What Tsubaki Stationery Store Taught Me About Making Art

I listened to a wonderful book. It was like a refreshing rain pouring straight into my heart.

The book is new and by the Japanese author Ito Ogawa. Its Finnish title is Paperikauppa Tsubaki, and it is also being released in English as Tsubaki Stationery Store (Amazon – affiliate link, Goodreads)

Tsubaki Stationery Store

The book tells the story of Hatoko, who has inherited a small paper shop from her late grandmother. It isn’t a sticker shop, but a very minimalistic one. Additionally, Hatoko offers handwriting services. For Hatoko, “beautiful” isn’t a static concept. Case by case, she carefully considers not only the message itself, but also the shape of the letters, the paper she chooses, the writing instrument, the envelope, and even the postage stamps.

You absolutely must read this book.

Refreshing Rain

I loved the book so much that I wanted to make a drawing about its impact. It started by spraying some ink.

I got the idea of spraying ink when browsing the pages of my sketchbook. See this blog post from 2019: 10 Black and White Art Techniques with Personal Stories

I then made the drawing with pencils and ink pens (Copic brand).

I started with graphite pencils.

And then introduced black ink pens.

When I wanted to have something darker or more clearly outlined, I used the ink pens. The pencils were for softer greys and shadowing.

A piece of paper under the hand protects the drawing.

I wanted the drawing to grow freely and express the impact that the book had on me. The last step was to add a little color to the central flower.

Here’s the finished piece again. I had so much fun drawing the waves. When I draw, I try to follow the principle: “Draw what you love.”

This is about my inner world getting the refreshing rain from Ito Ogawa’s wonderful book.

Simple and Small Can Lead to Better

Tsubaki Stationery Store made me think about how simple things can become when we stop ignoring the basic truth.

You see, this spring I have been thinking a lot about how I could make better paintings. It has felt like a complicated question. Just breaking down what “better” means takes time. The choices feel big, as if I were standing at a highway junction in the middle of this constantly changing, chaotic world.

But Ito Ogawa’s book brought me back to a small street. A series of small decisions that naturally follow each other can overcome grand choices. At its best, that is exactly what drawing is about, too. One thing leads to another, and only small adjustments are needed to take the drawing to the next level.

Tiny Things in Practice

Instead of this week’s small drawing project, I was actually planning to show you a much bigger one – a painting called Ikigai. I have been working on it for a couple of months now. But after listening to the first few chapters of the book, I realized that the painting isn’t finished yet. The book helped me to see small fixes that would make the painting “better.”

Now, Ikigai needs to dry before I photograph it. You will see it in a week or two.

But in the meantime, let’s keep drawing!