Go! Go! Go! Japan Grand Prix!

Article Transcript

The ISCA convention has introduced me to many different kinds of people. Some of them I admire, some I like to joke with, and some coordinate conventions in different countries. These amazing people who put on conventions send out beautifully worded public invitations every year; “Come draw with us, learn something, and have fun!” Finally, after seeing this invitation for years and not being able to act on it, I was able to scrape up what I had, throw it in a too-small-for-a-two-week-trip suitcase, grab my husband, Jordan (Martin) and our pal, Kirby (Rudolph), and throw all of the above onto a 14-hour flight to the Japan Grand Prix in Kyoto, Japan.

From February 20 to 23, the Japan Grand Prix, coordinated by the Nihon Nigaoe Artist Association (NNAA) and headed by the ever powerful Kage Nakanishi, opened with an intense Live Sketch Tournament. Broken up into groups of 4, artists who signed up, Kirby and I included, were allowed 8 minutes to finish a retail level sketch of a live model. The winners from each group moved on to the next round until a winner was crowned. As much as I love the overall competition of any convention, this event was my absolute favorite. It accurately combined the demands of working in a retail setting while maintaining a high standard for quality, and with a vast majority of the artists who attended also work in retail, the competition was a perfect fit. To top off my list of “Why I loved this competition,” the Live Sketch Tournament was held the day before the competition hall opened and was used as an “ice breaker.” Almost all of the competitors were in attendance. The energy was through the roof, and even though I lost to Kunikazu, I am happy to report that we are still friends.

Unlike the ISCA convention, the room at the YIC academy where the competition was held, was not open 24 hours a day. Luckily, we were permitted/encouraged to work on competition pieces after the hall had closed. For the majority of the evenings, Jordan, Kirby and I met up with the artists from South Korea at their place along with other artists and enjoyed 7-Eleven Sake in a carton and the spiciest Korean food I’ve ever put near my tongue. Drawing was also involved.

Drawing and creating with other artists wasn’t the only thing the Japan Grand Prix had in store for us. Each day, they had arranged special guest speakers, Kirby Rudolph and Miki Kobayashi, to show their work, share their stories with us, and generally inspire us with new ideas and outlooks through their artistic process. Kirby took the stage and did live drawings for a few lucky attendees while taking questions from the audience, and Miki described her professional journey while showing us selected pieces that she has done over her career. The last day of the convention began with voting on competition pieces and ended with an awards ceremony naming top artists in several categories, such as Outstanding Humorous and Outstanding Exaggerated Technique. Tom was the big winner of this year’s competition, taking home the title of Best Caricature Artist. I was so impressed with everyone’s work and felt honored to be a part of that atmosphere.

The Convention ended the way all conventions should; getting together with cheap food and beer and staying up late with old and new friends till you can no longer form proper sentences. Leaving was incredibly difficult. Partly from exhaustion, but mostly because I knew it would be a long time before we could be together again. My favorite part of these conventions basically comes down to sharing experiences with one another– drawing, laughing and learning from people with different backgrounds and cultures from my own. There are many different kinds of people out there. Some of them decided that life was more fun if they created together. I am glad to know these people. Thank you all for the amazing lifetime memories. ‘Til next time...

For more information about the Nihon Nigaoe Artist Association, see their website at http://nigaoe-artist.com.

Japan Grand Prix Award Winners

Best Caricature Artist 1. TOM 2 高木祐介 Yusuke Takagi 3. Kunikazu 4. 宮城康助 Kosuke Miyagi 5. おかやまたかとし Takatoshi Okayama 6. Ahn seul ki 7. ろーにー Ro-nie 8. 後藤知寛 Tomohiro Goto 9. 空翔太 Shota Sora 10. Angineer Ang

Best Caricature Piece 1. 高木祐介 Yusuke Takagi 2. TOM 3. TOM 4. TOM 5. 後藤知寛 Tomohiro Goto

Outstanding Design Style 1. 高木祐介 Yusuke Takagi 2. Kunikazu. 3. おかやまたかとし Takatoshi Okayama

Outstanding Exaggerated Style 1. Ahn Seul Ki 2. 後藤知寛 Tomohiro Goto 3. Hana

Outstanding Humorous 1. ろーにー Ro-nie 2. TOM 3. Ali R. Thome

Outstanding Color Technique 1. 高木祐介 Yusuke Takagi 2. TOM 3. Angineer Ang

Outstanding Black and White Technique 1. 岡山萌 Moe Okayama 2. ちひろ Chihiro 3. 成田草介 Sosuke Narita

COPIC award 野田啓太 Keita Noda

Best Live Sketch Artist 1. Kunikazu 2. 宮城康助 Kosuke Miyagi 3. さえきけんすけ Kensuke Saeki

Best studio piece 1. TOM 2. 上羽京 Miyako Ueba 3. Angineer Ang & miki

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