Shu Uemura's spring 2016 collection, Pastel Fantasy, is largely gone from their website to make room for the summer collaboration with Korean fashion designer Kye, but I thought I'd cover the cheerful little palette from the collection anyway. 

Shu-Uemura-Spring-2016-promo

As soon as I saw it I suspected there was an artist behind the floral illustration, but figured the U.S. website was once again hiding information about him/her.  I was right – a quick search on the Japanese Shu site yielded the name Satoko Wada.  The charming purple flowers are her take on Japanese hydrangeas.

Shu-Uemura-Spring-2016(images from chicprofile.com)

Wada is a Tokyo-based artist who specializes in a particular type of illustration known as line drawing.  While I couldn't find much information on her background, it seems she's a relative newcomer to the art scene, having only started drawing in 2009 and becoming a successful independent artist by 2012.  I also couldn't find any information on how the collaboration with Shu came about, but Wada's work is a perfect fit for a pastel-themed spring makeup collection.  Some of her other drawings:

Satoko-Wada-plum-flowers

Satoko-Wada-floral-print

Satoko-Wada-cherries

Satoko-Wada-volcano

My favorite:

Satoko-Wada-sea-turtle

In just a few years Wada managed to collaborate with other companies to create everything from textiles to posters and stationery.

Satoko-Wada-bowls

Satoko-Wada-towels

Satoko-Wada-poster

Satoko-Wada-postcards(images from satokowada.strikingly.com)

I also found this video, showing Wada leading an informal wall painting session at furniture store Bo Concept in Yokohama, Japan. 

What I am most curious about though are these oversize penguin cut-outs Wada made.  Google Translate was, as usual, completely useless. 

Satoko-Wada-penguins-train-station

Satoko-Wada-penguins-forest

Satoko-Wada-penguins-field

I love that for their beach adventure they're wearing leis.

Satoko-Wada-penguins-beach

From what I can piece together these two characters visit various locales throughout Japan and are the mascots for either a town called Shirahama or something for trains…but I really have no idea.  I did check out trainart.jp, but still couldn't get any concrete information.  Near as I can figure, it's some sort of collaborative art project where various artists decorate train stations, and I think Wada was the artist selected for 2015.  But I still have no clue as to where Shirahama fits in.  Maybe because there's a zoo/amusement park there called Adventure World that has penguins?  Apparently it's the only place in Japan that successfully hatched an emperor penguin.

Shirahama-penguin-train-art

Shirahama-train-art-poster

And I guess these little fellas have names, based on this photo.

Satoko-Wada-with-penguins(images from satokowada.strikingly.com)

It still doesn't explain how they ended up in forests and beaches, but it looks like an incredibly fun project nonetheless.

Overall, I can't say I know much about line drawing, but I do enjoy Wada's style.  It seems to have a bit of a traditional, folk-art vibe but somehow appears modern at the same time.  And I love that she works extensively with color rather than black and grey.  Obviously, the "strolling penguins" show that she also has a great imagination (plus they remind me of my beloved Sailor Babo.)  As for the Shu collection, in looking at Wada's online gallery, it looks as though she created a new design specifically for the collection rather than slapping on one of her older works, which I also appreciate.  I somewhat regret not getting around to buying the palette for the Museum's collection now!  I also think Shu could have done a much bigger collection and commissioned some other designs for cleansing oils, etc. rather than just one little palette.

Thoughts?  And if anyone can explain the penguin mystery I'm all ears!