Monday, August 20, 2012

illustration friday (teacher)

I love illustrating the Japanese children's songs that I grew up on. This one was inspired by the song Suzume no Gakkou (the sparrows' school) and begins with the line: "The teacher at the sparrow school swings his stick back and forth while chirping chii pappa." In the second stanza, the little student sparrows try to chirp as they are taught but they have a hard time getting it right.

I dipped a single bristle from a bamboo broom into sumi ink to draw this one. It was incredibly difficult to control, but that's the whole point--not to have control.  And I do get some interesting effects this way.

13 comments:

  1. j'aime vraiment beaucoup!
    I like it so much!

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  2. Debbie this is so "Tweet", you could draw with your elbow dipped in tar and it would be awesome!

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    1. My elbow dipped in tar...that would certainly be different. You're giving me ideas, Carole!

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  3. Such adorable little birdies! I love this one Debbie.

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  4. By the way, origa-me's comment is spot on LOL! You could dip your elbow in tar and create beauty!

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  5. Dear Debbie,
    Wow,wow,wow~~~!! Your post reminded me of the song! Thank you so much!!!
    Cheers, Sadami

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  6. This is really beautiful! And I love the story about the song! I always learn something new when I visit!

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  7. Elegant little birds - so lovely!

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  8. How adorable! It must have been so fun to learn the poem...

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  9. Your little birds have turned out really well with using the single bristle.

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  10. that is adorable and what a lovely idea for a song!

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  11. Oh my goodness the teeny birds are so adorable! Wow, a single bristle - the writing is beautiful.

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  12. SO charming...I love that I can see different little expressions on their faces.

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