Ilya Kuvshinov

Thanks for having me, means a lot! Working hard to get closer to my dream – to direct my own animated movie!

It started with Pink Panther fan art I’ve done at age of 4! I still have it, take a look:

Both of my parents graduated art college, maybe that helped them to see something in that doodle (it doesn’t even look like Pink Panther, right? Check out that tummy!), so I always had access to paper, pencils and even art-related books. I mean, having paper and tools and materials doesn’t sound exceptional now, but in 90th post-soviet countryside Russia we, well, didn’t had food or even electricity sometimes, so I am really grateful I had means to draw as a kid.

Everybody is draw a lot as a kids though, so I never really considered I want to draw as a job – I was more into books, reading everything I could find of anything more-or-less suitable for a 5-6 years old, and dreamed to be a writer. I started actively trying my hand at writing short stories and showing them to adults around, but it usually ended with them just not having time to read it, so I never had any reviews on my stories. My drawings, on the other hand, always had caused an instant reaction (you only need a mere second to look at the static image after all) and would usually start a discussion, and the adults looking at the drawing would express how they feel about it and how they see the meaning, the emotions, the story in it – and it was so much fun! At that time, I realized that visual imagery have much less barriers to perceive the idea – different age or different language will not get in the way.

I decided to concentrate on drawing more because of that.

Yes, many schools! Afterhours art school (2 times a week) 7-10 years old, then Moscow Art Lyceum (4 hours a day of art-related activities like drawing, painting, architecture and composition) 11-17 years old, then year in Animation College and 4 more year in Architecture College. I can say it’s… overkill.

Thanks to the internet, now you can learn any skill you want without getting out of your room. Please use this awesome opportunity wisely!

In 2013 I started to draw and post studies / fan arts / personal pieces to social networks everyday just to practice the skills I wanted to have to get closer to storyboarding job positions – it was a big surprise to me when I realized how many people are started to follow me with time, and I am really grateful for all the fans that enjoy my work!

I worked at both Wonderland and SAC_2045 at the same time, but it was two really different processes. For The Wonderland I was there in office full-time, drawing the designs, supervising the animation, attending all the meetings and discussions (even things like deciding on the title, promotion strategy, voice actors, music etc); and for Ghost in the Shell I worked on weekdays and on my free time, meeting the producers and directors once a week to discuss the character designs. Both experiences were really eye-opening and important for my growth as a creator, and I am really happy I was blessed with this opportunities.

Thank you! Happily, all the heavy work related to art books were done by the editor, so it was really fun! For my personal illustration art books MOMENTARY and ETERNAL we needed to just put together some of my pieces I’ve done and posted through the years, but for The Wonderland I put hundreds of commentaries on how I designed this and that, personal stories about the work process etc, that was the most fun I had working on an art book! I am not really sure about pros and cons, but I love physical books from the time I were kid, and holding the collection of your own artworks in a real, paper form is a great feeling!

I think if we talk about my personal pieces it’s more about what I like to draw, and how I draw it is usually somehow comes in a process. I think the limitations is always the beginning of creativity, and in some way my tastes are just those exact limitations – the colors I like, the shapes I adore, the themes I interested in.

Animation, movies, fashion, sceneries, animals, and even music I like – all have a great influence on what I draw, and I am doing my best to always expand my taste limitations when I can.

Videogames and traveling! Sometimes at the same time. I always feel super guilty of not working when I am relaxing, but in case of my hobbies I had found a cool trick – if I play games or watch movies or traveling or anything, when I hear this noisy voice in my head saying “hey, what are you doing, chilling like that? You should work more to improve!”, I say “hey, experiencing this cool stuff helps

to expand my visual library, it would help in my job, so shut up” and it works!

Oh, it’s all on NDAs! All I can say is that something really big and cool is coming, but for now – check the ending credits I directed and illustrated for “The World Ends With You – The Animation” which will be out soon in March, I am really proud of how it turned out!