Digital art keeps youth fed and sane in Japan

HEADING to Japan for a study break this year, twenty-two-year-old Keegan Guidotti was secure with a teaching role.

But when the COVID-19 lockdown hit that region in February, she was out of a job.

“They cracked down quite quickly. Schools closed, transportation was restricted, so my income fell through and I had to live off my savings, which I was lucky enough to save for a rainy day,” she said.

“I’m in Tokyo at the moment. It’s still pretty hectic here, there’s about 300 cases a day. I still haven’t been able acquire any work.”

Guidotti has been trying to get home to Ballarat for over four months, and her visa expires in August.

“Flights just keep getting cancelled by the airline, and it’s costed me about $10,000 now, and that money is up in the air in unusable credits because no one’s having flights,” she said.

“Policies are constantly changing, so we’re stuck here for a little bit.”

To raise some funds to pay for food and living expenses, the young artist is harnessing her @kawaiikeekee Instagram account and her trusty lockdown tool, the iPad, creating commissioned work from followers new and old.

“It’s gaining some traction, and I’ve opened up emergency commissions. They’re super cheap, high quality drawings, just in order to get some income,” she said.

“It’s digital art, custom characters, original characters or fan art of characters that already exist, from anime, cartoons, movies or real life, and I transform it into my own anime style.

“I haven’t stopped drawing. It helps me stay sane. Opening up commissions helps me have a motive. I don’t feel helpless or stranded.”

Contact Guidotti via Instagram direct message or [email protected] for commissions. She is also on Ko-fi via Kawaiikeekee, where she sketches in colour to requests, for a small donation.