Shibuya puppets, a constipated nautilus, and an exuberant rainbow

Dear Sarah 024 -fear not - tomorrow is another drawing day

Dear Sarah - January 24, 2025

Using a couple of reference photos taken at a display at a shopping centre close to my brother’s place in Tokyo, today I did a pencil sketch on paper in a little sketchbook I’ve taken to carrying everywhere. No colour, but good drawing practice.

Mall isn’t quite the right term for where we stumbled upon the most fabulous of displays. Nor is doll the correct term for these amazing figures crafted by Kihachiro Kawamoto. This is one of many puppets in glass cases, likely familiar to anyone who grew up watching Japanes television. The puppets were used in stop-motion animation dramas, a sample of which was playing for visitors to the gallery.

Shibuya City hosts the gallery/exhibition, which is located on the 8th floor of the Hikarie building. Other floors boast a huge range of restaurants, shops, exhibition spaces, etc. - with offices located in the higher storeys. Just when you think street level in Tokyo is providing you with more stimulation than you can deal with, you enter these amazing glass towers full of more excitement, or descend below ground where there’s a whole other subterranean world bustling beneath your feet.

Hi Nikki,
January 24, 2025

I was so pleased with the drawing I did of the nautilus yesterday that I decided to draw it again today, but from a different angle. As I drew, Kianna sat beside me with a piece of paper from my sketchpad and some chunky paint sticks. She first drew a picture of the two of us, then she drew an exuberant rainbow, which unfortunately was not destined for my fridge--it was for her family. It kind of took my breath away. When she looked at my drawing, she very kindly said, "That's good, Nana," but it really isn't. It looks as if I was holding my breath the whole time I was drawing--which I may have been. The best word I can think of is constipated. I think I was way too concerned with verisimilitude and not concerned enough with shape and form and flow.

But tomorrow is another drawing day. Who knows, I may just try out the paint sticks!