A few weeks back I happened upon a post on Instagram highlighting a variety of illustrators. Naoko Saito's drawings caught my eye immediately, and so I followed Naoko and went down a rabbit hole looking through past works. The line work and drawing texture pulled at my heartstrings and reminded me deeply of Egon Schiele's work. Schiele is visually one of my favorite artists, and works that reference back to his work and the Vienna Session time period will forever catch my eye.
And Naoko draws cats!
I mean, just look at this pigment and pastel piece below entitled "Blanket" ::
The textural depth of the blanket creates a large shape, out of which pops the delicate details of the figure's head and cat's body. Both look serene, comforted by each others warmth and familiarity.
Compare this to Egon Schiele's "Girl Undressing." Both use a textured, abstracted flat shape to depict fabric covering a figure formed out of perfectly placed detail. Where Schiele leans on sexual desire, coyness, and intimacy, Saito's imagery evokes a different kind of intimacy. Her's is wrapped within tranquility, warmth, and familiarity.
Both artists add hues of reds and greens into the details, creating contrast to the flat yellow fabrics. As someone who doesn't work with realism or figures in color, these delicate, thoughtful marks tickle my brain.
Have you heard of either artist?
Do these artists remind you of any other works that you've come across?
I'll share more of Naoko Saito's work in the future — it is that inspiring and beautiful!
Until then, I encourage you to do a deep dive into both of these artists and comment below to let me know what details most interest you.
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