Yumi Sugai

Angel Abel by Yumi Sugai, Oil painting, 65cm x 53cm

Here in this blog article I am introducing you to the work of Yumi Sugai through four oil paintings by the artist herself.

As you can see her work is immensely skilful, vibrant and visually stunning. Yumi has experience in the art marketplace since the 1990’s with numerous art selections in Japan and France during her career.

A great way for you to know Yumi’s gentle nature is through her own words she wrote to me:

I like drawing since I was a child.
I grew up near the sea in Kyoto Prefecture. I often went to the beach with my dad when I was a child. The beauty of the sea and sky was filled with the great colors of blue created by God.
Studied at Osaka Art University School of Art.
I painted while married and raising my children in Fukui Prefecture. It was around that time that I started drawing pictures of angels. I became a Christian in my time. I think the reason I started painting angels as art was a message from a holy angel. Angels are messengers from God. I draw my art of angels with the desire to spread it to the world.

Regardless of your religious beliefs, non-beliefs, spirituality and/or secular viewpoint, Yumi’s words do resonate a caring personality.

Let me share with you the first tenet of sales I was taught:

People buy from people they like.

I love Yumi’s work. I often have a masculine style to my work, so it is always nice to see how biological differences shape our lives and our artmaking. Even a look at the way I performance read my poems shows distinct differences in how we perceive the world as different creatures from the same kind.

Humankind.

I feel Yumi’s work has the originality I enjoy to showcase on my blog. True collectors pieces. Artists’ know the difficulty of oil paint working. It’s commensurately complex to structure, time and colour mix.

Please just take a look at her Angel at Christmas Dinner artwork immediately below:

Angel at Christmas Dinner by Yumi Sugai, Oil painting, 65cm x 53cm

Can you imagine the work in terms of hours, days and weeks involved in creating this piece?

As with most secular occupations, time in hours equates to cost multiplied by the skill necessary to achieve in addition to popularity.

Popularity might equal niche, rare or unusual in some way. Personally (trying to guess how much art I see over the years) I have not viewed anything stylewise quite like Yumi Sugai’s work.

Classical, pre-Raphaelite, Christianised (think Salvator Mundi by da Vinci) and very pretty.

Yumi’s work is cleverly composed.

Christmas Toy Angel by Yumi Sugai, Oil painting, 65cm x 53cm

Christmas Toy Angel shown above is referencing ancient classical portraiture in a circa Victorian era, in my opinion.

Of course, Yumi is Japanese which makes her subject interest all the more intriguing.

Angel of the Christmas by Yumi Sugai, Oil painting, 65cm x 53cm

Angel of the Christmas continues the traditional posing of Yumi’s imaginative pieces.

Her portraits have influence from different cultures as far as I can perceive. Yumi has explained she has a wish to create illustrations too, particularly in childrens books and magazines.

Therefore any publishers who would like to work with Yumi, do get in contact through her social media. 

I hope you have thoroughly enjoyed seeing Yumi Sugai’s work.

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Triple Seismic Waves with Oscillation #1

‘Triple Seismic Waves with Oscillation #1’ [July 2020] by Matt The Unfathomable Artist, dip nib ink pen on A3 180gsm paper.

Spontaneously sharing my latest dip nib ink pen artwork using iron gall ink entitled ‘Triple Seismic Waves with Oscillation #1’.

Electronic oscillation produces pleasing visual effects.  This artwork seeks to replicate the idea in drawing form using my free hand technique for the curved lines.  I love scientific art.  Curves, electronics, seismographs, oscillators, earthquakes, sound waves, along with the beauty of artistic courses.

For this artwork I use a nib that creates a double ink line due to the noticeably distant ‘tines’ of the metallic nib.  The flow of ink is important with dip nibs where one is wishing to produce a continuous line across a ‘decent measure of time’ once upon the paper.

The effect of oscillation can been seen vertically in this artwork.

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Triple Vertical Horizontal Seismic Waves #1 Sketch

‘Triple Vertical Horizontal Seismic Waves #1’ [11th May 2020] by Matt The Unfathomable Artist, Blue/Black Iron Gall Ink on specially treated A4 Artist’s Gouache Paper 160 gsm.

I’m working on a new art project to highlight preservative conservation.  In doing so I’m exploring further artistic opportunities with my artworks.

Those familiar with my work will appreciate my interest in seismic wave and sound wave depictions.  Myself producing numerous free-hand sketches, as shown above, similar in style to how seismographs record ground motions such as earthquakes.

Having lightly sanded the nib of my dip pen, I subsequently sketched ‘Triple Vertical Horizontal Seismic Waves #1‘ and happily signed this artwork.  Satisfied with its quality and feeling.  I didn’t expect to produce a delightfully enjoyable piece whilst practicing handwriting using my new nib dip pen.

Autoschediastic artworks are as jubilant as carefully planned creations whenever successful.  Van Gogh analysed levels of quality ascending to masterpieces in his own work.  I’m certainly of the opinion that all his artworks are masterpieces through his ingenuity, obsessive practice and artistic genius.

My artwork, shown above in a digitally edited photograph, was wet with ink as I wasted no time taking this image!  Afterwards, whilst writing this article I realize the wonderment of this piece.  I’m not immodestly discussing whether it’s a success or not.

No, rather, I’m viewing my sketch as a curiously spontaneous artwork by reason of my lacking fresh quality art paper.  You see I hastily ran upstairs to use the reverse side of some old practice sketches made on quality paper.  Then immediately, old sketch pad in hand, I returned downstairs to quickly enjoy my smoother sandpapered nib!  Scribbling on plain paper, before producing this completely impromptu seismic waves artwork.

The reverse side of this artwork above is less favourable of quality in my own view of how I judge my works.  The pen work on the reverse, unpublished side, is good – it just didn’t connect with me technically.

Some earlier unpublished sketches I’ve already signed, some not.  Quite laughably without any pre-thought whatsoever ‘I’ve now gone and signed‘ this earlier sketch, albeit upon its newly defined triplet.

I find this genuinely hilarious.

Of course, I’m not the first paint artist or illustrator to do the same thing.  I just think it’s the first time I’ve personally utilized earlier sketch work held on the reverse side for a new signed artwork.  To be perfectly honest I kind of like the economical use of good quality paper, and that’s the whole nib point.

Except it’s not, because I sanded the nib to a ‘seismic’ curve.

Anyway, do you like my triple vertical horizontal seismic waves artwork?

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