TerepaInterview47:A dark fantasy world of medieval Europe!Creation Interview with illustrator Sena!

■Profile

Artist Name：Sena

Twitter：@sena_2521

Country：Japan

Career：illustrator

■Art Gallery

─── Hello Sena, let’s start with introduce yourself!

I'm sena, a freelance illustrator currently create my game series, and I love dark fantasy!

─── When did you start drawing? Have you ever been to art school before?

I have been drawing since I was 4 years old. My mother was an art teacher, so probably I was influenced by her. I went to a art department high school and then straight into Junior college. I majored Japanese painting in both high school and junior high school. I actually wanted to go to a four-year art university, but living expenses and tuition fees must be paid by myself...... I didn't have that much money so I gave up.

─── What makes you love dark fantasy? Please tell us about any anime, manga or movies that have influenced you.

I loved picture books when I was a kid, so I think I've been into fantasy with a medieval European worldview ever since. I also like gothic designs and 'Chuunibyou' motifs such as angels& demons, mystical horror stories, as well as works with realistic people relationships and detailed psychological descriptions, the best fits genres include these elements it would be dark fantasy, that’s why I've been saying I like the dark fantasy genre lately.

There are so many works that have influenced me,I loved“Fire Emblem”game series when I was in junior high school, and songs like“Zectbach”, which is similar to narrative music. There are countless movies and comics that I like, in summary my favourite is fantasy world and mystery genre.

─── Would you tell us a bit about the worldview and characters in your work“Black&White”? When did you get an idea of “Black&White” world?

I started painting the series because it was something I liked and was good at, it’s created for a concept based on what I want to express.

Initially, I wanted to made it as a portfolio to give people an idea of my painting style when I became a freelancer, maybe it would be a game or something through developed, so I was driven by the idea make it as game setting! Heroine Aria is just a collective of my types, like a feminine jumpsuit with armour...her light coloured hair and eyes.

The other hero Zero comes from a redesign illustration I drew a long time ago. He has white hair and black armour, which is a Template design, but I think it fits with Zero, he is also a Template hero.

While design other characters, the first thing I thought was their jobs, I considered the design elements based on their jobs. As for world view as name of“Black&White”, I keep the colour saturation as low as possible to make a black and white feel. the remaining decorations will refer to iron furniture.

─── Characters in armor and holding swords are striking, I see. What do you focus on when you drawing your characters?

I often draw knights because I love the medieval culture of Europe and I like the idea of they fighting for justice. I also fascinated by armour shape and the texture of the damaged metal.

In my opinion every artists are various interest(such as colour and situation), but I tend to focus on the styles, so I think the face and costume is a particular part of mine. I also endue prompt to designs and patterns, if people look my illustrations have thinking, "What kind of drawing is this? What kind of character is this going to be?" their guesses really delight me.

─── Which one is the most impressive work you have drawn so far?

Certainly is the full body illustration of Aria, which was the starting point for“Black&White”. I was a designer for a game company before I became a freelancer, but it wasn't my dream job most of time, there are often many compromises in the workplace. 'Since I decided to become a freelance artist, I want to draw what I like and am good at!' I created this character on a whim like this, and now I have the opportunity to commercialize it, which is very touching to me.

─── Tell us about the commercial projects you've worked on so far and your business history!

I have been involved in a mobile game project called "summons board" since I was an employee of the company until now. At first I was responsible for the non-illustration part of the game, but I‘m grateful for company support when I asked to do character design.

Other than that I was hold character illustration and design of the game mainly, although I don't work for the company anymore, but I love games so I want to be involved game related things as possible.

─── You wrote a tune "melody from the box" post on Twitter and it sounded good. As one of your hobby, did you self studying?

"melody from the box" is an adaptation song from a game called "Okage: Shadow King"( ボクと魔王, Boku to Maō)", so that's mostly because the original song is great ...... Thanks for your compliment!

I played the tuba in a brass band in primary and junior high school and a bit of lessons on electric piano, so I have a certain basic knowledge, not completely self-taught...... I started writing songs in junior high school, when I heard that the music for a national brass band competition was written by a local high school student, I thought, "What if I tried to write songs?" So I started composing songs using a ringtone making app on my phone. As a result I got into illustration, but I also love music wish to keep it as a hobby ......

─── Although there are completely different expression between composition and painting, I wonder if there are some similarities ?

What people say about my tunes are 'it’s match your illustrations', 'they look like dark fantasy'. I realize that whether drawing or music I trying to say the same thing. It also gave me the idea to create a work that combines music and illustration.

─── This time through our company's platform your character's 'Aria' will be made into a figure by emerging brand RaiseDream, Would you like tell us what you felt when the project was finalized?

Aria is a important character to me, so I'm very happy with that! Although I often do primary creations by myself, but my dream is to create a complete content based on my vision and work with professionals in different industry. So the figure of Aria by a professional modeler is really something to look forward to ......! I hope there will be more opportunities in the future too!

─── Thank you for to be interviewed, is there any words you like to say to your audience or other creators?

Thank you to people that always being around, thank you for being an inspiration to me. To be honestly elementary writing is hard, especially worldview-oriented writing is a pretty isolated genre, so it's really motivating for me when a lot of people say they like it, thank you so much for that!

I hope I can keep going with various things in the future too, I’m deeply honored if everyone silently watching me over.

Chinese Version：欧洲中世纪的华丽黑暗幻想世界！日本自由插画师sena的创作访谈！

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