Learning the Essence of Anime Painting from Illustrator Ogipote

Illustrator Ogipote's solo exhibition Hazuki is currently being held at pixiv WAEN GALLERY in Omotesando, Tokyo, through August 24, 2022. This exhibition features 80 works, mainly original illustrations, in a meticulously decorated space with a nostalgic atmosphere.

While the solid coloring and clear shading of anime-nuri style painting is easy for beginners to grasp, it can also be difficult, as it tends to become lackluster. We asked Ogipote about the techniques they have curated in their pursuit of a “refined anime-nuri” style.

荻pote (Ogipote)
An illustrator and Niigata Prefecture native, Ogipote produces works in many mediums centered around remarkable anime-nuri illustrations of bishoujo (beautiful young women). Their method of depicting emotional subjects and moments in time has been well received by many. They mainly get their energy from bananas and nattō and are also a proud insect collector.
pixiv
Homepage
Twitter

"K-On!" was impactful

── Thanks for your time today. Your pen name has a cute ring to it.

Not only does it have nothing to do with my real name, I actually changed it to Ogipote from something else. (laughs) The pen name under which I originally published my works was so silly that I wanted to change it when I started getting some work.

── How long have you been taking commissions?

It'd be embarrassing if I said too much and gave away my age, but I got my first job back when I was in high school. Someone who created web comics as a hobby asked me to do some illustrations for them. I gradually got more requests, and while I was still in college, I began earning enough that I realized that I could live off of the money I made from just a single piece. So, after I graduated I worked as a freelance illustrator.

夏至

by 荻pote

An original illustration posted in 2013

── Did you want to become an illustrator when you were younger?

I've loved creating things since I was a child, and I had a longing to work in a field related to pictures, but I didn't have any serious aspirations of becoming an illustrator, and I actually majored in education in college. I figured I could get a teaching license to use as a sort of escape route.

── So you didn’t go to art school?

That's right. But I did plan on becoming an art teacher, so I studied things like traditional Japanese painting along with my education major and created pieces of my own. I think there's a common thread between contemporary illustration and traditional Japanese art. Both have a flat design-like quality to them. So I often looked at Buddhist art and I also felt drawn to modern artists that created works with challenging expressions while maintaining the color scheme of traditional Japanese art like Makoto Aida.

── Could you tell us some works or creators that influenced you?

As far as influences go, I would say the works of Kyoto Animation, especially K-On!, had a big impact on me. The series’ realistic 2.5-dimensional motion and beautiful scenery accentuated with loads of effects is without a doubt where my style stems from.

爪のび気味子

by 荻pote

An original illustration posted in 2016

── Have you always been a fan of anime and manga?

No, not at all. I became an anime otaku because of a friend in high school, and then I discovered Paint Tool SAI and started to create bishojo (beautiful young women) illustrations.

── So you had a completely different style before that?

For a long time, my art looked like my first post on my pixiv account. (laughs) I drew that one with Microsoft Paint back in junior high school. There are a lot of memories attached to that piece, so I can't bring myself to erase it.

Shading and Effects Change Anime-Style Paintings!

── You're quite good at the anime-nuri style of painting, which is easy for beginners to challenge themselves with, but can come off flat with just a few simple mistakes. Do you have any advice?

Anime-nuri is a solid color technique that uses one or two colors to depict shading. It is easy to take to because of its simplicity, but it can also be just as difficult because of how easily drawings can wind up looking rough. Originally, this way of painting was developed to simplify images for the sake of adding motion, so it’s easy for it to come across as lacking as an illustration.

── How did you overcome that problem?

One aspect is shading. I mentioned that the core of anime-nuri is using one or two colors to add shading to an illustration, but the important idea, however, is to limit the number of colors used to emphasize efficiency. Shadows can be broken down into two types: the shadows formed from where light isn’t hitting and the shadows cast by objects in the scene. Omitting the second type of shadows is common in animation, but for non-moving illustrations, you can use as many colors to shade as you like and draw them in to your heart's content. Simply deepening the details of the shadows first will make a big difference in anime-nuri.

A video of techniques for drawing shadows posted on Ogipote’s personal YouTube channel

Then, there are the effects. The simplicity of anime-nuri allows for a more atmospheric effect to be created. In my case, I overlay real textures onto the image or add lens flares I created to capture the effect seen in anime. For instance, I’ll start with a background layer, a character layer, and a foreground layer, to which I'll add another two layers for atmospheric effects and final effects to perfect my illustrations.

grow

by 荻pote

Fundamentally, my illustrations are anime-nuri, but excluding the characters, I sometimes use thicker or more realistic paint., and I also use realistic textures. Illustration is a place of freedom, so you need to customize things to your preferences without getting bogged down in having to do it just like the style you’re working in.

