The Genesis of "Kitsura" - Q&A with Candie Bolton
See below is the WIP(s) of KITSURA Header card art by Candie Bolton (which should REALLY be made a print too!), for her upcoming new sofubi from Max Toy Co! Mesmerized by the adorable chibi fox, and of course her art, I HAD to find out more about "Kitsura" and her genesis - presenting my first ever Q&A with Candie!
TOYSREVIL: How does it feel to see your creation go into toy production?
CANDIE BOLTON: Seeing Kitsura go into production is like seeing a childhood dream come true for me. I've always loved the lore around foxes in various cultures and especially in Japanese folklore. In Japan foxes are known as kitsune, they are magical creatures with the ability to transform and posses people (among many other things).
TOYSREVIL: How did Kitsura come about? What was her genesis? And the genesis of your first product toy?
CANDIE BOLTON: About a year ago I started collecting sofubi and I knew that someday I wanted to make my own fox toy. It seemed like a distant dream at the time, but just 6 months ago I was contacted by Max Toys about a collaboration and soon after that we were talking about toy designs.
I have zero experience when it comes to designing toys so I was instructed to design whatever was aesthetically pleasing to me and let the sculptor figure out the rest.
In March I made my first trip over to Japan and I had the opportunity to meet up with the sculptor Pico Pico at Daikaiju Salon in Nakano. We discussed some alterations that would need to be made in order to make my design work better with sofubi.
Above-left: Illustration for "Divine Intervention" for The Small Art Show.
Above-right: Pic of Toyokawa Inari Shrine when Candie visited Japan.
Below-left: Fox sketches. And Rabbits!
Below-right: Initial sketch of Kitsura by Candie for Max Toy Co.
CANDIE BOLTON: The original design was in a sitting position, this was inspired by the fox statues in Inari shrines around Japan. However, the skinny legs and tail caused problems so that was changed to a standing position and the overall body was made more short and stubby (chibi style).
Some other changes were made along the way. The original design had an egg shaped jewel in it's mouth, which is a very important object in the lore of kitsune, but I felt like it confused most people so this was switched out for the third eye. Kitsune don't have three eyes in Japanese lore, but I thought it more eloquently represented her intelligence and mystical qualities.
CANDIE BOLTON: I couldn't be happier with how Kitsura has turned out. Pico Pico did a fantastic job at interpreting my design. I am very honored to have the opportunity to work with him and Mark Nagata of Max Toys.
(Most images can be found on Candie's IG @arabbitinthemoon)
TOYSREVIL: How does it feel to see your creation go into toy production?
CANDIE BOLTON: Seeing Kitsura go into production is like seeing a childhood dream come true for me. I've always loved the lore around foxes in various cultures and especially in Japanese folklore. In Japan foxes are known as kitsune, they are magical creatures with the ability to transform and posses people (among many other things).
TOYSREVIL: How did Kitsura come about? What was her genesis? And the genesis of your first product toy?
CANDIE BOLTON: About a year ago I started collecting sofubi and I knew that someday I wanted to make my own fox toy. It seemed like a distant dream at the time, but just 6 months ago I was contacted by Max Toys about a collaboration and soon after that we were talking about toy designs.
I have zero experience when it comes to designing toys so I was instructed to design whatever was aesthetically pleasing to me and let the sculptor figure out the rest.
In March I made my first trip over to Japan and I had the opportunity to meet up with the sculptor Pico Pico at Daikaiju Salon in Nakano. We discussed some alterations that would need to be made in order to make my design work better with sofubi.
Above-left: Illustration for "Divine Intervention" for The Small Art Show.
Above-right: Pic of Toyokawa Inari Shrine when Candie visited Japan.
Below-left: Fox sketches. And Rabbits!
Below-right: Initial sketch of Kitsura by Candie for Max Toy Co.
CANDIE BOLTON: The original design was in a sitting position, this was inspired by the fox statues in Inari shrines around Japan. However, the skinny legs and tail caused problems so that was changed to a standing position and the overall body was made more short and stubby (chibi style).
Some other changes were made along the way. The original design had an egg shaped jewel in it's mouth, which is a very important object in the lore of kitsune, but I felt like it confused most people so this was switched out for the third eye. Kitsune don't have three eyes in Japanese lore, but I thought it more eloquently represented her intelligence and mystical qualities.
CANDIE BOLTON: I couldn't be happier with how Kitsura has turned out. Pico Pico did a fantastic job at interpreting my design. I am very honored to have the opportunity to work with him and Mark Nagata of Max Toys.
(Most images can be found on Candie's IG @arabbitinthemoon)
