IllustrationX - Maki Yamaguchi portfolio

Maki Yamaguchi is an ultra-talented painter capable of conjuring up portraits full of feeling and personality, while being equally adept at creating landscapes and cityscapes teeming with life. She paints with verve, conscious of how each detail affects her illustration, but most of all she creates with great sensitivity to the overall feeling the image conveys.

“Every image is an experiment and a result of my efforts to balance two ends of a spectrum,” Maki explains. Working in natural media such as watercolor, acrylic, colored pencil or crayon, she develops an image by drawing and painting, weighing up the contrasts – light and dark, bold and fine, tight and loose, motion and stillness… Her dedication to finding that balance has led to a slew of awards and a client base that includes some of the biggest publications in America. Born in Japan and now based in Queens, New York, art is in Maki’s blood. Her father and grandfather were both painters. They’re influences for sure, alongside artists like Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso and David Hockney, and illustrators including Carson Ellis, Laura Carlin and Sydney Smith. Maki loves folklore and fantasy, and is equally fascinated by the natural world. It’s another example of her balanced outlook. Maki is a traditionally trained artist with a BFA from the Cooper Union School of Art in New York.

Approach

After carrying out her research, Maki plans her composition digitally using Adobe Fresco. When she knows which option to progress, out comes the paper, along with watercolors, acrylics, colored pencils and crayons and Maki will paint and draw until she’s happy – sometimes creating dozens of paintings before one is just right. The final step is to scan it into Photoshop for delivery to the client.

Key software

Adobe Fresco and Photoshop.

Style

Maki’s unique style is marked out by expressive, gestural watercolor marks along with strong organic lines that generate energy and emotion, balanced with finer details for a nuanced narrative. Her work is often vibrant, light-hearted and sometimes a little weird.

Languages

English and Japanese.

Awards

2025 – Society of Illustrators 68 – Institutional – Gold 2025 – 3x3 Magazine – Merit 2024 - 3x3 Magazine – Merit 2023 – Communication Arts – Award of Excellence 2023 – American Illustration AI42 – Winner 2023 – Applied Arts – Illustration – Winner 2017 – Communication Arts – Award of Excellence

Client list

Maki's clients include The Drift Magazine, LA Times, LDS Living Magazine, The American Scholar, Boston University, Smith College and Amherst College, among others.