Living in the United States didn’t stop artist Angela Hao from enjoying the beauties of Japan. Using Google Street View, Hao often roams the streets of Tokyo and other Japanese cities, where she finds inspiration for her art.
Hao is especially fascinated with the fronts of Japanese stores, restaurants, and shops and enjoys drawing them. She recreates the storefronts she sees during her Google Street View sessions but allows herself a lot of artistic freedom in the process. This includes giving the drawing a “dreamy” and cartoonish feel by adding elements like plants, flowers, vines, trees, and animals.
In a recent interview, Hao revealed that many of her storefront drawings are also largely a product of her imagination. She often combines two storefronts from real life into one drawing, taking the elements she likes the most from each one.
Other times, Hao reimagines the purpose of the store and uses that as a basis for her drawing.
“Sometimes when I look at a reference photo, I would imagine what if this Raman store was actually a bookstore. I would then start to ‘remodel’ the store on my canvas,” she told My Modern Met in a recent interview.
Check out more of Hao’s works below.
