Tokyo Rakugaki

A few words about sketching people in public places: It’s always a dream to find a corner in which to sit unnoticed while sketching those around you - but it is damn difficult. Probably the result of some evolutionary mechanism, people are acutely aware of being watched, especially by strange foreign men lurking in corners. These are but two of many mundane sketches I did while in Tokyo. The lady, from a cafe in Harajuku, the old man from Ueno park.

I picked up a book in Japan by Terada Katsuya called Rakugaking. “Rakugaki,” explains Katsuya, “is the Japanese word for nonsensical and/or insignificant scribblings and drawings.” Rakugaking is over 1000 pages of stunningly beautiful, mindless sketches, mostly pencil or pen & ink. I guess Katsuya is a manga artist, but his line-work is reminiscent sometimes of Jean Giraud (Moebius), who is like a god in my little world.

Speaking of Moebius, I see Blueberry is set for release next month. I don’t like to get too excited about these sorts of things, but the production photos look… very good.