Double sketchbook life

Recently I started leading a double life — a double-sketchbook life. In one book, I'm a neat, detail, and reference-obsessed architecture illustrator, but when the evening comes and my family sleeps, I open my leather-bound book on which pages all kinds of monstrous and wonderful art can happen. For the past few years, I have…

I’m lost… because of AI

Hi Matt! I saw a post where you talk about AI, but what do you think we should do as artists? I've so lost my motivation and drive to keep on… I'm lost. With the permission of the person who e-mailed me with this question, I'm uploading my answer for all of you to read.…

Ghibli animations you haven’t seen (probably)

I love animated movies – I think that this form of art, when done right, can be one of the most imaginative ways of showing stories and worlds fantastic. But, I somehow never really got into short-form animation. I have seen some great ones, yes (like our favorite Magnetic Rose or some of the Animatrix collection, for example),…

Making a book (in Japan)

Just recently, my third book to be published in Japan arrived at my door! Every time seeing a new book completed is just a moment of many complex feelings: joy and relief, feeling of accomplishment, and also giddy anticipation for seeing the books on bookstore shelves. This is the end of a long, arduous process,…

True artists don’t erase!

In recent years I have been trying to be more conscious about how exactly I make art, and one of the things that I managed to change significantly for the better in my creative process, is how I feel about fixing and redoing things. Until recently, I would often not only ignore things in my…

Can I be an artist with no imagination?

Since I was very young, and even when I had already started aiming to make art my primary occupation, I thought that I simply could not become a "true" artist because I felt I had no imagination. I think this notion started when I was just a kid, getting more interested in making art and…

Realistic Fantasy

Making fantasy look tangible. For me, one of the best parts about creating a comic, an animation, or even just a single illustration is thinking up its setting. What kind of place are we in, what buildings to feature, what about the atmosphere, the time of day, and so on. A lot of artists I…

Wishful thinking destroys creativity

First off, as this article touches upon mental health, I would like to point out that (obviously) I'm not a mental health expert by any means, and the following text should be read as my thoughts and musings, based only on my own experience. If you are in any distress and looking for help, please…

Keeping the line alive.

Using words to describe a piece of art or the emotions it brings forth when experiencing it is often not up to scratch. In my videos, I often use the word "loose" to describe the style of painting and drawing that I'm aiming for, with the opposite being art that I can only describe as…

The “moe” style problem PART 2

Since I wrote the article about the "moe" illustration style problem, this issue kept being (and still is, to be honest) a thorn in my side. I continued to think about what can be done to improve the situation we face in the Japanese visual industry. Still, it's tough to do something without knowing from where…