RSPro Creators | Kentaro Yoshida interview

We teamed up with Japanese illustrator Kentaro Yoshida. And the illustration is 🔥

We're using it in a beautiful, 100% organic cotton tee, in stickers and ... let's see what more. 

But let's stop the self talk and dive in to know more about Kentaro.

Grab a beer and enjoy the interview 

Carles: Ken, could you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into drawing? Is it something you have always done?

Ken: I have been a doodle kid when I was really young. I always drew characters from Japanese comics, such as Dragon Ball or Gundam. I still remember my dream was to be a manga (Japanese comic) artist. I kept drawing during my teenage, but I never thought I’d be an illustrator for living back in that time. 

What kind of projects have you worked on recently? What was the most challenging? The most rewarding?

I have been working on quite few projects thankfully since 2021 kicked off. They are diverse from commercial jobs with brands to local council work. I recently finished first public mural for the council and community I have lived in since I moved to Australia. I have been living here for 17 years so I feel like I could finally return something to the community I love to be a part of. 

What are your other hobbies and passions?

I like surfing although I am not a good surfer. I have lived in a coastal town since I moved to Australia and I decided to stay here longer and longer, because I started surfing here. Now I have lived here for 17 years, which is almost half of my entire life, and I have 2 Australian daughters! (They are both pure Japanese, born in Australia so they both have Australian passports). I think surfing has changed my life direction completely and glad to be able to surf whenever I want now.  

How would you describe your illustrations in one word?

Bold / quirky / delicate

What inspired you for the RSPro collab?

I found the RSPro product has a unique and distinct shape so that people would easily recognise it. So that I wanted to feature their product in my illustration. Also as we can not travel overseas yet, I wanted to illustrate some dreamy tropical surf spot as a key motif for the illustration. I am a goofy footer so always left.  

How do you see the future of illustration in the digital era?

For a lot of client jobs for merchandise design or when clients ask me for a digital outcome as a finished format, I illustrate / create artwork digitally and it is really handy. I think it keeps growing and allows a lot of people to be able to draw better stuff easily. But I kinda missed the time I drew with ink and markers for final key line artwork and scanned them in, then created digital artwork these days. I feel like it is better to keep analogue methods and moments you draw / scribble stuff you like with pencils, pens or brushes too. For me,  now I like painting bigger scale murals too so I think I am trying to balance out between analogue & digital world.  

Do you have any quick advice for aspiring illustrators out there?

To be honest, I don’t have much advice as I am also surviving in the same industry in this strange time of the world. But I’d say you can use your own experience / memories / thoughts / characters / environment to build up your concept. There are so many great illustrators & artists in the world and everyone showcased great work and it's really hard to stand out. But if you are making your own work then I believe you can be different from others at least and I find it is really important. 

Thanks Ken. It's been great working with you!!!