setsubun 節分

an illustration about the japanese holiday of setsubun.
description following the illo.

鬼は外! 福は内!
(Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!)

(click on the image above for larger version)

The Japanese tradition of Setsubun, which literally means seasonal division, marks the Japanese lunar calendar’s transition from winter to spring. On the third day of February, families practice Mamemaki (the bean throwing ritual), which entails the Toshi Otoko (the oldest male household member born in the animal sign of that year) throwing Irimame (pan-heated or packaged roasted soy beans) around the house and out of windows and doors while shouting, "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" (Demons out! Fortune in!). Throwing the beans is meant to purify the home against Oni (demons), who may bring bad health and misfortune. To bring themselves good luck, each person is supposed to pick up and eat the same number of beans as their age. In addition, families may place a wreath made of sardine heads, garlic or onion, and holly leaves on the entrance of their house to ward off evil spirits; holly leaves are a Shinto symbol thought to sting oni. A contemporary addition to the Muramachi-era (1392–1573) ritual of Mamemaki has children wearing oni masks and shouting and thowing beans at each other.
The Japanese can celebrate the coming of spring together by attending Setsuban festivals at Buddhist and Shinto shrines, where monks and celebrities throw beans into the crowd. These are crowded affairs, with throngs of people pushing each other to get the beans and other treats—usually sweets, candies, money and prizes.
There are many stories of how the Setsubun rituals originated, but one of the more famous ones involves an oni disguising his true nature to an old widow. The oni showed the widow a magic mallet he carried and created a beautiful kimono in front of her. Tempted, the old widow plotted to steal the kimono and mallet from the disguised oni. Surprised by the greed of the old woman, the oni revealed his true self to her. The widow was so frightened that she threw the first thing that was nearby, which happened to be Mame (beans). The beans hurt the oni, cause him to flee; however, he took his mallet and kimono with him, leaving her wiser but without the objects of her desires.

computer arts projects no. 106

i have an adobe illustrator tutorial out now
in computer arts projects magazine, no.106,
graphic design for the fashion industry issue.

WSJ . Tricks of the Trade

an illustration i created for the wall street journal.

published today (15 november 07 issue)

walkcycle.com is updated!

the website of cybèle's illustration, walkcycle.com,
has been updated in all sections.
please stop by and browse.
cheers!

Financial Week

i have a portrait of ken griffin
in the 10 september issue of financial week.

Teen, fall issue

out now in the fall 2007 issue of teen magazine.
my illustrations in the more section.

big book of fashion illustration

i finally got my copy of "big book of fashion illustration" by martin dawber, published by batsford. it's a huge compendium full of eye candy. above are the pages with my own contributions.

brides

out now in the september/october 2007 issue of brides magazine.
my illustrations in the quiz section.

portraits of artists

i sat a portrait for photographer linn edwards,
who is/was working on series entitled "portraits of artists".
this is her portrait of me in my brooklyn studio.
check out her other work at linnedwards.com

seventeen

out now in the august 2007 issue of seventeen magazine.
my illustrations in an advetorial for wrigley's.

publicity

my artist's representative from CWCtokyo, miyuki kurata, was intereviewed for a story in issue no. 1560 of an-an magazine. the article (and the entire issue) is about being bilingual.

there is a picture of miyuki and i at a gallery hanahou opening this april.
倉田みゆきと私の写真がこの過去の4月を開くギャラリーはなほうにあります。
click on the photo to see the entire article.
全体の記事を見るために写真をクリックをしてください。

in the june/july issue of paper magazine,
my friend, kent rogowski's, new book Bears is reviewed.

as i mentioned before, i had the pleasure of being asked to illustrate his process of working on the bears before he photographs them. these are the illustrations i contributed depicting how the bears were (re)constructed by kent.

cybèle in the Big Book of Fashion Illustration

(this is the final book cover design - this is not my artwork.)

my illustration work is featured alongside my peers in the forthcoming Big Book of Fashion Illustration: A World Sourcebook of Contemporary Illustration due out in the UK market this July 2oo7. pre-orders available at amazon UK

Bears by Kent Rogowski

my friend Kent Rogowski is having a book published this May 2007 featuring his Bears art series. Aside from me being excited for him to get a some of his talent published for the world to see, i am honored to have a couple illustrations in his book.

check out what somebody better than me at describing things with words has to say about his forthcoming book at this cool hunting link.

also, there's a special limited edition of the book which includes a signed, slipcased book and one of four signed and numbered photographs. you can get the details here.

pre-orders available at amazon or powerhouse

a new client . WSJ

i'm happy to annouce a new client; the wall street journal.
i did an illustration for them for the above article,
published in the 08 february 07 issue.

new illos

walkcycle update

the above illo is the end result of a sketch i previously blogged here.
you can see a detail of her face in my walkcycle.com portfolio.

the fashion section of my online portfolio has been updated.
and my links section as well. it's harder and harder to keep up with all the amazing new artists out there showing off in cyberspace, but i do my best to show a sampling of my favorites.
and now, it's promo season here in illoland, just in case i wasn't busy this december ^_^

KaCe illustrations by cybèle

these are the images that were turned into silkscreens for the KaCe bags
on sale at gallery hanahou.

gallery hanahou debut show

i n t r o d u c i n g

a special collaboration by
kerrigan kessler of ktkhandmade & illustrator cybèle
for gallery hanahou's debut show

"Pencil KaCe is the collaborative handiwork of Kerrigan Kessler of KTK Handmade and Cybèle of Cybèle Illustration. Each KaCe is made from scratch, with material hand-printed using silkscreens of original drawings, and then hand-sewn. The clever engineering and the beautiful design of this small bag make it a stylish and versatile accompaniment to your daily routine. Use it for your art supplies, your cosmetics or any of your odds and ends."

please view the designs that will be available
at the gallery hanahou debut show below

i will also have a giclee available at the gallery hanahou debut show
you may preview it here

portfolio update

my illustration portfolio at walkcycle.com has been updated in the "lifestyle" section. more updates on the way. i am busy with some fun new projects at the mo'. to come when they are finished/published: work for subaru, work for teen magazine and the cosmogirl holiday card (i'm especially excited about this one). i just finished up some stuff for an educational publication in canada and am working on a US one now.

i usually have some personal work kicking around when i am less busy (see above - i like to print out my computer-y sketches, scribble on them and use them as guides as i go along - otherwise i can never remember all the things i want to change or add.) and i am still trying to get the cybelicious.com site functioning more smoothly. sorry it's crap on a PC right now. i don't mean for it to be, i just don't have a PC to do an quality assurance on.