The Origin of My Art: In Pursuit of Beauty

My Elementary School Days: Discovering "Beauty"

The other day, I posted an article titled "The Origin of My Creativity."

As I touched upon there, the "origin of my art" was
**"Saint Seiya"**.

Once I discovered Weekly Shonen Jump and started reading manga, I spent my boyhood days devoted to tracing and copying.

At the time, I was drawing things like "Fist of the North Star" and "Kinnikuman," but eventually, "Saint Seiya" began its serialization.

I was struck to the core by the beauty and coolness of the characters, starting with Seiya.

From then on, my subjects for copying were exclusively Saint Seiya. Naturally, my drawing style began to lean toward
"the beautiful."

My Junior High Days: Beginning the Pursuit of "Ideal Beauty"

When I reached junior high, I started to become interested in female characters as well.

I wanted to draw beautiful women.

However, I wasn't just copying manga. I was drawn to Hollywood actresses and spent every day drawing portrait sketches in my sketchbook.

Eyes, nose, lips, ears—I began to develop my own
"standards of beauty" for each part.

Eventually, my interest expanded to the whole body, leading me to anatomy.

Since my school had an attached library, I would open anatomy books after school and copy them—a somewhat unusual student life, looking back on it now.

By the time I was in my second year of junior high, my figure sketching was so polished that even my art teacher was impressed.

A Shocking Encounter: Deedlit

It was then that I had a definitive encounter.

Deedlit from
"Record of Lodoss War."

Slanted eyes. A high, slender nose. Long, pointed elf ears. A sharp chin. Silky, flowing blonde hair.

It was a design style not often seen in the manga and anime of that time.

Having drawn Hollywood actresses,
I think I was intensely drawn to a beauty that was not Japanese.

From there, I completely immersed myself in the world of Record of Lodoss War, through novels, OVAs, and art books.

While my friends were obsessed with Gundam,
I dove into the world of pure fantasy instead.

Nobuteru Yuki as the "Skeleton"

There are two character designers for Record of Lodoss War.

・Yutaka Izubuchi (Novel version character design)
・Nobuteru Yuki (OVA version character design)

I love both, but
I was particularly strongly influenced by Nobuteru Yuki.

At the time, I was a complete copycat, as both I and others would admit.

Therefore, even now,
the "proportions" and "skeletal structure" of my art follow the lineage of Nobuteru Yuki.

Expanding Influences

Branching out from there, I was further influenced by two more artists.

Akihiro Yamada
(Artist for "Record of Lodoss War: The Lady of Pharis")

Alphonse Mucha
(A representative painter of Art Nouveau)

Akihiro Yamada's masterful pen touch.
Mucha's flowing lines and decorative watercolor beauty.

Around the age of twenty, the direction of my lines and coloring changed significantly here.
"I want to master pen and watercolor painting"
With that single-minded focus, I continued to draw every day.

And that current continues to flow within me even now, thirty years later.

The story of "I've never practiced"

I am often asked.

"What kind of practice should I do to get better?"

Honestly, I don't know.

That is because I have never drawn with the intention of "practicing." I just loved it,

I was just absorbed in it,
and before I knew it, I had been drawing for decades.

Now, I can explain techniques and art styles theoretically.
However, those are all afterthoughts.

"How did you establish your art style?"

This is the same.

I kept drawing what I liked, and it became the art I have today.

That is why I am also the biggest fan of my own art.

Even so, I am not yet satisfied

That said, I am not satisfied.

More beautiful.
More cool.

Whether I am watching a movie,
walking down the street,
or reading a manga,

"This is... beautiful."

The moment I think that,I desperately burn it into my mind.

Sometimes I don't even remember the plot of the movie.

If I say this, people might say it sounds like a difficult way to live.

But that is not the case.

Finding beauty every day,
and seeing it distilled into my own lines.

There is no greater joy than this.

Like Deedlit, whom I encountered in my youth,
I dream of the day I can draw a character who strikes a chord in someone's heart.

Today, too, I keep my pen moving.