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Description
This was an assignment for an art class. The assignment was basically make a whole bunch of art over the semester and present it in an interesting way. I wanted to use yokai as my theme which are Japanese monsters which made me think of pokemon which, of course, brought me to trading cards. And voila.

I’ve tried to provide what materials I used for each card here but, since I didn’t keep any record at the time I was making them, all I can do is guess which kinds of paper I used. Suffice it to say all the cards here were drawn in pencil, inked with a fixed point pen and painted gouache.

Some of the cards started curling up after I painted them so I came up with the idea of gluing origami paper to the backs of them to help uncurl them.

Kami-kiri (hair cutter) a yokai that sneaks up on people and cuts off their hair, particularly those unknowingly about to marry a yokai in human form.

Gouache on textured paper.

O-Nyudo (giant monk) A large monk with the power to change size and shape shift. It is said that he can cause illness just by looking at someone.

I based his appearance on this article about a giant mechanical puppet that’s paraded down the streets of a city in Mie prefecture every August in this yokai’s honor.

Ippon-Datara (one-legged blacksmith) A one-eyed, one-legged monster said to be an expert blacksmith. The most that’s ever seen of it is a trail of single file footprints in the snow.

This is one of my favorite designs. Its based on a cross between his red and green appearance in The Great Yokai War and on Obakemono Project and his cartoonish appearance in Gegege no Kitaro which I found on the official website for the recent anime adaption. You can see him here , Far left, 7th down.

Gouache on textured paper.

Kappa (river child) Said to be the most well known monster of Japanese folklore- although with the advent of anime I’d say that title now goes to the fox- it’s a monster that lives in rivers and lakes. It has plate of water on top of its head that will sap it of its strength if its ever spilled. It likes to eat cucumbers but it’s favorite food is... well, it might be inappropriate here so I'll just provide some recommended links and you can look it up yourself if you want.
[link]
[link]
[link]

I’m not so happy with this one. The composition isn’t interesting enough. The design is okay but I couldn’t decide if I wanted it to be cute or scary and got stuck in between. I wish I had taken a little more time to flesh it out and come up with a more dynamic pose. I experimented with the background until I got to the point where I said, “I don’t really like this but if I try to fix it I just know I’ll wreck it”

Gouache on water color paper.

Neko-Mata (forked cat) Sometimes when a cat becomes a yokai its tail will start to split at the end, either dividing it in two or stopping in the middle (hence “forked”-cat). It also gains the ability to raise the dead and use them as puppets or as instruments of revenge on former owners that have previously mistreated them.

I’m proud of how cute it turned out especially the mischievous look on the cat’s face.

Gouache on textured paper.

Toire no Hanako-San (Hanako in the Bathroom)- a little girl ghost that haunts the girl’s bathroom in Japanese public schools. Young school girls summon her by calling her name in front of an empty bathroom stall. Hanako will then answer with a “yes” and ask “what game should we play?”.
Its tempting to call her the Japanese Bloody Mary but always remember: just because a Eastern monster is similar to a Western monster does not make them the same. (I could go on a short rant here about Eastern dragons breathing fire but I won’t) The biggest difference between them I can see is that Mary is generally thought to be malicious where as Hanako is sometimes good and sometimes evil depending on who’s telling the story. One anime even turned her into magical girl.

This is another one of my favorites. Although I could’ve put more effort into the toilet… and is it just me or does she look a little bit like Dora the Explorer?

Gouache on acrylic paper.

Yuki-Onna (Snow woman) A ghostly woman in a white kimono that appears during snow storms. According to some versions, she appears holding baby and asks travelers to hold it for her. When they do, they’re found frozen to death the next day.

I didn’t originally intend to put the halo around her. I was just covering up a mistake I made. But it looks okay… meh.

Gouache on water color paper.

Jinmenju (Human-faced Fruit) An exotic looking tree that bears fruit with human faces. The fruit is said to capable of speech but usually only chuckles at passersby.

I think this one’s my favorite just because it came out exactly the way I imagined it.

Gouache on canvas paper(?)

Wanyuudo (wheel monk) A flaming wagon wheel with a man’s head in the center. Anyone who looks upon it looses their soul.

This one came out alright but I think I could have put more effort into the fire and the composition isn’t what I thought it would be. I wanted to do something different with the color of the wheel but again, I had to cover up a mistake.

Gouache on watercolor paper.

Click here To see Set 1.

