Lived in Berlin and came to Japan in 1998. Based near Nagoya ever since.
Draws historical architecture, cityscapes, bird’s-eye views and
illustrated maps - the layers of history and culture that settle into places over time. Also figures and botanicals - for book covers, editorial and beyond.
Glass pen and sumi ink for the lines. Digital for the colour. For sketching - primary school pencils the daughter left behind: STAEDTLER Noris, Triangular grip.
The work is about making complex things readable and engaging. Historical architecture, a whole city, a layered place, a situation - drawn so that someone unfamiliar can enter it, feel their way into it, and understand.
Before drawing, there is research. Architecture, maps, period detail, human proportion: I can only draw what I have fully understood. It is less a method than a mild obsession. The footwear of a traveller on the Edo-period Nakasendo matters. So does the pattern of brickwork on a nineteenth-century warehouse wall. People in movement, expression and situation - drawn from observation, closely enough that something of the real person comes through.
Years across a wide range of design work - navigation maps, typefaces, exhibition stands, packaging, branding - left me with the habit of thinking in context. Illustrations come to life as part of a book, within a magazine layout, or in relation to a product.
Clients include Netflix, Kodansha, Shoeisha, Sayusha, Magazine House (Tarzan, Croissant), Forbes Japan, Nikkei, Hobonichi, University of Tokyo Press, JT and Toyota.
Trained at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design, Halle (1992).
Lecturer at three universities in Japan.
If you would like to discuss a project or have any questions,
feel free to get in touch.
Current work and process
