Interview with MoKa, the Grand Prize winner of the pixiv High Schoolers Illustration Contest 2024 - “I pour everything, including my uncertainties, into my art, and it doesn’t need to be perfect.”

I stumbled upon the pixiv High Schoolers Illustration Contest when I was a freshman in high school. At the time, I’d been trying to find a contest that not only accepted hand-drawn illustrations but was open to high school students as well. That was in 2022, and when I saw the grand prize winner Fui’s work, I knew I had to apply the following year. During my second year of high school, however, I was busy studying abroad in the UK because I A) wanted to improve my English and B) learn more about the relationship between art and the local community. It was only in my third and final year of high school that I was able to dedicate enough time to this contest and make my dream a reality.

I hadn’t expected to win at all, so I could hardly believe it! I was working at my part-time job the day the results were announced, and when I got home, I went straight to bed without checking anything. The next day, I got a little curious, so I went to pixivision—imagine my surprise when the first thing I saw was my drawing! That woke me right up. (laughs)

I didn’t tell anyone that I’d entered the contest, nor was I active on social media at the time, so nope. When I told my parents that I’d won, they were like, “Wait, you drew that? Really?” (laughs)

Yes. I love animals, so I used to draw them a lot prior to the contest, and I’ve even made hand-drawn animal illustrations for my friends’ birthdays. I believe that’s largely due to my father, who’s also an illustrator. My father draws animals for a living, and his books are scattered all around the house. As a kid, I often used to read those books or sit across from my father and draw with him.

About a week, I would say. I wasn’t at home much that summer break since I was away at my grandmother’s house, so I only started working on it a week before the deadline, and I ended up submitting it pretty last minute. While I had an idea of what I wanted to draw, it usually takes a long time for me to translate that onto paper and come up with a rough draft. After a good three to four days of brainstorming different compositions and deciding what motifs to incorporate, I then spent whatever time I had left to work on my piece. By then, I was cutting it really close to the deadline, so I basically buckled down and drew all day.

At the time, I was really into drawing spirals. The first thing that came to mind when thinking of the word “spiral” was a tropical cyclone, and from there, I initially thought of going with a typhoon theme. Unfortunately, I struggled to come up with a draft that I was happy with. While brainstorming different ideas, it suddenly dawned on me: instead of fixating on the spiral aspect, why not shift my focus to the tropical aspect instead? That’s when the word “tropical rainforest” popped into my head.

I decided on the colors after analyzing the overall vibe of the piece. As a result, I felt like the best colors to use were the ones that represented the hot, sweltering heat of the jungle and lush, overgrown vegetation, which is how I settled on the final color scheme.

I try to use every single resource I have—things I’ve encountered in everyday life, knowledge I’ve learned, ways of thinking I’ve acquired, images of animals and landscapes—mix them up all together, and see what comes out. There’s no telling how much time it’ll take until I hit the nail on the head, so to speak, but I know that repeating the process over and over again will eventually lead to good results, and it’s something I enjoy very much.

Saito Naoki-sensei mentioned that the sense of contemplation in each layered brushstroke fit the theme of the piece well, and I thought he was absolutely right. I had just taken a break from digital illustration, and I was trying to explore what kind of art I wanted to make. Rather than try to create something that was polished and put together, I wanted to express the things that were swirling inside me. I thought I would enjoy that, too, as it would make me feel more alive. So that’s exactly what I did.

It was a challenging time, for sure. Whenever I draw something, I end up thinking really, really hard about it, but that’s part of what makes it so enjoyable to me. Plus, it’s pretty much a habit at this point. Mulling things over before incorporating them into my drawings is a key part of my process, so I was really happy that the judges commented on that.

One thing that has changed is that I no longer feel the need to make things look too refined. Instead of trying to create something orderly or adding a filter so it looks more polished, I try to express the jumbled mess inside me in a way that’s raw, unfiltered, and true to how I’m currently feeling. At the time, I had a lot of worries regarding school and relationships, but ultimately, there’s only so much you can do, and you just have to take things one step at a time. Thanks to the judges, I now feel like it’s okay to take my time with each brushstroke and cherish things as they are.

Honestly, I found it pretty challenging. (laughs) The clock never stops ticking, and neither does our society, which is based on that concept of time. Still, neglecting the present moment is not something I ever want to do, which is why I initially focused on the here and now and went with the theme that we can only live in the present.

