Shodo Class: Calendar

Today, I went to Shodo (Japanese calligraphy) class for the first time. It was a lucky day to go, because Sagara sensei had us make calendars!

Apparently there are a ton of different ways to write the months of the year and the four seasons. I was given these handouts, from which I could choose the kanji I liked best.

There are nine different ways to write each month. These sheets are read from right to left, so January begins on the right and spans three columns. Then, February begins in the fourth box from the right and so on.

January, February, and March

April, May, and June

July, August, and September

October, November, and December

I asked, "What do they mean? Do they evoke different images?" I didn't get a translation for each and every variation, but as you can see in the photos, I noted a few of them. Some of the kanji for the winter months meant "Spring," so I didn't choose those ones for my calendar. Sagara sensei said that those ones are better for people living on Honshu, the mainland, further south than us.

Here are the translations (as I understood them) for the kanji I chose:

January : first month
February : second month
March : chilly
April : field of mustard (canola flowers)なのはな
May : orange blossoms たちばな
June : wait wind (waiting for the wind)
July : star festival おれひめ?
August : south wind
September : a long night
October : a cold autumn lane
November : cold wind
December : the last month
On my calendar, I placed kanji for the seasons above the months. There are also many different ways to write the seasons. The kanji on the left sides of the photos below are very ancient. The kanji on the right sides are newer. I chose to use the most common kanji for the seasons, so that I can learn to recognize them. The most common kanji for each season is the one in each upper right corner.

Winter kanji

Spring kanji

Summer kanji

Fall kanji

After I chose my kanji and drew them, I picked out which papers I wanted to frame them in and set out my pattern.

Paper-pickin'

Glue stick time

All done!

This would be an easy project to do at home, for anyone interested. I used a simple brush pen for the calligraphy. The patterned paper is from Daiso, I believe (a Japanese dollar store). Daiso has a bunch of locations on the west coast in the US, too. So, that's all... Thanks for reading! c:

Stacks Exhibition ~ Preview

Hi everyone! My big spring-and-summer project this year was a short comic for a zine exhibition at Light Grey Art Lab in Minneapolis.

"The show takes viewers on a journey through time, 1984-2014, seen through the eyes of sixty creatives. [...] It is a celebration of our recent history and the moments that have shaped us all! " -Light Grey Art Lab

I was assigned to the year 2010. This was a big year for me in many ways,  so I put a lot of thought into what slice of my life I wanted to illustrate. Here is just a little preview.... I'll share the whole thing soon! If you live in Minneapolis, the opening reception is on August 1st. You can go have fun reading zines by artists from around the world! 

Here's the finished comic!

Justin and Salina's Short Long Beach Adventure

Memorial Day at Long Beach! Also, I had a funnel cake for the first time. Mmm...

Life Drawing ~ Pretty Ballerinas

Tonight, the ballerina Olivia Gomez modeled at the Center Stage Gallery. The poses in the first image were 2 minutes long. The rest are 5 minute poses.

Life Drawing ~ Yakuza

On April 24th, Jee Teo modeled as a Japanese Yakuza at Center Stage Gallery. The first image is a two minute drawing and the rest are five minute drawings.

 

Puppetry for "Moon Animate Make-Up!"

 Oh, to be a puppeteer... *blissful sigh* Puppet shows are way cool... especially when those puppets are Sailor Moon, Malachite, and Ninjana. <3 This is Jordan Hill's shot for Moon Animate Make-Up! Victor Courtright and I got to help with it near the end. It was super fun!

I can't embed the video on Blogger, but you can click here to watch!

My Shot for "Moon Animate Make-Up!"

Sailor Moon proposes a deal: the silver crystal in exchange for Tuxedo Mask's safe return. Malachite replies...



Such evil! MALACHITE!! I'm so happy I was able to participate in this fan tribute to Sailor Moon, "Moon Animate Make-Up!". Over 200 fans are reanimating the episode "Fractious Friends". It's coming soon to your internet, this July! My shot is at 14:28, if you want to see the original, or see it in context with the rest of the episode. I can't wait to see everyone else's unique styles. It's gonna be purty awesome. Also, I gotta send a thank you to Victor Coutright for bringing this project to my attention while there was still shots to dish out. Check out his Moon Healing Escalation!!

"Pancakes" Story Part 1

Part 1 of a little story I wrote... I can't wait to show you how it ends! :)

Screaming Valentine!

Happy Valentine's Day from Justin and me!

Hourly Comics Day

Hourly Comics Day was yesterday! Here are the comics I drew.

Doing a challenge like this always teaches me a little something about myself. If you take the time to read some of the too-many words I stuffed in, you'll learn a thing or two about me, too! Then again, you probably already know that I'm a silly weirdo, in which case, this will be old information.

I found that during moments of haste, my drawings quickly devolved into primal markings. It was essential... and fun, when I let myself abandon seriousness!

I also found it rewarding to capture some of the sweet moments that occur everyday and normally go undocumented.

Chiaroscuro in Color

I was hesitant about coloring this piece, but then I figured, "why not?"  I'm glad I did!

Fixative may be my colored pencils' new best friend. It makes the black stay put while you add color on top! I had to order some online, but I was impatient and curious of what would happen if I didn't use it... so I colored half of it before the fixative arrived in the mail. It smeared a bit. I definitely didn't want to color the skin before fixing the black! (No specks and smears on the skin, please!) Working with fixative was very effective in keeping it all clean. A new item in the tool box, yessir!

Chiaroscuro

I'm watching a class on Skillshare by Marco Mazzoni, a colored pencil artist. It's about creating chiaroscuro portraits, utilizing darkness and light.

Realistic portraiture is something that I don't have the greatest interest in, so I decided to use the techniques discussed in this class to explore my preferred style of drawing.

I enjoyed using colored pencil, since it's been many years since I abandoned them for india ink and crow quill! I was surprised how small my black pencil became while doing this drawing! It feels satisfying to burn through supplies.