prolog

1.
France
Paris Aiguisin Dijon Semur-en-Aujoie

2.
Northern Spain & Portugal
Burgos Gijon Santiago de Compostela Vigo Barcelona
Castel Novo Marbão Lisbon Obidos Segovia

3.
Italy & Croatia
Motovun Groznyan resident Robin Komiza Split Gubio

4.
Southern Spain
Salobreña Granada Capileira

5.
England
London York Winchcombe Painswick

Sketches for Coloring

A book to read on days when you want to travel to Europe!
Illustrator Izumi Takahara
See, experience, and draw
Five European Travelogues

A new way to experience Europe
Europe seen through sketches, Europe met through sketches!

Japanese illustrator Izumi Takahara, who is very popular on Instagram for her drawings depicting warm and cozy scenes from everyday life, has compiled stories from Europe she encountered while traveling into a book.
One day, after ten years of marriage and raising children, she suddenly decided to leave for Europe.
Holding my young son's hand in one hand and my sketchbook in the other, I fearlessly boarded the plane.
The places she went were not big cities or famous tourist destinations, but small European towns.
I traveled to small towns where I could see and feel the way people live, and I carefully captured the scenes that caught my eye in a sketchbook.
Sometimes I would stand on the street, sit in a small cafe, or climb up a stone wall to sketch.


This book documents her five European journeys, beginning in France, then to northern Spain and Portugal, Italy and Croatia, southern Spain, and finally England, with 90 watercolor paintings.
Izumi Takahara's sketches are full of vivid and affectionate charm, as if you were on a journey together.
As you turn each page, you feel like you're meeting the people in the sketches with her, going to the market, and sharing delicious food.
In particular, the 'bird's-eye view', drawn from a perspective looking down on the accommodation or house where the reader is staying, takes the reader into the space within the picture like Alice in Wonderland.
At the very end of the book, there are four 'coloring' panels, so you can enjoy a little of the fun of going on a sketching trip yourself.

· A happy journey with a warm smile and a delicious meal
Learning about life in a small European town!

The author finds joy in travel in small things.
A cheap and delicious restaurant discovered by chance, an old building with traces of time, friendly people, an old but comfortable lodging, a shop hidden in a small alley.
Such a simple and unadorned scenery becomes an unforgettable memory.

There is a saying, 'one time, one meeting.'

It means to cherish everything as if it were a once-in-a-lifetime encounter.
The sketches I draw while traveling and the people I meet by chance
Because it's a moment that can never come again.
_During a trip to Winchcombe, England

She headed to a small town to get immersed in the real life of European people.
These include the Croatian coast, the Cotswolds in England, farms in Portugal, and mountain villages in Spain, all of which require a long train and bus ride.
The accommodations were also chosen to be in houses that are over a hundred years old and steeped in long culture and history, or in places where one can experience rural life.
When you arrive at your destination, take your time, take a walk, chat, or sketch.
Ordinary but precious moments are captured in her paintings.
Perhaps happiness lies in the everyday moments of laughter, tears, and life. I invite you to join her on a journey to a small European village, where romance and life intersect.
This book will be a gift for those who dream of a unique European trip.