As I mentioned recently, the live-action Kiki’s Delivery Service came out in theaters here in Japan a few weeks ago. Many Americans think that the Ghibli movie if the same name is the original, but in fact it’s not.

Majo no Takkyubin, as it’s called in

Japanese, is actually based on a series of children’s chapter books written by Eiko Kadono. I picked up the first one recently, and have been enjoying working my way through the Japanese. As far as I can tell only the first one has been translated into English, and it’s pretty expensive to get your hands on.

One of the great bits is the lovely pen and ink illustrations sprinkled throughout the text. Much like Quenten Blake’s illustrations in Roald Dahl’s books, the pictures are not the main focus but a sweet treat here and there.

This watercolor is based on one of the illustrations towards the end of the story. The original is black and white, so I took some artistic liberties adding color.

What do you think? And what should I paint next?