Yasuko Nakamura is an illustrator / artist based in Seattle, WA.
I began my career in the letterpress greeting card business. Although I enjoyed the process of designing cards and appreciated the beauty of various typefaces, the Japanese comics and anime that I grew up with in my home country were always in the back of my mind as strong influences that I felt were always driving me to do something more. I eventually embarked on transforming myself into a fantasy artist, mixing concepts and aesthetics of the East and West in my work.
Watercolor is my favorite medium, though I enjoy black and white drawings, and digital painting as well.
My style is inspired by girl’s Manga, Kirie, Japanese traditional paintings and also through my experience designing stationary for the letterpress process. Mixing manual mediums such as hand drawings and the antique letterpress printing method with digital paintings I strive to create a feel of modern yet classical art. My passion for drawing was cultivated in Japan where I grew up, and I am still living strongly with it in the U.S., finding inspiration in mythical creatures, fairy tales, Venetian masks, dolls, costume design, Ballet, and Japanese textiles. I use these motifs as poetic storytellers within my visual world.
Also, music is very important to me. Rock, ballads, pop, classical...borderless music gives me imagination and motivation.
As an immigrant, I have a strong belief in the concept of a borderless world, where culture and art are shared and appreciated mutually, and believe that art itself invites such a borderless or unlimited audience. Art, like imagination, is vast and without borders, and its audience should get lost in the journey with the artist.
antique letterpress