Drawing Illustrations ① ~Together~ Umineko Fairy Tale Collection
"Little God" Tontan-san
Drawing illustrations for fairy tales and picture books has
been a dream of mine since I was little.
This will be my second time experiencing it.
The other day, a noter named Tontan-san was looking for someone to draw illustrations
to participate in the Umineko Production Committee's fairy tale collection project.
It is a story called "Little God," the first original story Tontan-san ever wrote.
It is a story overflowing with kindness, featuring a memorable header illustration by
TOMO-san, who has been dear to the project from the start.
Without thinking about what would come next, I brazenly volunteered, saying, "Yes, I'll draw it!"
Drawing pictures for Tontan-san's story
was actually a dream of mine.
🍀
But drawing illustrations and
drawing the pictures I like as I usually do
were completely different things.
First of all, it was difficult to draw "Oni-chan," the little god...
It started with me asking Tontan-san,
"Does he have one horn? Or two?" and I bombarded them with questions 😓
But the image that clicked perfectly was
the phrase, "Think of Korosuke from Kiteretsu Daihyakka!"
From then on, Oni-chan came to life smoothly.
When I asked, "Is it something like this?"
they said, "Yes, exactly!"
I was so happy.
Following Tontan-san's advice,
we decided to have Oni-chan carry a sword on his back.
This slightly cheeky feel
is Tontan-san's image of Oni-chan.
I finished a piece for a certain scene, but
I wasn't quite satisfied with the expression of the main character, a boy named Shin-chan, and I even told them that directly.
Tontan-san advised that this one
gives more of a sense of effort.
Take 2: This is the one that was chosen.
It was completed like this,
with me getting advice on each one.
For the Umineko Production Committee, I was to submit two carefully selected scenes in monochrome. (I heard the number of illustrations varies depending on the word count.)
But I was having so much fun reading the story that
I ended up drawing scenes I wasn't even asked for—this one and that one—and sent them to Tontan-san on my own.
The kind Tontan-san reposted the version with the illustrations and even wrote an another story based on the drawings I had made on my own.
Here it is.
Please enjoy Tontan-san's gentle writing 😌
Seeing all the wonderful illustrations around me,
I felt insecure, wondering, "Is my art really okay...?" but Tontan-san waited for me calmly and patiently. I have nothing but gratitude.
Thank you so, so much 🥹
And to the Umineko Production Committee,
thank you for letting me participate in such a wonderful project.