Inspiring Artists (not stippling artists)
- Reiko Lauper
- Jun 9
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 9
Since this week is one of our free assignment weeks, I’d like to continue from last week and introduce a few more artists. I would be happy if even one of the artists I occasionally introduce in class inspires someone! :)
When I was a student myself, I loved discovering artists I had never seen or heard of through my teachers and professors. So today, I’ll be introducing three artists. Their styles and generation vary widely, but each of them creates truly wonderful work.
Among the three, the only artist who uses stippling occasionally—the technique we’re working with in class—is Aquirax Uno, whom I’ll introduce last. But as you look through their works, I’d like you to consider the following points:
How to turn something you’re personally interested in into illustration
How to take an existing subject and create a unique world around it
How imagination can matter more than technique or style
Let’s dive into these three artists I’ve chosen to share with you today.
Samuel Harrison
The first artist I'd like to introduce is Samuel Jackson.
Among the artists I’m sharing today, he’s the youngest—though I say “youngest” simply because the other two are veteran artists. Samuel is an active and rising LGBTQ artist, particularly prominent on platforms like Instagram.
He’s likely part of the next generation influenced by Tom of Finland, the legendary artist especially well-known within gay community. While Samuel has created works in a similar style, what sets him apart is his strong leaning toward fashion illustration. As he mentions in his bio, Samuel has a deep interest in fashion and beauty, and through his illustrations, he expresses the aesthetics he experiences within both the gay and fashion communities he’s a part of. His work carries a strong sense of cohesion and personal vision.
While his illustrations are mostly in black and white, his unique artistic sensibility shines through. I thought his work would be a great inspiration —especially when it comes to how a distinct world can be built even with a limited color palette, black and white.
Samuel Harrison is an artist and illustrator from London whose work mainly draws inspiration from the worlds of beauty and fashion.
From his love of pencil drawing, Harrison’s monochromatic style often focuses on exaggerated fabric compositions, graphic make-up details and dramatic poses.
Hulis Mavruk
Next, I’d like to introduce a Turkish painter named Hulis Mavruk. While he works in painting—which differs from the techniques we use in this class—I was particularly inspired by his portrait work.
I, myself, sometimes take on portrait commissions, and while it may seem like "portraiture is simply about copying a photo", in reality, it’s a much more complex and nuanced genre.
Of course, capturing a likeness and face structure is important, but even more crucial is whether you can express the presence or essence of the person. A good portrait should go beyond replicating a photo and become a true piece of art in its own way. Just like the illustrator Olivia De Berardinis, whom I introduced last week, Mavruk’s portraits possess a unique charm that clearly separates them from photographic images.
I also personally use the same approach to his when it comes to color, and I find the way he uses red in his paintings refined and stylish. Using red as an accent color is one of the traditional techniques in Japanese art, and personally, I’ve been inspired by that heritage in my own work. But perhaps the beauty we find in it is something universally shared across cultures :)
His “Black & White Pop Art” series is pleasing the eye. As a miniature-art lover, looking at all those beautiful portraits at once on his website, I feel like I’d love to collect them as a set of trading cards!
Although his technique is completely different from the stippling we use in this class, I hope his work can inspire you or spark new ideas in your own creative journey.
I don't think any one is currently working on a portrait, but I encourage you to try it out sometime in the future. Portraiture is a deep and rewarding challenge, and when it goes well, it’s incredibly satisfying!
Hulis Mavruk is a Turkish-American self-taught painter, born in Southern Turkey in 1952. He began painting professionally at the age of six and has built a successful career without formal art education. Mavruk owned a gallery in Turkey, where he painted portraits of American officers, and later moved to the United States in 1972. He has since become known for his portraits and artwork celebrating African American culture and prominent figures. https://hulismavruk.com/pages/about-me
Aquirax Uno
Lastly, I'd like to introduce a very chic senior artist from my home country, Japan.
His name is Aquirax Uno (宇野 亜喜良), a 91 years old (as of 2025) Japanese illustrator—and still active!
His work has a unique, unmistakable sensibility, and he continues to create with incredible vitality. Of course, I’ve always loved his art and the world he creates, but I’ve also been deeply inspired by his attitude toward both his work and his life as an artist.
Some of you may remember that I introduced another legendary Japanese artist, Tadanori Yoko-o, in this class a long time ago. Uno was a close collaborator with Yoko-o in their younger years, which might give you an idea of how long and impactful his career has been if you know of Yoko-o.
Despite his influence, Uno remains somewhat unknown outside Japan—mainly (in my opinion) because he has no website or social media presence. He's not interested in digital media much, so it’s a bit difficult to find good archives of his work online. In fact, non-Japanese resources are very limited, which is a shame considering how brilliant and inspiring his art truly is.
