THE RESOURCE BANK A helpful place for understanding the myriad of inspirations and influences behind Zosei's work! VAULT ONE: ANIMATORS AND ANIMATIONS Crayon Shinchan - esp. in the earlier seasons, notable animators include Masaaki Yuasa, Masahiro Ando, Shizuka Hayashi, and others. For more contemporary seasons Yuuta Kanbe is the most memorable for me. Like many of Japan's older children shows, Crayon Shinchan exemplifies the concept of "deforume" (lit. deformation), utilizing simple shapes and flat colors to unify abstract and figurative visual elements. Because it's a silly children's show, I don't think alot of people realize the amount of nuance and artistry that goes into the animation. I recommend interested students to examine the show's shape language, character acting, and compositional design, alongside the animators' efforts to reconcile 3D and graphic elements. Masanobu Hiraoka - among the strangest contemporary Japanese animators, Hiraoka is a fantastic artist to study from if you're interested in fluids and abstract shapes. Sarah Mae Schmidt Ian "Worthikids" Worthington Richard Williams - if you're an animation student, you may know this man for his popular book "The Animator's Survival Kit." I personally own a copy, and it is what got me into studying animation. As fantastic as it is, of course, it's not a comprehensive guide. Williams has his opinions, many of which are grounded on traditional, buttery-smooth figurative animation. Like every teacher, approach his instruction with caution, and treat it more as a jumpstart to more personalized study. Aside from that, I really appreciate Williams' commitment to complex character performances (most notably Zigzag from "The Thief and the Cobbler"), and his obsession with animating in ones. Kai Ikarashi - a Japanese animator who triumphs "deforume" more than any other anime director I've seen. His character animations are snappy, expressive, and borderline abstract. Not surprisingly, Ikarashi has worked extensively with Studio Trigger, a studio known for its cartoonish approach to anime, but it seems to me that Ikarashi wanted to take it a step further (even farther than Hiroyuki Imaishi and Yoh Yoshinari, the prominent heads of the studio). There is a particular set of impact frames from "Fate/Grand Order: Zettai Majuu Sensen Babylon" that exemplifies how crazy he can get with deforume (you can very easily miss it and will need to scroll through the shot frame by frame to get a good look at it). Point being, he is great study for exaggerated character acting and accents. Zsolt Richly Jonathan Djob Nkondo Joel Guerra Oficina Pignon(Vasili Igor) - formerly known as VLIF, Igor is an animator who has worked on various indie projects such as Rick Tempest's Disillusion ST and Joel Guerra's ENA series. As of late, Igor's work has encouraged me to study more "outside-the-box" animation, trying to see that line between experimental and accessible media. His work seems to be centered around a relationship between simple shapes, "2000s corporate design" language, and a hint of kawaii elements. I'm not sure if that description makes any sense, so I think you would be better off examining his work yourself to get an idea of how weirdly specific his art style is. VAULT TWO: FINE ARTISTS Lebbeus Woods Plastiboo - for those who already know who Plastiboo is: yes, I consider him a fine artist. He might as well be, seeing how beautifully (and horrifically) unique his work can get. Exploring a blend of obscure horror game visuals, simulated embossing, comic book paneling, and enigmatic literature, Plastiboo brings something truly original to the table of both horror arts and visual storytelling. Because of the amount of innovation Plastiboo develops within his practice, there is no one thing I can recommend students to study from. Just find what you like and think on it. Vilhelm Hammershoi - if you enjoy liminal spaces, check this guy out. William A. Berry Minoru Nomata Yoshitaka Amano Kim Jung Ji - you already know who this guy is. I don't need to explain. VAULT THREE: COMICS ARTISTS Nihei Tsutomo - Tsutomu is among the few manga artists who puts an exceeding amount of effort on background design. It makes sense, having graduated from Parsons School of Design, he has a strong architecture and construction background. I firmly believe that many young artists (including my past self) could care less about background design, putting character design on the pinnacle of expression and narrative. It's easy to think that, but after witnessing Tsutomo's "Blame!" and more recent "Tower Dungeon," I've begun vigorously studying the power of narrative-driven architecture and backgrounds. Like Lebbeus Woods, I would focus my studies on Tsutomu's approach to structural composition and world building. John Hendrix - the leading Christian comics artist in the United States and possibly the world. Kiyohiko Azuma - famed first for his series Azumanga Daioh, Azuma has a manga series that many anime watchers may be unaware of: Yotsubato! This is a great starting series for Christians and normal people wanting to get into manga (a difficult task for those searching for something without the aggressive push of sex appeal). Aside from its family-friendliness, Yotsubato! is an interesting visual phenomena. Its character designs are extraordinarily simple, while the backgrounds seem to border on the line of realism. It is among one of my favorite visual techniques, working to separate the foreground characters from the backgrounds to form clarity. If you are a pen artist seeking ways to render household objects and Japanese suburbs, this may be a good manga to study from. Arawi Keiichi - if you watch anime, you may be familiar with Keiichi's most notable manga series Nichijou. He has since been working on CITY, an equally ridiculous slice-of-life manga with that same cartoon-anime hybrid style. From my point of view, I think I've since lost a lot of the cues that connected his style to mine. Despite this, I still look at Keiichi's work fondly as a testiment to how Japanese cartoons can be enjoyable without the pervasive influence of sex appeal. Definitely give this a look (esp. the Nichijou anime) if you're interested in wacky character performances and strong visual culture development. VAULT FOUR: GAMES AND DEVELOPERS Rick Tempest's Disillusion ST 90s Graphics' Peripeteia FromSoftware's Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon