Girls Whom Girls Draw is an art book portraying cute or sexy girls in various poses. So how does it separate itself from the competition? It’s a book created solely by women. The artists, the designers and the editorial staff are all women. But don’t expect them to be subtle or inexplicit. Girls Whom Girls Draw has some daring images and a hell of a lot of female curves.

The idea of creating an all-female art book first surfaced in Megami Magazine after some of the girls in the crew discussed the differences between the way man and woman perceive the cuteness of girls. The editorial crew decided to put theory into practice and produce a book that will give a profound female opinion on the subject.

Girls Whom Girls Draw is a satisfyingly wide A4 sized book with a total of 118 pages dedicated the artistic moe drawings (never thought I’d ever get to write that line!). The book is divided into four vogue chapters: Girl, Girls, School Girls and Special Contents. The art book’s layout is very similar to that of 100 Masters of Shoujo Painting. Each artist is given two pages – one to introduce herself and another for her drawing. Where this book differs from 100 Masters is within the details each artist provided. Although some technical details, such as what programs the artist uses, are still present the book adds specialized questions such as “What type of girl do you like?”, “What body parts do you like in the female body?” and “Which girl have you fallen for?” (in the media of course).

Each artist explains in her own words what she thinks is the secret to womanly charm. Opinions vary greatly here: some artists think strong woman are attractive, while others find themselves mesmerized by a specific feminine trait or body part. The artists can be pretty blunt about their fondness for the female body. They aren’t ashamed of admitting they like sexy girls or slutty girls. In the “What body parts do you like in the female body?” section one artist answered she likes “the lips, breasts (the bigger the better!)”.
That said you might be surprised as to how focused and self-aware some artists are. One artist claims her favorite body parts are “the soft parts of the skin that are a little hidden, the inner bones, places where muscle tissue is outlined”. The textual content of this books is entirely in Japanese so take in mind that you won’t be able to enjoy the juicy information without being proficient in the Japanese language.

If you were expecting Girls Whom Girls Draw to show less skin just because it is drawn by girls you are greatly mistaken. I found the art in the book to touch more on sexy girls than moe girls. Frankly this book is much more revealing and sexy than 100 Masters of Shoujo Painting. Expect to see a lot of naked bodies. In fact this was the first time I found myself lamenting AnimeReviews’ safe-for-work policy. A few spectacular images I would have loved to show didn’t make the cut simply because they show a naked breast (or two). Furthermore take note that there is one quite daring drawing featuring lolis – a problematic issue for those living in countries where censorship laws prohibit the importation or possession of such imagery.
With the exception of that particular drawing the art of Girls Whom Girls Draw is usually tasteful. The drawings are bright and colorful. An artsy family member of mine pointed out that a considerable number of artists in this book borrow elements from Art Nouveau. Even though all the drawings were separated into the three vogue chapters I mentioned above there really isn’t much consistency between the artists. This can be good, since each artist uses a different color palette, her unique drawing style and different poses. But this can also be bad because the quality of the art tends to be uneven at times. I found at least two drawings that were not as refined as the rest and as a result felt out of place.

The format of the book changes in the Special Contents chapter. You can still find a nice assortment of cute girls here but this chapter tends to be more eclectic in nature. A few text-heavy pages contain interviews with the artists, some pages show pictures taken at the artists’ workplace and three pages explain in stages how the cover picture was drawn.

I found Girls Whom Girls Draw to be a beautiful, if inconsistent, art book. The book does have additional minor flaws. With only 118 pages Girls Whom Girls Draw is a bit on the thin side. Each artist receives two pages, but only one has an image printed on it. The page detailing the artist’s preferences is almost blank and doesn’t contain any imagery – which means only about 59 pages actually contain art in this art book. The book’s size allows for some big and impressive drawings, but its wide and slender nature made it uncomfortable for me to hold it in my hands.

While it makes some compromises and is arguably not the most encompassing moe art out there Girls Whom Girls Draw is a nice budget buy with beautiful art and some womanly touch. You can pick up your copy of Girls Whom Girls Draw on J-List or Amazon.