Interview with Shoichi, winner of the Grand Prize at pixiv High Schoolers Illustration Contest 2021 - “Aiming to create thought-provoking illustrations filled with little stories.”

── You participated in the pixiv High Schoolers Illustration Contest during all three years of high school, right?

── It's kind of like the Japanese National High School Baseball championships in a way, huh?

── Last year’s theme was “dance”. How did you come up with the idea of mice maids dancing for your winning entry, While the Master of the Home is Away?

── Speaking of relationships between characters, looking closely at your work we can see that there’s a portrait of a cat on the wall telling us that the master of the home in your title is a cat.

── Did you have any other objectives with your work?

── What was your reasoning behind lowering the head-to-body ratio of your characters? Looking back on the past winners, I think that was rather a bold move.

── You’ve made sure to calculate for each element, haven’t you…! Each of the mouse-maids’ movements gives us a glimpse of each of their personalities, but do you have any particular favorites?

── It truly is a piece that makes you think! How did you feel when you completed it?

── Have there been any changes since winning the pixiv High Schoolers Illustration Contest 2021?

── From this spring you’ve been working for the animation studio, MAPPA, as an animator, right?

── Did you ever find yourself at a crossroads between pursuing a career in animation and illustration?

── Your self-produced animation, The Heart of the Witch is the Eye of the Kitten was trending on Twitter as well, wasn’t it? Could you tell us what the individual appeals of animating and illustrating are for you?

── When did you first think of making illustrating and animating a career?

── Aiming to become an animator at that time, how did you hone your skills?

── Please tell us what your current work environment is like.

── Looking at your pixiv account, we get the impression that your art style made a complete change around 2018. What sparked that change?

── How did you practice drawing scenery?

── Some illustrators create scenery and background using computer graphics, but how about you?

── I hear that there are a lot of people out there who end up drawing just the front side of their characters’ faces even though they want to be able to draw more complex structures, backgrounds, and poses.

── That’s a good point! With your work as well, the style and color palette change from piece to piece, doesn’t it?

── It’s very much like an animator to not be too particular about their style and be flexible in changing the way they draw.

── As the grand prize winner in last year’s competition, you were in charge of the main visual art for the pixiv High Schoolers Illustration Contest 2021.

── When did you receive your first commission request?

── I don’t think a lot of high school students out there are getting paid commissions, though. (laughs) Do you ever have trouble typing out business e-mails?

── You just started working as an animator this spring, right? How is your life right now with all of that?

── What kind of drawing practice do you do now that you’re a professional?

── Have you ever had to deal with creative blocks?

── It’s important to go back to basics, isn’t it? Could you please tell us what your goals are going forward?

── Lastly, could you please give a message to everyone thinking about submitting their work for the pixiv High Schoolers Illustration Contest 2022?