Q. How did you start drawing with colored pencils and when did you start?

I drew my first picture with colored pencils about seven years ago. It was about four years ago that I started drawing as a working artist. So there was a lag of about three years. I’ve always loved to draw, but I didn’t really study hard and learn from others. I’ve been doing something that was like a little bit like doodling in class, but when it comes to doodling in class, it’s usually with a mechanical pencil. So after years of drawing in black and white, I thought that color would look better, so I switched from pencils to colored pencils.

-So you don’t have any particular background in art?

No, I don’t. I just went to a normal school, studied normally, and took the entrance exams …

-I see. So you liked drawing, but you didn’t want to study art in earnest. But, you are really good at it! It seems that many of the members of IRODORIAL like to draw in detail, is that also the case with you Miyakawa-san?

I agree, after all, I do the same. I can spend hours and hours working on details… (Laughs). I can immerse myself in details!

Q. What do you think is the appeal of colored pencil drawings?

In a word, I think it’s “unexpectedness”. Colored pencils are a very simple art medium that most people have touched at least once, and even small children can handle them. Colored pencils can be used like drawing an oil painting and can be realistically expressed. Or, you can draw lightly to create a light expression like a watercolor. You can also draw two-dimensional characters like anime and manga beautifully. You can see many such works on Twitter. When I saw these works, I was surprised to see that they were really drawn with colored pencils! When you see these works, you will also be surprised to see that they are “really” drawn with colored pencils. I think the “unexpectedness” of drawing with colored pencils and the gap between the ranges of expression – and the simplicity of the art materials, is what makes it so much fun to look at!

Q. Your works have a very unique composition and technique. How did you arrive at this style?

You may know it as “trick art”. I think there are museums that specialize in it, and they have paintings that are plastered on the floor, and if you look at them from a certain angle, they look three-dimensional. I’ve always liked that kind of thing, and I wanted to be a painter someday, but it was difficult to calculate and draw that kind of composition (laughs). When I was thinking about how to do this, I happened to discover a smart phone application that automatically corrects the trapezoidal shape of a photo of a document and transforms it to look like it was taken from the front. I thought that if I could use that method of transforming the image, I might be able to create a “trick-art-like” transformation – – where the image is drawn in two dimensions, but looks three-dimensional. So I gave it a try and it worked. When people ask me how I came up with that composition, it’s like it just came to me! I guess it’s like bringing a three-dimensional image into a two dimensional one.

Q. How did you come to join IRODORIAL, the group you belong to?

Well, rather than joining, I am one of the founders. I heard that Mr. BONBON was having a group exhibition around September 2019. At the time, we didn’t have much of a personal relationship nor had talked on the Internet. But his home was close enough to my house, that I thought I’d go and check him out. And, it just so happened that Mr. BONBON was there that day! We talked a lot! As we were chatting and saying hello, we got to talking about how there aren’t many people who do (realism) realistic drawings with colored pencils – – so it would be great if we could form a group and do something interesting! Then we got some people together and that was the beginning of IRODORIAL.

-Oh! I didn’t know that! So you are one of the Founders of the IRODORIAL group since you were so young? That’s very interesting!

Well, I left most of the management to Mr. BONBON (Laughs), but…I am one of the first members of the group.

-Having experienced the activities as a group/ unit, did you encounter anything interesting or different? Were the members inspiring to one another?

After I became a member, I started to get involved with various people in the group, and what changed was that I started to look at other people’s drawings more closely. Before that, I drew alone and sent out my work to the world alone. I never went out to get involved with other people. But, now that we’re working as a group, we’re collaborating, and we’ve published two books this year, thankfully! So, first of all, I had more opportunities to observe the works of the group members, and then I started to look more closely at the pictures of other members who were drawing (realism) realistic pictures. I started to think about how they drew this part of the picture, and what they were thinking when they drew it, and how they decided to draw a particular scene and composition.

Q. Did you have any difficulties in creating your work?

I like to do what I do, so I haven’t really thought about any difficulties. I don’t think it’s too hard because I like it. The hardest part is taking the photographs at the end. It’s more difficult than the drawing itself. In such paintings, the work is laid out on a table and photographed from an angle so that it looks three-dimensional. But, the lighting in the room causes the picture to glow. The lighting needs to be properly arranged. When I tried to position the lighting, the shadows of the objects around the picture shifted, which made the work look uncomfortable. It takes about 20 to 30 shots before I get an “OK” take! Until I think its fine.

-I’m sorry, but I may have misunderstood you. So you put your work on the desk and then take pictures of it, right? I was wondering if everything was drawn including the desk.

Everything around it is real! This is the one I posted last month or so…I drew the ground part of the desk here, and the bottom part that you can actually see in the photo is the real thing. If you look at the paper from a diagonal angle, like this, it looks more like a real lunch box!