Yuko Shimizu, an artist born in Japan and living in New York City, is the famous author of these whimsical illustrations. In fact, she described them to This is Colossal as “a bit off, weird, and dreamy.”
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Q2) Number one best thing to do to create a unique style? . . . Be interested, really interested, in things OUTSIDE OF visual arts. You thought I was going to say work on your skills? Well, skills are important (we will talk about that some other time), but one thing to pick? Hands down, be open minded and curious about things outside of illustration. In order for you to get that e-mail for an exciting job, your work needs to stick in the mind of potential clients. It’s not the technical skill that sticks, it’s something interesting that does. To accomplish that, first, you have to be interesting. A few years ago at exit interview, I told one of the students “I am not worried about you at all”. He was not convinced. He worked hard, but his work was not quite there yet. “Why do all my instructors tell me that?” I told him because we all know he was one of the most interesting students in the graduating class. One of the things he was into were antique bone china (among other peculiar things). He came to every class looking like he was ready to be on the front row of a fashion show. While his work did not stick YET, we knew it eventually will. And, we will always remember him. He was sticky. There was another student in the same class. Top student. She did grade A work, but also lacked something. One day I asked her what she was really into. She said “I don’t know.” Art is a reflection of who you are. Interesting people make interesting art. Just focusing on art itself won’t make you a great artist. Be interesting. Be interested. Be open. The rest will eventually catch up. 🙂 . . . Today’s question came from @cantseewill who is starting @svanyc from September. Hope to see you at school? Image was originally crated for @sbuzelli #YukoAMA_Aug2019
A post shared by Yuko Shimizu (@yukoart) on Aug 6, 2019 at 2:42pm PDT
Shimizu’s distinctive style includes repetition and primary colors that she uses in most of her work. She covers many different topics that vary from political to light. What’s interesting about her is that she gave another career a try before becoming an artist. As her website states, “although art has always been her passion, she had initially chosen a more practical path of studying advertising and marketing at Waseda University and took a job in corporate PR in Tokyo.” She quickly gave up and started doing art full-time.
You can check out her work on Instagram.
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Q10) “Help! I can't find my style!” . . . I think there are two things that are off in this short sentence. First, please stop fixated on the term ’STYLE’. Don’t get me wrong, I do use it too. But I also hate it. Whenever I can I replace it with “personal voice” which is more fitting. Words with seemingly the same meaning are very different when you look closer. "Personal voice” is much more open ended. It implies that each artist is different and unique. We grow as a person, and art should naturally grow with us. Superficial ’style = look’ can change with time and practice, but the core of who we are will always be there. ( I was lucky to have studied at @svanyc @svamfaillustration “personal voice’ was their mantra.) With this, the word “FIND” starts to sound a bit off, doesn’t it? You don’t stumble and find yourself somewhere you didn’t expect, right? You are always where you are. So, secondly, please stop looking outside in hope of stumbling upon your style magically. Instead, please start looking inward. WHO AM I? AND WHAT WOULD I CREATE BECAUSE I AM WHO I AM? I am sorry I am not giving you clear tips or tricks toward the goal. But life is a journey and so is your art. IG and other social media are constantly giving us visual information overload, and it’s making us feel as if the answers are buried out there where you won’t find. Cheesy as it sounds, you are the one and only. There is nobody else who is like you. Start figuring out who you are, what you love, what you hate, what you care, what you are passionate about… Take a deep breath, and start looking inward to yourself for the answers. You will eventually meet your personal voice . . . I may go into more specifics tomorrow. The image was originally created for: @gratefuldead client: @rhino_records #YukoAMA_Aug2019
A post shared by Yuko Shimizu (@yukoart) on Aug 22, 2019 at 12:38pm PDT
