How to Draw Japan

About this book

100 DISHES. 6 STEPS EACH. 600 STEP-BY-STEP DRAWINGS. EVERY DISH BUILT THE WAY IT IS SERVED — VESSEL, BASE, TOPPING, GARNISH, FINISH.

Ramen steaming in the bowl. Nigiri in a row. Dorayaki, taiyaki, shaved ice, cream soda, parfaits.

Your characters have to eat — and now their food will look delicious. Every dish in this book is built the same honest way: one table line and one centre line that never move, the vessel (bowl, plate, board, glass, cone, bottle), the base food (rice, noodles, soup, sponge, shaved ice), the topping that gives the dish its name (chashu, tempura shrimp, sashimi, anko, whipped cream), and the garnish that proves a cook was there — green onion rings, sesame, a drizzle, bonito flakes, a bent straw. Nothing moves between steps — the table line you draw in Step 1 is the exact line the dish stands on in Step 6.

Inside: 25 staples, noodles & rice bowls · 15 sushi & fish dishes · 25 wagashi & traditional sweets · 15 Western sweets, breads & café plates · 20 drinks, shaved ice & cold treats. Every dish is named in English, Japanese and romaji — this book is also a menu you can finally read.

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

No real shop, product or brand is drawn anywhere in this book — every dish is a generic dish type, so the food you invent with this serving system is completely yours. All you need is a pencil and an eraser.