Drawing, Zines, and a Love for Everyday Moment: An Interview with Illustrator and Photographer TamikoArt

TamikoArt is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans illustration, comics, and photography, all rooted in a deep appreciation for everyday beauty. Her artistic approach is defined by a sense of wonder, movement, and storytelling, capturing moments that bring joy and connection. In this interview, she reflects on her journey, the inspirations that shape her work, and how she hopes to inspire others to embrace creativity in their own lives.

With a background in Fine Arts and experience working across different creative disciplines, Tamiko has developed a unique artistic voice that blends spontaneity with intentionality. Influenced by her travels, her love for urban sketching, and her deep connection to community-driven art, she continues to explore new ways of storytelling. Through her creative lens, she transforms the ordinary into something extraordinary, inviting viewers to engage with the world more playfully and thoughtfully. 

Who is Tamiko as an artist? 

Tamiko's Art, a channel of joy and fun.

Illustrations, comics, and photos taken on the go. 

Looking for beauty in everyday moments and bringing more smiles to the world. I like to create images and comics that elicit joy, mischief, and fun. 

What inspired you to explore illustrations, comics, and photography as creative mediums? 

I have always loved drawing. I studied Fine Arts at university, shifting from traditional studios (drawing and painting) to design during my last years at the university. After university, I worked in Japan as an English teacher and enjoyed the days spent with young students. It was inspiring to see the world through their eyes. While in Japan, I travelled to Korea, Thailand, and China, which further developed my Shutterbug tendencies and love of food.

After my return to Canada, finding the time and energy to make art became a challenge at times. Around 2015, I decided to reconnect with my art and signed up for some continuing education courses at OCAD. I took a Comics and Graphic Novels course with Fiona Smyth and fell in love with artmaking and started making Zines and exhibiting at Canzine. 

Soon after, I bumped into the creators of the Toronto Comics Anthology at my local comic book store and became a contributor to a couple of their successfully kickstarted anthologies. It was fun to collaborate, and both times, I was lucky to take direction from two female comic book editors for a short-form comic and small vignette of a comic idea. After that, I decided to continue to brush up on my comic-making skills and took a handful of classes with TY Templeton's Comicbook Boot Camp. 

Looking back, I think I have been very lucky to connect with teachers, editors, project leads, and other creators who fostered a very supportive creative environment.

Last summer, on a whim, I decided to join an Urban Sketching workshop. They led us to these older buildings on the Exhibition grounds to try some urban sketching. This is always something I’ve wanted to try, and I fell in love with it. Since then, I have joined events run by the Toronto Urban Sketchers group.

There is something magical about being out in nature and making art in public. It’s such a wonderful way to connect with your environment and to truly be in the moment. I love packing a picnic lunch, my hammock, and my art supplies and hopping on my bike to sketch in the park. It’s also a nice way to connect with strangers. Many times that I have been out and about urban sketching, people have come up to me and started asking about my art.

I originally took it up because I wanted to improve my speed and accuracy. It forces you to get past the “blank page paralysis” that some artists struggle with. Sometimes, you need to work fast because the light is fading or a rainstorm is coming. This practice gives you confidence because you have to just go for it and not worry about the mistakes. It’s about feeling, and it’s about expression and absorbing your subject and translating it with your particular artistic gaze. I love it because doing those things gives you back a lot of positive creative energy.

Currently, I am working on an illustrated zine to capture some of my mother’s Japanese home cooking in a recipe book. I am also working on a collaboration with a local cycling club that creates group bike rides to different parts of the city to celebrate the multitude of delicious and authentic cuisines available in Toronto. I am hoping to combine my love of Cycling, Food, and Artmaking with this project. I am also looking forward to combining my love of teaching and art to run some informal Urban Sketching classes when Sakura Season starts in High Park. I find it very inspiring when I can encourage people who don’t think they can do art to throw that self-limiting thought away and beam with satisfaction when they hold up their first urban sketch or art piece.

Were there specific artists, stories, or photos that shaped your artistic voice? 

My artistic heroes as a child:

Maurice Sendak’s “In the Night Kitchen”. The story and illustration sparked my imagination as a child. Scholar and Zinester created an anthology of cycling-related zines focusing on BIPOC, inspiring me to get back on my bike after a 20-year gap.

Cyclista Zine is a collaborative zine made up of submissions and documentation of cycling stories and intersectional feminist and DIY culture. It acts as a printed guide, with writers and artists submitting tutorials, stories, and advice for feminists wanting to shred the patriarchy. Inspired me to get back into my art. I loved her travel blog urban sketches.

Drawn the Road Again Travel Blog-Chandler O’Leary is a really fun Urban Sketch teacher I follow for tips on keeping Urban Sketch fun and challenging. Koesje Koene (Urban Sketcher) Illustrated Comic

Cookbooks: Sarah Becan is a comic artist who unites my love of food and comic art.

How do you hope people feel when they engage with your work? 

I hope people feel joy and a sense of wonder. I try to depict a fun world in a moment that the viewer can come and enjoy with me. Like friends meeting for coffee and having a laugh. I also like my art to reflect my sense of humour, and it makes me glad if I can put a smile on the face of the viewer.

Do you feel that women are fairly represented in comics and illustrations? What changes would you like to see? 

We aren’t near parity in mainstream comics, but I think things are slowly changing to allow more diverse creative voices. I have been very lucky to connect with the local independent Toronto Comics and Zine community. Most members of this community are super supportive, open-minded, and welcoming to diverse voices. Diversity is seen as a strength and something that adds authenticity and interest to new creative voices. I think the Toronto independent comic scene is very welcoming and supportive of new and diverse voices.

If you could advise young women looking to explore illustration, comics, or photography, what would it be? 

All artists struggle with it, but do try to ignore your inner critic. There are plenty of voices telling you that you can’t do it or that you’re not good enough. Surround yourself with other supportive creatives (not just artists). Engaging with writers, musicians, dancers, etc. is just as valuable and can serve to create a nice little bubble of creative energy that you can feed off and contribute to. 

Also, don’t forget the mind-body connection. Find an activity that boosts your energy and boosts your confidence. For me, that has been yoga, boxing, martial arts, and cycling. Some of my best creative ideas and problem-solving have come when I was in the zone, pootling around on my little folding bike, and eating a gelato.

Even if you think no one is watching or that nobody cares, remember that the world needs more art and needs to see your art. Every creative voice is a jewel in the multicoloured brocade of the universe.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you, and how do you see your art contributing to its message? 

To me, International Women’s Day means not being afraid to use your voice and to help other women to exist in a world where they don’t have to be afraid to use theirs. I hope that through sharing my art and extending feelings or warmth, hope, happiness, and joy, I can influence others to take up a pen or brush, make their zines, and have some fun bringing their joy into the world. 

I enjoy teaching others new skills and discovering talents they never knew they had. The more people we have pushing out this kind of positivity into the world, the more we can counterbalance some of the negativity and polarization we see spreading out into the world right now. Zines and cycling have always had an element of counterculture to their development and have been used to grow community and connection, highlight and push back against injustices, and as conduits of resistance and rebellion, especially for women and people of colour. When I start to feel discouraged by some of the bad things happening in the world, I remember this quote from Toni Morrison.

With an eye to the various brokenness of the world, past and present, Toni Morrison writes:

“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. 

There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. 

We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.

I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art.”