Looking Over Yusuke Nakamura's Art

Yusuke Nakamura is a very famous pop artist/illustrator in Japan who has participated in works like the anime Tatami Galaxy and has designed covers for the band Asian Kung-fu Generation. Sadly, I was able to find much about him or what his style really is, but I really like and want to review some works and what I take out of all of it.

 1.The Backgrounds

One thing I really like in Yusuke Nakamura’s art is the amount of detail included in it. For example, with the buildings in the yellow background, Nakamura includes the little details on the roof that gives it a realistic look, but still appears flat due to the like of shading. I love this look and personally want to start experimenting with ways I could make my models render out to look more 2D and have outlines on them. Along with this, I love the backgrounds and how they are full. Some parts include scenery while parts in the background are not a part of something you actually see in nature. I personally want to use this aspect to project my theme of seeing the world around me.

 2. The Setup


I generally like how Yusuke Nakamura’s works have a central figure(s) in them. I personally already wanted to do this and it’s nice to see other artists do it too. To go off of this, I have noticed that Nakamura usually sets the rest of the work up so the background is an active part in the work, or is a circle with the background revolving around that. Personally, with my current piece, I want it to be a circle and I like how Nakamura does not set this circle as though it is a boundary but more or less uses it like a hole where the background comes out of. To add on, Nakamura usually uses buildings and animals in his works, which for me is either a hit or miss. I do want to use buildings and nature if it feels relevant, but I feel like the myriad of animals is too much for me.

 3.Colors and Outlines


Lastly, I love Nakamura’s use of colors and outlines. First, I like how he does not outline everything, especially the background. I feel like this prevents too much clutter and is definitely something I should be considering if I want to start using outlines. Next, I like the colors Nakamura uses. I personally enjoy pastel colors and I believe they work really well with his style. I feel like stick to more bold colors and possibly by experimenting with lighter or darker colors, my works will be able to look more appealing to the eye.