As soon as I saw samples of Waneella's animated pixel art depicting Tokyo street scenes, I became a Patreon subscriber.
Waneella (aka Valeriya Sanchillo) was born in 1993 and lives in Moscow. On her Patreon page, she has timelapse videos that show her process. She draws basic shapes, then adds details, making many changes along the way.
Waneella's work brings back the magical feeling Carla and I got on our first night in Tokyo when we walked down a lantern-lit alleyway of bars and restaurants in Ikebukuro. I couldn't believe such a dreamlike place existed. It was quiet and energetic, clean and gritty, modern and ancient, and the attention to detail was evident at every scale. I think Waneella must feel the same way about Tokyo that I do.
To see more of Waneella's work, visit her Tumblr, Twitter, and YouTube accounts.
This is from the latest issue of my newsletter, The Magnet. Here's this week's subscriber-only issue, which looks at the incredible SHA-256 hash algorithm, solving problems by walking, an 1857 quote that has never appeared online before, and an updated recipe for better almond bread.
