2016 Golden Nosey Interview

Interview with Dai Tamura

Dai Tamura
Author	Debbie "debbo" Burmeister
Translator	Hitomi Ohtsuba
Published	EF Issue 2017.1
Publication date	Winter 2017
Media type	Print Digital
Pages	18-21
Website	Full Issue PDF, courtesy of caricature.org

Article Description. Should include author, brief description, issue number and page number(s).

Article Transcript

After seeing Dai’s wall at this year’s convention, it is no surprise that he was voted the top caricature artist among his peers at the 2016 Annual Convention. This was Dai’s second convention, and he took notes of everything he learned from the previous year to come back in winning form. His hard work and dedication seemed to have paid off!

EF: First of all, I’d like to congratulate you on being the latest Golden Nosey winner.

Dai Tamura: Thank you.

EF: Tell us a little bit about your personal background. Where are you from? (where is your hometown?) Do you have any pets? Any hobbies? Dai: I’m from Hachioji, Tokyo. Commuting time from there is 2 hours. Hachioji is surrounded by mountains and one of the mountains has been awarded three stars by the Michelin Guide. I used to have a cat and basketball is my hobby. During my high-school years, my team went to the all-Japan championship games.

EF: What is your artistic background? When did you know or decide that you would focus on caricatures for your career?

Dai: I’ve been an artist for 6 years. Before Caricature Japan, I worked as a designer for a basketball maker where I mainly did graphic design. I designed several things such as T-shirts, uniforms, flyers and websites.

I had an opportunity to design official goods for a Japanese professional basketball league. I was designing T-shirts for the champion team and that is when I was strongly drawn to caricature. I started attending caricature classes that Caricature Japan offered and really dived in. It was then that I knew that caricature is a field that I wanted to focus on. I was 27 then and now I’m 33, turning 34 next year.

EF: How long have you been drawing caricatures? Where did you first learn to draw caricatures?

Dai: I’ve been drawing caricatures all my life as an artist, so 6 years. Even before drawing caricature, I use to draw people. I especially loved drawing basketball players and most of the time I drew them playing, which means I wasn’t focusing only on their faces.

I first learned to draw caricatures in the professional training course of Caricature Japan. There I met Kage for the first time.

What made me decide to draw caricatures is how strong their message is. A caricature is targeted to a particular person while design needs to be targeted to many people.

I once heard of a mother who made a picture book for her child and it became a best seller. That story inspired me to draw pictures that have a strong message. Caricatures fit that requirement perfectly.

EF: Who are some of your caricature influences?

Dai: Kage, of course, is the one who has influenced me the most. Besides him, I know many great artists whom I’ve learned so much from. ISCA members and my coworkers at Caricature Japan have taught me a lot as well.

EF: Where do you work as a caricature artist?

Dai: I work as the Area Manager of Asakusa at Caricature Japan.

EF: Do you work everyday? What is your work schedule like? What is your typical workday like?

Dai: Yes, I work almost every day. We have caricature shops in several areas of Japan. Each shop has its own schedule but the shop I work at opens at 11am. There are three break times a day and each break time is 30 minutes long. It is considered literally “break time.” No time for left-over work. I personally spend time eating, sleeping or watching SNS (social network services). Closing time is 9pm. What’s done at the shop is mainly live-sketch. We draw people from photos, too.

EF: What types of caricature art do you do?

Dai: Most of my artwork is hand-drawn. The media I mainly use are Holbein Artists’ Colored Pencils and Copic Markers. I like to heavily exaggerate and use heavy colors.

In this context, the best Japanese word to describe the word “heavy ” is 重い (omoi).

EF: What is your favorite thing/person to draw?

Dai: I like drawing NBA athletes. Kobe Bryant is the one I’ve drawn the most. My favorite athlete is Michael Jordan but his face is not the easiest to draw, so I hardly draw him.

EF: What were your goals for this year? I know that you told me in October that you would win the Golden Nosey. Did you think it would really happen or were you just hoping it would happen?

Dai: My goal for this year was to indeed win the Golden Nosey and I had made that goal public, too. However, Golden Nosey was the result of my making a better wall than last year’s. My biggest goal was to break my best record. I thought, “If I do better than last year, the result will take care of itself.”

EF: Do you think that taking the bootcamp at the Watts Atelier in San Diego helped you win? If so why? How did it prepare you? What did you study there?

Dai: Yes, it became one of the reasons why I could win because I learned there how the bones and muscles are built together, which is basic knowledge when it comes to drawing faces. Jeff (Watts), who taught me, was a great guy. Being the only Japanese in the classroom stretched me more than any other reasons. Practicing oil painting was helpful too, although I did not use it the convention.

EF: Did you do anything else to prepare yourself physically, mentally, emotionally?

Dai: Since the last day of 2015 Convention in Ohio, I had been preparing myself every day. There was not a day that I did not draw.

EF: The Japanese artists always seem to work the hardest at every convention, often times with very little or maybe no sleep. Did you get any sleep at the convention? What is your secret to staying awake, maybe a magical potion?

Dai: Haha yes, I think the members of Caricature Japan are especially sleepless folks. Kage advises us to get some sleep though.

In total, I slept four hours this convention. One and a half hours in bed each night and whenever I got drowsy, I napped a little at my desk. Taking a shower after you sleep will freshen you up. If you constantly snack, you won’t get sleepy. Chocolates are recommended.

EF: What media/technique did you use for your wall at the convention? Was it different than what you did last year?

Dai: I used the very same media as last year, Copic Markers, Holbein Artists’ Colored Pencils and illustration boards. What I did differently from last year is I took photos of my models under the sunlight, which clearly brought out the shadows and made the coloring easier.

EF: Is there any new media that you would like to try?

Dai: Digital art is what I am interested in investing my strength in, because the quality looks higher on screen than on paper.

EF: What other artwork do you do besides caricature?

Dai: I used to study design, so I’ve done graphic art using computers. I’m also good at making logos that combine letters and illustrations. EF: What do you think made people vote for your work over that of other artists?

Dai: I think it’s because I basically studied the past conventions. It’s very important to study excellent artworks of the past.

EF: Now that you have finally achieved the Golden Nosey, will you continue to go to the conventions? If so, how will your participation change?

Dai: If I’m continually attending the conventions, I would like to contribute to improving the level of ISCA. And if I were to attend, I will be serious about winning. I’d be glad if my artwork brings inspiration to everyone who sees it.

EF: What does the future hold? As an artist, what are your plans for the future? What do you see yourself doing 5 years from now?

Dai: There’s no telling what the future holds. That’s why it’s so interesting. One thing I would like to do someday is to draw a caricature of Michael Jordan and give it to him.

EF: Do you have any projects coming up?

Dai: I want to broaden the range of what I can express by using Copic Markers and Artstix. I also want to try drawing on many different textures of paper. EF: If you could not draw, what would you do for work?

Dai: A designer. I’d want to make the world a more convenient place to live in.

EF: What advice would you give to others hoping to win the Golden Nosey in the future?

Dai: You cannot choose whether you become the Golden Nosey winner or not, so the important thing is to keep beating your best record and to keep studying.

EF: Anything else you would like to share? I’m “Dai Tamura”, not “Die Tomorrow” :)

See Also

• Dai Tamura
• Golden Nosey Award

External Links

• External Link if needed

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