Katsuhiro Otomo is a world-renown manga artist best known as the creator of Akira. But did you know that he has a son who is also an amazing artist in his own right? Shohei, as he simply calls himself (perhaps to escape from the hegemony of the Otomo name), creates dauntingly dense and bold illustrations using just 1 tool – a ball point pen. Having started out doodling by pencil, Shohei eventually migrated to ballpoint pen. ‘I realized that ballpoints are cheap, so I’ve been using them for a while now. I also like drawing bit by bit, and ballpoints are perfect for that.’
Shohei often depicts furyo, or Japanese delinquents. ‘Their style is so uniquely Japanese,’ he explains. ‘Japanese people can do the ‘uncool’ thing really well. We have the originality of an insular country.’
