Yes that is exactly the chapter heading says and I suspect it also says a lot about the cultural differences between Japan and the west. However, leaving any cultural and gender politics aside it is fascinating to see how the human form can be broken down into very simplified shapes and then how those shapes can then be worked up into quite complicated drawings – this is not one of them. So later on in the chapter you get drawings such as ‘A Girl and her Tyrannosaurus’ or ‘Valley Girl in Japan’ which are highly stylised yet really quite complicated drawings. I am particularly interested in the limited palette used which I suspect is so that these drawings are easy to print.

Simon Marchini
http://www.simonmarchini.co.uk