30 Funny Illustrations About Giraffes And Their Daily Life Struggles By Talented Japanese Artist Keigo

According to Dosomething.org, giraffes hold the title of the tallest mammals on planet Earth. What’s more, their legs are impressively long, about as long as a person is tall. However, a giraffe’s neck is too short to reach the ground to drink water, so it has to kneel. It’s a good thing then that they only need to drink water every few days, as they get plenty of water from the plants that they eat.

Bored Panda talked to the artist Keigo and his management team to learn more about his drawing ideas and mindset.

“I decide on the theme and motif before I lift my pen, but how long it takes for creative the idea to come to my mind really depends,” the artist said about his drawing process. “Sometimes ideas spark, but other times nothing comes to my mind even after one whole day.”

“Either way, once I know what I want to draw, each piece is finished in 1.5 hours on average. It is rather short because by the time I start drawing, I have a rough idea of the structure and colors I want to use. Thus, I focus thoroughly on transferring ideas onto paper. I can go about drawing forever if I begin bothering with small details, but I usually stop before I’m in that phase. I avoid drawing without having a clear theme and structure in my mind.”

Bored Panda also wanted to know what animals Keigo thought were the hardest to capture in his funny drawings and which ones were the easiest for the artist. “All animals would be equally difficult if I try to portray living animals, but among my illustrations, the sloth is the most difficult.”

“This is because it is rare to see them in children’s books nor in real life. I searched various images of sloths for its distinct features, but I am still seeking its ideal character image. You will see that the shape of its face changes each time.”

“On the contrary, giraffes are the easiest to draw. With regards to giraffes, it feels like I am drawing humans, not animals. I have drawn giraffes the most among my illustrations, and I am attached to it because it is the only character that still conveys message when the main character's face is outside the frame.”

“I have actually drawn this in my past illustration, but I imagine that a gastrocamera examination would be most painful, referencing my first-hand experience,” the illustrator said what he thinks the biggest problem for giraffes would be in modern everyday life. “I am not an expert on how giraffes evolved, but I am curious of how I would see the world from giraffes’ perspectives.”

“Personally, I frequently focus on what is right in front of me, including concentrating on my smartphone. It might be important that we sometimes take distance, and become aware of the surroundings with giraffe-like broad perspectives.”

Bored Panda previously talked to Keigo and his team about the artist’s inspiration, his interest in drawing and his future plans. According to Keigo, he “used to draw animals which have the characteristic of "long," such as giraffes and crocodiles. But Sloths have the aspect of "time", and the characteristic of "not moving much."

“Using the sloth as the main character, I am interested in how to visualize the concept of "time" in a single piece of art. Sloths are very cute, but more than that, I am strongly attached to the fact how it gave me new ideas to express. In real life, I have a cat and that's my favorite animal,” the illustrator revealed to Bored Panda.

“Speaking of drawing, I'm interested in animals that have extreme physical characteristics. It all started from the point where I tried to incorporate those characteristics like "too slow", "too long" into a drawing, and expressed what happens when those characteristics are incorporated into human society.”

“Animals are personified and therefore everything is expressed exaggeratedly, but more than trying to draw the animals to make them look cute, I am always thinking about how I can express everything in a single piece of drawing.”

Keigo revealed to Bored Panda that he isn’t a talkative person, but has always “loved” drawings since he was a small child. He disclosed that he knew he could “express anything” through his drawings.

“I had dreamt of making it my job, but I experienced setbacks right after I entered art college. I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to transmit my work via SNS and receive comments from people all around the world.”

“I am not very much experienced myself, but I have previously taught drawing to students who aspire to enter art college. Personally, I believe that it is important for them to not only focus their interests in art, but to store knowledge and always have awareness of surrounding issues.”

Keigo said that he doesn’t have exact plans for the future yet. But the artist added: “As I previously published my book in three countries in Asia, my next goal is to publish in the US.”