pastel bible

01 Jun 2025

A page of a book with artwork of a woman with green hair submerged in water up to the bottom half of her face. A small yellow hand emerges from the top of her head, with a knife wielded by a small humanoid between its two fingers.

There are only a handful of artists that make me want to pick up a pen and draw and Isamu Gakiya is one of them. His unfettered imagination runs wild in Guinea Mate: Gakiya Isamu Artworks Collection, now an invaluable part of my bookshelf.

Holding Isamu Gakiya's art on my hands is not on my bingo card this year, or any year for that matter. His art resides solely on my phone or desktop screen, having been an avid follower of his Instagram and Twitter for years. It's a reminder to always check your local bookstore for any surprises.

A page of a book containing a watercolor painting of a young woman in a car. The windows are half-open, showing only her eyes and a reflection of a green, oozing zombie coming for her.

I can only describe Isamu Gakiya's art as a rainbow pastel smoothie of guinea pigs, doe-eyed waifs, fluffy creatures, oozing monsters, and random body parts – topped with a whipped cream of sadness. Every turn of page I find myself thinking damn, this would look good on a shirt. But merchandise would be a disservice to Isamu Gakiya's art, as it is an extension of his philosophy in life.

A page of a book with an artwork of a fat guinea pig resting on the pale palm of someone's hands. There is a tiny cat-headed lady and a dog-headed lady standing on each thumb, wearing identical plain dresses. A fluffy white creature resembling a cotton ball stands on top of the guinea pig with a lollipop-like creature, with its spherical yellow head smiling and its stick body turning into a hand and patting the guinea pig's head.

"Guinea Mate" is Gaki-san's personal belief system where his beloved guinea pigs are deigned as gods. Sounds wacky but it's essentially about elevating things that you love and activities that keep you going everyday, instead of relying on a sky daddy for perpetual succor. In Gaki-san's case, rodents and art fill that void, offering him salvation.

The book presents 24 out of the 108 rules in text and visual form. Here are some of my favorites:

Sleep 10 hours a day whenever possible
In life, the more time spent sleeping, the better. We were born to sleep.

Be willing to spend time and money on fun stuff
That's what time and money are for.

Never curse people
If you have time to curse others, convert that feeling into love for yourself. Curses come home to roost.

Try not to make promises
Don't promise to meet me, just come see me out of the blue.

They're not exactly the Ten Commandments but more like thoughtful Post-It notes that someone left on the fridge. The visual metaphors more than make up for them, however.

A page spread of a book. The left page contains a watercolor painting of a young woman standing on murky waters, carrying a giant brown guinea pig over her shoulder. Behind her is a canopy of trees and darkness. The right page says GM 5 articles: Love animals excessively.

A page spread of a book. The left page contains a watercolor painting of a young woman in pigtails holding an ice cream cone. She seems to be in zero-gravity as her hair, shirt, and all the objects behind her – dentures, guinea pigs, Playstation controller, shoes, pills, etc. – are floating. The right page says GM 16 articles: Stay away from illegal drugs.

A page spread of a book. The left page contains a watercolor painting of a young woman wearing a yellow shirt dress, lounging on a pink beanbag that resembles a squished head of a man. There is a white fluffy round creature peeking from behind the bean bag. The right page says GM 3 articles: When tired, rest immediately.

A page spread of a book. The left page contains a watercolor painting of a bespectacled young blonde, her face in focus. Her glasses contain a reflection of two monster hands doing a pinky promise. The right page says GM 8 articles: Try not to make promises.

A page spread of a book. The left page contains a watercolor painting of a young woman looking menacing, with pigtails of giant human ears and wings that resembles bat ears. 8 arms emanate like a flower from her back, with each hand holding long hair coming out of each giant ear.

The book contains two interview transcripts as well as pages of a comic strip starring the artist himself. I can't say much about them because of the lack of English translation. Oh well, more reason to get back into studying Nihongo!

A page spread of a book. The pages are yellow and filled with comics of the artist in a precarious situation.

This blog post will probably be the first of many show-and-tell posts, in lieu of review posts that I don't feel equipped to write. I would much rather share stuff that are cool and interesting than dig deep or rip apart a piece of media, which everyone seems wont to do nowadays.

I hope some of you got inspired with Gaki-san's art the same way I did!

A page of a book with a watercolor painting of a gray dog, running wildly with its tongue out and long fur dancing in the wind. A pencil tied with a yellow rope is tied to the dog like a leash.

further links

Leave a message

#art #book #show and tell