Art / Misaki Kawai
I was just recently introduced to the work of artist Misaki Kawai. I must say that my interest in her work has since become something of a creative obsession. Her trippy, child-like figures and animals, painted in the most expressive, perfectly satisfying candy colored hues, are more than enough to send me running for the bag of jelly beans and jolly ranchers hidden in my cupboard. In contrast, Kawai’s seemingly straight-forward subject matter set a perfectly tongue in cheek tone. I’d just love to sink my teeth into her perfectly endearing figures and their omnipresent pets. What more can I possibly say about the wonderful work of Misaki Kawai?
Tagged: colourful illustrations, New York artists
- 6
- 1
RELATED
Admiring the work of New York illustrator Aaron Meshon, you can’t help but start to feel like a happy go lucky little kid. And it’s a safe bet to assume that real kids really dig his stuff as well. His store, a colourful array of lunchboxes, puzzles, and backpacks, makes me miss being ten. But heck, maybe I’ll just buy myself a new lunchbox, anyway. Read more
I’ve known the New York-based artist Jordan Awan for quite a long time now. Since he was in high school in fact. So I have had the privilege of watching his art truly evolve into something amazing. Read more
I saw pretty rad illustration in a recent Newsweek of a two-headed snake. I think it was an article about the economy, but I honestly can’t remember. I remembered the artist, though, and looked him up online. Chris Buzelli does some pretty great paintings that liven up articles in Men’s Health, Rolling Stone, and many others. They kind of remind me of Mark Ryden, but with a little more restraint. Read more
Also by ILANA KOHN
I declare New York-based illustrator Phillip Fivel Nessen one of the most chameleon-like illustrators I have ever come across. In many cases, for someone working as an illustrator, this sort of quality tends to be seen as a negative. Nessen commands each style so effortlessly, though, and with such originality, that we can hardly complain? Despite the wide range of styles, I find I can easily pin it down as having come from him each and every time. I love everything in his portfolio, from the illustrated type (which seems to be his latest obsession), to his colourful print like illustrations, to his moody, scratchy older work, to his trippy Milton Glaser-like works, to his amazing alter ego, Abe Twist. And I wait in anticipation for his next whim.
I’m really digging Los Angeles-based illustrator Jon Han’s textured, colourful, almost scientific work. I find it particularly refreshing how Han frequently eschews most of the physical detail within his tiny figures, which lends itself all the more to further enhancing the diagram like quality of his work.
Admiring the work of New York illustrator Aaron Meshon, you can’t help but start to feel like a happy go lucky little kid. And it’s a safe bet to assume that real kids really dig his stuff as well. His store, a colourful array of lunchboxes, puzzles, and backpacks, makes me miss being ten. But heck, maybe I’ll just buy myself a new lunchbox, anyway. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (1)
HAVE YOUR SAY
Dan Hiller mixes a gothic sensibility with a tribal roughness in his haunting watercolors and ink drawings of skulls and tree-headed figures. His mash-up of old Victorian engravings are simple but eerie, and have an almost logographic quality about them — they’re great tattoo ideas.
Bill Callahan’s Woke on a Whaleheart is a little trip I take myself on every now and then when I’m looking to really sink myself into a piece of music. Read more
Australian group Pivot have recently signed with the mighty Warp label and — even better (well, for us anyway) — have written a fun Secret Playlist for us. You can see where the many disparate influences have seeped into their latest recording, the beautiful and colourful, O Soundtrack My Heart.
We have a bunch of new playlists up on our sister site, My Secret Playlist, a music discovery website and weekly email publication in which we invite our favourite bands and musicians to give us the rundown on their eight favourite songs right now. Over the past few weeks, acts such as The B52s, Team Genius, Pivot, Jukebox the Ghost, Moby, Katy Perry, and the Dandy Warhols, among many others, have written about the music that inspires them. To sign-up to receive the weekly My Secret Playlist publication, just enter your email address into the website’s subscription box.
Steven LaRose’s abstract, inky paintings and drawings are a modern interpretation of Japanese textile and scroll art. While not directly representational, except for some repeated flower-like shapes, LaRose’s images are like apparitions, vaguely hinting at more tangible and recognizable forms. Read more
If you’ve seen some really clever poster mash-ups going on in the NYC subway system, chances are you have graffiti artist Poster Boy to thank. It’s baffling how he can create such elaborate pieces without getting caught. Read more
Scott Sternberg created the great Los Angeles label, Band of Outsiders, and it’s one of the few labels that fit a little guy like me perfectly. I live in BOO shirts. They are my second skin.
