Artist’s Incredible Spontaneous Drawings Capture the Feeling of the Moment

Most drawings you see as finished pieces have a lot of planning behind them. Before adding color and details, many draw a preliminary sketch. This offers creatives structure and works as a foundational layer for the piece. But for a Japan-based artist known as Sanagi, this limits the creative possibilities of the work. Instead, he ditches these general guides in favor of portraying whatever crosses his mind at the time of creation.

“I can't imagine how it will turn out because I leave it to the movement of my hands, letting my heart and soul hit the canvas at that moment,” Sanagi writes. “Therefore, each time, I run my pen through a mixture of anticipation and anxiety. I would be happy if you could feel the excitement of looking through a microscope into a small piece of paper.”

This spontaneity doesn't lessen the quality of his work. On the contrary, Sanagi's expansive imagination makes way for detailed, oneiric compositions. Working with pen and paint on paper, Sanagi explores the depths of his brain. “In order to express ‘something complicated' parasitic in my brain, I drew elaborately with fine lines and dots using a ballpoint pen to create shadows,” he explains about one of his most recent drawings, Brain parasitism. “I expressed my feelings, which repeatedly bubble up and burst like ‘bubbles' every minute and second, by freely pouring my soul into the dots and lines.”

Completing a single piece can take several months, with the artist adding a little to the paper every day. Sometimes, he sticks to the monochromatic aesthetic of the black ink but can also feel the urge to add color with red or gold paint. These impulsive thoughts can even be noticed in the texture of the finished drawing, making some of his canvases wavy, much like a lived-in space.

When he is not looking inward, Sanagi is inspired by the shapes found in the world around him. As such, these generally untitled works are described as drawn “with an awareness of the organic beauty that nature creates.” These illustrations can include bird wings, fish scales, and rising suns.

To stay current with Sanagi's work, follow him on Instagram. You can also find originals and prints of his work on Tricera.

An artist known as Sanagi ditches the idea of working with preliminary sketches in favor of portraying whatever crosses his mind at the time of creation.

“I can't imagine how it will turn out because I leave it to the movement of my hands, letting my heart and soul hit the canvas at that moment,” Sanagi writes.

But spontaneity doesn't lessen the quality of his work. On the contrary, his expansive imagination makes way for detailed, oneiric compositions.

Working with pen and paint on paper, Sanagi explores the depths of his brain.

Sometimes, he sticks to the monochromatic aesthetic of black ink but can also feel the urge to add color with red or gold paint.

 

 

Sanagi: Instagram

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Regina Sienra

Regina Sienra is a Staff Writer at My Modern Met. Based in Mexico City, Mexico, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications with specialization in Journalism from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She has 10+ years’ experience in Digital Media, writing for outlets in both English and Spanish. Her love for the creative arts—especially music and film—drives her forward every day.
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