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“No, we are not friends…”

While working on other things this drawing slipped out of my mind and on to the page. Post Elbis, the shape of things forthcoming.

It was 2008 and I had, as in years before, planned to buy a Daruma doll for luck in the new year. I was a few days late getting out to the shrines and most of them had stopped selling the dolls by then. Frustrated, I made my own Daruma painting to borrow a little luck till I could make it down to Kawasaki Daishi. They have Darumas all year round and I would be on course again soon.
My luck that year was very good and so, as custom dictates I took my Daruma back to the shrine it came from the following January and bought a new one for the new year. Didn’t paint a Daruma since I got mine on time that year. But 2009 was a mixed bag. It was good while I was living it but much like eating at MacDonald’s, as soon as I was done I realized I had wasted my time.
This year I want to be different. Or at least I want this year to be like 2008. So I have drawn a new Daruma to bring me luck in this new year as I step into my next great adventure.

January 1st 2010, my mother gives me this box. She loves to collect antiques. She explains a lot of it there but I tend to defocus when people are talking to me. Sorry mom. I only got half the picture.

2 days later I’m home, cleaning the studio. I unplug and move the printer off my desk—put the box there instead.

There. It adds that sense of style my desk was sorely lacking.

I roll back the shutter and examine the box and it’s contents: 3 stamps; 2 coins; 1 pair of keys and an ink stick.

I remember some of what my mother showed me of the box but facing a new object alone gives you a wholly different sense of what it actually is. Any attempt to verbalize it beyond function and history of the object diminishes the overall experience for both the listener and the speaker.

What I know about the box is that my mother bought it at a second-hand shop for ¥4000 (about US$35) and that she kept it for about eight years before giving it to me.

The coins are from 1945 and 1942. Both coins though varying in size and design are for one sen. Sen (銭) is a no longer used subdivision of the yen. Like cents to dollars, one hundred sen is equal to one yen.

The stamps are for two sen.

The keys do not belong to this box as there is no lock.

Everything else is assumed. Photos for you to draw your own conclusions:

It’ll all work out.

Happy New Year!

A day late but what can I say, I had a wonderful New Year’s Day in Kyoto and just got back today.
Just in case you were wondering, 2010 is the year of the tiger. And like the tiger, the world will hear me roar!

Elbis

Interesting. I turned in Elbis and The Mindgator yesterday. These comics are the culmination of 2 years of writing, drawing and editing—4 years if I count the various failed incarnations of The Mindgator. And they are finally done!

Now for the hard part: I’ve sent these two projects to an international comic competition, the one run by Kodansha, and now I wait till March for the results. What does that mean for you? Nothing, really, I’m just saying. But what it means for the fans of Elbis, posted HERE, is that there may be no conclusion to the story posted on the site. I’m looking for publication and this comic, now completed in magazine format is going to make the rounds for a bit before I can put it on this site.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress of my submissions as information becomes available.

The Mindgator

When walking just isn’t enough.

Well, that was fun. Thanks to all those that came out to the アメコミ展 (amekomi exhibit). It was a blast but unfortunately I was not able to meet many of you as I was absent on the last day. I am planning to do a solo show in the spring and hope to meet everyone I missed there. I’ll have more info on that as I get closer to the date of the show.

Also, I know it’s been a little quiet around the blog lately but hey, I’ve been working on Elbis so that’s counts for something, right?
Here’s a taste: