Charlie Yellow

Charlie Yellow is a Japanese-born illustrator based in Chicago who brings yurukawa (cute but quirky) to life. She celebrates everyday charm and the beauty of diversity—or even hidden thorns—through colorful illustrations, zines, and riso prints.

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First Osusowake Club Design Complete

I added yellow light, simplified some shapes, and adjusted the colors—and now the tree makeover illustration is done!

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Marine Red Saves Christmas (Maybe)

I repainted the Christmas tree today—swapped florescent pink for Marine Red and layered teal with federal blue. Better? I think so!

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Color Crisis: What Happened to My Tree?!

I thought I’d finish the final illustration today, but after coloring… something felt off. Time to rethink tomorrow!

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Tree Makeover Auditions: Which Angle Wins?

I picked the Christmas tree makeover idea and tried drawing it from different angles. Can’t decide! But tomorrow is final art day!

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Snowman Dance, Tree Fashion, and Too Many Presents

I picked three ideas from yesterday’s sketches and started working on making them move or into little comic scenes.

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Holiday Anticipation Sketches for Charlie Yellow’s Osusowake Club

Working through the first round of illustration ideas for my Osusowake Club holiday postcard set. Excitement is definitely in the air!

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Introducing: Charlie Yellow’s Osusowake Club!

A new project begins! I'm launching a seasonal postcard series inspired by the Japanese idea of “osusowake”—a gentle act of sharing joy. Here's why I'm doing it, and what it means to me.

inspiration

Pretty Good Fest Recap

I dropped by Pretty Good Fest in downtown Chicago this weekend! Between connecting with artists and picking up table display ideas, it was a pretty great afternoon.

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Halloween Risograph Printing Day at Spudnik Press

Printed my Halloween postcards today at Spudnik Press! A few surprises, a few mistakes—but all in all, a colorful success!

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Halloween Risograph Prep

I spent the day getting my Halloween postcard ready for risograph printing at Spudnik Press. File separation, ink planning, and some last-minute masking tweaks!

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Visualizing Fear with Scissors and Glue: Picture This exercise

This week, I tackled a collage exercise from Picture This—using just four sheets of colored paper and scissors to convey fear. Turns out, cutting shapes is a pretty sharp way to learn visual storytelling!

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October Projects Begin!

A new month, a fresh start—Peachtober, postcard prep, and a surprise project all kick off today!

monthly recap

Monthly Charlie’s Playground: September 2025

It’s already the last day of September! Whether you’re new to the blog and not sure where to start, or just too busy to catch every daily post, this monthly wrap-up is the perfect way to catch up on all the September highlights from Charlie’s Playground! Top

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Shark vs. Swimmer: A Picture This Exercise in Fear

This week, I stepped away from my usual illustration assignments to try a visual storytelling exercise from Picture This.

What I Learned from Picture This

While working on my AI-themed illustrations this week, I also started reading Picture This—a book recommended by my academic advisor, ChatGPT-sensei. It’s exactly what I needed.

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Final AI Illustration: A Week of Obsession and Adjustments

Still on the AI-themed illustration! After lots of redrawing, zooming in, and tweaking binary-code faces, I think I’ve finally reached my personal best—for this week, at least.

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AI Illustration Woes: Trying All the Angles

I tried every possible angle but couldn’t land the right vibe. Why is drawing AI so hard—and not in a cool way!?

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How Should I Draw AI? The Challenge Begins!

Still working on my AI-themed illustration! Today was all about figuring out how to draw something that doesn’t really exist...

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This Week’s Art School Topic: AI Editorial Illustrations

Can AI be your therapist, your mom, or your only friend? This week I’m sketching out some thoughts on tech, trust, and talking to bots.

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Street Art Forage in NYC

Wandered through NYC and picked up street art inspo for Halloween, greeting cards, and general weird-and-cute joy.

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Explored the magical world of Moomins at a Brooklyn Library

Visited a Moomin exhibit in New York and got hit with nostalgia, deep thoughts about art, and serious Brooklyn Library envy.

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Ant Candy Parade: Color Trials in Progress

Gave my candy-loving ants a fresh coat of color! Still not sure about that one tiny hat, though. Might need a sleep-and-see.

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Hot Dog Dog Gets Some Risograph Colors!

I finally added color to my hot dog costume pup! It’s riso-ready… maybe. We’ll see how it looks after a good overnight stare.

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Ant Marching, Candy Angles, and No Magic Today

I tried flipping the candy every which way, hoping for a composition breakthrough—but turns out, the original sketch still wins!

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Halloween Card Progress: Hot Dog & Ant Designs

One card is locked in—hello, hot dog dog! The ant idea? Still wrestling with it… but at least I’m moving forward!