── How did you come to be so particular about anime-nuri? Were there periods where you tried other painting styles?

When I started illustrating with Paint Tool SAI, I referenced tutorials on YouTube, and I started by trying to emulate the anime-nuri I saw in those videos. I did try to play around with using other painting styles, but I never consciously decided to change anything. I didn’t really intend on becoming so engrossed with it, but I guess it's a style I’m naturally suited to. In addition to my beloved Kyoto Animation, I’ve long admired illustrators like Hiro Kanzaki, who have that same sort of heavenly dimension to their work. I believe that anime-nuri has a universal quality to it, and I'm determined to get closer to that level as well.

Creating illustrations filled with background details

── You pack your illustrations with so many details, like complex backgrounds with small objects and bits of glass reflecting details of light.

Relative to animation, an illustration is going to invariably contain less information. There aren’t very many who would say they had cried when looking at an illustration the same way they’ve cried when watching an anime. But I try to create tear-jerking illustrations. In order to achieve that, I first need to fill the scene with lots of life and effects. With an illustration, the one thing I don’t have that an anime does is the tool of time. An anime has thirty minutes to implore a person to feel something, but an illustration has to do the same work in the single moment of life that it contains. To surpass that limitation, I fill my illustrations with background elements that will create a narrative, as well as using lots of reflections and refractions. I’m always searching for a way to express narrative through the momentary art of illustration.

春名残

by 荻pote

A girl stares out the window. A picture that leaves you wondering just what lies beyond her gaze....

── Do you ever struggle to come up with ideas when creating such detailed illustrations?

If I think about drawing something, my hands move naturally, so surprisingly, I feel like I’ve never really experienced artist’s block.

── You must have quite the imagination!

I’d say deluded rather than imaginative. (laughs)

── For example, in the illustration on the cover of your art book, you included things like a poster encouraging water conservation and soap. When I saw them, I remembered that those were indeed the sorts of things I’d see at a school sink, but I had completely forgotten until I had looked at the illustration. It’s incredible how you include those trivial things that would definitely be there.

It might be the case that I just have a strong visual memory, but I feel like the things that I’ve seen stick in my mind like a photograph. Along with those images sitting in my mind, I also newly reference material I can find on the internet and pour that into my illustrations.

あいきょう

by 荻pote

── I heard that you’re from Niigata. Do the nostalgic settings of your illustrations reflect your personal experience?

Of course, there are a lot of things in my illustrations that differ from my lived reality, but I do think they resemble the environment that I grew up in. I grew up around Jōetsu. It was quite the idyllic countryside, steeped in this nostalgic feeling. But I can say that nothing that takes place in any of my works ever actually happened. Only real normies ever had those kinds of experiences. (laughs) I would say that my work is my own experience sublimated to its peak state with some melancholy seeping in from somewhere. My works could be called the exaggerated state of youthful exuberance.

長い待ち時間

by 荻pote

── I feel like I understand the slight sadness that appears in your work! Do you ever go out to take reference photos?

If I happen to find a nice place, I take pictures, but I never go out for the purpose of photography, nor do I directly use the pictures I take for backgrounds or anything else. I get inspiration from the photos, and then I try to make them into the ideal world that I have in mind.

── This is a simple question, but what is the sentiment behind blurring the backgrounds that you’ve drawn?

The most important thing is the character, and the background is nothing more or less than a complement. That being said, I’Il usually blur the backgrounds to the point I'm in tears. (laughs) I often intend to blur the backgrounds more, but I frequently end up changing my mind because of all the effort I put into them. In the end, even if I blur the backgrounds, I did draw them thoroughly. Drawing things in great detail is kind of a habit of mine.

Adding details to the pupil to make them stand out

── How do you come up with your ideas?

I often think up ideas during my walks. Also, I’ll look at photo books of female idol groups and may take inspiration from one of the compositions. And sometimes, I’ll hear a moving song that will just conjure an image inside of me. After I’ve tried drawing a character, I’ll have a thought like, “Wouldn’t this girl look interesting if we were looking at her through glass?” or “How would they look if they were being reflected in water?” I consider how many different gimmicks I can cram into the illustration.

── Speaking of gimmicks, At what stage of the process do you decide on the effects?

