Hello everyone,

We sincerely apologize for not giving any update on this project for many months.

After the immense success at the auction and the Cartoon Art Museum, we, Totoro Forest Project Committee respectively went back to our own normal lives.  However, there has been no moments where we forgot about this project or about the forest!

It is our intention to print more TFP books to share the experience of this special event with all of you who believe in what we believe in.  But it has not been easy due to many aspects of this non profit theme.   We have been talking to a publisher(and it’s a good, respected one) but things have not been going as smooth and fast as we were hoping.

Anyhow, we were hoping to give you clear information on this matter but we are still waiting to see what happens.

We would like to thank all of you out there who expressed your interests in purchasing this special book.

Please keep your eye on this blog for further notices.

Sincerely

Totoro Forest Committee

Here is one of my favorite videos created by Jeremy McCracken based on Veronique Joffre’s superb illustration!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Are you one of those wondering where all that crazy amount of money we raised with this project?
I hope you do!  Because it is the money you all helped raise!

One of the Totoro Project committee, Yukino went to attend this big 10th year anniversary of Totoro Forest Foundation in Japan back in last November.

And there did she present…

$185,221 to the foundation!

This is basically how much we allocated in our first installment to the foundation. (we are still waiting for the right timing to transfer the money since US dollar is so weak these days!)
There is obviously more with some small amount the books made and other donations.  That’ll come in the second installment.

This is the total amount we raised from the artwork plus ticket sales minus the event expenses and the fee for Give2Asia(non profit that legally transfers our fund to Japan).

Quick run down of the expense

framing/exhibition walls/t-shirts/post cards/banner/misc auction materials  $6264.62
Food/Catering   $11,000.00
Beverages (wine/beer/sake/tea/soft drinks)  $2,780.00
Chairs/Glass/Linen rental Classic Party Rentals  $5,531.34

This is less than 15% of the entire fund we raised which is, according to Give2Asia(non profit that oversaw this project), one of the most efficient fund raising events they have ever seen!
They said even professional fund raising events can’t be this efficient.  Wow!  All the hard work everyone put into paid off!

Even A BIGGER NEWS!

We GOT FOREST!

The Totoro No Furusato Fund sent us with these photos(attached)!
Yes!  They bought 2 sections of Totoro Forest with the very money we donated!  YAAAAAAAAY!   It is OUR forest!  Well… sorry.. we can’t claim the ownership obviously…..it is everyone’s forest that we helped buy! 

These are pretty small forests(50 meters x 50 meters each……sigh…., real estate is expensive in Japan….)  but they said these are some of the key sections in the forest they have been eying on.  This will prevent some serious illegal dumping etc…

Yes.  We made a difference.  All of you, artists, donors, fans, bloggers, who supported this project in your own ways!

And they assured that there will be some signs to indicate Totoro Forest Project auction on the site.

Wouldn’t that be neat?

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Sorry…

this post is getting long….

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Just a few more things you might want to know

*We still receive tons and tons of inquiries about the second printing of the book.  We are currently waiting to hear from the publisher who expressed interest.  There are a few other possibilities and we are trying to get what makes most sense for the purpose of this project.   It is really nice to know that so many many many people are wanting this book.  I will say this honestly that we probably have 50/50 chance of reprinting this book.

*Now the first exhibition at Cartoon Art Museum is down, there is only one more month left for you to witness the original art of this extraordinary event.  Please don’t miss the show at the Cartoon Art in San Francisco!  They also is having a spectacular the Art of Coraline exhibit!(see one of Totoro artists, Tadahiro Uesugi’s first animation concept work!)

I had a chance to visit Cartoon Art Museum this weekend and OH MY GOD, the second half of the show looks fantastic!  Now, all 184 pieces of artwork from the Art of Totoro Foest Project book are exhibited together, you can really appreciate the magnitude of this event.
The first half of the show ends on January 18th and the second show will come down mid February.  It is absolutely best to see when both shows are up.  Don’t miss your opportunity!

And come join us at the reception!

Location:  Cartoon Art Museum
655 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105 US (between Second Street and Third Street)
View Map  |

When:  Tuesday, December 16, 7:00PM ~ 9:00PM

And yes.  We will sell 20 Totoro books during the reception.  You heard it right.  Only twenty left.

Look at the beautiful presentation Andrew Farrago, the curator of Cartoon Art Museum did!

The second space which is is quite spacious and the show wraps around the back as well!  Wow wow!

You missed the auction in September?

You want to meet some of the artists who contributed to this incredible event?

Come celebrate with us at the opening reception  of the Totoro Forest Project exhibit next Tuesday the 16th!
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Location:  Cartoon Art Museum
655 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105 US (between Second Street and Third Street)
View Map  |

When:  Tuesday, December 16, 7:00PM ~

It is absolutely FREE!!(there will be a donation box if you would like to contribute!)

