Kashiwa Girl

This is a portrait illustration from the 2011 Calendar Project that myself and 3 other illustrators put together. Each of us contributed 3 illustrations for various months. Kashiwa Girl is inspired by the Japanese Children’s Day Festival, Kodomo no Hi. Celebrated in the month of May, children are treated to various Japanese sweets such as kashiwa mochi (sweet rice wrapped in a fresh kashiwa oak leaf). I was excited to find a way to combine both child portraits and food, two of my favorite subjects!