I did this drawing of Ike the Cat (of Wall Street Cat) as a Japanese Maneki Neko (Beckoning Cat). I tried to draw him similar to the ones that hang out in lots of Japanese busineses, while still making him very Ike – like! He’s hanging out with a Daruma for double the money luck! If you don’t know the story of the Maneki-Neko, there are several variations on his legend, but this one is my personal favorite (beacause anyone who knows me knows I prefer samurais to courtesans,ninjas or what have you… ):
This story goes that a samurai was taking shelter under a tree near Gotoku-ji temple (in Western Tokyo) during a thunderstorm. The samurai saw the temple priest’s cat beckoning to him and followed; a moment later the tree was struck by lightning. The samurai became friends with the poor priest and the temple became prosperous. When the cat died, supposedly the first Maneki Neko was made in his honor. ((mostly)From Wikipedia)
I’d love to know what everyone thinks of this – I’m going to try to make a limited silkscreen print of it this week, some of which may be going to support Kitty Kind @ the De-Flea Market for Animal Rescue! It’s June 12th, 3-8 pm @ Bar 82 136 2nd Ave. in New York – check it out if you want to support a great all volunteer, no – kill cat rescue! (I’m also a volunteer myself!)
Bonus: Here are two photos of the real Ike modeling:
↓ Read the rest of this entry…