ART COMPETITION ~ sorry for the lateness

Hey guys!
So sorry for the lateness...
For once it's NOT because I was being lazy!
I've been having a tough time with university and my boy lately.
I have been organising all my work, I just doubled up my degree and now I am doing Japanese, international relations and ethnology. Plus I've had no internet access as I've gotten a new laptop and have had to set up everything and disabled my old computer ages ago!

Well enough excuses...
There were only 3 entrants, so you all get a prize! But I want to take some time judging you guys' entries, and I need to wire some money to my paypal so I can give you your prizes!
Sorry about the wait! Bear with me so I can judge you guys fairly and give you the prizes you deserve!
I'm so sorry but I don't know how long I will take, I am moving to my own place next week, have 2 essays, 3 paintings, 3 critical summaries and a medieval painting thing due. Also I work 4 nights a week to all hours of the morning at a bar!

But rest assured, there will be wonderful things coming all the entrants' way! Thanks so much for entering, it was so much fun to see what you came up with! You all did so wonderfully.




PS! I have found my favourite picture from childhood that I had on a stamp and always wanted to see bigger and now I've fooouuund it calisto.slv.vic.gov.au/latrobe…
Ah... I wanted to go to that hill.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

So the topic is...

Japan!

In celebration of my school holidays and going back to Japan again, I thought I'd host a competition. What do you think is the essence of Japan? What do you like about Japanese culture (not just the obvious ones like anime and sushi!)?
Japanese culture and artwork helped the rise of modern western art, with the love france had for it in the late 19th and early 20th century! Let's pay homage.

RULES
No sex and all that
Nothing racist
No anthro
2 entries per person allowed

Other than that, go wild!

Prizes
1st: A year's subscription to DA or something from DA store of equal value
2nd: A shirt or a print from the DA store
3rd: 3 month membership


To enter, just express your interest in this journal.
And I'd hate for this to be a dead competition so let your friends know too!

Entries close July 10

Submissions so far

yakkingyetis.deviantart.com/ar…

bigkitty-chan.deviantart.com/a… bigkitty-chan.deviantart.com/a…

soliton.deviantart.com/art/Nip…




Optional reading:

JAPAN TRIP 5

Well I just got back from Japan and my lovely img.photobucket.com/albums/v32…
Had some craazy adventures as usual.

Got lonely with Shindo asleep during the day so I went to this Sri Lankan restaurant I always go to where I hate the food and have no idea why I go there. Well this time I went because I saw some middle aged white guy and was so desperate for conversation (after asking all the white people on the walk there what the time is as a test and being disappointed when I realised they were german or french when they replied) I shouted from my table "HEY. SPEAK ENGLISH" "uuh... yes" "COME OVER HERE" subtlety lost. We actually ended up getting along really well. We went to an art exhibition for some famous korean painter and the arcade and we had a great conversation but he never emailed me again haha. I guess it was REALLY CREEPY. Kudos to him. But it cheered me up out of my loneliness and by the time we were done it was 4pm and shindo was just waking up so I went home and he kept asking me why I was smiling so much (after moping around the house for days) and I chose to say "just had a good day." Because let's face it, that was a kind of bizarre thing to do.

Went crazy with all the Japanese and no English and went to Takadanobaba at 9pm to find this english speaking cafe where I wondered around for hours and a man in a dark alleyway on a bike offered to help me (hey, a stranger is a friend you haven't met?)and we went around casinos and sushi places asking everyone where the place on the map is and we finally found it and it was a place I had walked past in the first ten minutes. heh THEN when we got there he came up to take a look and I met a japanese dentist who looked at my teeth, a spanish man exactly like ruby rod from the fifth element, and two french guys starving to death begging for jobs. The spanish guy gave me his card for the club he works at in ginza. Well I went there and met a trio of black jazz musicians who got me a meeting with the club manager to perform there (WHHAAAAT) but I didn't know what to say because I don't really have a working visa. He gave me his card and said to call me if I ever get one (AAAH?). The spanish guy also knew the owner of the english cafe and the guy said he needs english speaking staff and if I ever get a visa he'd consider hiring me with mauricio's recommendation (crazy but I felt bad in front of the french guys)

