This is a sketch that I did for my blog post analyzing the film “Only Yesterday” by Isao Takahata. I wanted to do a sketch because 1. I wanted to something where I was drawing to respect the art form of hand-drawn animations and 2. I feel like a sketch appeals to the theme of “simpleness” that is evident in the film’s form. Moreover, I personally decided to do a sketch because I used to love sketching in the 5th grade and admittedly don’t do much of it anymore, and since the film is about reflecting on your 5th-grade life as an adult, I thought a sketch would be appropriate for me to do.

In terms of the sketch’s content, I decided to draw a teapot because I feel like drinking tea around a table or sharing meals is a common image in many Asian movies, as seen in the film I watched and this film’s tribute to the Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu. There’s something both meditative, nostalgic, and real about watching characters share tea on the movie screen. And watching these moments, I feel like I’m being given access into the “home” lives of the characters I’m watching on screen. So I drew this teapot to highlight all of my particular fondness and curiosity around the subject.