In today’s continuation of the A-Z Challenge, I give you:
Y is for Yoshitaka Amano
I swear I wasn’t aiming to put all the artists at the end of the A-Z Challenge, but that’s where they ended up. If you’re a fan of the Final Fantasy video game series, you already recognize the name (or should!) as Yoshitaka Amano has done the concept art for the series since the beginning. (You should also check out F is for Final Fantasy and U is for Uematsu.)
Yoshitaka Amano is an amazing artist and not just because I love Final Fantasy. His work falls on the abstract side of art at times, but demonstrates the emotions of the games and characters very well.
The first time I saw his art was on the concept art for Final Fantasy III (VI in Japan), followed up by the Japanese game box:
Click to view this larger. Trust me.
The steampunk-esque gritty city with Terra on MagiTek was gorgeous to me. Back when it was released, the Internet wasn’t nearly as large and gaining access to such art was much more difficult. I didn’t see his art outside of game logos until the release of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: The Dream Hunters cover. After that, I was hooked.
We own several of his art books, and even though neither of us read Japanese, it doesn’t stop us from enjoying his art.
Yoshitaka Amano inspires me to make great art in whatever way I’m capable. There needs to be more of this in the world.
(Images are copyright Yoshitaka Amano and used under Fair Use for the purpose of education and criticism.)
This post is part of the A-Z Challenge. Every day (except Sundays) in the month of May, I’ll be posting about people, places, books, games, and other things that influence me as a writer or add a certain magic to my life. Join me in April as we explore a Hodge-Podge of Influences & Wayward Treks through the Fantastical.
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