Artist Feature: Kris Yang
Kris Yang is a California-based artist who grew up watching Power Rangers and Godzilla, which then delved further into the realm of tokusatsu after watching Kamen Rider W. His work can be found through his Tumblr, Twitter, DeviantArt, and Pixiv.
Where did you grow up and what got you your start as an artist?
I was born and raised in SoCal! I wish I could say that my area was what got me into drawing, but I really only started drawing after I joined Neopets. Everyone had such awesome art on their pet’s profiles, I was so jealous! I started trying to scribble crude pictures of my pets down with nothing but MS Paint and a laptop touch pad. Later, I joined a lot of Oekaki and PaintChat sites which really helped me start getting into drawing.
How did you get into tokusatsu?
I started watching Power Rangers and Godzilla as a kid! I’d always ditch piano lessons to watch Wild Force when I was really young. My cousin would also bring over his Godzilla games and movies for us to play and watch all the time. Though after that, I didn’t really get into Kamen Rider or Super Sentai until my best friend convinced me to watch them. I started watching [Kamen Rider W] first ironically, but I enjoyed it so much I kept watching more and more!
Can you walk us through the process of creating a piece?
It usually starts out with a messy sketch, followed by base colors and a ton of multiply/luminosity layers- after that, I render everything on a single layer until I’m satisfied with how clean it is.
Do you work digitally or using traditional tools? Do you have a preference?
I work digitally 99% of the time. The only time I ever touch a paper and pencil is when I’m doodling in the margins of notes! The only large project I’ve done traditionally was for school.
Do you have any projects you’re currently working on that you’d like to share?
Not particularly! I am hoping to release a Kamen Rider themed zine sooner or later though!
From your Tumblr, it looks you’ve taken on commissions. Do you have a favorite commission you’ve done so far you can share with us?
My best friend commissioned me to draw some Roidmudes [from Kamen Rider Drive] a while ago. I really loved working on them since it was the first time I’ve drawn any of them, and it helped me get a better grasp on their personalities, while also showing my appreciation for Drive.
Once again, you can find Kris’s work on social via Twitter and Tumblr. He also posted his work on DeviantArt and Pixiv.
All artwork featured in the Tokusatsu Network Artist Feature are reposted with permission from the original artist. Please do not repost or alter in any way without permission and proper credit.
Paula Gaetos
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