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- Yoshitaka Amano 1952 - Born in Shizuoka City, Japan -
is a Japanese-born artist known for his beautiful and
sometimes haunting artwork in animation, film,
set and costume design as well as feature video
games. His tarot deck is a rare work of art in itself. The
images are beautifully drawn and painted with bright, vibrant
colors. Each card's symbolic expression is an artistic mastery
of the tarot interpretation. This deck set, with its
illustrated book in Japanese, is in demand worldwide for
collectors and readers alike. Was published in 1991 by
SeimidouShuppan. The book is in Japanese, and includes black
and white reproductions of every card in the deck. The cards
themselves are printed with gorgeous colors on a thick, glossy
cardstock. The quality of the entire package is excellent.
- Amano is a Japanese-born artist with a renowned list of
achievements. These include fifteen years at Tatsunoko
Productions creating some of Japan’s finest animation;
assignments for numerous book illustrations including a
recent collaboration with author Neil Gaiman; creation
of the Japanese cult hit animated film Angel’s Egg;
several commissions for video game character designs,
most notably for the Final Fantasy; set and costume
designs for productions of Nayotake, Yokihi, and Kaijin Beso,
commissioned by director and kabuki actor Tomasaburo. Though
there is a strong oriental flair to these drawings, they are
far from the category of Manga. The forms of Amano’s
figures are more natural, the facial features are elegant. I
think the strongest element here is Amano’s fluid and
organic linework. The lines are like those of calligraphic
brush strokes. This is also true of the larger forms
themselves. For example, look at the figural shapes of The
Fool, Justice and Temperance, which have the movement of
Japanese word-characters. The publisher has reproduced Amano’s
variegated linework in crisp detail. Some of these details are
so fine that they disappear in the screen resolutions above,
though they are there in the printed deck.
The Aces and court cards are as intricate and beautiful as the
Trumps. The remaining numbered cards are done in a style
common to many Japanese decks, which is to say they are not
fully illustrated but use a repeating design derived from the
Ace of their suit. Though simple in comparison to the rest of
the deck, they are nonetheless beautiful.
- Amano is an extremely popular artist, best known for his
character designs for numerous projects like Final Fantasy,
Vampire Hunter D... He's a gifted illustrator.
He entered Tatsunoko Productions in 1967, worked on character
development for such popular anime series as Gatchaman
(G-Force), The Adventures of Hutch, the Honeybee and The Time
Bokan series. He stayed there for fifteen years, then he felt
it was time to move on, even though others questioned his
decision to leave his job and go off into an unknown future.
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| Bio: Paintings and
illustrations Animations Video Games - Theater Design - Stained
Glass - Ceramic Work - Kimono Design |
1967 - Started
working for Tatsunoko Productions, worked on character development
for such popular animated television series as Gatchaman
(G-Force), The Adventures of Hutch, the Honeybee and The Time
Bokan series
1982 -Twilight Worlds series in SF magazine, Hayakawa Publishing
Corporation
- Began freelance fantasy art and covered art for magazines and
books
1983 - Won 14th annual Seiun Award in the category of
"art" and continued to win for four consecutive
years
1987 - Created visual concept design for the game software Final
Fantasy(Square) and continues to be concept designer for the
series
1988 - Stage art and costume design for Tamasaburo Bando's
production of the play Nayotake (Nissei Theatre)
1989 - Solo Exhibition Hiten at the Tokyo - Yurakucho
Mullion
1990 - Began producing lithographs in Japan
1993 - Produced first stained glass for the Kimie Imura Fairy Art
Museum in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan
1994 - Held first lithograph exhibition in Tokyo and Osaka
- In charge of stage art and costume design for Kaijin Besso
1995 - Began lithograph production at MAEGHT in Paris
1995 - Solo Exhibition at Orlean Art Museum in France
1996 - Began lithograph production at Solo Press in New York City
- Stage art for Yokihi at Kabuki Theater in Tokyo
1997 - Established studio in the New York City
1997 - Exhibition THINK LIKE AMANO in New York City
1998 - Concept design for the first philharmonic production of
3D/2D animated short film 1001 Nights which debuted at the Los
Angeles Philharmonic April Concert - Designed bronze statues to
commemorate the opening of the Mokurei Bridge in Kanayama Town,
Fukushima Prefecture, Japan
1998 - Solo exhibition at Brussels International Fantastic Film
Festival - Exhibition THINK LIKE AMANO at Uenonomori Museum of Art
in Tokyo
1999 - Solo exhibition HERO at Angel Orensanz Foundation in New
York City
2000 - THE SANDMAN: The Dream Hunters was nominated for Hugo Award
and won Eisner Award
- Artist Guest of Honor at Dragon Con, received Dragon Con Award
and Julie Award
2001 - Started developing multi-genre presentations of HERO
2002 - Exhibitions in New York City (LEO KOENIG Inc.), London,
Paris, Cologne, Lyon and Cavalaire in Southern France |
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