Omocat is an Asian-American artist best known for her visually stunning apparel that is heavily influenced by japanese culture, as well as her new game releasing soon, Omori.

Her work has attracted the attention of big name clients, notably, Pokemon, Namco, and Coca-Cola. Below is an example of her work. What makes her art impressive to me is how it can stand out in an ocean of anime art due to her bright colors and distinctive style.

Apparel

Omocat cites her big break as the success of her clothing line. What started out as a hobby for her grew into a full career as a designer. In an interview with OtakuJournalist she explained that while she loved drawing fanart, it became tiring always having her work attached to someone else’s work. Her clothing line was the answer to her desire to create a universe that was distinctly her own.

I personally found Omocat’s story particularly compelling. Her story is that of a shy artist who followed her dreams and turned her hobby into a fulfilling career. Obviously this narrative won’t work for everyone, but it does speak to the virtues of being true to who you are and pursuing your passion, as cliche as it sounds.

Truthfully, Omocat is more of an artist than a fashion designer. She doesn’t sell skirts or shoes, just t-shirts, crop hoodies, sheer bomber jackets, sweaters, jerseys, or upper body wear that serves as a nice display for her designs. Pair an Omocat shirt with a cute skirt, cute shoes, and maybe one of those surgical masks commonly worn by asians, and anyone could pull off the looks shown above.

I personally own my fair share of Omocat’s apparel, and although it has yet to transform me into a handsome japanese boy like advertised in her artsy model shoots, I find them satisfactory nonetheless.

As I don’t want to make this sound like too much of an advertisement for Omocat, I will disclose that I found the prints on the shirts to feel rather cheap. I was afraid the designs would scratch off, and the texture of the shirts was nothing special either.

Overall I will be honest, the price tags are quite high for what you get, but that’s fashion for ya butt, where fashion companies charge at least 400% of the manufacturing cost.

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Omori

I’d be remiss if I were not to mention Omocat’s game, Omori. Omori was originally a character created by Omocat. She said it was her favorite character to draw, her go-to. Originally wanting to create a graphic novel, Omocat eventually decided it would be fun to work with a team on a game, and thus Omori the game was born.

The kickstarter for the game has raised over $200,000, and the original release date was predicted to be May 2015. But we’re in the summer of 2018 and still no release has backers understandably upset.

The surreal psychological horror RPG game, made with RPGMaker is supposed to take after the likes of Earthbound and Yume Nikki. A demo has been made available for kickstarter backers and it still looks promising. We will all be watching closely to see if the game turns out to be as good as the trailers make it look.

Artistic Style and Influences

Anime

The most obvious influence on her work is, of course, anime. Anime is nothing new in the realm of art. A lot of young kids watch their first anime around the time they’re learning to draw. Nobody draws iCarly, or Drake and Josh, but anime is by definition, drawn art. It’s understandable then, that so many people are inspired to draw fanart from the anime they grew up watching.

Anime serves just as much a social function as it does an entertainment one. So while it may not be the most original of art styles, it definitely means a lot to people, and that’s why I think Omocat’s work resonates with a lot of people.

Examples of anime art:

Examples of anime art, as seen in Omocat’s work:

Surrealism

As shown from her Omori game, some of Omocat work deals with the inner conflict of depressed otakus like Omori. Her art depicts minimalist rooms of “white space” or emptiness of Omori’s outside world while simultaneously celebrating the adventures that take place inside Omori’s head. The adventures shown in the Omori demos and trailers show us the creative potential of the unconscious mind, a bizarre new environment worth escaping the dreadful present situation for.

Examples of surrealism art:

Examples of surrealism, as seen in Omocat’s work:

Horror

Don’t let the bright saturated colors fool you, there’s much more to Omocat’s themes than just cute anime girls. A lot of her work features dark undertones, and a lot of it is just downright creepy. Keep in mind, however, that due to the private nature of Omocat, it would be difficult to pin down any specific experiences or hardships from her personal life that would have influenced her work. But her older posts on her blog give some insights to how she has felt throughout the years. The more unsettling and distributing art has always been part of her repertoire.

Examples of horror art:

Examples of horror art, as seen in Omocat’s work:

Technicolor

Technicolor art is bright, vividly noticeable, intensely colorful art. It typically involves a variety of colors that jumps out at you and splashes into your eyelids. It’s hard to say whether or not technicolor art was an influence on Omocat, or whether her work just happened to converge with the style, due to her frequent use of bright colors.

Examples of technicolor art:

Examples of technicolor art, as seen in Omocat’s work:

Pop Art

While the technicolor art may only be achieved with a rich variety of colors, the very popular, pop art, (named aptly as the art seems to pop out at your with it’s sharply contrasting colors) only requires a few, bold colors and tones. I find this style more prevalent in Omocat’s work today, as her designs are typically simplistic depictions, accompanied by only a few sometimes contrasting colors, along with the black outline seen in most pop art.

Examples of pop art:

Examples of pop art, as seen in Omocat’s work:

Favorite Works

Below are just a few of my favorite works of Omocat. I’d provide a description of each one, but I think they speak for themselves. Obviously, I also couldn’t put every one of Omocat’s illustrations here, so I recommend you visit her website and check out her work yourself

Art

Apparel

Pretty Boy

Pretty boy is a short comic done by Omocat that gained a lot of traction online. Since its release, Omocat has made a booklet of it, and sold Pretty Boy related merchandise on her website. It is an empowering comic about-well… you should see for yourself. It only takes about a minute to read, and it’s a lovely story. Check it out here.

Follow and Support Omocat

This was one of the first blog posts I’ve ever wanted to write, so I want to personally thank Omocat for inspiring me to write about art. Definitely don’t forget to check out Omocat’s website and browse through her art and clothes. She just dropped a new Hatsune Miku collection and it’s sick. If you want to learn more about Omocat’s game, Omori, you can visit its official website, or its kickstarter page. She also has a blog that has all of her old artwork, as well as updates of what’s to come. Lastly, if you want to keep up with the latest on Omocat via social media, you can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

More Talented Artists

If you enjoyed this artist showcase, consider checking out the previous one, about a French artist who makes adorable animations about furry creatures. It’s got elements of nerd culture in it as well, check it out here.