The Reason Why the Arab World Embraced "Cute" [1/2]

Based in the UAE, Ahmed Saleh Al Yafei runs the Abu Dhabi Art Hub which gathers the best creators from around the world. Through the Abu Dhabi Art Hub, he invites excellent creators from around the world and encourages creative activities.

The illustrator we will introduce today, Machiko Ono (小野眞智子), is one of the many talents scouted by Ahmed.

Machiko Ono has been passionate about drawing since a young age, and debuted at a doujinshi sales event at the age of 12. Since then, she has been participating in various doujinshi events at the amazing pace of around 10 times a year. At that time, the sale of doujinshi often took place over snail mail and she visited the post office countless times, leading the budding artist to aspire, "I want to work at the post office in the future, and continue drawing after work." In the end, she joined the IT industry and led a double life as an illustrator before finally working full-time as an artist until now.

Recently, after receiving an invitation from Ahmed Saleh Al Yafei to draw in the UAE, Machiko, who has always been interested in going abroad, agreed immediately. With her special technique of drawing with a pen on a large board as well as her cute subjects, Machiko participated in the "Subculture Space".

Well then, exactly what kind of works has she created in the UAE? Stay tuned for the second part of this article to find out!

Machiko Ono's Homepage (Illustronics Lab):
http://illustronics.com/

Abu Dhabi Art Hub:
http://www.adah.ae/