Realistic Food Art by Chef X Artist Yamada Meshiga

Meshiga (めしが) in kanji is 「飯画」. “Meshi (飯)” meaning food, and “ga (画)” meaning art or painting. Together they mean “food art” or “food painting”, the main theme of painter Yamada’s artworks and a hot topic on Japanese Twitter.

写実絵師×調理師

On his Twitter page, Yamada Meshiga (@meshieshi) introduces himself as a realistic artist (写実絵師) and chef (調理師):

• 写実 shajitsu : realism, realistic 

• 絵師 eshi : artist, painter

Realism is an art style that aims to accurately represent the appearance of the target object. This is done by careful observance of an object’s outer appearance. Perhaps that is the secret behind Yamada Meshiga’s super realistic food art. Afterall, nobody knows food better than a chef. 

• “Cooking” with Paint and Brushes
• Cooking and Eating Cold Tofu
• Side-by-side Comparison of Real Food and Food Art
• Year of the Rabbit 2023, TKG with Hidden Rabbits

Yamada Meshiga uses a painting method called “overpainting (塗り重ね)”. Overpainting is, just as its name implies, painting over another painting forming layers. His first artwork using overpainting is a pizza bread around 2.5 years ago from January 2023.

>「出来上がるまでの過程を楽しむ作品」
これが初めて描いた塗り重ね作品。
動画の撮り方、編集の仕方、見せ方とか全て手探りでやっていたあの頃、およそ2年半前。初々しいぜ

“A work of art whose process can be enjoy until completion”
This is my first painting using overpainting.
It has been around 2.5 years since the period I had to fumble with how to record, edit, and present videos. I was so new at this lol. 

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“Cooking” with Paint and Brushes

Yamada Meshiga’s ingenious usage of the overpainting style makes his painting process almost seem like actual cooking. The way he edits his videos makes it super satisfying to watch from start to end. 

The actual painting process must take a lot of time as each layer needs to dry before the next one can be painted on, so we are really grateful that he took the time to edit and timelapse the videos.

Super Satisfying to Watch Pancake-making Video

This is my most favourite of Yamada Meshiga’s cooking videos. Excuse me, I meant to say painting. 

From the mixing of pancake ingredients in a metal mixing bowl, to frying and flipping in a pan, to serving it up on a plate, and finally topping it with butter and syrup. 

Cooking and Eating Cold Tofu

 Yamada Meshiga does a different take with this video by including the eating process! After the cold tofu is prepared, you can see how it is slowly devoured bite by bite. The way the tofu crumbles is unbelievably real. The leftover liquid, tiny tofu bits and green onions is on point! 

Drawing Each Bento Dishes Like Preparing a Real Bento

How to pack bento dishes in a bento box? Start with the rice, and add the dishes from one side to the other. Be careful not to leave spaces between dishes. 

Preparing Soboro Don

Soboro Don (そぼろ丼) is a minced meat or fish rice bowl dish. Minced meat (usually chicken), green vegetables, and scrambled eggs are added to the top of rice. The colours make it look appetising. 

Using the overpainting method, Yamada Meshiga starts with drawing the bowl, adding the rice, and finally the toppings. As written in the Tweet, he received comments like “Was it necessary to draw the rice?” His humorous reply is 

そぼろ丼にご飯無かったら丼ちゃうやんか😏具だけ描いて何が楽しいんや
A soboro udon without rice is no longer a don 😏 There’s no fun in only drawing the toppings.

Life as a Ear of Corn

The details for this grilled corn are amazing. Notice the colour difference between the 2nd and 3rd photo as the corn turns a brighter shade of yellow whilst it “cooks”. Also, the steam puffs in the air.

Twitter Link

Side-by-side Comparison of Real Food and Food Art

So how does Yamada Meshiga’s realistic food art compare to real food? Or better yet, his own cooking! 

Spring Rolls

Yamada Meshiga’s homemade spring rolls, 20 of them. 

Teriyaki Buri

今日は、いい感じのぶり照りが出来ましたので、昔描いたぶり照りを添えて。
Today, I cooked a good teriyaki buri, so I added [to the Twitter post] the teriyaki buri I drew a long time ago. 

Twitter Link

Udon from Cover Image

描いたうどんと作ったうどん。
Drawn udon and cooked udon. 

Twitter Link

Year of the Rabbit 2023, TKG with Hidden Rabbits

Yamada Meshiga’s first food painting for the year is TKG! TKG stands for “tamago kake gohan (卵かけごはん)", thus the abbreviation “TKG”. It is a simple but favourite Japanese dish of rice topped with raw egg. 

Why TKG?
Yamada Meshiga explains in the beginning of the video. Because the kanji for the Year of the Rabbit is “卯”, and by adding 2 dots it becomes “卵”, the kanji for egg! 

That’s not all! In the TKG painting are 3 hidden rabbits! Amazingly, quite a number of Yamada Meshiga’s fans were able to find them, earning a praise of their powers of observation from him.

Did you manage to find them all? The answers are in this Twitter post:

To Close

Although food is Yamada Meshiga’s favourite theme, he also enjoys drawing other things too, like animals and seasonal scenes. And just like his food art, they are amazingly detailed and realistic.

Animal Collection

Other things he also enjoys painting are Japanese favourite snacks and sweets. 

Love what you’ve seen this far, then follow Yamada Meshiga’s social media accounts for more videos and photos he cooks up! 

Photos provided courtesy of Yamada Meshiga 山田 めしが (Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Youtube).