WHEREVER I TRAVELin the world, I at all times attempt to meet different silhouette artists. There usually are not many people and I’ve at all times felt it’s essential to make a connection if I can.
That is partly as a result of I’m fascinated by silhouettes (and at all times eager to have my very own lower out) but in addition as a result of I really like seeing how different silhouette artists make a dwelling.
Being in Tokyo gave me a chance to go to Puroland. This wouldn’t usually be my first alternative of leisure exercise, besides that for a few years my good friend Gus Eckberg has run a silhouette cart there.
This cart, promoting silhouettes on to the general public, is a much more conventional silhouette enterprise than my very own. Many of the vintage silhouettes I acquire would have bought to the general public on this means.
Gus has been reducing silhouettes for a few years, and his cart is one in every of solely two locations in Japan have been you may have a silhouette lower. The opposite is at Tokyo Disneyland.
The cart will get fairly busy and the hours are lengthy so Gus trains different artists to work in his model from the cart. These artists come and go through the years and at this time there are two working for him, Ms Atsumi and Ms Taketa. On the day I visited final week Atsumi was on responsibility, so I commissioned her to chop my silhouette from the cart. I used to be firmly advised to return again in quarter-hour as she had one other fee to complete!
Gus has been dwelling and dealing in Japan for a few years. He began reducing silhouettes at Disneyland, however left when he bought the possibility to open the cart at Puroland. So far as I do know he’s distinctive in coaching Japanese silhouette artists. Though Japan has its personal wonderful custom of paper reducing – generally known as kiri-gami – the artwork of reducing profile portrait is taken into account a uniquely Western thought. For that reason Disneyland is not going to rent Japanese silhouettists, insisting that silhouette artists ought to be both European or American.
For that reason I felt honored to have my silhouette lower by Atsumi, who is actually distinctive in Japan.
Gus and I’ve lower one another’s silhouettes earlier than.
I used to be barely upset to not meet Ms Taketa, the opposite silhouettist who works for Gus at Puroland. Evidently, she felt the identical means as a result of the very subsequent day I obtained a textual content with a profile {photograph} and a request to make a swap!
I despatched {a photograph} again and really quickly two silhouettes appeared.
The Puroland artists use “black-face paper”. The pun is apparent (and awkwardly quaint) however the cause we name it that’s as a result of the paper is black on one facet and white on the opposite. The artist folds the paper in half, protecting the white exterior, to make simpler to see as they lower.
The outcome, whichever facet you chop, is 2 an identical copies of the identical profile, one dealing with proper and the opposite left. That is what Taketa despatched me.
I used to be interested in the way in which she handled my hair, which will need to have taken ages. In return I made fairly a small, plain black silhouette on one in every of my folded playing cards. Small silhouettes (for my part) are a lot tougher to chop than bigger ones!