Who is Hisashi Eguchi?
Hisashi Eguchi is a prominent Japanese illustrator within the art world. He is known for his admirably crafted artwork, based on the subject of female beauty and vinyl vintage to which he adds a “touch of Eguchi.”
At age 64, the illustrator, now doing mostly commission work, uses the subject of the “female beauty.” However, in his early stages of being an artist he was a mangaka who produced gag series such as; “Stop!! Hibari-kun!” and “Charamono.”
(For anyone who doesn’t know what a “Gag manga” is, it is Japanese cartoon comedy.)
Eguchi’s work
Eguchi’s work gives out the quality of an “old era sauce” that is sprinkled onto the dish, adding a sense of familiarity – even if you weren’t born in that era. His work quietly screams about the movement of elegance from the past generation. This corresponds with his interest in vintage vernacular items of the modern age such as magazines, newspapers and many others.
The warmth and the beauty within the subject of his work and the overall art has a minimalistic, vintage style. It is easy on the eye when looking at the whole image. When you focus on specific parts of his work; you can spot different objects or little details that Eguchi has placed to create the feel he wants in the image.
Beauty of women for Eguchi
For Eguchi, he always fantasied about being born as a female: “I always thought that they are beautiful’ and that he ‘could never be on the same level of beauty as women.” This is why he always used women as a subject for his art pieces. He draws them because he could never be them.
The way that he portrays these women creates a sense of youth and longevity. He creates a feature that can never age and encourages the thought that they would all be potential goddesses if they were real. They could be the poster girl for a café or for a seasonal clothing line. He does this through the simple minute details he has planted into his art.
Eguchi uses a creamy palette – it has a very specific aesthetic that is also used in cafe’s, artistic interior designs and others. He partners this with the style that he uses in his manga’s for example “Stop! Hibari-kun.” This manga has gigantic eyes, solid connected lines and a bold line-weight system. These combinations work together to create his adaptation of the “complete” woman. These women are forever young in heart, but also mature nevertheless; they have the heart of a playful monkey but the wisdom of an old soul.
Eguchi’s note:
He could never be reborn as a woman and there isn’t a spell that allows him to reverse his destiny as a male. However, that didn’t stop him from trying to be a woman at the very least. He just tried to see what he would have felt like if he was a woman, what he would’ve worn and the things he would have done. He wanted to see through the eyes of the female.