Shindo made me come out to his bar so I got there at about 11pm and met these amazing law students from new york. This californian girl was around them but apparently theyd only met her a couple of days ago at a pet store. I was talking to all of them but she wasn't saying much so I asked her what she was doing in Tokyo. She said "LOOK I THINK YOU'RE CUTE AND EVERYTHING BUT BACK THE FUCK OFF BITCH." Well that was weird. I later found out from the guys she was trying to get with one of them and that she was insane. I stayed till closing so Shin and I could go out (by this point 5am and innumerable tequila shots). The rat asked me to take out the rubbish vacuum the floor and give him 2000円 for my drinks! (well I drank a lot more than that but he's never asked me to pay before so I was unprepared) Anyway we left and went to his friend's bar and he talked to these russians about communism haha. He also challenged me to a drinking contest because I never speak or act differently when I drink. Well, I do ok, but when I'm challenged I always go dead. Last time I got challenged by a swedish guy at my ryokan and I woke up in a public shower and wrote my phone number on the wall of the common room. Hence, the challenge didnt end well after many more tequila shots and shochu with oolong teas I felt fine but then we got home and I felt sick so he took me to the bathroom but I said for some reason "I CAN'T BE HERE RIGHT NOW" and went to his bed, where I threw up a lot and he was very good about it and held a tissue to my mouth saying "It's ok, it's alright get it all out". I woke up the next day late and went to run a bath but I still felt sick and just lay over the empty bath for 10 minutes then came back out (hey it's a complicated process of filling the bath and lighting the gas to heat the water and mixing)"have you started your bath?" "Um... no" He went and made my bath for me and I got in but was so weak could feel the water compressing my body so I slumped over the side with my arms dangling. He came in and laughed and said "YOU are DEAD!" well, he was fine about the whole thing, the vomit all through his futon, he even said I look cute when I'm weak (weak AND throwing up into my hair?) hahaha well he has no sympathy. When I finally came back to the bar I could hear him telling all his friends how much I love tequila in japanese and I was like "Amelia ga WHAT shin" "Uuum... You love to have... fun"

After that I avoided drinking for ages and so didn't see him so much (he works 6 nights a week from 6pm-6am) so I talked a lot to the guy who owns the crazy tiny restaurant next to the apartment, Shoji. It only serves three dishes: hamburger, tomato chicken and mushroom spaghetti. Hahaha he's so funny. I also went to the indian place that just opened up which is also tiny and close to home, and theyd give me free drinks because I admired their girlfriend's pictures in their wallets... mwahahaha Then I went on a search to find a new camera for school. I found one that was pretty cool for 28,000円 roughly now that I think about it 365 australian dollars! argh... Well anyway I said the magic words "obenkyo shite kudasai" (please do your study) and got a 1/3 discount! My last night at the bar Shindo called his awesome american ceo philosopher or whatever he does friend so I wouldn't be lonely with all the Japanese. He was talking to this girl and I heard "okane" (money)in there somewhere so I said as a joke "OKANE?! Okane wo kudasi" (MONEY?! Money please) And she gave me 2,000円 hahaha. (ofcourse I refused it but she insisted) Then I sat down with these wonderful german designers and this blonde german girl and I fell in love and at 4am we all went to the karaoke place near the bar and we were so upset to leave eachother we all hugged. Ah I loved her. Anyway, Mark (Shin's american friend and I) walked around after I got back from karaoke at 6am waiting for the trains to start so we went to some shrines. We were meeting Shin (because he was closing the bar) back in Shinjuku at this place we always go to called ippon, which is essentially an old woman's (shin calls her grandma)apartment who sleeps on her couch then gets startled when shindo barges in at around 7am. She cooks us food in her home kitchen and makes us ridiculously hard shochu oolongs. Her food is scary. I NEVER have any idea what I'm eating and I've made it my business to eat every bizarre food in japan. Anyway when mark and I got there shindo was dead on the couch so I took him home (too much tequuiiila...)

Shin and I went to the gundam model in Odaiba (he went nuts), the Terminator exhibition (haha where I saw one of those Japanese android girls talking and looking disturbing), movies and the zoo. (where I almost fainted because we hadn't eaten in 24 hours and he is some kind of invincible liquor fueled cyborg and I love food and the man is an anorexic) We went to a lunch with a family he's friends with and there was the cutest little 4 year old kid who kept spilling things and shouting "Gomen ne! Gomen ne! (sorry! Sorry!)" and mopping it up. Well as a japanese guuuuuy he never talks so much about how he feels (unless he's had a couple of drinks) and finally on the escalator down to the train he said "You know something? I love you" hahahaha, I thought it was awesome. Then we hugged between the train and the platform till the conductor yelled at us to stand back. He said he would try and come in september and the real test now is to see if he does (he hasn't visited me yet and I've been there 5 times already and am a broke uni student with car crash repair expenses).

Well there you have it.