Paint Water, Reflections & Light with a Japanese Artist

Step into a world of water, light, color, reflections, and imagination.

Join professional Japanese artist Yuko Iwase for a special hands-on painting workshop at Picaresque Art Gallery, located between Roppongi and Azabu-Juban in central Tokyo.

Complete beginners are very welcome. No previous painting experience is necessary.

In this workshop, up to 6 participants will explore one fascinating subject together: water.

Water is constantly changing. It can be transparent or deep blue, calm or moving, bright with reflected sunlight or dark beneath the night sky.

Inspired by Yuko’s richly detailed and imaginative artworks, you’ll create your own small painting while exploring how water can be expressed through color, light, movement, and reflection.

You can choose what kind of water you would like to paint — a quiet pond reflecting the sky, sunlight sparkling on the sea, gentle ripples on a river, rain falling onto water, mysterious deep-blue water, or an entirely imaginary waterscape of your own.

You don’t need to paint water realistically.

Instead, Yuko will help you look closely at how colors change in and around water, how light is reflected on its surface, and how movement can be suggested through ripples, waves, brushstrokes, and layers of color.

Your painting might become a peaceful lake surrounded by plants, sunlight dancing across the ocean, reflections of clouds on the water, a mysterious underwater world, or a completely fantastical landscape.

There is no single correct way to paint it.

No painting experience is necessary.
Complete beginners are very welcome.

Yuko will introduce the materials and basic painting techniques, then provide individual guidance as you work on your piece.

All art materials will be provided, so you can simply come to the gallery and enjoy painting.

You’ll create your artwork on a 12 × 14 cm Japanese shikishi board, which you can take home with you after the workshop.

This workshop is limited to just 6 participants, allowing Yuko to provide individual guidance throughout the painting session.

✔ Event Details

Date & Time
Sunday, October 11, 2026
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Participation Fee
¥5,000

Capacity
6 participants

Venue

Picaresque Art Gallery
B1, 2-11-6 Motoazabu
Minato-ku, Tokyo

Located between Azabu-Juban and Roppongi.

✔ What You’ll Do

10:00 – 10:30
Introduction to Yuko’s artwork, art materials, and painting techniques

10:30 – 12:30
Water painting session
Explore color, reflections, transparency, light, ripples, and movement while creating your own painting.
Yuko will provide individual guidance throughout the painting session.

12:30 – 13:00
Artwork sharing and feedback from Yuko
At the end of the workshop, you’ll take your finished artwork home with you.

✔ Who Is This Workshop For?

This workshop is perfect for:
Complete beginners who want to try painting
People fascinated by water, reflections, light, rivers, lakes, rain, and the sea
Anyone interested in Japanese art and contemporary artists
People looking for a creative experience in Tokyo
Experienced artists who would like to explore different approaches to color, transparency, reflection, and movement
No previous drawing or painting experience is required.

✔ About Yuko Iwase

Yuko Iwase is a Japan-based artist whose practice draws on her professional experience as a background artist in the video game industry.

She received formal art training at Otani Art School from the age of three through eighteen, and later studied Animation at Kyoto Seika University.

After graduation, she worked professionally as a background artist in the gaming industry, contributing to international projects including collaborations with French game studios.

Alongside her commercial work, she has maintained an independent fine art practice, presenting solo exhibitions in Tokyo and participating in exhibitions throughout Japan as well as in Tianjin and Beijing.

Her artworks are characterized by richly layered natural environments, delicate botanical details, and imaginary creatures that seem to inhabit worlds somewhere between reality and fantasy.
Her artworks have been featured in international publications and are held in private collections both in Japan and abroad.

Awards
Excellence Award, Illustration Division, ZEN Exhibition (2018)

Publications
The Encyclopedia of Imaginary Worlds (2025)
High Fantasy Illustrations (2022)

She currently also teaches at a university while continuing to develop artwork exploring nature, imagination, and coexistence.

✔ Official Links

Website
https://yukoiwase.jp/

Artworks
https://picaresquejpn.com/work/?artistid=16530

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/yukoiwase2017/

X
https://x.com/ucoume1210