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Ukiyo-e & The Pen Tool “Yo”




The Art Nouveau movement was the era of lines. If there has ever been a diagram in a textbook to be studied, it can be traced back to the early essences of Art Nouveau 1800’s Ukiyo-e movement. These smooth calligraphic linework, lead to a lot of simplification to create decorative patterns as well as recognizable shapes.  Flowy and twisty lines became the simple base of design that today gives us not only admired work but, tools such as illustrators Pen tool to keep this movement alive. 
The Japanese used simple lines that presented “suggestive impressions rather than detailed depictions” Here, they allowed their illustrations to be interpreted with creativity, while still relaying their message. “Uki” translates to sadness and “yo” for life relating to the concept that life was a “transitory illusion”. Knowing this, the term then evolved to represent the earth’s highlights. 
Adobe Illustrator is a staple in the graphic design world. Half a century back, these flat 2D illustrations were the start of cartoons and animation. The Ukiyo-e era associated with Art Nouveau lead to the development of illustrators pen tool. 
Today, when art and animation can be in every dimension. The feeling of a 2D graphic encased in rich flowing lines represents perfections or imperfections of the world or image. Here feelings are associated with every detail specifically yet, not detailed. For me, I know when I trace images, I can utilize lines strictly and Bezier curves to my advantage. As a person without a steady hand, I rely on the lines I create in Illustrator to be the accurate reflection of my ideas. 
Art Nouveau gave new insight into ways the world created and viewed the visual world around them. Today, 2D flat imagery creates a feeling of subjective criticism to each work. Each image is created imperfectly perfect. Here we see what the artists sees which brings the world to understand what people focus attention on when they observe the world around them. 




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