The creatures ado draws never push their cuteness too far to the front. They meet your eyes, and yet they don’t pin anything down. They have expressions, and yet they don’t explain themselves.
Because that distance is held, the experience doesn’t end at “so cute.” As you keep looking, you’re gently pulled back to a sense of them as living beings—present, with weight.
Where the gaze is placed, the looseness of the contour, the way the body’s heaviness is left intact. All of it approaches you quietly, without hurrying your emotions.
She Started Drawing the Spring She Returned from Kenya
ado began creating work in the spring of her second year in the Department of Animal Science at university, right after returning from a two-month stay in Kenya.
While her desire to be involved in wildlife conservation was strong, she realized her own “naivety” on the ground: “I’m not a veterinarian,” “I’m not physically tough,” “My language skills aren’t enough.” Even so, as she kept asking herself, “Isn’t there something I can do in my own way?” she drew portraits of people she met in Kenya—and they were genuinely delighted. Through that experience, she felt firsthand that drawings can move people, and that they can reach someone.
After returning to Japan, she chose a path of drawing and communicating—gradually expanding what she could do, little by little.
The Thread Running Through Her Work: Feeling “This Is a Living Being”
What ado values most in her drawings is, first of all, that people can look freely, and feel whatever they feel.
And if, at times, her work can gently lead someone to think about “this animal is living somewhere,” or about “all kinds of living beings each inhabiting their own places,” she would be happy.
The theme that runs consistently through her work can sound a little unusual when put into words—yet it has a clear center:
That it becomes something you can feel as “a living being.”
Without leaning on explanations or “right answers,” she quietly lights a small flame in the viewer’s senses. That understated intention seems to shape the way her drawings rise into presence.
Washi and Oil Pastels: A Direct Connection from Hand to Paper
In recent years, the materials she often uses are washi and oil pastels.
She says the soft, fuzzy feel of washi pairs well with drawing living creatures. And she likes oil pastels for the sense of connecting straight from hand to paper—without a tool like a brush in between—along with their color, and their texture.
Even without saying much about technique, the reasons behind her material choices communicate a lot.
“Drawing as if touching.” That closeness is what brings ado’s animals nearer to “presence,” rather than leaving them as mere “concepts.”
The Eyes Change Everything
When asked about color, composition, or line, ado says lightly, “Maybe nothing in particular.”
But with living creatures, she says the impression can change greatly depending on the eyes. That’s why she often tries many variations until it feels right.
Inside that “feels right,” there must be a mix of observation and intuition, knowledge and the memory of the hand—and not rushing that process feels very much like ado.
A Simple Motto: “Do What You Want to Do. Do What You Can Do.”
When she faces making, her approach is straightforward: “If I feel like I want to make something, I try making it. I move my hands.”
Her motto for continuing is simple: “Do what you want to do. Do what you can do.”
Rather than one single dramatic turning point, she describes her path as a chain of encounters and opportunities—through which what she could do, and the scope of her activities, gradually expanded.
Kenya as an Origin Point, and Toward Concrete Action
For ado, the foundational experience was Kenya—and the presence of Dr. Shumpei Kanbe, the veterinarian who hosted her stay.
She speaks with quiet feeling about how many people and experiences have supported her to reach where she is now.
What she wants to do going forward is not limited to drawing. Little by little, she hopes to increase concrete actions that actually improve the situation for living beings.
“There’s endlessly more to learn about living creatures—both as knowledge and as experience.” That line sounds like the backbone of her making, and also like a declaration about how she wants to live.
For Those Who Display Her Work: “If You Think, ‘I Love This!’—Treasure That Feeling.”
Her message to those who pick up her work is refreshingly direct:
“Not just mine—if you ever feel, ‘I love this!’ I think it’s fun to treasure that feeling.”
She says it makes her “really happy” when someone displays her work, and that imagining her drawings living in each home fills her with a quiet joy.
As for the role she hopes her art can play in daily life, she doesn’t make it grand. She says she’d be glad if it can become “a gentle plus, even just a little.” That gentleness—that “slow warmth”—feels like the temperature of ado’s work.
On ado’s note: Toward a Life Where Cats Don’t Have to Live Outdoors
On ado’s note, she sets the goal of “making it so cats don’t have to live outside,” and she gently organizes the dangers outdoor cats face and the choices we can make. She cites a figure—an estimated 223,366 outdoor cats nationwide dying from accidents alone—then points to realities such as cold and heat, illness, abuse, and more. From there, she translates the topic into concrete actions: “don’t feed casually,” “keep cats fully indoors,” “spay/neuter,” and “TNR + Manage + Adopt.”
She also writes frankly about her own 18 years of experience and reflections. For details, she invites readers to see her posts on note.
https://note.com/ado_jogoo/n/nbb102db00b5c
No-chan and Sabi
