I came across this vector illustration of a Geisha at Steel Dolphin Art & Design Forums. It was submitted by Gustav Germann (aka Guger) and I found it to be a delightful blend of simplistic illustration and gradient mesh work.

I asked him to send me a little info on his process. He had this to say:

When I do my illustrations I try to make them with as little tracing and references as possible, if I scan in some sketches they are very basic..almost stickfigures.

All outlines are made as “solid cell´s” with the pentool (no brushes) on this image, it´s a techniqe that takes alot more time than using brushes, but I somehow I think it feels more genuine. I dedicate one layer for all the outlines, that way I can easily adjust the lines without messing up something else. All the fillings, patterns and gradients are made on separate layers. The tools used on this image is, “pen tool” and “gradient mesh” which is used to blend and fade the colours.For the “peony” (the background pattern) I´ve used the usual gradient tool and it´s set to “radial”.

Gustav is a freelance artist from Sweden who has always been interested in traditional Japanese tattooing and their stories and symbols, such as Samurai´s, dragons, demons, and flowers. You can see more of his work at his website www.germann.se.