TakoButa-san
⊛ TakoButa-san
⊛ cut paper + washi / illustration board
⊛ 6 x 4 in • 150 X 100 mm
⊛ private collection
TakoButa-san (literally: Mr. OctopusPig) began as an illustration competition over here in Tokyo. The rules were simple: illustrate a pig in any medium on an actual postcard (slightly taller and narrower than a US postcard). That makes this the smallest cut-paper piece that I've ever done. Having just moved here, I was using new cutting knives (seems like x-acto hasn't breached this market yet) in a whole new studio. For which I have yet to find decent lighting. Fluorescent is yucky.
I really wasn't sure what the result would be. The goal was to kick-start my imagination after moving around the world and setting up a new place to live. I think it worked. I had more conceptual sketches (which I'm sure I'll use - 2007 is the year of the boar, after all) but it had been a while since I had drawn anything that was pure goofy fun.
Plus, I've been playing with wiggly borders ever since.