Midori

Mariko Gotō
24" x 18"
oil on canvas paper, 2014

Mariko Gotō is Japanese singer and guitarist. She started out in the band Usagi in the early 2000s before linking up with Midori. Not to be confused with the well know classical musician Midori Gotō, also from Osaki, she now has embarked on a solo career. Midori is described (by Wikpedia) as jazz punk. Other sources add to the mix: Screamo-punk-pop-noh-jazz fusion, I read in an article. All of that could indeed be applied to describe Midori's music, it's that kind of music where anything could be thrown into the mixed bag. Punk in Japan is a bit different from the British and American varieties, it's more integrated in pop culture, not as sweet as J-Pop but much sweeter than say Black Flag. Manga I guess is a big influence on the music in Japan, J-Pop and punk alike. The Top 100 13/14 contains two songs by Midori and one by Usagi. So I spent all weekend trying to paint this portrait of Mariko Gotō (below). I recently got a pad of canvas paper, kind of a sketchbook for oil paintings, the size of which is much larger than what I have been using recently. The painting is larger than life (which is awkward, if it comes to portraits) and, out of pure frustration, destroyed it after too many hours spent on it. Later I picked it up again trying to salvage what could be salvaged, but not after I started anew from a different source photo. That one, depicted above, was much better, and quite quick too. (Even though I have to make certain corrections.)

Mariko Gotō
24" x 18"
oil on canvas paper, 2014