We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Yusuke Watanabe. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Yusuke below.
Yusuke, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you have an agent or someone (or a team) that helps you secure opportunities and compensation for your creative work? How did you meet you, why did you decide to work with them, why do you think they decided to work with you?
I quickly fell in love with picture book creation after illustrating “A Fish Called Andromeda”, and transitioned from animation to this field. I actively applied for illustration contests, networked, learned about the industry, sought feedback, and revamped my portfolio website.
On January 10th, 2023, I received an email from an agent who had seen my illustrations on Instagram and expressed interest in representing me. After an online meeting two days later, I signed with Red Fox Literary, marking the start of my new career with them. It took 4 month for me to get an agent, which was quite faster than I thought it would be, and it was still surreal moment for me.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Yusuke Watanabe, I’m a Japanese picture book illustrator based in Tokyo. I guraduated Calarts at 2022 May and I was enjoying visdev for animation during my time at calarts, but luckily I got a contract for picture book when I was taking a gap year. That was my first time to make a whole picture book and I just fell in love with this media immediately. Then I shift to the field of picture book from animation. When I’m not illustrating, I enjoy going for a walk, working out, playing sports, reading comics and playing video games.
HONORS AND AWARDS
・The 17th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards, Book Cover Design: Children’s Picture Books Finalist
・The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2022, Category 2: Books for 6 – 8 year olds Finalist
・Chanticleer International Book Awards 2022 Finalist
Invited Lectures
2023 Guest Instructor, High-Touch Animation program, CalArts Extended Studies, Los Angeles, CA
2020 Guest Instructor, Bingo Soroban School, Dusseldorf, Germany
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Yes, publishing picture books as an author/illustrator is my main goal right now. Luckily, a few years ago, I had the opportunity to join a picture book project as an illustrator. This marked my debut as a picture book illustrator, with “A FISH CALLED ANDROMEDA,” written by Cynthia C. Huijgens and published by Idle Time Press on November 25, 2022. Collaborating with the author was an amazing experience, and I definitely want to do it more. However, I also have a strong passion to write my own stories and illustrate them. In fact, I am currently working on a picture book of my own. I still have some work to do before sharing it with my agent, but I’ve been really enjoying the process so far.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Initially, art wasn’t a part of my life. I studied international business law in Tokyo, Japan, and worked in sales for over three years after that. Unhappy with this path, I decided to follow my ture passion for art and storytelling. Without any of art backgrounds, I quit my job and I started drawing when I was 26.
Despite facing initial rejection from CalArts, I attended PI Arts Center in New York to improve my skills and portfolio. The following year, I was accepted into CalArts, where I spent four years studying character animation and storytelling.
During my time at CalArts, I focused on visual development for animation and creating portfolio each year. However, I received consistent feedback from recruiters that my work appeared too unique for animation studios, which left me puzzled about fitting into the animation industry.
Upon sharing my dilemma with teachers, they encouraged me to embrace my style and suggested I explore the world of picture books. I created my first demo picture book and, through an online portfolio event with SCBWI, connected with a small publisher interested in collaborating. This marked the beginning of my journey as an illustrator for “A Fish Called Andromeda.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://yusukewatanabe.com/album/illustration-2/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/art_yusuke/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yusuke-watanabe-a55020162/
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Fish-Called-Andromeda-Cynthia-Huijgens/dp/1737262932?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1661891674&sr=8-1&linkCode=sl1&tag=thechisboorev-20&linkId=9c6e6cc052d68cc7f1405d3c209a7657&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
Image Credits
Yusuke Watanabe