Everyone’s invited!

Phone:  415-CAR-TOON

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As promised, there will be 20 Totoro Forest Project books available for purchase.  It will be the final occasion to be able to purchase.  Don’t miss your last opportunity!

Hello everyone.  Sorry for not posting anything for a while.

We are still receiving lots and lots of emails asking for the book.

We ARE currently having conversations with a publisher about the second printing.  There are a few obstacles to overcome so it is at this point 50 - 50.  As soon as we have an official word, we will make an announcement ASAP.

We have about 40 books left.  That’s it really.

As I promised, we will sell these at the special occasions one of which is this lecture Ronnie, Enrico and myself are giving Saturday December 6th in San Fransisco.   We will talk about Totoro Project as well as animation preproduction process etc.  Hope to see you there!

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Asian Art Members Lecture

The Totoro Forest Project

Saturday, December 6, 2008

1pm Samsung Hall

Open to the Public. Seating limited; first come, first served.

Dice Tsutsumi, Enrico Casarosa, and Ronnie del Carmen from Pixar Studios share their artwork and artistry. The discussion features the artists’ latest works from the special exhibition and benefit for the Totoro Forest Project.

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Hello everyone~!

We are pleased to announce OOP Press is making an appearance at Alternative Press Expo San Francisco this coming weekend!  OOP Press is our proud indy publisher of Art of Totoro Forest Project book.  We are looking to unload about 100 copies Saturday and Sunday. (probably 50 copies each day)

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Here is the info

Alternative Press Expo San Francisco

SATURDAY
November 1
11:00am-7:00pm

SUNDAY
November 2
11:00am-6:00pm

The Concourse
620 7th Street
San Francisco

The table # is 315 and 316.(we share the table from Scott Morse so our name is not listed)

Hope you can find us!

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There you will also see Enrico’s new book Venice Chronicle which will come with a special original drawing!

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Our proud publisher OOP Press is selling their Out of Picture comics as well as Art of Totoro Forest Project!

Hi everyone!

So we started to hear lots of people finally receiving the Totoro book package.  We don’t know why it is taking so long to reach all these people.   All I can say is that shipping international is VERY unreliable..  I hope hope those who ordered the book will get the actual book pretty soon.

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Meanwhile, I’d like to introduce another artist community project that has become a worldwide phenomena.

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It is called Sketchcrawl!

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This is an incredible bi-monthly event created by one of our own Totoro committee members Enrico Casarosa! Basically, people get together on the same day in their respective cities and crawl around the city with their sketch pads.  Very simple.  Enrico has been doing this for years now and now it has attracted hundreds of devotees all around the world.  I think the last sketchcrawl was organized more than 60 cities in 30 or so countries including various cities in the U.S., Japan, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Serbia, Australia, Russia, Brazil, UK, Sweden…and the list goes on!

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Anyone can participate.  No experience necessary.  Just get together with fellow artists in your city and enjoy sketching all day, get to know new artists/art lover friends.  And if you want, you can share your sketches with thousands of other crawlers on the Sketchcrawl Forum!

As you can see, it’s simple but quite a brilliant idea!

Now you want to participate huh?

How about this Saturday 10/25?  There will be Worldwide 20th Sketchcrawl!   You don’t know if your city has one?  Go to this web page and find out! Maybe there’s one already or you can start one!

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Ps.  Let me go on and introduce my buddy Enrico a bit more.  This guy is an incredible artist with incredible ideas.  What he did with Sketchcrawil was quite something as you can guess.  While he’s one of the top story artists at Pixar, he continues to impress the world with his comics and other personal projects.  His new book Venice Chronicle is no different.  It is his visual diary when he took a trip to Italy beauuuutifully illustrating his love endovor!

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I know lots of you couldn’t get Totoro book.  Don’t wait too long on this either.  This could be another independent publication only available for a limited amount of time!

Ok,

So we are finally finished shipping ALL the book orders Yesterday.  Phew… It was only two of us.  Every lunch break in the past few weeks and some late night/weekend to pack/print/ship all orders. I did not think it was this much work….

We really really apologize for the huge delay.   Those who ordered books online have been very patient.(you guys are the best!)  Thank you and hope you receive your books soon!

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Meanwhile, 50 copies of the book at Cartoon Art Museum are sold out.  Wow.. we really are out of this first edition…very fast..  Those who saw what the book looks like know that this book is a work of art by itself.  The choice of paper/biding is pretty exquisite and some of the publishers we have talked to said it’d be very difficult to duplicate the same quality book at the same cost.