WE'RE RESPECTING
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Scour, a new way of searching the net
Have you heard about Scour yet? If not you will. It is quickly emerging as the most serious competitor to the Google search engine, with an approach based on votes and comments from users focusing on relevance. It delivers search results from Google, Yahoo and MSN, and the best feature is that each time you search, vote or comment, you receive points which can be exchaged for VISA gift cards. Sour gives you one point for each search, two points for each vote and three points for each comment. With around 6,500 points, you will receive a $25 VISA gift card. Not bad for doing something you’re doing now anyway for free.
Swiss manufacturer Peraves has recently introduced the Monotracer, a two-wheeled vehicle that’s remarkably similar to the lightcycles in Tron. Buckminster Fuller would be proud.
Kikkerland, the company behind those campfire tea light holders, has a line of amazing snap-together anatomic models of beetles, frogs, moths, cows, humans, and a wide range of other animals, even a wooly mammoth. Where the hell were these when I was a kid?
This is Mike Bertino and his work absolutely wonderful. He’s got this original, almost lo-fi Tim Biskup thing going on and it makes me really want to grab a beer with him. I love when artists give their pieces names like Knuckle Inferno and Man Beard. It just makes them that much better. He keeps a blog where he publishes his latest work and lets you know where they’re available for purchase, so go check it out. I think I’m going to ask him to be my BFF. Well, at least one of them. Not the only one. Cause, you know … I have more than one. Read more
Seriously, nothing beats good old 35mm film. To me photography isn’t about capturing every pore in someone’s face, or even making slick, magazine-ready images. The imperfections in film put just enough distance between the viewer and the moment that allows room for an emotional and nostalgic response. Digital photos are generally so vivid that it eliminates all the mystery of an image. Check out Jeff Luker’s photostream to see what I mean. Read more
This beautifully soft, handmade and dyed scarf is by the New York-based designer, Ryan Sullivan. They can be purchased through the Lost At E Minor store. Read more
Happy, happy, joy, joy! We have a TV On The Radio poster designed by Tunde, as well as Dear Science on vinyl, to give away to a randomly selected Lost At E Minor subscriber who leaves a comment under this post telling us why they simply must have it.
Discuss
- curiousmoth on "books/literature section in Lost At E minor?"
- curiousmoth on "Art & Politics/Propaganda?"
- Huna on "Art & Politics/Propaganda?"
- Andy on "books/literature section in Lost At E minor?"
- Andy on "Art & Politics/Propaganda?"
- Andy on "Art & Politics/Propaganda?"
- curiousmoth on "Art & Politics/Propaganda?"
- Huna on "Art & Politics/Propaganda?"
Recently
- Young Blood at New York’s Opera Gallery Jenn Porreca
- Phillip Fivel Nessen Ilana Kohn
- Collaborate with Spike Lee on a mobile film Casper Johansson
- TV On The Radio poster and vinyl Zolton
- The Teddy Bear’s Picnic Casper Johansson
- Juana Molina Francis Andrews
- Aurie Ramirez Gerry Mak
- Gojira’s Vacuity Gerry Mak
- Ryan Sullivan scarf Zolton
- Spelling Change for Obama Casper Johansson
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
TAGS: acoustic music animals animation Australian bands black and white illustrations black and white photography blogs Brooklyn Brooklyn artists Brooklyn bands cartoons China collaboration colour colourful illustrations comics electronic music flash games folk music Hip Hop Japan London Los Angeles magazines Melbourne New York New York artists New York bands New York illustrators New York photographers pop music portrait portraits prints rock music San Francisco soul music street art street fashion surrealism Sydney t-shirts technology typography UK bands
IMAGES:
POPULAR:
- Marc Collin: My Secret Playlist!' - loved 60 times
- Brittanie Pendleton - loved 48 times
- Elaine Biss's feminine charms - loved 25 times
- Ed Harcourt: 'My Secret Playlist' - loved 22 times
- Prefab House - loved 19 times
- Andreco's brilliant visions - loved 18 times
- I Give Up On T-Shirts - loved 16 times
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it’s not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Or if you’d just like to talk amongst yourselves, that’s cool too. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
evah said | 9 August, 2008
I love love love love love love her work, so much fun!!!!!!!!!!!!