Making people feel comfortable with illustrations - Illustrator Ikebe Kenichi.

Kenichi Ikebe is an illustrator who draws illustrations for textbooks and advertisements. We asked him about what led him to start his current job, his dreams for the future, and his activities in the community.

A childhood hobby was the starting point

Ikebe specializes in expressive portraits. Recently, he has been receiving more requests for medical and health-related work, expanding his field of activity. When asked what inspired him to become an illustrator, he mentioned two turning points.

Educational media illustrations

The first turning point was when he was job hunting during his university days. When you hear the word "illustrator," you would think that he graduated from an art school, but Ikebe graduated from the Faculty of Literature. "I've loved drawing since I was little. There was a time when I wanted to become a manga artist, but I enrolled in the Faculty of Literature and continued it as a hobby," says Ikebe. After job hunting and receiving a job offer, he started to think about his life again at the point where he was planning to get a job.

When he had the opportunity to talk to a professor at university about his worries and told him how he really felt, the professor encouraged him, saying, "You can start your life over, so if you want to learn a skill, I think you should do it." He also said, "Why not try doing it globally, around the world, since you have the chance?"

Crayon drawing

With his parents' understanding, Ikebe went to the United States, and after returning to Japan, he continued to deepen his knowledge of graphic design at a vocational school.

My encounter with the profession of illustrator

The second turning point came when he was in design school in Japan. He was good at drawing interesting things, and when he drew manga and illustrations of his teachers and friends, his classmates would gather around his desk during breaks looking for his drawings. A teacher who saw them gave Ikebe a new encounter.

Looking at my sketchbook, the teacher said, "Why don't you use these for your assignment? These are pictures that only you could draw," and he also told me about the genre of illustration and about specialized magazines.

Following the advice, Ikebe immediately bought a specialist magazine and read it, and was shocked. Until then, he had thought that the important thing was to be good at it, but there are many genres of art, and all of them are about "making people feel comfortable." This commonality of "making people feel comfortable" is also the most important point for Ikebe, who works as an illustrator.

Graduation photo frame

After that, he got a job as a designer at a manufacturer, while attending illustrator school on the weekends. After studying hard, he started working as a freelancer after about three years. Ikebe feels that all the experiences he had before becoming an illustrator are still useful in his current work, and that he is also helped by the people around him.

Future goal: giving back to the local community

When asked what he would like to do in the future, Ikebe replied, "I would like to think about giving back to the people who have supported me up until now. I would especially like to give back to my hometown." Over the past few years, he has gradually begun to be active in his hometown of Yokohama.

Newsletter

Over the past five years, she has built connections with the local community, writing a serial column for a community magazine and designing the packaging for sweets made at an employment support facility. Her warm and adorable animal illustrations can be seen in the magazine and on the product packaging.

Product packaging

He also teaches illustration classes for children locally and at art universities. His illustration classes for elementary and junior high school students are extremely popular and are constantly full. Ikebe said, "I'm not doing this to help students draw better, but to help them expand their imaginations while they're young. I believe imagination is important in anything we do in this world, so I'd be happy if I could help them with that." It seems that openings are hard to come by, but if you're interested, check the website at the end of the school year.

Illustration Class

"I'm blessed with good people," says Ikebe, and I get the feeling that people and work naturally come to him because of his warm personality. He also actively collaborates with the local community, and there are opportunities to purchase items featuring Ikebe's illustrations in local stores.

Badges at local stores

Ikebe, who has a lovely smile and is friendly enough to tell you all sorts of stories, creates illustrations that "make people feel comfortable."

Illustrator: Ikebe Kenichi.
Website here
InstagramHere
SUZURI (original product purchase site) here