Meet Yusuke Watanabe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yusuke Watanabe.

Yusuke, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Art had not been present in my life. The international business law is my first major at university in Tokyo, Japan. After that, I worked for Japan’s mobile carrier company for over three years, and ultimately found that I wasn’t happy about working in this environment. Doing what I didn’t want to do was like being in jail. Life is too long to do what you don’t want to do but too short to do what you like to do. I started to reexamine what I wanted out of life. I listened to the voice in my mind and understood that I wanted to draw and create stories that inspire people. I wanted to do what I really wanted to do, so I quit my job and became an artist. Changing careers was a highly unusual choice in Japan at that time, but I still took that risk to pursue my passion. Until then, I didn’t have any art background but I started drawing when I was 26 years old.

I applied to CalArts but got rejected for the first time. After that, I went to PI Arts Center in New York. During my time in New York, I dedicated a lot of effort to improving my draftsmanship and preparing a new portfolio. The next year, I finally got accepted to CalArts. I had spent three years at Calarts and it has been such a crazy journey. Surrounded by so many talented people and learning animation with them is an amazing experience. Being exposed to the most talented animators is allowing me to push myself to be my best. Now I’m taking a gap year and will come back next year. I want to keep on learning how to find my voice and refine my abilities in animation.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I was very surprised when I announced that I would quit my job and apply to the overseas art school. “Why? You have no experience in art, don’t you?” “There is no guarantee that you will accept it even if you quit your job and put your all effort into it. It’s too risky, isn’t it?” Even now that I have passed, I am very surprised to say that I’m studying abroad for the next few years. “Why are you studying abroad now? Isn’t it late to study abroad from your late 20s?” “Can you get a job properly after that?” “You should know life is not that easy.”

But no matter what I was asked, I answered, “I want to make a movie.” Because that is a genuine and honest motive. During belonging to the society requiring coherent motives and explanations, I have crushed my true desires without knowing it and made choices that were easy for people to understand. But if you can do what you like, what do you want to do? This question woke me up. The first thing that came up to mind with this question was I want to make a movie. From that day, I stopped getting someone’s approval anymore. I’ll do it because I want to do it. I decided not to hesitate to entrust myself to the urges that I couldn’t put into words, rather than the dreams and goals that I could explain logically to convince others. I quit my job in September 2015, attended two art schools. I worked hard for half a year and applied to Calarts in December of the same year. However, I got rejected. I thought I had to do everything from the basics again, so I brushed up from pencil drawing under a Canadian artist. After that, I studied anatomy and perspective. Except for meals and bath time, I devoted all my time to draw.

One day in July 2016, a friend of mine told me that a former professor at Calarts is teaching at an art school in New York called “P.I. Art Center”. I really wanted to learn life drawing from him, so I went to New York from September 2016 and went to that art school. During the four months in New York, I did assignments in the morning, classes in the afternoon, and assignments again in the evening. On weekends, I attended an out of school life drawing session in the morning, sketched outside in the afternoon, and went to the museum with my friends. I didn’t do any sightseeing or taking a break, only things related to art. I was happy to be immersed in art and I didn’t need to take a break. It was crazy in December 2016. I survived in the style of sleeping at 10 pm and waking up at 2 am to work for my portfolio. My life in New York was inconvenient but not dissatisfied at all. I dedicated a lot of effort to improving my draftsmanship and preparing a new portfolio. One and a half years after I quit my job, I finally got accepted to CalArts with my second challenge.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I don’t have a story like “I loved the movies my mother showed me when I was little, and I was absorbed in watching them many times. Since then, I have always dreamed of making movies.” I have been doing different things all the time. I studied international business law in university and also belonged to the lacrosse club. After that, I worked as a salesperson and now I am doing art. In the media, people who have a simple and beautiful story are often highlighted. People who have devoted themselves to one thing since they were little are cool, and I would like to be that way if possible. However, I think that even people who have lived a life of twists and turns also can play an active role. That is why I want to create films that reach the hearts of people like me who are struggling to start new things.

Contact Info:

• Address: 24700 McBean Pkwy, Valencia, CA 91355
• Website: https://yusukewatanabe.carbonmade.com/
• Phone: 213-509-2050
• Email: yusukewatanabe@alum.calarts.edu
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/art_yusuke/?hl=ja
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yusuke.watanabe.121
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiTWcSygvdHzzHYQy6DgBsg?view_as=subscriber

Image Credit:
Yusuke Watanabe

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