I want to draw casual landscapes in everyday life with a gentle feeling.
In recent years, I have been drawing sparrows and children.
Members of the Sogakai
Member of the Kyoto Japan Painters Association
Lives in Nara Prefecture
WORKS Works
INTERVIEWInterview
Kikuchi Shomune
It looks like a child is playing tag
-I thought it was a work that made me feel very calm when I saw the painting. In your profile, you said, "In recent years, I have been drawing sparrows with images of children," but what was the trigger?
"After I had a child, I couldn't go to sketch easily, so it was my child who started drawing close to me. At that time, I saw birds coming in and out of the bushes of the goldenrod, and I thought, 'It looks like a child playing tag.'
-I think other animals can also be superimposed on the image of children, but it was a bird.
When I draw creatures, I draw while thinking, 'What are I thinking?', 'Is it cold?', or 'Where are I going after this?', but suddenly I thought, 'I don't know what children are thinking.' Also, I work in public relations for a university, and when I go on business trips, I can't sketch at home. At that time, the sparrows are all year round, so it's easy to combine with seasonal motifs, and it was just right considering the work time."
Japan paintings I chose because I am Japanese.
―Please tell us about your encounter with painting and Japan painting in the first place before you became your current style.
"Originally, I played baseball all the time in junior high school and high school, and when I was in junior high school, I really hated studying, and when I decided on my career path, I thought, 'If I go to a technical high school or a commercial high school, I will be able to study.' I didn't even know there was an art high school at that time. I also liked games, and I entered the electronics department of a technical high school with the intention of making games."
―You haven't been exposed to painting yet in junior high and high school.
"So, I played on the baseball team for three years in high school, but in the end, I lost in the first round. I studied electronics for three years, but at that time there were no smartphones yet, and I couldn't do programs with a lot of input on a black screen, so I thought, 'This is how it is, I can't do Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest forever.' I wonder what to do, I'm going to get a job,' and I thought, 'Oh, yes, I like painting' (laughs)."
-There!? What kind of pictures were you drawing?
"For example, I added hair to Xavier in elementary school textbooks, drew sunglasses for Nobunaga, and drew flipbooks on the edges of textbooks, and copied dragons from Dragon Ball."
―That's the origin. But wasn't it difficult to take the exam?
"I had been only swinging a bat for a long time, so I consulted with my high school teacher about how I could go to art school, and he told me to go to an art school because I couldn't draw.
―It was a challenge to change the bat to a brush.
"The brush is much lighter (laughs). When I was prepared to be a ronin, I found Nara Junior College of Arts, where I am currently working. At that time, I had to choose a course before taking the exam, and there were six paintings, Japan paintings, designs, ceramics, dyeing and weaving, and craft design, but I chose Japan paintings because I was a Japan person."
― I'm Japan, and it's easy to be a Japan painting (laughs).
"When I entered university, I went in, and the paints were made of earth, stone, gemstones, gold leaf, silver leaf, etc., and I struggled because I couldn't handle it well, but when I started doing it with the spirit of the baseball team, 'I don't want to lose!' It's a junior college, but after studying for two more years in my major, my last work went to an exhibition. From there, I worked as an assistant for two more years, for a total of six years."
-Listening to your story, I think that you can enjoy it because you started painting in earnest at university, and there will be no setbacks, but how is it actually?
"I didn't know anything at first, so I didn't have any setbacks. Because I wanted to continue for a long time, I got a teaching license at university and continued to draw while teaching elementary and junior high schools, and then I came back to university. In the end, the first reason was that I was running away because I hated studying, and I happened to have the word Japan attached to it, so I feel like it led to Japan painting (laughs)."
I want to tell my students that "drawing beautifully is not just about drawing."
―Please tell us what is important to you in drawing Japan paintings.
"When I was a student, my grandfather looked at my Japan paintings and my students and said, 'Why are they all so dark?' I've never thought about it that way, so I've been drawing a little brighter since then."
―Your grandfather also has a keen sense.
"I think that in the past, there were many simpler paintings in Japan paintings, but gradually the types of paints have increased, and especially students cannot express themselves as they want, so they tend to overlap colors and become darker.
-Although you are in the Public Relations Department, is there anything you value when interacting with students at the university?
"I don't have classes at a university, so I don't tell students about Japan painting in particular, but I often go to elementary schools as guest teachers."
―What do you teach?
"Ink painter Sesshu appears in elementary school textbooks, and I am called at that timing. In particular, there were a lot of children who were not good at drawing and didn't want to draw from about the fourth grade of elementary school. The reason is that even though I drew the outline so hard, it became a mess and took a lot of time when I painted it, and it wasn't good, it was troublesome, and I didn't want to look like it anymore."
-You don't want to show it because it's embarrassing if you're not good at it.
"When I did that, I thought that ink painting could look different even if it didn't matter what shape it was, so I told him, 'Drawing is not just about drawing beautifully.' It is important to be able to draw shapes firmly and to be able to paint colors beautifully, but that's not the case. That's why when I teach in elementary school, I tell them that it's fun and fun just to draw with all their might, regardless of the chance of drawing or drawing well."
―It's nice to encounter such paintings. You can stretch it out, and even a modest child can easily show their individuality, isn't it?
"In particular, the children in the special needs class draw really good pictures, and the teachers and students around them are amazing. That's also an interesting point, because the answer is determined by arithmetic, so it's definitely not the case. I can't get to the answer, but painting can make things even if there is no answer. I think that's a good thing."
― The possibilities are expanding.
"Also, by telling me how I came across Japan painting and about paints, I want to draw more and increase the number of people who want to draw Japan paintings."
