Launch Recite Me assistive technology
A black and white illustration of a person’s legs and feet as they walk up a set of stairs. A white silhouette of a dandelion grows from the dark surface of a step.

No big deal but these are perhaps the most beautiful drawings you'll see all week

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Date
8 October 2012

There’s nothing quite like an artist who’s managed to master one of the most basic mediums and transform it into something utterly unique. Milano Chow, whose work in the past few years has graduated from tranquil, photo-real portraits into surreally abstract works of art, is this type of creative. Coffee cups, books and other familiar life detritus litters the spaces around her characters, who have that friendly, crumpled look of being over-loved perhaps by the artist herself. Plants are also a reoccurring feature in Milano’s pictures, often just hanging out in the sun with a human being, or wilting by a rainy window. I don’t often say this, but I want to own one of these.

Above

Milano Chow: Seated Figure

A black and white illustration of a nine-pane window. A hand presses against the glass in the top right pane, while a vase of flowers and a pipe are visible through the fogged glass.
Above

Milano Chow: Poppies

A charcoal drawing of a pair of legs wearing trousers and lace-up shoes. The figure appears to be stepping down a set of black geometric stairs, with a white flower and a bottle lying at the bottom.
Above

Milano Chow: Feet Ascending Stairs

A charcoal drawing of a six-pane window set against a dark background. In the bottom right pane, a single wilted flower droops over the edge of a simple vase.
Above

Milano Chow: Window View With Tulip

A grey-scale illustration of abstract shapes and objects arranged in three horizontal tiers. A hand making an “ok” gesture appears in the top section alongside various geometric vessels.
Above

Milano Chow: Medicine Cabinet

A grayscale illustration divided into four window-like panes. A person in profile looks downwards in the bottom right pane, beside a small abacus.
Above

Milano Chow: Window View With Walnuts

A grey-scale illustration of five shelves filled with a variety of objects. The items include a small bust of a person, a potted plant, a picture frame and an hourglass.
Above

Milano Chow: Bookshelf

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About the Author

Liv Siddall

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Liv joined It’s Nice That as an intern in 2011 and worked across online, print and events, and was latterly Features Editor before leaving in May 2015.

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