June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012

Afloat
ink, gouache & pencil on paper
20cm x 20cm

Detail

Black Art Projects in Melbourne currently has some of my work on display in “Tenancy 3″ until the 29th of April. For information about Black Arts Projects or the show, visit their website or online catalog.

Finally, a spare minute to write a little bit about the Otomo Katsuhiro exhibit I visited a few weeks back.
Otomo needs no introduction if you are familiar with his epic manga Akira, and his exhibition delivers, ten fold, almost too much, every painstakingly hand drawn frame from the original multi-volume manga.

“Genga” is Japanese for original, and spread across about 4 rooms on the bottom floor of 3331 Chiyoda, you can analyze every single frame of every page of Akira, warts and all – with annotation notes, corrections, text layouts and hand numbering. The pages, separated and laid across wire frame tiers in large glass boxes, are arranged in chronological order with the exception of featured pages which are placed at the top for closer observation. The sheer amount of work, spanning several years, would have been impossible to show on the wall, so that considered, I think the grid layout, though necessary for making viewing easier, was just like the work, suitably meticulous.

The rest of the exhibition was pretty retrospective and featured hand coloured cells, original cover illustrations and character development sketches from different points in Otomo’s career – including early manga like “Short Piece”, “Highway Star” and “Sayonara Nippon” to more familiar concept art and sketches from “Memories” and “Steam Boy”. Pieces that really caught my eye were made with Pantone color and featured various people smashing things in Otomo’s signature style – dramatically. They could have been promotional, I’m not sure, but the bold colour and frozen explosions were a winner with me- like Roy Lichtenstein if he was dropping TV’s instead of blowing up fighter planes.

The last room in the exhibit was kind of a play room – photography, doodling on the wall and posing on replica motorcycles was all permitted. There was also a large sculpture recreation of a  frame from “Doumu” too – for those geeky enough to pose in front of it.

Overall, the exhibition was really enjoyable – having read the comics, seen the films and always been awestruck at Otomo’s vision and technical ability, seeing how Akira was pieced together and witnessing his talent raw and up close was inspirational. (Getting to ride Kaneda’s bike wasn’t bad either, and all in one afternoon!)

Gengaten runs until the end of May, so if you are in Tokyo it’s highly recommended you pop in for you a visit. More info about access and gallery times visit 3331 Chiyoda.

It’s been super busy the last few days, but I will get around to writing a little review of GENGAten and other news of interest. In the meantime, check out this very convincing 1/1 scale (working and road licensed) replica of Kaneda’s bike from Akira that was on display at the show.

The Middle (watercolour and pencil on paper, 190mm x 230mm)

Usually I stick with my pencils and work straight onto to paper, but this time I put down a wash of blue and grey to add a bit of depth. I was pretty happy with how it came out so I thought I might share.  It reminded me a bit of the azure wash you often see in those old Japanese ukiyo-e (by Hiroshige), only a bit more washed out.

p.s. If you are interested in buying this one, drop me a line via the email address at the bottom of my contact page.

Giclee prints of my drawings are now available at the online store. At present I have ‘Dragon’, ‘Choreography’, ‘Dancers’ and two ‘Miniature Guardians’ printed on 100% cotton, Japanese “Moreau” 300g stock in a limited edition of 20 – each individually signed and numbered.  Shipping within Japan is free, but if you’re overseas and buy a larger piece (Dragon’, ‘Choreography’, ‘Dancers’) – postage is on the house. Cheers

ジークレープリントによる作品を限定販売致します。「ドラゴン」「コレオグラフィー」「ダンサーズ」他、全５作品になります。サイズは、A5~A3。紙質は、MOREAU（モロー）国産のファインアート紙。原料にコットンパルプ100％で、柔らかな風合いとぬくもりがあります。各限定 ２０枚。シリアルナンバーと直筆のサインが入ります。価格￥3,300~（税込）＊５月まで送料無料。Online Shop はこちら。詳しい内容については、メールにてお問い合わせ下さい。

I don’t really know what it means, and I can’t be bothered to look it up on wiki, but on the 1st the internet is always abuzz with April Fool’s trickery. Google maps was no exception and this year they recreated the world in 8-bit Dragon Quest graphics. Which, as well as being aesthetically pleasing, must have been a technical feet of genius. I missed the joke though…