This mysterious Japanese artist, who goes by the pseudonym of Ariduka55 or Monokubo on social media channels, creates otherworldly beautiful drawings that breathe life into a completely new fantasy world where giant animals live and evolve alongside humans.
Monokubo is a 24-year-old artist from Japan got an idea of giant animals from Studio Ghibli's anime movies and their famous characters. "It came from "Princess Mononoke" and "Totoro." I liked doing anime drawings in such style since a young age," MonoKubo shared with Bored Panda. The artist finds her inspiration in "Natural landscapes and various illustrations; for example, I like Piotr Jabłoński's work."
It seems the artist likes to indulge herself with illustrations that depict soft and adorable animals - pandas, rabbits, dogs and the like - although, it's pretty evident that the cats are the apples of the artist's eye. The atmosphere in the pictures is almost always ethereal and peaceful, complete with story-telling elements in their compositions that reminds of Japanese mythology. Many of the illustrations are marked with soft sunshine filtering through various objects, including leaves and windows.
Fun fact, the Japanese even have a word for sunlight streaming through the leaves of the trees - komorebi (木漏れ日). It's a term for a light curtain and the shadow it creates on the ground, a term that eloquently describes this everyday beauty.
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#22
Yet another beautiful composition featuring familiar elements - the cat, the girl, and the soft sunlight streaming through the window.
Historically, cats have been revered in many societies, and particularly in the Japanese culture the furry felines are highly regarded as symbols of good luck. The popular Japanese cat figurine maneki-neko (招き猫, 'beckoning cat') is typically believed to bring about blessings. The figurine is often of a cat with its paw in an upright position as if beckoning.
According to Japanese legend, a landlord witnessed a cat waving a paw at him. Intrigued by this gesture, he came close to the cat when suddenly a lightning bolt struck the exact place he was previously standing in. The landlord believed that his good fortune was because of the cat’s actions. Hence, the beckoning hand became a symbol of good luck.
H/t: kcpinternational.com
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#25
A sleepy guardian braving itself against the cold blanket of winter.
It's not unusual for the Japanese to carry an owl charm with them, because just like cats, owls are the symbols of good luck, who also offer protection from suffering. In different parts of the country, they have also historically been given a variety of other attributions, for example, the guiding bird or a bird which can predict the weather.
H/t: owlcation.com
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#30
Inoshishi (the boar) is part of the Japanese culture and mythology. It is one of the 12 Chinese zodiac symbols. In the past, the boar was called yamakujira, meaning "the whale of the mountains." It is still considered a dangerous animal, that sometimes attacks people and damages crops. It appears in the Japanese folklore, as the boar gods in "Princess Mononoke" or as Inosasao - the boar with the back covered in bamboo leaves.
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