saori

Saori’s most representative works are those that depict individual stores and scenes along a shopping street in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture, such as the hardware store, bookstore, or alleyways. Her ballpoint pen drawings are full of details. When you see her works after actually walking through the streets, you will notice that the colors she uses are filled with a sense of playfulness.

Saori looks at a photo of her subject and draws the outline first with a light blue ballpoint pen.

“I now mostly use light blue because other colors can easily be layered on top of it later. Sometimes I also use navy blue or black,”

saori shared with us.

On this particular day, saori was drawing a picture of shaved ice served at Komeda’s Coffee. A photo from the menu, showing the item drizzled generously with strawberry syrup and served with soft-serve ice cream, was spread out near her hand. Saori carefully outlined the details in light blue ballpoint pen, as described above, including the strawberry pattern on the tablecloth.

After completing the outline, she moved on to the coloring. Saori chose a pink ballpoint pen similar to the color of the syrup and a bold white ballpoint pen to represent the ice. She depicted the texture of the ice more realistically by gently applying the two colors in layers, resulting in ice that looked fluffy and airy, yet sharp.

On the other hand, she colored the spoon and bowl in which the shaved ice was served using single-color ballpoint pens, applying firm pressure while moving the pen vigorously back and forth. The strawberry pattern on the tablecloth were colored not only red, but also light blue and bright yellow.

When we asked saori to show us her pen case, it was packed with nearly 30 colored ballpoint pens. She said she has many more at home. ‘SARASA’ ballpoint pens with 0.5 mm pen tips are her favorite. She also uses 0.3 mm pens, but finds them to be too fine for coloring, and the finer 0.1 mm pens tend to tear the paper. Thus, 0.5 mm pens have become her go-to pens.

When saori talks about ballpoint pens, she becomes a little more vocal than usual. We could feel her love for stationery.

Another characteristic of her drawings was to create a frame within the paper and draw motifs within that frame. Her freehand borders were tilted, trapezoidal, or created large outer margins around her motifs.

“I think the frames and margins that come in various shapes are also a part of saori’s work, so when we held her solo exhibition, we exhibited her drawings with the entire margins intact. In the past, the pictures were smaller in relation to the paper, but they have been getting larger and larger. Perhaps the experiences of turning her work into products and holding a solo exhibition have given her confidence, and that confidence is also growing larger and larger.”

SAKAI Kayo, a staff member who has been overseeing saori’s creative process since she first started using MINATOMACHI FACTORY in 2014, told us this. In fact, saori did not begin drawing until she began coming to MINATOMACHI FACTORY..

Saori’s drawings are printed on fabric using a fabric printer located on-site. This fabric is then made into pouches, handkerchiefs, and other cloth products at the nearby SASEBO CLOTH & ACCESSORY FACTORY, which is operated by the same company. These products depict scenes of Sasebo and are popular items sold at museums and bookshops in Nagasaki.

Saori’s artwork has also been used in the packaging of original products made by restaurants in Sasebo and on the cover of Sasebo community magazines. Saori herself said that she is happy to see her artwork being used on products.

Occasionally, when she has business at the SASEBO CLOTH & ACCESSORY FACTORY, which is about a 10-minute walk away, saori will run there at full sprint from MINATOMACHI FACTORY. We imagined saori dashing down the shopping street—bright, bustling, yet laid-back at the same time—with her long hair swinging back and forth. Shy, yet filled with passion, saori will surely continue to create works of art furiously, while making full use of her delicately colored ballpoint pens.