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.

Halloween Card Sketches: Narrowing It Down to 3

Today I picked 3 Halloween card ideas and made quick roughs! Tomorrow’s mission: more polish, more personality!

work in progress

Halloween & Holidays: Double Research Week!

This week I’m researching both Halloween and holiday themes—one for class, and one for a real October card project!

news

200 Days of Daily Blogging—Still Going Strong!

It’s been 200 days of non-stop blog posts! Even on rough days, I kept showing up. Today, I’m giving myself a big ol’ gold star.

work in progress

Final Touches on a Bear Hike

Turns out the clouds weren’t quite right. My perfectionist mode activated, and I ended up reshaping the whole composition one last time!

work in progress

Coloring Bears: Risograph Style Decisions

I tried to keep it minimal, but color and composition had other plans. This week’s final assignment: postcard-ready hiking bears!

work in progress

Bear Hike Illustrations: Exploring Angles

Today’s class was all about composition studies, and I ended up picking the toughest angle—looking up! Time to let the bears go big.

work in progress

Simplifying Two Asheville Illustration Ideas

Today’s class was all about cutting elements, boosting clarity, and giving my hiking and beer-loving bears room to shine.

work in progress

Asheville Postcard Sketches: Bears & Storytelling

Today’s class was all about picking three Asheville-themed ideas and expanding them. Turns out “minimal” is harder than I thought!

Week 2 at My Imaginary Art School: The Asheville Theme

This week’s theme is Asheville! Bears, birdsong, craft chocolate, and a chorus of memories from a town I used to call home.

inspiration

Street Art Forage in Asheville

A quick getaway to Asheville turned into a sticker-spotting spree. Art everywhere, weird aliens, familiar cats—and a wild reunion!?

work in progress

September at My Imaginary Art School: Storytelling & Drawing

Each week has a full art cycle—from research to sketch to final illustration. Week one was all about summer turning into fall!

Street Art Forage: September’s Spicy Harvest

Tanuki armies, surreal ladies, political genius, and street sticker mystery. September’s forage is already off to a wild start.

work in progress

Learning Composition with ChatGPT-sensei

I used to be scared of the word “composition.” Now I’m kind of obsessed with it—and I owe it all to my imaginary art school.

work in progress

I enrolled in an imaginary art school!

So apparently I enrolled in an imaginary art school with ChatGPT. And It’s kind of working.

inspiration

Tiny Autumn, Spotted!

Cicadas are still screaming, but look—leaves are turning yellow! Fall is sneaking in, one crisp breeze at a time.

inspiration

Discovering RISO Magic in the Midwest

A Riso catalog from Milwaukee just landed in my mailbox and I’m spiraling into full-on Midwest print nerd mode.

work in progress

Leaning Poses and Accidental Sass on Labor Day

Started drawing “leaning people” and ended up with fashion magazine-level seduction. Oops? Labor Day energy = zero.

monthly recap

Monthly Charlie’s Playground: August 2025

August is over! Here are my favorite posts, quotes, and doodles from a month of recovering, drawing, and getting back into the swing of Chicago life.

inspiration

Back to Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park

Went back to the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park—perfect mix of a walk and outdoor art. This time I explored the part I missed before!

inspiration

My Treasure: Ben Clark’s Never Forever

Picked up Ben Clark’s Never Forever in Amsterdam—cute characters with pitch-black humor that makes me giggle every time.

work in progress

Repeating My Weak Spots, Over and Over

Still stuck on limp-body sketches—but I believe in practicing the hard stuff again and again until it clicks.

work in progress

Drawing Limp People: Crying & Lazy

Still wrestling with limp poses—today I added crying and lazy-on-the-couch. The lazy one? Totally my mood lately.

work in progress

More Limp Practice: Despair, Death, and Pure Joy

Still struggling with limp poses—tried despair again, plus “dead” and “over-the-moon.” Amazing how limp can mean total opposites.

work in progress

Practicing Despair (and Feeling It Too)

Today’s sketch theme was “despair.” Couldn’t get it right—side profiles are tough! But hey, I kept trying.

work in progress

Practicing Limp, Low-Key

Still not feeling 100%, but today’s sketch theme was “limp bodies.” Turns out it’s way harder than drawing tense ones!