Aki Kano
Aki Kano is a New York-based representational watercolor painter and instructor. She received her BFA from the University of Michigan's School of Art and later following her passion for fashion design, attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC and worked as a fashion and handbag designer for over 15 years.
Aki enjoys and loves painting faces, carefully mapping out their subtle nuances of colors, shapes, and lines. In a recent series, she delved into painting watercolor portraits of herself, friends, and family. Aki’s introspective self-portraits are contemplative and capture tender emotions during cherished, ephemeral moments in her life. As she slowly and carefully builds up the soft washes, she strives to capture more than just her likeness, but her feelings and internal experience at that time. In Aki’s portraits of friends and family, she offers viewers a glimpse into the beauty and complexity of human relationships, celebrating the richness of their shared moments. Her affection for each subject is visible in the gentle brushstrokes and the delicate hues she has chosen to create them.
Aki’s meticulous and sensitive watercolor paintings have been accepted into prestigious juried shows in galleries worldwide, the Salmagundi Club, and museums such as the Wausau Contemporary Museum of Art in Wisconsin and have won numerous awards. She has been the President of the American Artists Professional League since 2021, a non-profit art organization founded in 1928, consisting of over 600 of America’s most accomplished realist artists. Aki is an Honorary Member of the Salmagundi Club, a Juried Member of the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, a Juried member of the International Guild of Realism, and a member of PoetsArtists. Aki is having an online solo show through 33 Contemporary, titled “Face to Face” this July 2024 featuring her self-portraits and portraits of loved ones.
This year she is one of the jurors for the Spain based, 2024 Almenara Art Prize competition.
She is very excited that five of her watercolor portraits reached the moon via the Lunar Codex in February 2024. The Lunar Codex includes the works of over 30,000 artists, writers, musicians, and filmmakers from 161 countries. www.lunarcodex.com
What's the purpose or goal of your work?
Watercolor painting is a meditative activity for me. I paint because it keeps me grounded and on a good path. The goal of my work is to capture not only the likeness of my subject, but the spirit and essence, too. By being responsive and sensitive to my subjects, I give them my complete attention and focus. Capturing a person, animal, or an object with this sensitivity allows me to see its beauty. I love this quote by Confucious: Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.
How has your style changed over time?
When I attended art school at the University of Michigan in the late 1990’s I painted primarily in oils. My style was expressive, loose, and very colorful. I would paint figures in nonrealistic colors. As I have gotten older, my temperament has evolved and changed. My current watercolors are subtle and sensitive and take many layers and much time to complete. Transparent watercolors allow me to paint multiple light washes or glazes to achieve delicate and luminous effects. Surprisingly, I can control watercolor paint much more than I ever could with oils. I always wanted to paint representationally and with watercolors, it feels natural.
What are your favorite and least favorite parts of professional art?
My favorite part of being a professional artist is that I can devote my time to painting, drawing, and honing my skill, vision, and techniques. I push myself more with each painting and constantly strive to improve. Recently I started to teach watercolor painting to adults at a local art school and it feels invigorating and energizing to pass on my knowledge to my students. I love the back and forth with my students and seeing their work get stronger and helping them hone their skills.
I love finishing a new painting and sharing it with the world, whether it be through my website, Artsy, or through social media. It’s the icing on the cake when an artwork is accepted into an exhibition, wins an award, or gets featured in a magazine. It’s important to remember that these accolades are just the icing, though. The true significance of a finished painting to me is that it’s a record of an important ephemeral emotion or joyful and introspective, significant moment of my life. The subtle emotions that can’t be necessarily expressed in words are present in my artwork.
My least favorite part of being a professional artist is having to put on my marketing hat. I find that it’s challenging to promote myself. Luckily, the more I do it, the easier it gets.
Do you have a network of other artists, and how do they support you?
As the president of the American Artists Professional League, an almost 100-year-old realist art organization, I work closely with other artists daily. I enjoy being a member of the AAPL board with other people who have similar goals of contributing to the art community and helping artists. We correspond every day, meet online frequently, and I enjoy the interaction. A couple of my close friends are also artists, and we talk weekly to encourage and support each other. I feel blessed that through my watercolor paintings, I’ve had the privilege of experiencing creativity on a special, spiritual level. Swapping stories about the creative process is so valuable.
What is the best advice you have received in your career?
A mentor told me a while back to strive to not just be good, but excellent. Whenever I become complacent or too comfortable, I remember this. I try to take risks, try new approaches in my art to improve. Having persistence and resilience are key, as well, in the process of growth to reach a level of excellence. He also told me that the element of “magic” is important in a work. When an artist paints a subject beautifully and it looks effortless, there is a sense of magic in that work. It’s very difficult to attain that, but I feel amazing artwork always has it.
Has the press or media ever mentioned your artwork?
I have had a few of my paintings chosen to appear in Fine Art Connoisseur and American Art Collector. I will have a 6–8-page demo of a watercolor portrait included in International Artist magazine in the June/July 2024 issue.
Describe a piece of art you are most proud of. Why?
I am proud of my self-portrait titled, “Tête-à-Tête”. This work tells a story and has complex meaning. I took a risk in painting this unique scene. The painting is of me gazing with awe and curiosity at a Henri Matisse sculpture at the MoMA. In this piece, I challenged myself, went out of my comfort zone and captured more than I had ever done in the past. I included the gallery in the back, and I captured myself mesmerized by another artist, Matisse. It’s an artwork about art, artists, the creative process, inspiration, and introspection.
Also, when I started this painting, I was convinced at one point that I ruined it. I thought I overworked the face, but ultimately, those darker strokes helped it and gave it more dimension. I’m proud that I didn’t give up on the painting and kept going until it was completed. Ultimately, this painting was accepted into a prestigious international juried show at Galleri Ramfjord in Oslo, Norway in 2023. It was one of 25 artworks selected out of 2700 submissions through two rounds of jurying.
