A friend in Japan (a photographer you should check out, here) posted a photo of what he titled “目白の大自然！” or, the “Great Outdoors of Mejiro!” Mejiro is an upscale neighborhood in Tokyo, pretty but not particularly known for its natural environs. His photo of two weeds growing from a street gutter was so endearing I wanted to paint it.
I painted this twice, first on high-bleed paper from a local art store, and then the image here, on a blank postcard a friend brought me back from Japan. Overall I like the composition of this one, on low-bleed paper, better, but the background weeds don’t really show up as actual three-dimensional objects.
Etegami doesn’t lend itself to three-dimensional art, unless you are particularly gifted in choosing your layering of gansai (watercolor paints used in etegami). I started in on a third attempt, but then backed down. What I want to get in etegami is the instant of joy I had in seeing his photo of the “Great Outdoors of Mejiro”, perfection is beyond both my skill and my materials. Joy is what I wanted to convey.
About the paper: postcard, low bleed factor.
etegamist 
Lovely!