Yoji Shinkawa
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese artist
. He is most famous for his character, environment and mechanical designs for the Metal Gear
and Zone of the Enders
series.
Born in Hiroshima
, Shinkawa began working for game developer
Konami
in 1994; he was the first artist in the company to receive an "S"-grade evaluation for his portfolio. He first worked as a debugger for the PC-98 version of Policenauts
. He moved on to serve as art director for the later console ports of the game, then as character designer for the Metal Gear Solid
series. He is now the lead artist on many of Konami
's titles.
Shinkawa's illustration style is generally praised as original and artistic, yet technically accurate. According to himself he is inspired by anime
-related artists like Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
and Yoshitaka Amano
, but also more western-related and less contemporary artists such as Frank Miller
, Aubrey Beardsley
and Willy Pogany
. He is also a big fan of French
artists such as Mœbius
.
He uses ink pens with a brush-like felt-tip preferring the Pentel Brush Pen and both Adobe Photoshop
and Corel Painter
for his creations.
He is an avid fan of heavy metal
and artists such as Megadeth
, Rage
, Killswitch Engage
and Yngwie Malmsteen.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. He is most famous for his character, environment and mechanical designs for the Metal Gear
Metal Gear (series)
is a series of stealth video games created by Hideo Kojima and developed and published by Konami. The first game, Metal Gear, was released in 1987 for the MSX2. The player takes control of a special forces operative Solid Snake who is assigned to find the eponymous superweapon "Metal Gear", a...
and Zone of the Enders
Zone of the Enders (series)
, commonly referred to by the acronym Z.O.E., is a franchise created by Hideo Kojima, owned by the video game publisher Konami, and expanded on by the animation studio Sunrise...
series.
Born in Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
, Shinkawa began working for game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
in 1994; he was the first artist in the company to receive an "S"-grade evaluation for his portfolio. He first worked as a debugger for the PC-98 version of Policenauts
Policenauts
is a cinematic adventure game with a hard science fiction storyline, written and directed by Hideo Kojima, and published by Konami. It was initially released for the PC-9821 computer platform in 1994, followed by remade versions for the 3DO in 1995, and the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996...
. He moved on to serve as art director for the later console ports of the game, then as character designer for the Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid
is a videogame by Hideo Kojima. The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Kojimas early MSX2 computer games Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake...
series. He is now the lead artist on many of Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
's titles.
Shinkawa's illustration style is generally praised as original and artistic, yet technically accurate. According to himself he is inspired by anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
-related artists like Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
is a Japanese animator and manga artist in the anime industry.Yasuhiko dropped out of Hirosaki University and was hired by Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Productions in 1970 as an animator. He later went freelance and worked on various animation productions for film and television. In 1981 he won the Seiun...
and Yoshitaka Amano
Yoshitaka Amano
is a Japanese artist. He began his career as an animator and has become known for his illustrations for the anime Vampire Hunter D and for his character designs, image illustrations and title logo designs for the Final Fantasy video game series developed by Square Enix . His influences include...
, but also more western-related and less contemporary artists such as Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
, Aubrey Beardsley
Aubrey Beardsley
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley was an English illustrator and author. His drawings, done in black ink and influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasized the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James A....
and Willy Pogany
Willy Pogany
William Andrew Pogany was a prolific Hungarian illustrator of children's and other books.-Biography:...
. He is also a big fan of French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
artists such as Mœbius
Jean Giraud
Jean Henri Gaston Giraud is a French comics artist. Giraud has earned worldwide fame, not only under his own name but also under the pseudonym Moebius, and to a lesser extent Gir, the latter appearing mostly in the form of a boxed signature at the bottom of the artist's paintings, for instance the...
.
He uses ink pens with a brush-like felt-tip preferring the Pentel Brush Pen and both Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...
and Corel Painter
Corel Painter
Corel Painter is a raster-based digital art application created to simulate as accurately as possible the appearance and behavior of traditional media associated with drawing, painting, and printmaking. It is intended to be used in real-time by professional digital artists as a functional creative...
for his creations.
He is an avid fan of heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and artists such as Megadeth
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...
, Rage
Rage
Rage may refer to:* Rage , an intense form of anger- Games :* Rage , a 2011 first-person shooter and racing video game developed by id Software* Rage Software Limited, a defunct game developer...
, Killswitch Engage
Killswitch Engage
Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbandment of Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Howard Jones, bassist Mike D'Antonio, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, and drummer...
and Yngwie Malmsteen.
Softography
- PolicenautsPolicenautsis a cinematic adventure game with a hard science fiction storyline, written and directed by Hideo Kojima, and published by Konami. It was initially released for the PC-9821 computer platform in 1994, followed by remade versions for the 3DO in 1995, and the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996...
- Metal Gear SolidMetal Gear Solidis a videogame by Hideo Kojima. The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Kojimas early MSX2 computer games Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake...
- Zone of the EndersZone of the EndersThe soundtrack to Zone of the Enders was released April 25, 2001 on the album Zone of the Enders Z.O.E Original Soundtrack by Konami Music Entertainment. Almost all the music was composed by the trio , and . Also, composed "Global 2 " and , "City ". The theme song "KISS ME SUNLIGHTS" was composed...
- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of LibertyMetal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Libertyis a stealth action video game directed by Hideo Kojima, developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 in 2001....
- Zone of the Enders: The 2nd RunnerZone of the Enders: The 2nd RunnerZone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, known in Japan as , is a video game that was developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. The sequel to Zone of the Enders, the game was produced by, and is closely associated with Hideo Kojima. The game is based around mecha combat...
- Fu-un ShinsengumiFu-un Shinsengumiis a PlayStation 2 action game published by Genki featuring artwork by Yoji Shinkawa. The game revolves around the historical military group Shinsengumi during the Edo Period of Japan's history. A PlayStation Portable version was released by From Software in December 2009....
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake EaterMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eateris an award-winning stealth action video game directed by Hideo Kojima. Snake Eater was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2, and was released on November 17, 2004 in North America; December 16, 2004 in Japan; March 4, 2005 in Europe; and on...
- Fu-un Bakumatsu-den
- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsMetal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriotsis a video game developed by Kojima Productions for the PlayStation 3 console. The game was directed by Hideo Kojima and made its worldwide release on June 12, 2008, ten years after the release of Metal Gear Solid and twenty years after the North American release of Metal Gear.Guns of the Patriots...
- Metal Gear Solid: Peace WalkerMetal Gear Solid: Peace Walkeris a video game produced by Konami and Kojima Productions that was released for the PlayStation Portable in 2010. Peace Walker is the fourth Metal Gear title for the PSP, although it is only the second to be considered part of the series' main canon, following Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops...
- Metal Gear Solid: RisingMetal Gear Solid: Risingis an upcoming action video game under development by Kojima Productions as a spin-off to the Metal Gear series. The game is in development for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The series' regular tagline, "Tactical Espionage Action", will be opted out for this entry in favor of...
Other works
- Novels
- Urban Hercules (illustrations)
- Films
- Godzilla: Final WarsGodzilla: Final Warsis a 2004 Japanese science fiction-kaiju film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, written by Wataru Mimura and Isao Kiriyama and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. It is the twenty-eighth film in the Godzilla film series, and the sixth in terms of the series' Millennium era...
(monster and mecha designs)
- Godzilla: Final Wars
External links
- Yoji Shinkawa at MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...