Tales From The Dark Side OF Japan
by Alex Kerr
Worth reading for the darker issues facing Japan, written when the whole world considered Japan an economic miracle. Crime, environmental issues, social problems, destruction of their architectural and art heritage is what is revealed here. The flip side of what was making the mainstream press.
All his books worth reading. And I follow his work to preserve traditional homes.
What does that have to do with this drawing of Vicki?
The title Dogs and Demons is from an Chinese old tale, about which is easier to draw: Dogs or Demons. The answer is Demons, because we can make it look like anything as nobody knows what a demon looks like. We all know what a dog looks like.
I'd take it further, a human is harder. And a human we know is the most difficult. Or to go the other direction, a rock is easier than a demon.
I know Vicki, so if I get a tiny detail, wrong, only a millimeter, she will look wrong. I'll know it, her friends will know it and she will know it. Might make her look really weird, which she does not. I'll post again this week, with an example of people I draw whom I don't know. They look weird.
So for people I know, I'm going for the essential, the essence, the minimum I can get away with. And so far, making for more interesting art.
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