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And I know this is sold at different prices at various places.  Personally, I don’t mind it.  The book itself isn’t really for a fund raising product.  The book was mainly made to be used to thank artists and supporters.  If people are re-selling at the higher value, as long as it is reasonable, I think it is ok.  One of the most respected book sellers, Stuart NG is selling it too for higher prices and I totally think it’s ok.  We, artists need them to survive to keep feeding us with great books from all over the world.  Besides, they are still contributing to spread the words out.

My lunch hours have been nothing but these yellow packages…..aaghhhhhH!

We went to see the show at Cartoon Art this past weekend.  Wow.  They did a good job.  Beautifully set up.  Wish lighting was a bit better.  Some of the art work looked really dark..  Can’t wait to see the second show to be up in December when we have both shows up at the same time for a month!

Lots of SF locals enjoy What is Your Totoro exhibition.

2 geeky fans eagerly drool over the beautiful paintings on the wall.  Oh wait a second, they are the famous Daniel Lopez and Bob, the Giant, MacKenzie!

Hi everyone,

We are working on the final phase of the budget/expense this week and meeting Give2Asia on Friday to discuss our final donation numbers.  It is a lot of paperwork and the part not as exciting as the event itself…but is one of the most important parts of charity project like this.

Also, we are sending books little by little. Remember we can only do it during lunch time with one or two people! I know those of you who ordered are anxious to receive your copies..  please be patient.  and feel free to contact admin@totoroforestproject.org for your order status.

Meanwhile, let me introduce another fun charity project I launched with my illustrator friend Gerald Guerlais 2 years ago, Sketchtravel Project!

I have to say, I felt comfortable with Totoro Forest Project idea when I first started talking to Enrico and Ronnie because of my experience with Sketchtravel.  This is also a dream like project where artists from all over the world meet through one inspiration.

Each artist gets one page and can do any art work on it.  The rule is that the book must be hand-delivered to the artist by one of the participating artists.  There’s no re-do.  There is only one book.  If the book gets lost, that’s the end of it.  That’s why it is so precious.  IF we have all 60 pages filled without any accident, we will auction off the book for a charity cause of which the participating artists vote to choose.

This book consists of all star line up of artists just like Totoro Forest Project.  Many of them were generous bunch to do both such as Enrico Casarosa, Ronnie Del Carmen,Dice Tsutsumi, Robert MacKenzie, Vincent Nguyen, Peter de Seve, Rebecca Dautremer,Lou Romano, Tadahiro Uesugi, James Jean, Yoko Tanji etc..

Some of the other big names worth mentioning are Bill Plympton, Francois Rocca, Robert Valley, Jerome Opena….

We have some exciting artists that are coming up such as Nicloas de Crecy, Carlos Nine, Enrique Fernandez, Katsuya Terada, Nicolas Uribe, and Tomer Hanuka….etc..

In 2007, a French documentary film maker Chaterine Bonvalot with her Owls Productions started following this exciting journey on film.  Yes!  There will be a documentary film of this project!  Another exciting addition to this book.

Check out all the sketches done so far!  A whole bunch of quite amazing original sketches all in one book!

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Check out Sketchtravel Teaser Trailer!

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Documentary Film “Sketchtravel” has started filming!

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Some artists like Nash Dunnigan and Robert MacKenzie always find the way to goof off…..

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This project, since its launch in 2006, inspired many artists around the world.  One of them is Tim Sale’s Sketchbook Project! And they did it a lot more efficiently than us!  What an achievement Tim!  Congratulations!

I think there are so much fun stuff we can do with artists community around the world via internet.  And the power of art can give quite an impact to the cause you believe in.  Maybe it’ll make something better.  I hope many of you do your own “Totoro Forest Project!!”

Hello everyone.

We are simply mesmerized by the huge response for the Totoro Forest Project book.
We are now seriously looking into the second printing.

50 copies of TFP books are available as of Today at Cartoon Art Museum! They are charging $50 because they have to make some money to pay for running the store.  Of course, $40 comes to OOP Press and they will donate the entire “net proceeds” to the Totoro no Furusato fund.—–though the production cost of this book was so high that it will be a while before we break even.  Anyhow, hope you can go to the museum to purchase the books!

If you are one of the lucky ones who were able to order your copy, please give us some more time.  It is only a few of us who all have full time jobs to take care of hundreds of orders and some of them have been shipped out this week but most will go out next week.  Thanks for your patience and that’s another form of support we ask for.  We really appreciate it!

Meanwhile, I’d like to share this beautiful watercolor master piece from Mr. Miyazaki sent to us in response to this project. With a big Arigato–Thank You from him.  You can imagine this 12″ x 12″ painting made all the hard work by so many people pay off.  This piece is quite incredible in peron….the way the brushstrokes work effortlessly……

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I hope you can see this amazing painting along with “What is Your Totoro?” exhibit at Cartoon Art Museum.  This is exhibited as well!