It depends on the work, but I’ve got a vague sense from the very beginning of what kind of effects I’m going to use and where I’m going to put them. When I’m actually trying to draw the effects, I do that after I’ve colored the illustration. Once I’ve tried drawing the effects in, there are times when the entire feeling of the illustration changes, so I make further adjustments.

── The pupils in your illustrations really stand out. When you’re drawing them, what sort of things are you keeping in mind?

The eyes of a character are an important point in an illustration, as they are the first thing that catches the viewer's eye. To really make the eyes stand out, I try to increase the amount of information present in the pupils. I’ll add rainbow highlights of refracted light, increase the amount of ambient light in the scene, or reflect the entire scene within the pupils of the character. If I do too much, the image gets quite cluttered, so keeping a balance is difficult.

陽うらら

by 荻pote

The iris and light reflections are finely rendered.

── Listening to you, I get the impression that you are an illustrator with a keen sense of light and shade.

I’m very particular about light. At the same time, I don’t think you need to be too particular about getting the light perfect. For instance, even if the lighting is out of the realm of possibility, so long as it is visually comfortable, I think it’s okay if the lighting isn’t realistic.

── You’re very generous in sharing your techniques with us, both in your videos on YouTube and in this interview, and I feel that you are a great help to aspiring illustrators.

No, no, I just like talking too much. (laughs) I’m aware that understanding the technique won’t suddenly make every single viewer able to reproduce it, but I’m also confident that with the right amount of exercise people will be able to get there. I just feel that my style can spice up everybody’s illustrations if that’s what you’re into.

A video of the making of the exhibition’s key visual

The exhibition’s key visual best encapsulates summer

── Could you tell us about your art exhibition, Hazuki? The title also leaves quite the impression.

I chose to write Hazuki using the kanji for 'comet' to express the sparkle and energy of summer, which is my favorite season, as well as the fleeting nature of its instantaneous passing, while referring to the month of August (hazuki in the traditional Japanese calendar) in which the exhibition is held. For the main visual, I wanted to create a picture that would look best in summer, so I filled it with a fresh and refreshing feeling.

彗月

by 荻pote

── I also heard that you were quite particular about the hall’s interior.

I made many difficult requests of the individual running the exhibition, but we were able to create as nostalgic a feeling as we could.

A refrigerated case with a somewhat nostalgic design. The originally designed bottled water inside is a gift for those who purchase goods for 3,000 yen or more including tax.

── Is there anything in particular you’d like visitors of the art exhibition to see?

My pieces were originally drawn in a size and resolution optimal for display. I heard many people pleasantly surprised that I had included this motif here or that motif there when I released my art book, but I hope that a lot of people can discover new things about my art by seeing it in an exhibition hall. I was also quite particular about the merchandise being sold. I was able to get everything I really wanted and there are also novelty goods being handed out for free to all visitors, so I really hope people will take some of the merch home as a memento of their visit.

A video of Ogipote themself showcasing the merchandise from the exhibit. Some of the products can be purchased online through BOOTH.

── Finally, what are your goals for the future as an illustrator?

Fundamentally, I’m open to any job, but I want to continue doing character and VTuber design work. I feel like I still have plenty of room to grow, so I want to continue to pursue illustrating until I reach the peak of what is possible. I want to someday reach the point where I can make people cry with my illustrations.

Ogipote’s solo art exhibition, “Hazuki”, is on display through August 24th!

pixiv WAEN GALLERY by Twin Planet x pixiv, a gallery jointly operated by pixiv and Twin Planet, is currently holding Ogipote’s art exhibition, Hazuki, until August 24th, 2022

Approximately 80 pieces will be on display. The exhibition’s interior and the merchandise for sale were designed around the themes of nostalgia and summer to create the exact art exhibition Ogipote dreamed of.

Event period: August 5th (Fri) to August 24th (Wed)

Days off: None

Free Admission

Address: Tokyo, Shibuya City, Jingumae, 5 Chome-46-1 TWIN PLANET South BLDG. 1F

Hours: 12:00 p.m. to 7 p.m. JST

>>pixiv WAEN GALLERY official website<<

>>official Twitter<<

*Please be advised that we may stagger admission via numbered tickets on crowded days

*COVID 19 policy

Ogipote’s art exhibition, Hazuki, is currently intended to run until August 24th (Wed). We will continue to monitor the situation, but there is a chance the exhibition dates may be subject to change due to the spread of the virus. You can find more information about products on sale, reaching the venue, etc., on the pixiv WAEN GALLERY official website and Twitter. We thank you for your understanding.