Yuko Shimizu

How exciting!! the first volume of The Unwritten, the collection of the first five issues of the DC Comics vertigo series I have been illustrating the cover for, is so far, ahem, on the week 6 of New York Times Best Seller list!

On the right is the current best seller list in graphic novel category.I cannot stress enough! The Unwritten is a very well written, mysterious, intellectual and interesting story. Definitely not your kids’ comic book. And, I am not saying this because I do the covers. It is REALLY good.

Every issue, I research and learn about historical fiction I have read or not read in past.

I have just finished the cover for issue No. 14. No.11 coming out this month. And, we may be able to have a brand new cover for collected volume No.2, so stay tuned 🙂

Japanese design magazine idea(アイデア) issue No.338 just came out this week. Special feature: Post Pop Graphics. The issue has ten page feature of my work including rather long interview on how I started working as an illustrator in the New York, difference between Japanese and western illustration markets, advice for those who aim to work in the world market, etc.Besides a big thank you that goes to editor Ms. Makie Kubo, this feature has a very special meaning for me.I have moved to New York exactly 10 years ago from Tokyo, and although my work has been commissioned, published and/or featured in many countries around the world, I had yet worked with a Japanese client, and this is the first time my work was officially introduced to the Japanese art/design community. It really means a lot to me.

I will post the actual pages on PRESS SECTION soon. For now, you can see all the featured artists’ works and purchase info on idea Magazine site.

Christmas is only two weeks away. Have you finished all your holiday shopping yet?Here is a stocking stuffer suggestion from me. My agent over in London, CIA (Central Illustration Agency) has come out with a cool weekly desk calendar yet again. Fifty-two illustrators each created a page of original image, this year’s theme was: words that have ‘ace’ somewhere. Mine is “placebo”. This calendar is £7 in the UK and £12 elsewhere. A must have for illustration fans.

…has just come out this week. This is my favorite cover I have done so far. Please pick one up at a nearest comic book store.

DC Comics Vertigo’s series The Unwritten‘s issue No. 5 just came out this week.In the meantime at my studio, I am busy working on the issue No.9 cover which is due to my editor next week. (Yes, we work WAY in advance.)I just posted on my blog the creative process of No. 5 as it has been a while since I posted about issue No. 1. Please check it out when you have time.I cannot stress enough how well written The Unwritten is. If you are one of those people who think ‘comic books are just for kids’ it will make you change your idea.

Talented illustrator and the man behind IllustrationMundo, Nate Williams, kindly invited me to the site and gave me a feature. You are so nice, Nate. Thank you.Oh, by the way, who are the people in the photo? Nate wanted pictures that show who I am, so I picked one of my favorites from a group trip to Lisboa a few years ago. Gary, Thilo, Axel, and Thomas all the way in the back.

Awesome German art book publisher and the nicest editing team of Gestaltenjust announced the release of new books for fall, and I am thrilled to be in two of them.The first one is ILLUSIVE 3, which will be published at the end of the month in Continental Europe, and everywhere else in September.

The first two volumes of ILLUSIVE were best-sellers, so some of you may know about this awesome collection of contemporary illustration. My works as well as my best friend Marcos Chin‘s are in both ILLUSIVE 2 and ILLUSIVE 3.

I have not seen the book yet, but I am supposed to have an interview section in this latest book. I am extra excited. Thank you so much Henni!

The second one is Hair’ em Scare’ em due later in Fall.

This one is a good example of Gestalten-speciality-style books I love: photo, fine art, design, illustration, anything visual all in one book without any distinction under one theme. Obviously, this time, the theme is “hair”.

The website preview shows a spread of my Bjork portrait right next to a photo of Bjork with artist Shoplifter‘s actual hair sculpture.

I have to say, this is my dream come true. I have been a long time Bjork fan, as well as an admirer of Shoplifter’s amazing works. By the way, Shoplifter is a really good friend of my best friend Agata Nowicka and I have met her once. Super nice person. Another friend Ai Tatebayashi is also featured in this book.

Big thank you to Matthias and Elizabeth for including me in the book.

Thank you for your support! The Unwritten issue No.1 and No.2 both are sold out, and the second printing with variant covers are now in stores. The latest issue now is No.3, and the issue No. 4 will be published next week on August 12. I have, so far, done with the first 9 covers and about to start the 10th. The story gets better and better, and I am having more and more fun working on them. So please continuously support The Unwritten series. Big thanks to my dear editor Pornsak, and Mike and Peter team, among everyone else involved in making this series happen.I added all these new cover layouts to ILLUSTRATION SECTION.