The Artist
I'm a portrait illustrator dedicated to capturing the humanity and stories of remarkable people — artists, activists, cosplayers, educators, and creators — in graphite, watercolor, and colored pencil.
Each portrait begins with research. Before a single mark touches paper, I spend time learning who my subject is, what they've built, what they've overcome. That understanding shapes every decision — the angle, the mood, the medium, the detail I choose to emphasize.
The name "Old Man Oinari" is a nod to Inari Ōkami, the Japanese fox deity associated with creativity, fertility, and the arts. The "old man" in the name reflects reverence — for the subjects I paint, for the traditions of the craft, and for the patience portrait work demands.
I work primarily on paper, preferring the tactile intimacy of traditional media over digital alternatives. Every piece is one-of-a-kind.
"Every person carries a story the world doesn't fully know. A portrait is one way to say: this person matters."
I gravitate toward subjects who exist in the margins of mainstream recognition — creators and community figures who've made a genuine impact but whose faces aren't on magazine covers. The portrait is an act of insisting on their visibility.
I also believe in portraying people as they are, not as an idealized version of themselves. The wrinkles, the asymmetry, the expression caught mid-thought — that's where the truth lives. Flattery can be a form of erasure.