Pig in gas mask (The Dam Keeper) by Dice Tsutsumi

     Filmmakers Daisuke "Dice" Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo released the independent animated short film The Dam Keeper and founded their Berkeley, CA studio Tonko House in 2014. They garnered an Academy Award nomination in 2015. Flesk Publications debuted The Art of the Dam Keeper at CTNX Animation Expo in November 2015. First Second published the first The Dam Keeper graphic novel in September 2017. I missed the book signing at Kinokuniya in San Francisco, but caught up with Dice and Robert at CTNX 2017. I browsed the original art portfolio and found two unsigned pieces I liked. When I made my purchase, I asked if the artist was on hand to sign them and it turned out to be by Dice. I love the delicate pencil shading on this one. Pig lives in a town on the edge of polluted air.