Hiroshi Kuroki
Born in Miyazaki Pref. in 1950, Kuroki entered the Design Course of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1971, after failing entrance exam 3times, and graduated in 1977. Began working as a freelance illustrator in 1980. Started illustrating for Mitsubishi Motors ( RALLIART ) in 1987 through an introduction from a senior colleague who previously worked for Mitsubishi Motors. Began working with computer graphics in 1993 and has been doing so ever since.
December 2022
Mikio Okamoto
Born in Tokyo in 1951. After graduating from Kuwazawa Design School, Okamoto worked at an advertising agency before becoming a freelance in 1977. He is famous for the cover of “CAR & DRIVER” magazine, in which he depicted cars in beautiful landscapes using hyper-realist painting techniques. In the summer of 2000, Toyota Automobile Museum held an exhibition entitled “Cars and Art: The World of Mikio Okamoto”. His works are featured on the covers of publications, corporate posters, and brochures.
December 2022
Tetsuaki Makita
Makita is known for his Alfa Romeo motorsports-themed woodblock prints. In the 1980s, he was commissioned by Mitsubishi Motors to create prints and oil paintings on the theme of the Dakar Rally. he has also created prints for the Monterey Historic Car Festival in the U.S. for 17 years. His work has appeared in many automotive magazines, such as Car Graphic magazine. He has a collection of over 4,000 automotive stamps. He is a passionate Alfesta and he once owned an Alfa Romeo GT1300 Junior.
December 2022
Facebook Instagram Tweeter
Akira Yokoyama
After graduating Keio University in 1962 with a degree in French literature, Yokoyama studied at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. In 1967, he was awarded a special prize at the JAACA exhibition, and became a freelance. In 1985, he won the first prize at the International Poster Biennial Exhibition in Lahti. While he dominated the world as a pioneer of hyperrealism, he has continued to pursue new possibilities of expression, including a rough touch as part of his painting style. His works are in the collections of Kawasaki City Museum, Museum of Modern Art, New York, and others.
December 2022
Dennis Brown
Dennis Brown is a California-based automotive illustrator whose work has appeared in magazines such as Road & Track and various automotive publications. Specializing in vigorous freehand drawings in ink and watercolor, he appeals the dynamism of cars and the sense of realism created by the cars and their scenery. Based on his memories of obsessively refinishing a 1934 Ford with a friend as a boy, he says: “This nostalgia is reflected in my paintings, which are true to the details of the classic cars and race cars I am now interested in, but also reflect my passion for vivid colors and free lines. ”
Yoshiharu Miyakawa
Born in 1947 in Gifu Prefecture, Miyakawa studied industrial design at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. While working for Isuzu Motors, he studied at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. In 1976, he moved to Brazil, where he worked for GM Brazil for 11 years, and then for SR Special Vehicles. In 1992, he moved to Lisbon, Portugal to establish MM Design, where he worked with UMM Automobile, Bombardier, and various Japanese automakers. After retiring in 2012, he wrote a diary with watercolor illustrations of his childhood memories, but later stopped writing and now enjoys watercolor paintings of his favorite cars and motorcycles. He is also a karate master and attends the dojo twice a week.
December 2022
Shigehisa Ishii
Born in Okayama City in 1949, Ishii joined Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (later Mitsubishi Motors Corp.) in 1968. Since then, he has been involved in car design development for 42 years. The models he was mainly involved with include the 2nd-gen. GTO, the Lancer series, the Lancer Evolution, the 1st-gen. eK wagon, and the I. After his retirement, he has been teaching watercolor painting classes at Anjo City Community Center and other places.
December 2022
Ken Yamamoto
Born in 1953, Yamamoto worked for Mitsubishi Motors Corp. As a boy, he loved vehicles and spent his spare time drawing pictures of cars, ships, airplanes, and other vehicles. Majored in industrial design at a university. He practiced sketching while looking at Car Styling magazine and other magazines. At Mitsubishi, he was in charge of the interior and exterior design of the Pajero, the Mirage, and other trucks and buses. Around 1985, he began using acrylic gouache to draw illustrations, mainly on the subject of motor sports. After retiring, he shifted his focus to illustration and other hobbies that he enjoys. He exhibits his works in group exhibitions in Anjo City.
December 2022
Makoto Ouchi
Ouchi was born in 1949. After graduating college, he apprenticed himself to automotive critic Hiroshi Hoshijima, and started as an illustrator in 1971. He learned technical illustration from H.Schlenzig in Germany. Ouchi’s main clients are car manufacturers and various car magazines, etc. He held a group exhibition with Hideo Kodama and Tsutomu Aoto in Paris in 2013 and exhibited his works at the AFAS exhibition in Pebble Beach, USA for 4 years from 2015. His previously owned cars were a Morris Mini Cooper, a Lancia Fulvia Coupe, a Maserati Ghibli, and a Ferrari Dino Spider.
Decenber 2022
Masashi Iwata
Born in 1950, Iwata joined Mitsubishi Motors in 1974. He majored in industrial design at a university, but was influenced by “Car Styling ” magazine which he picked up casually at a bookstore, and jumped into the world of car design. At Mitsubishi Motors, he experienced a wide range of design development in Advance/Exterior/Interior/CMF. After retiring from Mitsubishi Motors, he worked in design development for a Chinese car company, lectured at universities, and gave design advice to startup companies, etc. He started sketching with a tablet to kill time at COVID-19 crisis in 2020, and continues to do so because of its easiness.
December 2022
Takayoshi Wada
After leaving a design production firm, Wada became an independent illustrator in 1991 when he was commissioned to do a cover illustration for a motorcycle magazine. Since then, in addition to making illustrations mainly of vehicles, he has also been involved in art objects, character design, etc. He is currently active in product packaging for models and other products, advertising, and publishing.
2017 JIA illustrator of the year award / AAF (Automobile Art Federation) Member of AAF (Automobile Art Federation) Lives and works in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture
December 2022
Sunao Oka
After working as a graphic designer for an ad agency, Oka became independent in 1977. He has been active as an illustrator and picture book author since then. After working as a realistic expressionist, he now expresses a world of dreams and happiness with his unique technique using Copic and colored pencils. 1996 Color Pencil Art Contest Grand Prize, 2003 Shinpusha Publishing Award for Excellence in Visual Category, and many other awards and prizes. His picture books include “Kirakira no Kuni” PARADE in 2012, “Yume Piano” SANKEISHA in 2017, and “Hey!” SANKEISHA in 2020, and others. Director of Nagoya Illustrators Club
December 2022
https://sunaona.jimdofree.com/
Hans Bretzner
Hans Bretzner was an American car designer born in 1930. After working for General Motors in the U.S., he designed the first gen. Debonair and Silver Pigeon C-240 as a freelance designer at Shin Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan. During his five years in Japan, he introduced American car design techniques, model fabrication techniques, and other know-how to Shin Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and helped lay the foundation for the later design development of Mitsubishi Motors.
Hideo Kodama
Born in Yokohama in 1944. Graduated from Tama Art University with a degree in Industrial Design. 1966 Joined Opel in West Germany, starting at Advance Studio. In 1968, he worked at GM Technical Center in Detroit, USA, in the studio for Chevrolet, Cadillac, etc. In 1973, he worked at GM Holden in Australia. In the 1990s, he became Vehicle Line Executive (VLE)/Design Director at GM Europe, where he oversaw projects for entry-level models such as the Corsa, Tigra, and the Aguila (Wagon R), which was jointly developed with Suzuki. Currently, he works as a freelance designer in Japan and Germany.
February 2023
