At the Intersection of Art and Cosplay: Interview with Miyukiko

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Although we mostly feature cosplayers, we think it’s awesome when we’re able to work outside our comfort zone a little bit and speak with people from other fields as well! This time, we’ve gotten the chance to interview Miyukiko, an illustrator as well as a cosplayer – that is, depending on how you see her, “The artist who cosplays,” or “The cosplayer who draws.”

CS: Miyukiko, first off, we’ve been looking through your illustration work, and – one word: wow! Can we ask how you first got into art, drawing and illustration?
M: Thanks! I loved watching other people draw as a child! My friends, classmates, and my uncle. I always found it very fascinating and amazing. I really admired anyone who could draw, so I started drawing a little as well. Funnily enough, what really got me started seriously when I was about 12 or 13, my family joking about how bad my drawings were when I showed them at the time…Which was true, but I was just happy drawing. So then I decided to keep drawing until I was a professional level so that they will all praise my art instead in the years to come. Haha~ It was more like a little “revenge.”

CS: What, then drew you to drawing anime and manga fanart?
M: Come to think of it, I’ve always drawn anime and manga fanart! I found drawings I drew when I was about 4, of stick figures and girls that looked like Sailormoon characters and hairstyle.

I guess I needed some sort of outlet to show my love for something. Other than that, I think it’s amazing that just drawing fanart gets you to connect to so many new friends and people on the internet! I met a lot of friends through fanart, and I was able to participate in events in Japan and Taiwan with the friends I met on pixiv because of it.
I also love seeing how me, my friends, and other artists portray particular series and characters in fanart and doujinshi. There’s always a sense of “Self”, in the art style they draw, the way they draw the characters, and the way they tell a story which draws me to be interested in the artist as a person!

CS: We noticed that you specialize in digital art. Do you have any preferred tools of the trade?
M: I mostly use and switch between PaintTool SAI and Photoshop for my digital art.
I love using PaintTool SAI on drawing and colouring, and how smooth and nicely blended the linework and colouring look (which photoshop can’t achieve well). Though SAI is quite limited in what you can acheive, so I switch to Photoshop to do my touchups once I’m done with the basic drawing and colouring. Photoshop is good for touchups and effects such as layer settings like “outer glow”, burning/dodging, gradients, filters, blurs, textures and typography.
Also, the most important part is… Photoshop has a lot more custom brushes, which is great for matte painting and giving it a bit more art look. I always carry my Photoshop custom brush set on my usb with me just in case.

CS: As both a fanartist and a cosplayer, how do you balance the two hobbies? Do you tend to gravitate toward one over another, or do you enjoy doing both equally?
M: I enjoy doing both equally, though as the years go by I find it more and more difficult to keep up with both since I have art as a profession too and art related work and studies eat up all the time. Then again, I’m surprised I’m lasting this long!
For fanart or cosplay, I think it depends how you enjoy a particular anime/manga/game as well. Some series I’d like to cosplay because of a character and design, but I probably wouldn’t draw… or if it’s a series that I just don’t have a character that suits my type that I usually cosplay, I’d probably just draw.
I like drawing and cosplaying a lot of pairings as well, so that serves as a huge motivation.
Sometimes when I get new followers on websites like facebook or tumblr, it makes me wonder if they see me as “The artist who cosplays” or “The cosplayer who draws”.

CS: What prompted you to start cosplaying as well as doing fanart?
I don’t remember how exactly it started, but when people posted their cosplay photos on the early internet and forums, I found it so cool how people were able to “become” their favourite characters! I mean, don’t we all want to be out favourite characters at one point? When I found out there was an actual local anime and manga convention, I was determined I’d only go if I had a cosplay for it. Eventually I ended up cosplaying as Misa Amane from Death Note and Mio Amakura from Project Zero 2. It was so exciting to meet fellow fans, people calling you by the character’s name, and meeting so many new friends! From then on, I never looked back.
Being able to bring a character to life in my cosplays is the most enjoyable thing for me.

Sharing my love for a series, character or pairing is definitely what made me start drawing fanart. It’s always so nice to see likeminded artists and writers, and being able to talk to your friends about it!

CS: Out of all of your work (and we must say, the number of works in your portfolio is impressive!), do you have any particular favorites for both illustration and cosplay?
M: Thanks so much! I don’t have a particular favourite in my illustration work currently, as I try to do something different/interesting each time. Every drawing and illustration work is a new thing, so it’s hard to compare them on equal ground. Some artists have a set style as a selling point, but I’m pretty flexible and adapt my style to get the result I want in an illustration.

For my cosplays, I’m pretty biased for my favourite characters! I’m most known for my cosplays of Fubuki Shirou (Inazuma Eleven), and he’s also my most cosplayed. I’ve seen a lot of cosplays of him, but for some reason I’m one of the few that really show a “boyish” side of him… I guess that shows a lot about my personality haha~.
My other favourites include Leon Magnus (one which I’ve remade the costume, and also bought 4 different wigs to get his hairstyle right), and Aoba Seragaki. Seems like they’re all male cosplays (lol)… Let’s see, my favourite female cosplays are probably Ling Xiaoyu and Oichi (Sengoku Basara)

CS: We were wondering if these two hobbies have any overlap for you at all. Have you found that cosplaying has helped you improve your art, or vice versa?
M: Yes, they do have some overlap! I enjoy looking at cosplay photography to see why other cosplayers such nice photography (composition, colour, lighting, angle, mood etc).
Because of my art background, I can be picky of what I where I want to take photos and what I want in a photograph. Usually I have my own little ideas and atmosphere set in my mind.
I post process and edit most of my photography so I try to bring in a particular mood to suit the cosplay.
Occasionally I’ve switched out a background or added/taken away a lot of things in a photo, and I look at photo manipulation tutorials too, which serves useful in both my photo editing and art. It’s pretty useful being both artist and cosplayer in this area!

CS: You are definitely multi-talented, creating work in illustration, concept art, and storyboarding! What are your career aspirations regarding art, or your “dream job?”
M: I’m honored to hear that! I enjoy doing a lot of finished art and illustrations. I don’t exactly have a “dream job” currently, but I enjoy a job that has a high standard of art finish. It helps me to constantly improve as an artist and it’s satisfying to work on something I can be proud of.
Being able to inspire people with my artwork and make them smile is what I’m really aiming for!

CS: Finally, we’d like to end our interview on a fun note! Can you recommend to our readers a song that you’ve been really into lately?
M: Before my body is dry (KILL LA KILL) – Sawano Hiroyuki + Mika Kobayashi
Such a catchy song! I’ve been really into Kill La Kill and DMMd OST recently.

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All images [via]. All images copyright Miyukiko.

Be sure to show your support by checking out Miyukiko’s website or following her at her deviantART, Tumblr, Pixiv, Facebook, World Cosplay, and Twitter!