pikaole - Old drawings and story 2

Previous Post : Old drawings and story

Lately, I’ve been taking some time here and there to tidy up my room.

I snapped a few photos of my old drawings—partly to keep a record of them before I toss them out.

Even though I keep getting rid of things, it feels like there’s still an endless amount left!

In the past, looking at my old drawings would bring back the emotions I felt in the very moments I created them—vividly and clearly. Now that I’m in my late thirties, however, those memories are beginning to fade... I’d like to share some things written down before they become any blurrier!

This is a storyboard I drew when I was in the sixth grade of elementary school. It depicts students at school presenting their hobbies; you can see jars filled with paper cranes and paper stars.

These are known as "origami lucky stars"—it was quite the trend back then to fold these paper stars and keep them in a glass jar, as they were said to grant wishes.

Everything that follows consists of drawings I made when I was between 17 and 19 years old.

I used to draw fish with colored pencils and pastels and put them up in my room.

There are marks from double-sided tape on the back. I had wanted to decorate my room with fish and animals, making it all colorful and fun.

I think this is a drawing from around my second year of high school.

I drew these directly, without any preliminary sketches—there was a time when I really wanted to get everything just right in one go.

Looking at them now, perhaps that’s why the forms seem a bit unstable.

The one on the far right is my own character It’s a bit embarrassing, but I’ve actually drawn quite a lot of pictures like this. I was in a rather sensitive state of mind back then, too.

There’s a short diary entry or note, and it says, "I’m exhausted."

There was a time when I used to go to the park quite often to watch the pigeons— In those days, I always carried a small notebook to draw in.

This is a sketch I drew while on the bus. Since these sketches were also assigned as homework at the art academy I attended for entrance exam preparation, I remember having my sketchbook checked by my instructor.

I drew this during a two-day trip to the seaside!

It features a red lighthouse and the sea at sunset; looking at the drawing, I can almost vividly recall that scene.

Nowadays, with smartphones, we can simply snap a photo whenever we see a view we like—but back when photographs were a rarity, capturing memories this way feels somehow romantic.

The leopard seal character; my notes describe it as "kind, but with a split personality."

Back then, I had so many story ideas that I used to fill my notes with them.

I recently watched an animation on Netflix called "Draw This, Then Die!" and it reminded me that I once dreamed of becoming a comic artist. (That dream soon shifted to becoming a character designer, then an art director—my aspirations seemed to change every single year )

I took a look through it before throwing it away, just in case there was some incredibly brilliant idea in there...

But there wasn’t a single one that made me want to draw it again!

I used to keep several notebooks, each for a different purpose; one of them was dedicated to the products I wanted to create.

As it happens, this is an image I recently posted on Instagram for promotional purposes—it looks like a similar type of tote bag.

As I think I mentioned in a previous post, it has become much easier for individuals to create products, especially with the availability of POD (print-on-demand) platforms and Small-batch production site.

Some fish keychain drawing. At the very bottom, there’s a sketch for an Otocinclus plushie. It’s a plushie designed with a suction cup for a mouth, so you can stick it onto a window.

Sticker design about freshwater fish.

While there are many more artists today who focus on drawing animals—and a wide variety of such products have become easy to find—back when I was creating these sketches (between 2006 and 2008), the only way to get items featuring freshwater fish designs was to make them myself.

Corydroas's Coasters

I used to keep Full red guppies and Yellow tuxedo guppies, diamond guppy.. I kept them together in the same fish tank, so now the offspring are a mix.

As for the Corydoras adolfoi featured in this sketch—there were four of them, and three are still alive today.

I loved my fish and shrimp so much that I drew them all the time.

I paint on plastic charms or thick paper with acrylic paints, turn them into keychains, and give them as gifts to people around me.

I made each design different. There’s one that I kept for myself..

The lucky hedgehog. That really brings back memories

I have a few fish photo books, and I spent a lot of time drawing of the pictures in them.

These are the female guppies from my fish tank!

I think this is a drawing I did during the Halloween season

This likely dates back to the latter part of 2008; that’s when I first started paying close attention to 'shape.'

I remember practicing by drawing multiple lines to build up a form, then trying to identify the best lines from among them.

Thanks for reading!

If I happen to go through my old drawings again sometime in the future, I’ll post them again.