Yuko Shimazu Yuko Shimazu Yuko Shimizu

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

SANDMAN SERIES IS COMPLETED. WHAT’S NEXT (In The Comic Book World)?

The last issue of Sandman The Dream Hunters (by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell) came out last week. You can now find all four issues at comic book stores near you. (I even saw them in a store in Berlin, Germany!)Ah, the comic book people are so nice, I loved working with them, especially my sweet editor Pornsak Pichetshote.

So, guess what? Pornsak and I have just started working on covers for a new series!

Last week, I met up with the team for a dinner, the talented and sweet Mike Carey and Peter Gross. comic fans know them well as the geniuses behind Lucifer series.

I cannot tell you much more now, but to the right is a sneak peek of what I am working on right now.

FUN COVER AT NYT BOOK REVIEW

This is the cover of The New York Times Book Review from yesterday. 6 artists illustrated Lincoln with the same exact color scheme in 6 completely different ways.You know they are all Abe, yet, each image is completely different. This is why illustration is so fun.  On my blog, I have posted this process and every illustrator’s name and web links. (You can even read about how I gave Abe a Photoshop facelift.)You can also see the slide show of all the illustrations on NY Times site.

MORIBITO NAMED AS AN OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL BOOK

Earlier this month, School Library Journal announced 42 titles recommended by the fourth annual United States Board on Books for Young People’s (USBBY) Outstanding International Books committee. These were chosen as the best of children’s literature from faraway places—books that introduce young readers to outstanding authors and illustrators from other countries, help them see the world from other points of view, and provide another perspective or address a topic that may be missing from children’s books in the United States.First of the Moribito series by Nahoko Uehashi from Scholastic, which I contributed by illustrating cover and interior illustrations was chosen as one of them. Big thank you to Elizabeth Parisi and Phil Falco of Scholastic for giving me this opportunity.You can read the full article and browse through other 41 chosen titles on School Library Journal site.

Editorial, Editorial

Last year, I wasn’t able to do a lot of editorial illustrations, but I am feeling good finally getting back into it, creating many new pieces for many new (and some familiar) clients now.2008 ended with a fun portrait for TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year issue illustrating the one and only: Zhang Yimou, so honored to be able to draw him. To kick off 2009, two illustrations appeared on the cover of Boston Globe Ideas Section yesterday. (Yes, that means, I worked on January 1st!)

SANDMAN FIRST ISSUE IS NOW IN STORES

The Sandman The Dream Huntersjust hit the comic book stores near you. I got my own copy messengered from DC Vertigo this morning. My very first DC cover! I have illustrated a lot of things, but “first” is always, always exciting. This gig came through a rather unexpected route.Nicholas Blechman, art director at The New York Times Book Review, contacted me a few years ago to draw a portrait of Neil Gaiman. Nicholas thought I would be a perfect fit to illustrate the writer who deals a lot with dreams. A few weeks later when the Book Review came out, my studio phone rang. On the other end of the line was, to my big surprise, Neil Gaiman himself. He gave me the nicest compliment by saying this was the first time he saw a portrait that actually looked like him. Later on I got contacted by editors of DC Vertigo asking if I am interested in possibly drawing one of Neil’s stories into graphic novel, which I had to turn down. I have been illustrating for a while, also a lot of my closest friends are comic artists. I knew very well what it takes to be a comic artist, and I knew I didn’t qualify.I had been in touch with wonderful editors from DC Comics (Karen Barger and Pornsak Pichetshote) since. There were multiple ideas and project that came and went. Finally, the first project came that actually worked out, that was this four volume series of SANDMAN. And it was such a fun project to work on. Thank you Neil, thank you Karen and Pornsak.

Cover illustrations are uploaded to ILLUSTRATIONS SECTION.

NEW SVA CATALOG!

School of Visual Arts (SVA)‘s new catalog PROOF just came out. and I have to say this is one of the best looking college catalogs I have seen in a long time.I bet it will makes anyone want to come study at SVA. You have to actually see to experience the “wow”. Those of you who are interested in applying to BFA or MFA in SVA, please order your own copy online.They gave me four page feature in the faculty section of this catalog. thank you everyone at SVA!

SANDMAN COVERS ARE DONE

This weekend, I worked on the 4th SANDMAN covers for DC Vertigo. It will be sent out to my editor early Monday morning, and my Sandman gig is done.

It is a Neil Gaiman classic with a Japanese twist. Beautiful interior drawings were done by P. Craig Russell.The first issue is due out in stores on November 5th. I hope you go to a comic book store near you to pick it up.

I will post all the covers to the site soon. (As always, I am slow on updating Illustration section.) Big thank you to Neil, Karen and Pornsak.

TWO NEW GOOD BOOKS!

I spoke about designer Mike Perry‘s new book OVER & OVER earlier. I finally posted my feature pages.It is just a beautiful little book. Great gift idea for those with really good taste, and just a wonderful source of inspirations for artists. I LOVE IT!

Thank you Mike. We will meet in person soon.

Also, Hong Kong’s Victionary came out with yet another nicely designed project, MUSIKRAPHICS. This book has lots of interesting Chinese and Japanese music graphics we usually don’t have easy access to. It is so fun to look at! Thank you everyone at Victionary, as always..

Also added a few other older missing press in PRESS SECTION.

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