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.