Japanese Drawing and Illustration Vocabulary: Tools, Steps and Praise

From rough sketch to finished colour

Most illustrators, on paper or on a tablet, work in the same order, and Japanese has a word for each step. You make a rough sketch to plan the picture, trace clean line art over it, fill in the colours and shading, and add the finishing touches. Japanese artists talk about their progress with these words all the time, so they are the best place to start.

Shitagaki can be written 下書き or 下描き; both are common, and the second uses the drawing kanji to make the meaning clear. In digital illustration, the loanword rafu (rough) is used for the same stage. Nuru (塗る) is a broad verb: to paint, to spread butter, to put on make-up, and to colour in.

Kaku, egaku and the verbs of drawing

The verb kaku has two kanji. 書く is to write letters and words; 描く is to draw or paint pictures. They sound identical, so in speech the object tells you which one is meant: e o kaku is drawing, tegami o kaku is writing a letter. When you type, choose 描く for pictures. Many people also write 絵をかく in hiragana, which is not wrong.

The same kanji 描 also has the reading egaku, which is more literary and means to depict or portray. You hear it about novels, films and dreams as often as about pictures. Other useful verbs describe specific kinds of drawing.

Dessan (デッサン), from the French word for drawing, means careful observational drawing, the kind practised with plaster busts and still lifes in art schools. Rakugaki (落書き) is a doodle, and also graffiti. Shasei (写生) is the old school word for sketching a landscape outdoors; many Japanese adults remember shasei taikai, outdoor drawing days at primary school.

Tools: from pencils to pen tablets

Traditional tools are mostly native words, and digital tools are mostly loanwords, often shortened in the typical Japanese way to four syllables. Pentabu (ペンタブ) is short for pen tablet, the kind you draw on while looking at the computer screen, and ekitabu (液タブ), short for liquid-crystal tablet, is a tablet with a built-in screen you draw on directly.

Art shops in Japan sort paper by thickness and texture, and the staff are used to questions. Two handy lines are kono kami wa suisai ni muite imasu ka, is this paper good for watercolour, and hajimete na no de, osusume wa arimasu ka, it is my first time, do you have a recommendation. Both are polite and work at any counter.

Subjects, light and colour

When you describe a drawing, you name the subject and then talk about the light and colours. Japanese art teachers often comment on proportion, light and shadow, and how the colours are used, so these words are worth knowing even if you never take a class.

Praising art and taking a compliment

Japanese compliments on art tend to be specific: people praise the colours, the atmosphere or the lines, not only the whole picture. Jōzu (上手) means skilful, and e ga jōzu desu ne is the standard compliment. When you receive praise, a modest reply is expected, but you do not need to reject it strongly; a smile and a small denial are enough.

The last question matters. Many Japanese artists are careful about how their work is shared, and some ask people not to repost, edit or use their pictures to train software. Ask before you share, credit the artist, and never use a picture for anything commercial without permission.

Mini dialogues: a sketching meetup

Sketching meetups, called suketchi kai, gather people to draw a park, a street or a café together and then look at each other's sketchbooks. The first dialogue is with a stranger at the meetup; the second is with a friend who draws digitally.

Common learner mistakes

• Typing 書く for drawing. It is understood, but 描く is the correct kanji for pictures. Use 書く for letters, words and documents.
• Saying e o shimasu. Japanese does not use suru with e; say e o kakimasu, or suketchi shimasu with the loanword.
• Calling every illustration manga. Manga means comics in panels; a single character picture is an irasuto.
• Accepting praise with sō desu ne. It can sound like you agree that you are very good. A small modest reply is more natural.
• Using kakkoii for a pretty landscape. Kakkoii means cool or stylish; for a calm, beautiful picture say kirei or sutekina e.
• Saying a friend's dessan ga kurutte iru. It is real art-class feedback, but it sounds harsh outside a lesson.

Sketch your vocabulary with Mocchi

Open Mocchi and type /kanji 描 to see the kanji's meaning, both readings and everyday words that use it, then ask: Explain the difference between 描く and 書く with three example sentences each, and quiz me tomorrow. Mocchi remembers that you asked and brings the pair back in a later quiz, along with any tool words you got wrong.

For the tool and step words, ask Mocchi to make flashcards: shitagaki, senga, nuri, haikei and kōzu, each with a photo you choose, perhaps of your own sketches. Review them with spaced repetition, then play Mocchi Flight with your own deck, guiding Mocchi through the gate with the right word.