Yoon Hyup

May 19, 2021 12:03 AM \

Yoon Hyup is a New York based artist, born and raised in Seoul,  South Korea. His work is an abstract painting technique composed of free flowing yet structured lines and dots. His artistic style is also inspired by his skateboarding background and his experience with music. His Korean roots are respected through his use of Korea’s primary colours (red, yellow, blue, black and white) and cloud patterns which can often be found in his work.  In an interview with S’well he says this about how he started painting:  

“I never thought I would be an artist or some guy who would be talked about or asked to come paint [somewhere], but creation is something natural for me because I’m always motivated to express myself. I started studying art when I was in high school. I studied graphic art because I really wanted to design skateboards. Skateboarding and music were really big parts of my life growing up. In 2001, when I went to college, I met a lot of DJ and musician friends. A DJ crew wanted me to paint live while he performed his set, a mix hip hop, funk, disco, we’d perform all night. That was when I was 23 or 24 years old, and then I met more and more people, they would learn about me and ask me to do more paintings.”

More of his work can be viewed on his website and Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Yoon Hyup.

Posted in: Painting \ Tagged:

Hiroyuki Izutsu

May 17, 2021 12:03 AM \

Tokyo-based illustrator Hiroyuki Izutsu began his career as an animator before turning to illustration.  Motifs of his work include humans, landscapes and flowers.  Inspired by everyday life, Hiroyuki primarily works in opaque watercolor, combining hand-drawn and digital techniques to create his distinctive images.  His incredibly vibrant color palette can be seen on book covers in the Japanese publishing industry contributing to the sales of many bestselling books.  On Portfolio-ai he says this about why he became an illustrator:

“I’ve loved drawing since I was a kid, and I was a boy who wanted to be a manga artist. After graduating from animation school, I first started working as an animator. When I first learned about illustration, when I entered the company, the illustrations of Teruhiko Yumura and Yosuke Kawamura came out, and I thought it was cool and started to be aware of the work of “illustration” and wanted to become an illustrator. I thought.”

“When I wondered what I wanted to do, I wanted to do what I liked, and I remember drawing when I was a kid, forgetting time, and I like drawing after all. I thought.”

The artist can be found on his website, Behance, Facebook and Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Hiroyuki Izutsu.

Posted in: Illustration, Japan \ Tagged: ,

Arii Momoya Pottery

May 14, 2021 12:03 AM \

Hyakuyo Arii graduated from Osaka University of Arts, Department of Design. She worked as a planning designer at a stuffed toy and stationery company, then at a printing company, and a design office. Currently she is active as a freelancer. In 2012 she started her ceramic company, Arii Mimosa Pottery. Each of the molding and hand-painted words and motifs is created through a number of processes.  Her creation motifs of Western antiques and religious elements often including Latin words.

More of her work can be viewed on her website and Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Arii Momoya Pottery.

Posted in: Ceramics, Japan, Pottery \ Tagged: , ,
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