Description
This was an assignment for an art class. The assignment was basically make a whole bunch of art over the semester and present it in an interesting way. I wanted to use yokai as my theme which are Japanese monsters which made me think of pokemon which, of course, brought me to trading cards. And voila.

I’ve tried to provide what materials I used for each card here but, since I didn’t keep any record at the time I was making them, all I can do is guess which kinds of paper I used. Suffice it to say all the cards here were drawn in pencil, inked with a fixed point pen and painted gouache.

Some of the cards started curling up after I painted them so I came up with the idea of gluing origami paper to the backs of them to help uncurl them.

Kami-kiri (hair cutter) a yokai that sneaks up on people and cuts off their hair, particularly those unknowingly about to marry a yokai in human form.

Gouache on textured paper.

O-Nyudo (giant monk) A large monk with the power to change size and shape shift. It is said that he can cause illness just by looking at someone.

I based his appearance on this article about a giant mechanical puppet that’s paraded down the streets of a city in Mie prefecture every August in this yokai’s honor.

Ippon-Datara (one-legged blacksmith) A one-eyed, one-legged monster said to be an expert blacksmith. The most that’s ever seen of it is a trail of single file footprints in the snow.

This is one of my favorite designs. Its based on a cross between his red and green appearance in The Great Yokai War and on Obakemono Project and his cartoonish appearance in Gegege no Kitaro which I found on the official website for the recent anime adaption. You can see him here , Far left, 7th down.

Gouache on textured paper.

Kappa (river child) Said to be the most well known monster of Japanese folklore- although with the advent of anime I’d say that title now goes to the fox- it’s a monster that lives in rivers and lakes. It has plate of water on top of its head that will sap it of its strength if its ever spilled. It likes to eat cucumbers but it’s favorite food is... well, it might be inappropriate here so I'll just provide some recommended links and you can look it up yourself if you want.
[link]
[link]
[link]

I’m not so happy with this one. The composition isn’t interesting enough. The design is okay but I couldn’t decide if I wanted it to be cute or scary and got stuck in between. I wish I had taken a little more time to flesh it out and come up with a more dynamic pose. I experimented with the background until I got to the point where I said, “I don’t really like this but if I try to fix it I just know I’ll wreck it”

Gouache on water color paper.

Neko-Mata (forked cat) Sometimes when a cat becomes a yokai its tail will start to split at the end, either dividing it in two or stopping in the middle (hence “forked”-cat). It also gains the ability to raise the dead and use them as puppets or as instruments of revenge on former owners that have previously mistreated them.

I’m proud of how cute it turned out especially the mischievous look on the cat’s face.

Gouache on textured paper.

Toire no Hanako-San (Hanako in the Bathroom)- a little girl ghost that haunts the girl’s bathroom in Japanese public schools. Young school girls summon her by calling her name in front of an empty bathroom stall. Hanako will then answer with a “yes” and ask “what game should we play?”.
Its tempting to call her the Japanese Bloody Mary but always remember: just because a Eastern monster is similar to a Western monster does not make them the same. (I could go on a short rant here about Eastern dragons breathing fire but I won’t) The biggest difference between them I can see is that Mary is generally thought to be malicious where as Hanako is sometimes good and sometimes evil depending on who’s telling the story. One anime even turned her into magical girl.

This is another one of my favorites. Although I could’ve put more effort into the toilet… and is it just me or does she look a little bit like Dora the Explorer?

Gouache on acrylic paper.

Yuki-Onna (Snow woman) A ghostly woman in a white kimono that appears during snow storms. According to some versions, she appears holding baby and asks travelers to hold it for her. When they do, they’re found frozen to death the next day.

I didn’t originally intend to put the halo around her. I was just covering up a mistake I made. But it looks okay… meh.

Gouache on water color paper.

Jinmenju (Human-faced Fruit) An exotic looking tree that bears fruit with human faces. The fruit is said to capable of speech but usually only chuckles at passersby.

I think this one’s my favorite just because it came out exactly the way I imagined it.

Gouache on canvas paper(?)

Wanyuudo (wheel monk) A flaming wagon wheel with a man’s head in the center. Anyone who looks upon it looses their soul.

This one came out alright but I think I could have put more effort into the fire and the composition isn’t what I thought it would be. I wanted to do something different with the color of the wheel but again, I had to cover up a mistake.

Gouache on watercolor paper.

Click here To see Set 1.