Sick Ink

March 10, 2011 6:48 AM

Tokyo artist Sagaki Keita creates incredibly detailed illustrations which are almost completely improvised. More of his work can be found on his website.
posted by gman (17 comments total)

In case it isn't obvious, clicking on an illustration in the initial link enlarges it.
posted by gman at 6:59 AM on March 10, 2011

They are pretty cool images, but unless you are drawing from life, isn't all art "improvised"?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:00 AM on March 10, 2011

As my wife likes to say, these need to be more "zoominable".
posted by JaredSeth at 7:01 AM on March 10, 2011

Where's Waldo?
posted by tomswift at 7:06 AM on March 10, 2011

"In case it isn't obvious, clicking on an illustration in the initial link enlarges it."

not actually, it takes you to the next in the series of images of that drawing, which is a more zoomed in view, but not the same section...
posted by tomswift at 7:09 AM on March 10, 2011

You can click the images to zoom in a bit, these were the best images Sagaki had to share. As far as "improvised" maybe what he was trying to say was lost in translation. The idea was that he has a general outline of the shape and then draws the details with pen without having sketched them beforehand. I called that "improvised" I guess? Thanks for stopping by Colossal.
posted by joinks at 7:10 AM on March 10, 2011

Damn, bravo!
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:13 AM on March 10, 2011

The Emperor of Pareidolia.
posted by aught at 7:17 AM on March 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

They are pretty cool images, but unless you are drawing from life, isn't all art "improvised"?

Not really. Many artists do sketches and studies before they begin their final work.
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:18 AM on March 10, 2011

Also, this is awesome.
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:18 AM on March 10, 2011

I think that the "improvised" qualifier does apply, because most imagery of this kind is created algorithmically. If he's doing it on-the-fly and by eye, that distinguishes this from most other multi-level whatchamacallits.

What term best describes this, and also passes spellcheck? (Whatchamacallit passes.)

Hierarchical? Pyramidal? Uh...
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:18 AM on March 10, 2011

The Emperor of Pareidolia.
posted by aught

OK, how about pyramidal pareidolia?
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:20 AM on March 10, 2011

This is amazing, and I'd like to know his Adderall dealer.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 7:23 AM on March 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

The term hypergraphia comes to mind, but that's more of a diagnosis of the drawer than a description of the drawing.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:31 AM on March 10, 2011

It's like a fractal made of cartoon images; the more you zoom, the more there are. That if freakin' cool!
posted by quin at 7:59 AM on March 10, 2011

In case anyone was wondering, this is pretty much exactly what hours three and four of a decent mid-level acid trip are like, provided all the little monstery guys that make up everyone's skin have a propensity to undulate suggestively and then flee when you try to pin them down with a fork.
posted by FatherDagon at 9:44 AM on March 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I think the "improvised" part probably refers to his choice of what characters he's actually drawing in a particular area. I have no doubt, though, that he's laying-down a map of his subject, complete with the proper delineations between light and dark areas. I suspect his drawing surface looks a bit like a paint-by-numbers canvas.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:03 PM on March 10, 2011