Art: Shohei Otomo

By: Melanie Liebert

Have you heard of the Japanese illustrator Shohei Otomo? With his furious ballpoint he makes illustrations that are a combination of traditional Japanese and more modern style. Some may also recognize the style of Manga as an inspiration for his work.

Some critical view on the world often pops up when you watch Shohei Otomo’s work and may exactly be why punk images are often be found from his hands. The artist himself is only 32 years old and has a lot to say. The characteristic ballpoint material that he makes is something he started around the age of 24, while he was often low on budget it was cheaper than making oil paintings as he learned on the Tama Art University. At the same time, he felt more free to work this way.

All these skills are not coming strange for him. His father was known as a Manga artist, creating ‘Akira’ which is very popular. As a freelance illustrator Shohei Otomo often worked for his friends band, which seem to represent the same as he was after, so a good combination was found.

When he was 24 he also did his very first exhibition, which was a success right away. This was the perfect push in his career as more would follow after that. Some little silly thing, like drawing live on a model’s skin and right now he as a new exhibition coming up in Australia.

If you are interested in seeing more of his art, you shouldd visit his website (tip: Let your browser translate it for you!)
He recently posted some art up there to watch and even use as long as it is not commercially.

Links:
Shohei Otomo exhibition at Blackwoods Gallery
Shohei Otomo Facebook