Postcard vs. Etegami ~ Blue Flicker
blue flicker
on your postcard
my midnight pen
Digital Drawing and Painting
- 8 x 12 Inches @ 300 ppi
- 4 x 6 Inches (Approximately as a Postcard)
- Zen Brush App
- ArtStudio App
- ScratchCam App
- iPad 2
- Adobe Photoshop Elements 6
Essentially etegami (a folk art that evolved in Japan) is “drawing plus writing” (and intended to be sent among friends via the postal service). It has to have both drawing and writing to be Etegami. A postcard of course has a wider range of possibilities in that it does not have to have drawing or writing or either. So in a sense etegami is a sub section of postcards (altho etegami does not always have to be on a single sheet of paper).
Otherwise as far as I can see, postcards and etegami are similar with the intention of easily traveling through the postal service.
Etegami is traditionally worked with simple drawing techniques that might seem almost spontaneous and evolving in the moment and almost awkward—even clumsy. Yet they can be quite rich in many ways—even sophisticated (imo).
I like the idea of etegami and what I have seen of it. I also like postcards and have participated in a number of Postal Art events involving postcards. Currently for me the line between postcard and etegami blurs at times. And in this sense I am likely to take concepts from both and merge them.
The words of Etegami do not have to be in the form of haiku—although they can be, or they may be haiku-like but looser in structure.
With this in mind I’ve been wanting to explore more in etegami and postcard formats (again). Sometimes one may look more like one than the other. That’s just me having fun.
In the work above I’ve used a drawing I did using the Zen Brush App as a starting point (I used this same drawing as a starting point in a recent haiga too). Technically this may be too complex for etegami. It still works as a postcard for me and maybe even haiga. The bottom line for me is it was fun to do. I like when that happens.
aloha.
Related articles
- Picture Post Cards (seniorsamurai.wordpress.com)
- etegami newsletter- february issue (etegamibydosankodebbie.blogspot.com)
- storm in my soul (etegamibydosankodebbie.blogspot.com)
I really like the drawing and having fun is what its all about. Enjoy!
bwahahaha. aloha LInda – exactly. having fun. thank you. that is my plan and i’m sticking to it. aloha.