Kyohei Sakaguchi Book – Pastel

This is a collection of pastel illustrations by Kyohei Sakaguchi, who we collaborated with on the Hobonichi Techo cover Field Sky and Weeks book En Route to Kumamoto Port at Dawn. He writes, sings, photographs, and paints. Kyohei Sakaguchi has continued creating in all these forms—effortlessly, like breathing, and while he doesn’t construct buildings, he is an architect. He is an author with many publications under his belt, a musician and an artist. While he originally used to create abstract art, ever since beginning to grow vegetables on a rented plot of a community garden in Kumamoto Prefecture in 2020, he captures the scenery with his smartphone―whether it be on his way to the garden or while tending his plot. He uses these photos as references for his pastel artwork. From the drawings he produced between April 2020, around the time he started working on the plot, and August, 126 pieces have been carefully selected for his first pastel artbook. In Pastel , you can enjoy the artwork in their actual sizes. Each piece has its own explanatory paragraph, and his essay “The Path to the Field” is included in both Japanese and English. The fields, towns, mountains, rivers, and sea of Kumamoto, where Sakaguchi lives, along with the landscapes from his travels are captured with a photographic level of detail. Yet when you look closely, the powdery texture of the pastels and the marks left by fingers rubbing or brushing the surface convey the warmth of something drawn by hand. This is a book where you can not only enjoy Kyohei Sakaguchi’s refreshing and approachable artwork, but also get a glimpse into his way of life, his daily living, and his unique worldview. We hope that alongside your techo and notebook, you’ll also have a closer look at this collection.