Monday, October 27, 2014

preparing for the year of the sheep

The November issue of Gekkan Etegami (etegami magazine; published by the Japan Etegami Society) is arguably the best issue of the year. It has thirty to forty pages more than the ordinary issues, and it is always features the Oriental zodiac animal of the coming new year. This month, they have some 50 (50!!) pages like this one, jam-packed with etegami that readers have created to celebrate New Year 2015, the Year of the Sheep/Goat.

This year I will be using the sheep motif for both my 2014 Christmas cards and my 2015 New Year cards. I'm so excited I'm like a small child that can't stop wiggling in his seat during church or at a concert. One reason I'm excited is that the year of the sheep is MY year. I was born in the year of the sheep xx years ago, and that is one of the many reasons why I'm rather fond of the animals. Plus, sheep are a lot easier to draw than horses or dragons, don't you think?

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8 comments:

  1. Else M TennessenOctober 28, 2014 at 7:44 AM

    Wow, I would love to see that magazine! It looks amazing. And congrats on having your year come up next. And yes, sheep are easier to draw: cotton puff, legs and ears. Yes!

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    1. dosankodebbieOctober 28, 2014 at 1:58 PM

      Else, I listed about 25 back issues of the magazine for sale on my Etsy shop recently. But they were sold out within days. I'll try to let you know if and when I ever list back issues again.

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  2. jacki longOctober 28, 2014 at 9:47 AM

    Just love your work and the issue looks wonderful.
    Etegami is sort of like a visual haiku?

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    1. dosankodebbieOctober 28, 2014 at 2:09 PM

      That's sort of the way I think of etegami too, Jacki-- as visual haiku. But Koike Kunio, the "father" of etegami would probably say that etegami is meant to be more free and spontaneous than structured and rule-bound haiku.

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  3. LieveOctober 28, 2014 at 12:25 PM

    Oh wow, what a great mix of etegami ! That must be a fantastic magazine !
    I'm already curious what masterpieces of sheep/goat-etegami you will make !
    YOUR year is waiting for you; I hope it will be a great one !

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    1. dosankodebbieOctober 28, 2014 at 2:10 PM

      Thanks, Lieve. I look forward to seeing more of your etegami too!

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  4. ThérèseOctober 28, 2014 at 7:30 PM

    Wow! It mus be hard to look at just one without being distracted by the one next to it!
    Good luck for the ones you are going to create.

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  5. Andrew StoneOctober 29, 2014 at 7:10 AM

    .Is it really that time already? I'm not ready to start on my Year of the Sheep cards....LAILAC,the local Japanese Cultural Association in Florence hosting the Italian/Japanese Etagami exchange gets these magazines....I'll go look(borrow?) at the Nov. Issue...

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