For the past four years my family and I have been taken taiko (Japanese drums) lessons every Sunday. And this hobby started to grow as we learned more about the history, got involved with performances, festivals, meetings and more classes that gave us the opportunity to meet great people here in the US and overseas.
My husband started making taikos on his spare time and when we can, or people want to listen to us, we play.
And recently we were asked to play at a library event, mostly for kids. They probably never heard of Taiko, so I decided to make some illustrations to explain a little bit about it. And using my husband's suggestion, I made them in the form of a book.
I was never been able to paint and never had training for that, but my son brought a painting from his middle school, and I thought I could use the same technique.
I got som foam board from Michaels and started to draw waht I had in mind.
I did a lot of research before, and in this illustration I wanted to explain that taikos were used in battlefields. To use for communication and give orders and signals to their troops. Also to intimidate the enemy and encourage their warriors.
I painted some of the piece, but I wasn't happy with the way it looked.
I repainted the other half of the board with a different reference, that made me much happier.
The other page of the book I made a rice field. I read that rice was the base of the economy in Japan for a long time, so it was important to have a successful harvest.
For that they would play taiko to scare the evil spirits, and also scare away the plagues and insects from the crops.
Also to show that with the sound of the drums, they would imitate the sound of thunder to wake up
Raijin, the God of Thunder. To send thunder and rain.
The last page of the book I show how taikos are used in festivals and celebrations until the present day.
How families go out together to celebrate the same ways their ancestors did.
This way they have the opportunity to connect with community and to keep the Japanese culture alive.
The cover of the book has to do with the name of our group, Umi Sora, that means The Sea and Sky.
I attached all the painted foam boards using a big ribbon and glue.
The kids at the library enjoyed the book, and I think they got a better idea of what we were doing and where the drums came from.
It was three weeks of paint all over the house, but I really enjoyed making these illustration.
And I plan to add more pages.
The little flying fish is a reference to us. We feel that we were born at the bottom of the ocean, had to swim all the all to the top, against current and predators. And now we reached the surface, we are learning how to fly. Hopefully we will fly high.
And recently we were asked to play at a library event, mostly for kids. They probably never heard of Taiko, so I decided to make some illustrations to explain a little bit about it. And using my husband's suggestion, I made them in the form of a book.
I was never been able to paint and never had training for that, but my son brought a painting from his middle school, and I thought I could use the same technique.
I got som foam board from Michaels and started to draw waht I had in mind.
I did a lot of research before, and in this illustration I wanted to explain that taikos were used in battlefields. To use for communication and give orders and signals to their troops. Also to intimidate the enemy and encourage their warriors.
I painted some of the piece, but I wasn't happy with the way it looked.
I repainted the other half of the board with a different reference, that made me much happier.
The other page of the book I made a rice field. I read that rice was the base of the economy in Japan for a long time, so it was important to have a successful harvest.
For that they would play taiko to scare the evil spirits, and also scare away the plagues and insects from the crops.
Also to show that with the sound of the drums, they would imitate the sound of thunder to wake up Raijin, the God of Thunder. To send thunder and rain.
The last page of the book I show how taikos are used in festivals and celebrations until the present day.
How families go out together to celebrate the same ways their ancestors did.
This way they have the opportunity to connect with community and to keep the Japanese culture alive.
The cover of the book has to do with the name of our group, Umi Sora, that means The Sea and Sky.
I attached all the painted foam boards using a big ribbon and glue.
The kids at the library enjoyed the book, and I think they got a better idea of what we were doing and where the drums came from.
It was three weeks of paint all over the house, but I really enjoyed making these illustration.
And I plan to add more pages.
The little flying fish is a reference to us. We feel that we were born at the bottom of the ocean, had to swim all the all to the top, against current and predators. And now we reached the surface, we are learning how to fly. Hopefully we will fly high.
