Creator Interview: Kazuharu Kina [3/3]

Click here to read Part 2 of this interview.

At the exhibition we attended, Kazuharu Kina challenged himself with art prints. As a result, he joined the circle of art print artists who have been invited to Artjeuness, an art gallery in Akihabara, Tokyo that specializes in this technique.

However, just like the world of lithographs and ukiyo-e, printing multiple versions isn’t done by the artist himself, it is multicolored printing studios that actually finish up the artwork. Depending on the orientation of the artwork, these workshops each have their own genre they specialize in. In case the work is originally in digital form, it is mandatory that the data is expressed in CMYK. Then, a specialist designer breaks up the data into countless parts, and piles many layers on top of each other until he completes the print. Multicolored printing makes it possible to express a kind of depth and a sense of transparency that was difficult to achieve with the previous works. This debut exhibition featured three illustrations of Kazuharu’s that have been made into art prints.

Kazuharu: I’ve never used this technique before. I’ve heard about though, of course. How to say, I was very interested, but I never thought I’d get this chance, so it felt like, “This is what I’ve been waiting for!” I was in very high spirits (laughs).

TOM: It seems you’re very thrilled about your debut into art prints... How did it feel to be involved in the creation process?
Kazuharu: I had to realize that art prints are totally different from printed materials. When I was shown the works of other authors, I was surprised and said, “I see, this is printed material.” Up until now, I thought art prints were something better than printed materials, but that was only because I only had knowledge about printing. After learning about the number of pieces and other things, I became more and more worked up and I wanted to see my own works become art prints”

TOM: Our last question: When you look at the art print versions of your works, what are your impressions?
Kazuharu: It has a different texture from printed material. It looks as if like it was painted on a canvas with a brush. It’s a different world, especially when the light hits and the colors shine. The colors have a certain depth, and the beauty of the layers below in multiple piece prints... Lastly, the glitter on the silk screen is fascinating when hit by light. Try looking at it with a spotlight. Also, these sakura petals are a little transparent when printed, but on the multicolored art print, they look as if they were weightlessly drawn there with a brush. Plus, this part here (points at a part on the print), if it was printed, it would be over the limits of the reproducibility of the gradation range and it wouldn’t be visible. But in the data, it’s a small, delicate part that’s properly drawn, so it’s visible. You can see, right? Right? It’s there!”

TOM: Just like a kid who got his first colored pencil set. Although actually since this was the first time you experienced multicolored printing, it’s more like the first art supplies, so I guess it’s understandable.
Kazuharu: Nevertheless, in prints, there are parts dependent on the workshop, as if it was separated from the artist’s hands. But these sakura blossoms look really awesome!

Check out our picture collection of the talented Kazuharu Kina, 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 Page: http://otakumode.com/kazuharukina

This is a TokyoOtakuMode original article.