Creative hero
Yoji Shinkawa
A creative hero for me is an idle who I look up to and desire to become. We all grow up aspiring to do something in life and this aspiration develops from the love for an idle; a hero and leader who helps bring out the talent in ourselves and teaches us to dream big.
Yoji Shinkawa is my creative hero. He is an Illustrator by profession and is famous for his contribution to the Metal gear gaming franchise. Born in Hiroshima on 25th December 1971, Shinkawa did his graduation from Kyoto Seika University in 1994. The same year he started his career as a debugger for a game called Policenauts produced by Konami, a game company. He made a name for himself by serving as the graphic designer of the game, rising to the position of Art Director. Later he worked as the lead character and mechanical designer for Metal Gear Solid directed by Hideo kojima. After the release of the game, Shinkawa received such great praise from gamers around the world that he was selected to work for the entire franchise, designing each part more mind-blowing, action-packed and entertaining than the last. He also did character designing for Zone of the Enders, illustrations for Urban Hercules and poster design for Japanese version of the film Pacific Rim. In 2015 he joined Kojima Productions. He designed the characters of the game Death Stranding which was released in 2020.
Shinkawa became my inspiration after I played one of the games of the Metal Gear series, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The game displays a major part of his sketches which are shown in the form of cut scenes created with a combination of different styles ranging from anime and manga to be inspired from works of Frank Miller, Aubrey Beardsley and Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (Moebius). Although he is credited for his achievement as a character designer of the game, one cannot deny that his sketches have a mark of newness to them. They are original and accurate. The characters are constructed with utmost simplicity, yet they have depth and portray emotions. Shinkawa uses a single brush pen and his talent to draw his sketches which end up being close to realistic and very satisfying.
Yoji Shinkawa taught me that artists are unique in their own ways. There are no limitations to possibilities. Anything can be your tool and everything can be your inspiration. We just have to believe in our skills and understand our ambitions.