is what I did today.

Looking at it after a break, the frames still need some attention, but its going alright.

I'm excited about a Hyogo Times cover that will involve Himeji (my town in Japan) Castle standing up and fighting with a giant version of one of those Ganguro girls, in a showdown towering above some downtown Himeji. Props to Jenai for the idea for the castle's opponent. I was thinking some other nation's landmark, but I like keeping it domestic... Let viewers attach meaning... I'm eager to work on that, eager to employ the references I've gotten, eager to figure out how to show it from a ground-level viewpoint and adapt the castle architectural details to a standing, fighting pose. Problems to solve, like a carefully prepared meal to slowly enjoy.

But I digress. Back to the job at hand.

Hyogo Times July 2008 Cover

2008-06-17T04:32:00.000-07:00

So I just finished the July cover, my second for the Hyogo Times. It comes from the Art Director's idea to have Japanese Prime Minister Fukada set in a purikura photo booth.

For those who don't know, purikura is a Japanese institution (and just to protect my own reputation - I did this "look" with a purpose) with a reputation for over-the-top-super-uber-kawaii-cute-tacky-ness. Kinda "icch," but hey, no accounting for national taste.

You go into these booths and pose against a green screen and then choose any of many exotic/cute/tacky/over-photoshopped backgrounds and then add stamp-style any of many shapes, icons, text, characters, etc. This fast, exciting music is playing the whole time while the seconds count down, so its real easy to screw them up, exponentially increasing the possibilities of hyper-tacky-hood.

For the PM, I found some but created most of the elements you see pasted behind and before Mr. Fukada. Lots of fun, and it went fast. I started the drawing today at school around 3:15, worked on the drawing till 4:15, then came home and finished the pencil work. Then the color work, creation of elements, etc.

Question: do you like that he's in B&W? I could color him, but I want him to stand out against the colors, since he's known for being this stolid, stone-faced no-nonsense politician, and was afraid even pale colors in his face might lessen the contrast.

So?

2008-06-14T23:56:00.000-07:00

"Kappa" sketch

Sketchbook page, 2008

I spent a few hours at a friendly local (and American in origin) fast food joint. While there, saw a dude in line at the checkout whose posture and build struck me as interesting. Luckily, they were busy and he had to stand there for a while. I only got a few glimpses at his face and never saw his lower half anyway, but got this sketch made.

The drawing began with the full standing figure, proceeded to exaggerating the few looks I got at his face, and went to the drawing of our new friend on the left. When I saw the guy in line, I thought of a turtle-like Japanese mythological creature called a kappa that I read a lot about this week. There's a bowl-ish haircut named after the do they are supposed to have, and the dude in line had it. He looked like what I would want a kappa to look like, so I dug in while I could, playing with the posture. Real dude didn't look near as bad as my version of him.

My kappa has the haircut, and I tried to leave a space for its primary feature, a depression on the top of its head in which water must be for it to retain its dangerous mojo. If you are a polite person with a habit of bowing, then it will return this bow, lose its precious H2O, and you're in the clear. So remember kids, don't be rude little bastards or a horrific water-dwelling turtle monster will come up under you in the water and there'll be no more of you - no sir.

Brought up thoughts of one of my first affinities in drawing that I felt alright at - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I think I was tracing them out of a Nintendo Power magazine I had in the 4th grade, and its one of the first things I can remember actually drawing for other people's requests. Knowing that their standard design is still my default for a humanoid-turtle, I tried to get as far away from that as I could, at least in the details. Hence the rib-y anterior plates and knobby shell.

Tanuki after a long night of drawin' and colorin'

2008-06-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

Added some colors last night to Mr. Tanuki. Doing hair is so fun. These are reasonably accurate colors to the real, raccoon-dog-like animal. I like the view of him up close better, so you can see the hair details. But still I tried putting him with the Monumental Gambatte, below.

"Gambatte" is Japanese for something like "try your hardest," "keep working hard," and "do your best," all together. And since I can't let go of a dramatic idea, I wanted to see Mr. Tanuki in front of it.

However, I'm still working on making them not mess each other up. Hard to see the tanuki's arm against the shadows on the monument.

Its just like my problem with dressing - I can pick out an interesting shirt, for example, but matching it with some pants, shoes, etc. - now, that gets challenging. I make these individual pieces (that tend to figures), but I'm still working on making things that fit together right.

Tanuki

2008-06-14T03:22:00.000-07:00

This little guy is both a real Japanese animal as well as a mythical character. He is most often seen with a bottle of sake in one hand and an unpaid bill in the other. Individuals of the breed can be recognized by their personal trait of being well endowed in the family jewels department with ginormousbigjigglyballs, which he was known for drumming on merrily.

Ever play Super Mario 3? That's the same thing, minus the primary identifying feature(s).

I am recruiting him as a symbol of the those who must keep their spirits up and trying hard, like the brave (if impetuous) Tanuki, who perseveres through inane and pointless hardship, to keep beating himself in the nuts, despite the tears.

In Progress: Website Update Background

2008-06-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

Crafting a new website format, and I've been working on this for a while. Figured I'd go literal with the "home" in homepage. After I get the last things on the mantle colored, shaded, etc., add a few more messy details throughout, I'll start figuring out how to accomplish the rollovers I want in Dreamweaver.

The idea is to roll over different places in the picture, for those places to brighten, and for the corresponding section-title on the toolbar across the bottom to also highlight. Make sense?

Also, I'll have "Friends" links from both the new site and this sketchblog, so if you're interested in trading links, you'll get listed on two sites.

Hyogo Times Cover June 08

2008-06-13T04:13:00.000-07:00

Lots of work lately, and the biggest has been becoming the cover artist for the Hyogo Times. For this cover, I started with wanting to work with Godzilla in some way, and it just turned into a GQ-like cover with him posing in men's fashion. Like most ideas that come from some absurd arbitrary seed, this prompted me to write (with the help of a Godzilla-savvy pop culture afficianado) an interview with the big green himself. You can view the issue, with the "interview," here.

In other news, life in Japan is alright. Teaching has been slow lately, but have laptop, will travel. Thusly, I have been taking advantage of my time and drawin' stuff, like the big green above.

All for now, kiddos.

2008-06-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

Trying to decide about the hole. Water? Someone's reflection(s)? I tend toward the literal, and have to throw in some conceptual messiness to find the spontaneous.

Anyhow, its just a step in the process.

Pig'ata (pron. Pig-Yata) :D

2008-04-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

This is a new one that feels almost done, but difficult to nail down. Thoughts?

Plus: Anyone know how to type a g with a ~ over it, like the spanish Piñata?