Djinn tells the story of a young woman looking into her long lost grandmother’s past as a concubine in a harem in the 19th century. The series is beautifully illustrated by Ana Miralles and written by Jean Defaux. This video shows her working her magic, creating the beautiful watercolor art for the comic in her studio. Enjoy ;)
Absolutely. I love watercolor. Keep meaning to get into it myself. I’m currently blissfully unaware of it’s difficulty lol.
I found Djinn a few months ago. I’ve read the first four volumes digitally, but have held off reading more because I want to get the other volumes in trade since it’s such a gorgeously drawn series. I’ve really enjoyed it so far though. I’ll have to look for more by Dufaux when I’m through, same for Miralles.
No problem, I enjoy being able to contribute to such a small, intimate little community. I hope you’re treating yourself well. Stay strong, friend <3
Well, unless you’re an absolute genius, which I am personally NOT, I’d say say that “watercolor” is kinda like wrestling with reality… i.e., it’s so EASY to get in to, yet… … … like chasing an ever-elusive goal, is that right?
For sure. I feel lile that about drawing. It’s another skill I’d love to aquire, but the level of detail that is desirous to obtain is daunting. Sometimes I yearn for a return to a child’s simplicity of being able to make something without getting hung up on it looking “good”. I feel that way about most things, writing, learning about new things, etc. It’s what I aspire to attain most, the act of doing something irregardless of the percieved level of competence.
Ah yes, that’s exactly something I chased for years, particularly in the arts. Trying to always retain the child’s sense of wonder, and so forth.
Definitely. My motto these days is “the perfect is the enemy of the good”. Although I don’t always adhere to it completely. The past few months my writing has fallen off since I fell into the “it wont be good enough” mindset. I’m trying to shake myself out of it, but it’s a difficult habit to break.
In Japan, I understand there to be a saying “wabi-sabi” that in some interpretations means something like “nothing is finished, nothing is perfect, and nothing lasts.”
Since their national perfectionism can get out of hand at times (my interpretation), I think one can see how useful such a balancing phrase can be.
Definitely. I try to remember that. I just get stuck in my head the ideal of what I want, and if that ideal doesn’t match what I think I am able to accomplish I just don’t try in the first place. It’s a terrible habit I need to break, especially if I’m going to ever get any decent amount of writing done :|
I think their perfectionism is pretty well known, or at least their intense work ethic. I was just watching something recently (can’t remember, a docu I believe) that had a segment on Japanese work culture and how the Japanese government had to even force workers to take a vacation because it was eating into their economic activity. The Japanese were working so much that they weren’t spending enough to stimulate their economy creating a downturn. One employer locked the doors and shut the power off at the office, and the workers broke into their own office building and did their work by flashlight and their own wifi hotspots. Crazy.
Wow, I hadn’t heard about that before, but somehow it fits.
Unfortunately, along with their ‘high work ethic,’ I understand Japanese corporations and office workers have some traditions going on that are in turn killing the economy, and even the quality of their own lives. A big one of course is the idea that it’s the height of gauche to leave work before your superior does, leading the average salaryman to stay at the office many more hours than he needs to, spending much of that time shuffling papers, napping, and mainly just wasting their time in order to save face. This leads to the person in question being able to spend much less time with their family. That’s just a classic, super-well known problem, tho. The difficulties run much deeper, I’m afraid, part of why I’m somewhat morbidly curious reading r/japan and r/japanlife on the regular.