Is there a name for this style of art?

May 15, 2008 6:16 PM

Is there a name for Satoshi Kitamura's art style in Creepy Crawly Song Book?

Recently I found the Creepy Crawly Song Book at the library and really like the artwork (cover, page inside) : simple, deliberately crude with distorted angles, thick lines, and bold colors.

It reminds me a bit of Eric Carle's work (especially The Very Hungry Caterpillar), except Carle is less interested in strong black lines and much more interested in blending colors.

Is there a formal name for this style of artwork? I find people online calling it folksy, naive, bold, etc. but I'd like to know if there's actually a recognized movement it would be put into (with, naturally, similar artists to look into).

posted by johnofjack to media & arts (2 comments total)

Sorry, I don't have an answer, but I'd like to see what other people say because I love Satoshi Kitamura's illustrations. (I have prints from When Sheep Cannot Sleep hanging all over my apartment.)

I'm not really sure it's the artistic genre that makes Kitamura's work so great, though; for me, at least, it's the whimsical subject matter and the fact that Kitamura doesn't take it too seriously. (The style helps, of course, but I don't know that some random drawing in the same style would be nearly as enjoyable.) Other children's books are probably your best bet, both for style and subject matter.
posted by pluckemin at 10:17 AM on May 16, 2008

Thanks, pluckemin. I think you're right that the subject matter has something to do with how enjoyable the drawings are; I probably wouldn't enjoy the style as much if it were applied to illustrations of physical trauma or dirty dumpsters.

Maybe there isn't a name for this particular style of art, or any particular school or movement that Kitamura belongs to. If I find anything else especially interesting in the same vein I'll be happy to post it here and/or pass it along by PM or email.
posted by johnofjack at 9:52 AM on May 17, 2008