Yuko Shimazu Yuko Shimazu Yuko Shimizu

Award winning Japanese illustrator based in New York City and instructor at School of Visual Arts.

ha, I didn’t know I was so controversial in Japan. (And that’s kinda cool.)

Over the weekend, blogger Philip Kendall contacted from Japan letting me know that he has written a post about me on RocketNews24, which features mostly niche and light-hearted trend and news from Japan and other parts of Asia.
I have been aware that my site has been getting more visitors from my home country of Japan (where my work is virtually unknown) recently. But I didn’t know my work was getting some controversy over there till I read Philip’s article. And that’s kind of cool. I am definitely not going for ‘safe’ work.  Well, just please do not send me hate mails directly :-b
Read the full article here. 

 

studio still under renovation…

I am back in my studio since Tuesday, but the renovation is still in progress here.
For clients, my studio phone is currently not working, so if you need to contact, please e-mail or call my cell phone instead.

Today was my office-assistant Mr. Bruiser’s first day back to work. He initially did not like the pile of boxes, different desk arrangements,  half finished walls and taken-out closet doors, but eventually became comfortable enough to take a nap in between his busy office work.

My studio should be back in shape and start in full function mode from next week (if that storm does not hit NY, that is).

Sundance x Todd Oldham (+ a bit of Yuko)

Collaboration between Sundance Film Festival and Todd Oldham was just announced.
Among T-shirts and other products that wil be released, there will be an art book edited and curated by Todd Oldham, Sundance Film Festival A to Z.  I am excited to be a part of it, along with friends and fellow illustrators I admire, such as Chris Buzelli, Marcos Chin and Victo Ngai. Exhibit of the works is also scheduled during the film festival.

“An art book titled Sundance Film Festival A to Z will feature the work of 26 renowned illustrators reflecting their own interpretations of Festival films and artists representing each letter of the alphabet.”
“Oldham said, “I find independent film to be endlessly inspiring, and the Sundance Film Festival has provided a platform for many of the most creative and prolific films and filmmakers of the past three decades.”

I cannot show the full finished piece  just yet, but here is a photo of  my work in progress. My alphabet was “K”. Can you find film titles, actors and directors who’s name starts with K here? Answer will be revealed in December.

awesome team tells how they built my new site

I love the team behind my new site. Awesome web design studio Sideways (conveniently just a block away from my studio!) talks about concept behind building my site on their latest blog post. Well, my site is still in progress with minor changes and images keep getting added. It gets better and better every day.
Thank you to the fantastic team!

B&A Journal issue #2

I just got this in the mail over the weekend. B&A Journal #2, probably the best looking newsprint zine out there. A pure eye-candy with lots of photos and some illustrations. I love the design of my spread!

Japanese magazine イラストレーション new article

I have been contributing articles to Japanese magazine ILLUSTRATION イラストレーションon and off for a while.
For the latest issue that is out now (No.195), they asked me to write about working for The NY Times from abroad, which appeared as a 6 page feature.
It was fun interviewing Op-Ed and Book Review art directors, as well as taking photos of them and the new NYT building with my brand new Canon S100 (I love my camera).
This issue also have a huge feature on the world famous Yoshitaka Amano. If you are in Japan (or have a Japanese book store near you), please pick up a copy.
Big thank you to Aviva, Alexandra and Nicholas.

 

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