First Haiga

Haiga? What’s that?

If you know what haiku is, you’re halfway there! Haiga is the combination of one haiku and an image, traditionally an ink painting, though other media (including photography) are popular and acceptable today. The two elements of haiga are complementary; one needs the other to get the full effect. The image is not illustrative, nor is the haiku a caption. For instance, if a haiku or senryu is about children playing with autumn leaves, a good haiga will not  depict those children playing in a pile of leaves. It might depict leaves, children, an autumn bird, or trees, but not the exact subject of the haiku. However, overlap is not forbidden. A haiku about a crane calling across the marsh may be paired with a painting of a crane, for instance. Again, the two items should be complementary, but not redundant.

I submitted these to a haiga contest in mid-to-late September. Judging was in late October, so I decided to wait to post these after the contest finished. The top haiga is an example of what I called overlapping just now.

haiga_blackberries-150dpi

This was painted in watercolor. Though Japanese ink paintings are primarily grayscale, I love working with color, so I chose a dark blue-violet pigment that could echo the light and dark values of traditional works. I also kept the painting fairly simple—closer to a silhouette than a rendering—to echo the simplicity of the senryu.

haiga_bubbles-150dpi

This one is also a monochromatic watercolor haiga. Although this senryu has nothing to do with blowing bubbles, their union instantly appealed to me and demanded to be expressed. Both dreams and bubbles have beautiful, ephemeral qualities. Moreover, in earlier versions of the senryu, I had specified “summer dreams”; though “summer” no longer appears, I still wished to convey the bliss that I associated with that in this haiga. Both the image of blowing bubbles and the use of a bright blue pigment satisfied that wish. (This one is the first haiga I created.)

If you’d like a refresher on haiku, these two posts from 2014 have short sections about the elements of haiku. In the 2nd one, look for the third header (“Haiku-coo for Cocoa Puffs”): 4th (update) of July and August Advancements.

On another note, last weekend, I attended another artist alley at an anime convention. Watch your inbox for a post!

Pre-Thanksgiving Morsels

Instead of turkey, how would you like lamb chops and frog legs for Thanksgiving this year? Oh. Not so enthused? How about the meal menagerie before instead of for Thanksgiving? Take it or leave it–that’s what I’m serving today.

First on the menu, some lamb–a snapshot (yes, it was taken with a camera) of a scene from my latest commission, The Littlest Sheep. Our protagonist, alone, struggles against the wind and rain to climb the mountain.

LS_climb

Second menu item: frog legs. The first leg is that the autumn issue (37:3) of Frogpond (The Haiku Society of Ameria’s literary/poetry journal) arrived the other day, and page 40 is garnished with my first professionally published short poem:

H_FP37.3

(This is the one that rocked the poetry reading opening night of the haiku conference I attended this summer.) The second frog leg is that today I received an email accepting a haiku for the next issue, too.

Have a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving!

Moments of Gratitude

As it is the back end of August and the summer, I’ve been reflecting on my progress. Some projects did not move as quickly or as easily as I would have liked, and it was tempting to get frustrated. But the other day, before working on anything, I sat down and wrote a list of things I had accomplished and was grateful for this summer. No matter whether it was something only started or an event unrelated to my projects, it  went on the list. Acknowledging the good, the building blocks, the stepping stones–it truly lightens loads, kindles inspiration, and revives desire. That in turn hastens progress and fruition.

I am grateful to say that the illustrations for Do You Have a Pebble in Your Pocket will be completed this week! My concurrent book projects are moving along, too, from thumbnails to full-sized rough drafts; when Pebble wraps up, they’ll pick up the pace. Additionally, I am grateful that one of my haiku was accepted for publication! I am also glad for some short, quick projects (comparatively speaking) requested of me now and for the future, including a little graphic design job I launched into this very afternoon.

Now I invite you to your own private moments of gratitude.

August Advancements

And very distinguished ones, too.

Alice Moran:

She’s finished! No photo this time–I’ll wait until she’s framed.

Illustration:

Do You Have a Pebble in Your Pocket? (the goat book) is coming along slowly but surely. All the spreads are beyond the base layers of paint and, for the most part, unified in their color and value (light & dark) schemes. There are a few stowaways that I’ll bring into harmony with the rest. (What is that sea foam green doing in the middle of a tree?) Then I can think more about details as I brush up my rendering skills.

And because I’m sure you’re all curious about what the duodecimo happens at a haiku conference…

Haiku-coo for Cocoa Puffs:

First, let me say that last weekend was surprisingly successful! Hard to believe it was already a week ago. Made some contacts, sold a few books, wrote lots of haiku, discovered figgyhobbin… (We’ll see how many comments that garners.)

Friday was casual–registration, reception, a group reading of haiku by three poet-scholars they were honoring at the festival, followed by an open reading (for anyone to share). Let me say that when I stood up to share two poems I had penned that very evening, I did not expect 1) enthusiastic applause, 2) that I’d end up the rising star of the conference. I mean that in a very humble way. Throughout the weekend, several attendants (including some top-tier people) shared how much they enjoyed my haiku and that I had a very natural, intuitive sense. In fact, Sunday before I left, two ladies of the Haiku Society of American (HSA) conferred and said that to keep me writing, they would see about using the HSA scholarship fund to gift me a membership (and some HSA haiku journals) through 2015. This has been confirmed with the president of the HSA. I’m quite honored.

Back to the schedule. Saturday consisted of several workshops on different genres incorporating haiku (eg., haibun, which is short prose followed by haiku, and haiga, which pairs art and haiku), talks on the development and status of haiku, and more reading. Sunday, the group took a ginko (not to be confused with the Chinese ginkgo tree), which is a walk to gather inspiration for haiku, had lunch, and held a final reading.

Now that I’ve learned a few more things about haiku, I’ll expand upon my syllabic comments from last time (for your edification and enjoyment, if not my duty as a new HSA member). Haiku is, of course, brief, and it juxtaposes images, traditionally two concrete images, at least one of which pertains to nature or the seasons. Modern haiku and senryu often incorporate abstract or subjective images or ideas, too, such as an emotion. Both forms include incomplete grammar or syntax and a kire (“cut”), simply a pause or caesura, which aids juxtaposition (and may create an “aha!” moment).

Animal Art:

Since this post is getting quite long, I’ll keep this short. My panda project, Pandagrams, is well underway. Stay tuned to learn just what that includes. I also completed a portrait of a Norfolk terrier I dogsat about two weeks ago; scoot over to the Animal Art portfolio to see it.

4th (update) of July

What an occasion–my fourth post this month! (Normally I update 3 times a month).This weekend I’ll attend a little haiku conference/festival and hopefully sell a few books & network with writers and publishers (not exclusively haikuists).

“Haiku?” you say, “I thought you wrote children’s books!” Yes, those, and many other things. I dabble in crafting haiku, senryu, and other short poetry. Haiku and senryu, as you may know, are genres of Japanese poetry. Subject-wise, haiku generally deal with nature and senryu with people. Both are comprised of 17 syllables (3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables in English, although Japanese poets generally write each poem in a single vertical line). There are freer forms that do not hold to the 17 syllables, such as this cheesy little one by me:

rule of law

parallel parking

before the courthouse

As for ongoing projects, the little farm boy and his goats are coming along–met with the author yesterday to deliver a progress report. I am pleased to say she’s pleased with the illustrations. Finishing Alice is on hold ’til I return next week. Thumbnails for Cartage are in the works, John Churchmouse methinks will soon resume, and some new ideas beg for attention.

Matane! (That’s a Japanese equivalent to “See you later!”)