VSI is a collection of illustrations by Japanese digital artist wataboku, whose work continue to attract keen attention both at home and internationally. The artist’s ethereal illustrations of beautiful, yet somewhat inscrutable “shojo” school girls, rendered with vibrant watercolor touches have received high acclaimed on social media. This book is a comprehensive collection of the artist’s works presented at solo exhibitions around the world as well as more recent works.
The title VSI means “VS (versus)” “I (myself),” and comes from the wakaboku’s desire to “highlight the importance of feelings I had as a teenager, which forms the basis of my work. Or to put it bluntly, to focus on a time when I was ‘edgy.’” This book offers a complete archive that condenses five years of evolution since wataboku’s first art book Kanzero was released. Even as the environment around them changed, wataboku continuously protected this sense of self, which has been the central pillar and source of creation for the artist’s work.
Artist bio – Wataboku is a Japanese digital artist whose fanbase continues to expand all over the world in response to their works based on the original shojo schoolgirl icon, SAI, developed on social media. In 2016, wataboku’s first art book, Kanzero was published by Pony Canyon. Since then, in addition to exhibitions throughout Japan, the artist has held solo exhibitions in various cities, mainly in Asia.
More recently, wataboku has been expanding their range of activities as a contemporary artist. Representative works include a collaboration with Yohji Yamamoto, a music video for “Mela!” by Ryokuoushoku Shakai (Ryokushaka), and book design for 12 Suicidal Teens (Bunshun Bunko). The name “wataboku” comes from the Japanese words for “I” “watashi” and “boku.”
Wataboku’s skill as an artist has grown over the 5 years since his last art book release, palpable not only in the higher technical quality of the renderings but also the complexity and expressiveness of his compositions; his sharp color sense remains just as elevated as before. VSI is a welcomed and worthy addition to his previous art book Kanzero. Recommended.
“VSI – Wataboku Illustration Art Book［ブイエスアイ］アートブック” details :
– Dimensions – 25.7 x 21 x 1.4 cm
– softcover, 176 pages
– Full color, in Japanese & English language
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November 8th, 2022 at 11:05 am
I sometimes mesmerize and yet felt jealous with Japanese artists,at start they just like newbie and then in short amount of time they skilled up and I wondering what sort of discipline they learn and how they manage to understand the basic so good in short time. I myself self thought and even today I still can’t grasp basic anatomy let alone to build up my style( kind of like long story).
November 10th, 2022 at 4:13 pm
anonymouse007 – I know what you mean, I despair sometimes seeing the skill of super talented artists like the late Kim Jung Gi or Katsuya Terada, just to name a few. However, we don’t really know just much work, effort and time they put in to master their craft, but I’m willing to bet it’s alot ! Talent plays a part of course, but there’s no getting there without hard work. My 2 cents ! :]