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Recently, we interviewed TOM Special Creator Mebius, who is known for his mesmerizingly unique art. Read on for the interview!
Creator Introduction
Name: Mebius
Creator’s MyPage: http://otakumode.com/Mebius
TOM: What is your process when working on an illustration?
Mebius: I can't start drawing without music, so first I listen to some music to expand the image in my head, and then I draw out a rough draft of the general idea. I put paper over the rough draft and start on drawing the actual illustration with technical pens and ballpoint pens. After that, I put it on my computer and color it in Adobe Photoshop.
TOM: What genre of music do you listen to?
Mebius: House and electro. I enjoy artists like World Sketch, Yasutaka Nakata, and M-Flo. I first started listening to it after hearing it at a club I went to with an outgoing friend of mine from animation school. I felt like the club was such a refreshing atmosphere, and I ended up going a lot on my own.
TOM: Did you become an illustrator right after graduating animation school?
Mebius: No, I studied background art for animation at school and was thinking of going into animation right after. However, I realized I didn't have the passion to take on the challenge of becoming a background animator, so I went to another school to study fashion and design. I wasn't sure what path to take after graduating that school, but then I saw some original pieces in person by an artist named Marumiyan in Ginza that moved me, and I decided to become an illustrator.
TOM: Would you like your pieces to be seen in person?
Mebius: I would. I want people to see things they couldn't see without looking at it up close, like the places where I used correction fluid. You get a feeling of intimacy when you look at a picture close up and see things like an unevenness in the color.
TOM: You're also very involved in live paintings, right?
Mebius: This piece called "Singer-Songwriter, Irish Harper" was done for the CD cover art for a harpist named Shizuku Aosaki. I did a live painting event with her in May 2013. Each time I do a live painting, to some extent I have an idea of what I want to draw in my head, but there are a lot of areas where I ad-lib, so it's fun creating artwork live with a musician.
This one time I was speaking with a musician from France who told me that in other countries, there's a clearer idea of what works and what doesn't when it comes to art, and people follow what they think works. I find this appealing since we don't have it in Japan, so I'm considering expanding out more and more into other countries.
TOM: Do you have a favorite piece?
Mebius: That would be this one called "Isagiyoi." I focused my color choice and it came together nicely. I adhered to an ad aesthetic when doing this so that it could still work if you included some type of text.
TOM: Why did you decide to keep an ad aesthetic in mind?
Mebius: I think of ads as being a way to communicate something to people. I believe the basis of design is also to communicate a message to the person looking at it, and to some extent, I have the idea in mind to draw in an explanatory way. I find illustrations that are hard to understand to be impenetrable, and I can't easily come up with an image of them. I want to achieve a balance and create descriptive art, and not create something too artsy. As part of that, I consider putting text in. I'd like to try working in advertising. Particularly for Audi cars (laughs). Despite the incredible sci-fi feeling of their War of the Worlds tripod alien headlights, they're good cars and I like them.
TOM: Do you have any other illustrations you would like to do in the future?
Mebius: This isn't an exact answer, but I think subject matter that isn't with the times is cool. Illustrations that have a grandiose feeling, such as sci-fi and outer space, fit into that. Also, I'd like to do collaborations with sports and music and do some uplifting illustrations.
TOM: Lastly, we'd love it if you could give a message to any fans who might see this!
Mebius: I would like to say, draw how and what you think is good and enjoy yourself.
Check out our picture collection of the talented Mebius, and don’t forget to SUKI him! Keep it here for even more interviews with some of the most prominent creators in the otaku world!
Creator’s MyPage:
http://otakumode.com/Mebius
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
