Yuko Shimazu Yuko Shimazu Yuko Shimizu

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

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.

October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween. Just added 4 new images in ILLUSTRATION SECTION.

I am hoping to add all the SANDMAN covers to the site by the first issue publishing date. So, please stay tuned..

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.

BELIEVE THE TYPE

Economy may struggle and future may look uncertain, but don’t forget to enjoy life a bit.Last Thursday, a fun group show organized by The Ebeling Group of LA, “BELIEVE THE TYPE” opened at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Plaza here in New York City. Please read the details on SHOWS & EVENTS SECTION.

Unfortunately, this show is in Ogilvy office space and not open to general public. If you happened to work with/for Ogilvy, please visit their 8th floor show space.

Thank you Mick Ebeling for inviting me to the show and Blair Milbourne for getting all the digital prints done.

AMERICANS, VOTE!

On the right is one of the set designs I made for SHOP ETC. Magazine around the time of last presidential election. The magazine does not exist anymore and these photos were never printed, but I thought it was an appropriate image to show right now.

Americans, please vote. Change is in your hands.

FAQ is COMPLETE (well, almost)

I have worked on and off on FAQ SECTION in between work and teaching schedule for about two weeks now. I think it is very close to done, if not complete already.

At first, I started writing to make a small section to send the visitors to the right pages on my site, but it eventually grew into sort of a mini-self-help for students and young illustrators.

I tried to describe answers in short and simple form as possible so aspiring illustrators in any level can understand.

FAQ STILL IN WORKS

I worked a bit more on FAQ SECTION, added some advise for young illustrators and my opinion on formal art education. I think I will keep working on this section for a while. So, please come back often and check out when you have a moment.

FAQ SECTION IS NOW LIVE

School year at SVA has started a month ago. Luckily, it looks like I have a really motivated and hardworking small(er) group of students this year.

My school has started, that means so is everyone else’s school. And my in-box quickly started filling up with questions and requests from young illustrators and illustration / design students from different schools.

Ideally, I want to write back to everyone, but that’s unrealistic with very limited amount of time I have. So, I finally put together FAQ SECTION. It answers the most common questions I get , as well as links to other sections that may answer the questions students/young illustrators may have.

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