Meeting the Sphinx

The incident happened during an NFT course a little while ago.
To my surprise, the Sphinx I doodled ended up making money unexpectedly.

And through this encounter with the Sphinx, I was able to start enjoying drawing illustrations, something I had kept sealed away.

After graduating from university and working as a CSR consultant, I began to miss the world of art that I had once let go of. So, I started attending the Ochanomizu Art Academy.

Mixing in with dreamy middle and high school students,
I, a working adult, kept at my sketching without giving up.

But I was no match for their level of concentration.
Well, art isn't really something you should compare with others, anyway.
However, teachers can tell right away whether a sketch is good or bad.

The hands I drew turned into "kappa hands."
The bones were all mushy, and they looked somehow watery.

The apple I drew looked somehow lifeless.

Even though I had gone to the trouble of getting all excited and buying art supplies and pencils,
in reality, I found myself worrying, "Hmm..."

Of course, there were departments that didn't require sketching,
but at the time, I wanted to get in through the power of sketching.

My father told me, "If you sketch your hands every day, your drawing will get better."
He taught me that.

But I only drew three sketches of my hands.
As a result, I lived my life without ever taking an art college entrance exam.
I remember now, belatedly, that there was a time I thought about wanting to go to art school.

The reason I wanted to enter art school was that I thought it would be an environment where I could express myself freely once I got in.

But then, it suddenly occurred to me.
If it's just art for myself, I can enjoy it right away if I have a pen and paper.

I'm the type who always ends up worrying about what others think.
Thanks to the Sphinx coming into my life,
I somehow started to feel motivated.

And when I turned the drawing that became the prototype for this little one into an NFT, Mr. Nirei, the organizer of the NFT course, bought it right away.

So, next, I tried my best to add color using Illustrator.

I managed to do it with Illustrator, but isn't there an easier way?
I just really wanted to draw illustrations.
And I wanted to enjoy art with my little one. It was at that moment that I came across this book.

Then, "Kuru Kuru Kurunpo" made an appearance.
After drawing "Kuru Kuru Kurunpo," an idea for a Sphinx picture book suddenly came to me.

And so, I wanted to draw the Sphinx again.
So, what I drew is today's cover illustration.
Hmm. The atmosphere is quite different, so I guess this one isn't the second son.

With that, I decided to try drawing illustrations on a whim as well.
The dream I had tucked away in my heart was actually to be a picture book author.

Imagination is free.