Yes. I felt like the theme wasn’t clear enough, so I came up with the idea of making memories stored in objects and their history the main focus instead. I've always found fragments of the past, such as fossils, or well-loved antiques, really interesting since you can sense the passage of time from them. All of these things that have come from various places and can be traced far back into the past, which you’re now seeing in this fleeting moment before parting ways, seemed to fit perfectly with the contest’s theme, so I decided to go with that approach.

I basically just drew a bunch of things I like. The T-rex skeleton you see near the person’s mouth is based on what I saw at the Pitt Rivers Museum during my study abroad in the UK.

Yes. It’s meant to represent the dragon dance performed during Chinese New Year, which I saw a photo of in the newspaper once. I was intrigued by the idea of everyone working together to accomplish a significant goal with respect to the divine and nature, and I thought it was interesting to see this cycle of preparation and continuation from one festival to the next—sometimes once a year, sometimes even longer, such as once every decade or every 12 years in accordance with the Chinese zodiac—so I decided to include it in my piece.

Out of all the entries for the pixiv High Schoolers Illustration Contest, many of which are character-centric, the judges kindly chose my submission Fukagyaku Shinko (不可逆進行, lit. “irreversible progress”) last year, despite its heavy emphasis on animals and plants. I think that’s why when I was tasked with creating the main visual, I was told not to just focus on people but to incorporate other elements as well. When I thought about what I pay attention to and the things I’m interested in in an illustration, it’s always more than just the characters, which is why I used various motifs to create this work. I’m glad it seems to have been well received.

With Fukagyaku Shinko, I already had a specific setting to work with, so I simply researched the types of animals that live in tropical rainforests and included them in the piece. Given how broad the theme of this year’s main visual, Koshikata Yukusue (来し方行く末, lit. “past and future”), was, however, I went with a different approach, choosing to include things I like while being careful not to make the piece feel too cluttered. I guess for the latter, I can’t really explain why I chose a certain motif even if you asked me. Ultimately, the ratio of feeling to logic will change depending on the illustration.

That’s right. I always consider complementary colors and how to guide the viewer’s gaze in every illustration, but other than that, I often draw by feel. Part of that may have to do with the fact that I don’t know a whole lot about illustration theory and techniques, so I end up letting my senses guide me. I learned about complementary colors by studying the art books of my favorite illustrators and how to guide the viewer’s gaze from manga.

I don’t follow a lot of artists who are known for highly saturated illustrations, but I am deeply inspired by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag’s acrylic-like painting style. After seeing the rich, hyper-realistic landscapes in his art books, I just had to customize my brushes.

Now that I live on my own in a different environment, I’m excited to see how my art might evolve.

Oh, that would have to be the artist Tomoko Konoike, for sure. Her feature in Bijutsu Techo last year made such a huge impression on me that I went to her exhibition that summer, and I even attended the talk she gave. Her talk wasn’t just limited to art itself, and she covered a wide range of topics ranging from how the world can change its course without destroying the ecosystem, daring to choose not to do something even if it’s technically posssible, and playing with your five senses. It was truly an eye-opening experience. I wish I could say more than just “she’s amazing,” but she really is an incredible person and artist.

My friends and teachers have mentioned something similar, but personally, I’d say I look forward to new encounters. As much as I love books, I also enjoy visiting places and talking to the people who live there or touching and seeing things in person.

I usually go out on the weekends since that's when I have the most free time. The other day, one of my professors invited me to experience rice planting, so I guess you could say I’m a pretty outdoorsy person. Now that I’m a university student and have more freedom, I’ll probably be able to spend more time studying various things, such as seashells I found on the beach, and incorporating them into my drawings.

I’ve slowly been jotting down themes and ideas I’d like to draw, so I’d like to work on those. And who knows, I may or may not also find inspiration during my excursions. Not knowing is interesting in itself, so for now, I want to enjoy various encounters and making new discoveries. I might end up creating something new each time, or I may keep drawing the same thing forever—only time will tell.

I’ve always loved drawing manga since I was a kid, and after winning the Grand Prize in the pixiv High Schoolers Illustration Contest last year, I was fortunate enough to win Harta magazine’s Yatagarasuhai Competition as well. As of now, I’d like to draw manga commercially in the future. Currently, I’m working hard on the storyboard of a one-shot that I’m hoping I can get published in Harta. Of course, I’d also like to work on things other than manga, such as 3D modeling. In terms of non work-related stuff, I’d like to travel too.

Thank you. During my four years at university, I’d like to continuously experience various things and apply them to my art in order to create something interesting, and I believe that will eventually end up in my manga. No matter how far I go, I’ll most likely continue to draw manga as well as illustrations.