How to Draw Japan

About this book

100 SUBJECTS. 6 STEPS EACH. 600 STEP-BY-STEP DRAWINGS. EVERY RIDE BUILT THE WAY TRAVEL IS BUILT — GROUND, VEHICLE, DETAIL, MOTION, FINISH.

A bullet train bursting out of a tunnel. A steam locomotive in falling snow. A houseboat full of lanterns. A rickshaw under its hood, a gondola over a sea of clouds, a mikoshi riding on the shoulders of a festival.

Your characters have to GET somewhere — and now they will travel like Japan itself. Every subject in this book is built the same honest way: one horizon line, one ground line and one vehicle line that never move, the ground the ride stands on (rails, water, road, cable, slope), the vehicle itself (train, boat, cart, gondola, float), the parts and fittings that give it its job and its name, and the motion and air that turn it from a museum piece into a journey — steam, speed, spray, dust, confetti. Nothing moves between steps — the rail you draw in Step 2 is the exact rail the wheels touch in Step 6.

Inside: 25 railways · 20 boats & water rides · 20 people-powered daily rides · 15 mountain & sky rides · 20 festival & special rides. Every subject is named in English, Japanese and romaji — this book is also a walk through the words of travel.

And after every subject: a practice page. Trace the faint scene, then draw your own version in the empty frame. 100 subjects, 100 practice pages.

Every vehicle in this book is a generic Japanese form — no logos, no company liveries, no model marks — so the rides you invent with this system are completely yours. All you need is a pencil and an eraser.