The Lemon Fool

If anyone can be bothered to take a look a these couple of photos on my Flikr account I would be most grateful if you would help me identify just exactly what this print is? Most unusually for me - I'm not a very visual person - I took a great fancy to this mounted print which was on sale in a cafe. I was so eager to have it that I didn't even notice that unlike all the rest on display it did not carry the name of the original work and artist. Needless to say it wasn't a local cafe.

Does anyone know the origin of this print? Does it have a comic book or Sci Fi links perhaps? My photos of the print which is now on my wall are probably not good enough to show that some of the buildings carry lettering of a type which I'd imagine but can't identify as being Chinese? Japanese?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/16377522@N02/42983808545/in/datetaken-friend/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/16377522@N02/43170397414/in/datetaken-friend/

Lynn

H Lynn,

Re: your question on the artwork.

I think this is it...

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en-GB& ... 7SapdHsWpM:

John

midnightcatprowl wrote:Does anyone know the origin of this print? Does it have a comic book or Sci Fi links perhaps?

It's Japanese Anime artwork. The styling is very reminiscent of Studio Ghibli, but it could be by anyone. Here it is as a wallpaper download for dual-monitor PCs (but no attribution, I'm afraid).

https://www.desktopbackground.org/wallp ... top-109700

and here as a standard wallpaper (although it seems to be a left/right mirror image of yours)

https://www.desktopbackground.org/wallp ... ers-735393

midnightcatprowl wrote:...it did not carry the name of the original work and artist...

Identified, thanks to one of the (many) copies you can download including name 'Imperial Boy' as part of the filename...

Dive into the wonderful art of Teikoku Shônen Aka Imperial BOy

https://www.iamag.co/the-art-of-imperial-boy/

This is Imperial Boy's own website (in Japanese, but translated courtesy of Google)
https://translate.google.co.uk/translat ... t=&act=url

Many thanks to redsturgeon and Breelander for so promptly solving this problem for me. I clearly need to do some research into an art form of which I know little or nothing and would not have expected to like to be honest. But this new print on my wall has me in its spell so I'm most grateful for the help in showing where I need to go to find out more.

Lynn

midnightcatprowl wrote:I clearly need to do some research into an art form of which I know little or nothing and would not have expected to like to be honest...

Then you need to learn the meaning of two word: Manga and Anime. In Japan they do not believe that comics and cartoons are just for kids, they are for adults too. Manga is the name for Japanese illustrated comic books, while Anime is for moving pictures. There is a lot of crossover between the two art forms and that art piece you love (and I don't blame you) is a fine example of the genre.

Studio Ghibli is the best known anime studio here in the west, often said to be Japan's 'Disney' - but there's more depth to their stories than anything Mickey Mouse ever put out. Film4 are currently part-way through a season of Ghibli films. But Ghibli are just one studio. Here's a 15min intro to other Anime greats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKyXMKISgC8

"Spirited Away" from Studio Ghibli is one of my all time favourite films, a sort of Japanese Alice in Wonderland.

Thanks for that link Bree...I will be catching up on a few of those recommendations.

John

As an aside I usually have a piece of art as my wallpaper on my computer. It gets changed every few months or so. Thanks to this thread the OP's picture by Imperial Boy has taken over from Victor Nizovtsev.

Chris

Manga is the name for Japanese illustrated comic books, while Anime is for moving pictures. There is a lot of crossover between the two art forms and that art piece you love (and I don't blame you) is a fine example of the genre.

Manga I had heard of but without knowing a great deal about it. Anime is a new concept for me. All very interesting and will explore.

Although it may be considered moving slightly off-topic, there are many tutorials showing how to create Manga and Anime type characters using the free vector graphics Inkscape program.

Inkscape is also a very useful program to create logos and plan drawings among other things as well, though I wouldn’t pretend that it doesn’t have a steep learning curve.