I’ll share a rare interview in English I've managed to find, along with a translated excerpt from a Japanese interview where he said something I got inspired.
I hope you enjoy discovering his work as much as I did!
Aquirax Uno, is the alias of Akira Uno (宇野 亜喜良, Uno Akira) (born March 13, 1934), a Japanese graphic artist, illustrator and painter.
His work is characterized by fantasized portraiture, sensuous line flow, flamboyant (and occasionally grotesque) eroticism, and frequent use of collage and bright colors. Uno was prominently involved with the Japanese underground art of the 1960s–1970s, and is particularly notable for his collaborations with Shūji Terayama and his experimental theater Tenjō Sajiki.
<English Interview>
<Japanese Interview>
Q: How does your sense of work differ between when you were a graphic designer and now?
When I was younger, I thought that painters and illustrators were different. In graphic design, illustration was about showing a company’s message or a product’s characteristics, and visualizing its functionality to the fullest. But since there are many materials that could be used in advertising, such as photograph, paintings or sculptures, why using illustration?
The illustrator’s ability to analyze and "this is the essential proposition" message may seem important in advertising, but in reality, it’s not that big of a deal. Even now, if something that looks like my art is needed, I’ll draw it, but that means they need the personality or character from my art.
So, it doesn’t really matter whether I live off only from illustration. In turn, I also feel that all the work I do, like stage design or creating murals, can be considered illustration.
Any visual projects that has functionality, conditions, and connects with people’s emotions can be called illustration.
Q: In this digital age, why do you continue to create through hand-drawn expression?
Honestly—I'm just simply not good with technologies lol. I don't even carry a mobile phone. I know I wouldn’t enjoy it even if it rang when I’m out.
But speaking from a creative perspective, when I’m developing new ideas or forms of expression, I don’t even think about whether I’ll use my hands or digital tools. I just feel like sketching by hand is actually faster to me.
In the end, even as technology evolves, the fundamental structure of what we want to express stays the same.
There’s a scene in the film Sherlock Jr. by Buster Keaton: a man tries to hang himself lying in bed, then suddenly sinks through the mattress and finds himself in a desert. The actor stays in the same position, but the background keeps changing in rapid succession. It’s a visual effect that requires a perfectly storyboarded vision—one where every movement through the changing sets has already been worked out in the creator’s mind.
Keaton could achieve that not because of technology, but because the entire mechanism was already clear in his head.
So in the end, whether it's digital or analog is secondary.
If the image isn’t fully formed in your mind, you will not able to bring it to life.
Q：グラフィックデザイナーの頃と現在の仕事への感覚の違いは？
若い頃は画家とイラストレーターは違う、と思っていました。企業メッセージや商品特性を解釈し、機能を最大限にビジュアライズするのがグラフィックデザインでのイラストレーションだと。でも何が広告に一番効果的かというと、画家や彫刻家の作品、カメラマンの映像などイラストレーションになりうる人材や素材はいろいろある。イラストレーターの分析や表現の能力、「これがわれわれの本質的な命題」だという思いも広告に不可欠かというと、本当はたいした問題じゃないんです。いまも「僕らしいものが必要」であれば描くけど、それは、僕の絵の中の個性やキャラクターが必要だっていうこと。だからイラストレーターだけで一途に生きるとかはどうでもいいし、翻って舞台の仕事や壁画を描くことすべてがイラストレーションだとも思える。機能と条件を考えて仕事をした、人の気持ちに入っていくビジュアルは、すべてイラストレーションだとも言えるんです。 Q：デジタルの時代になって、敢えて手を使って表現し続ける理由とは。 単純にいうとメカニズムに弱い（笑）。携帯も持たないのも、外でかかってきても楽しくないだろうから。表現面でいうと、発展的に新しくモノを生み出すときに、手かデジタルか、を検討する必要がない。案外、ぱっと描いていくスピードの方が速いような気がしますよね。結局、メカが発達してもプリミティブにやりたいことは構造的には同じだと思うんです。「キートンの探偵学入門」という映画では、ベッドの上で首吊り自殺をしようとした男が急に沈み込んだあと、砂漠に行ったり、役者が同じ位置にいてもどんどん背景が変化する視覚効果が使われている。これって、変わっていくセットの中で、ファインダーのどこに自分がいくかの完璧な映像の絵コンテができあがってないとできない映像なんですね。でも、キートンの頭の中にはそのメカニズムがあったからできた。結局、デジタルやアナログという方法論はさておき、頭の中にちゃんと映像ができあがっていないとなんにもできないんです。
Have wonderful & inspiring rest of the day! :)
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