Katsuo Watanabe's Elements

Offical Page for all things Elements (series) Related!

[elementskatsuo]

you may ask yourself, why did i draw Owen with bleached hair. The context will only make sense to maybe 4 and lets leave it at that. consider it a challenge.

[elementskatsuo]

Time-lapse of the #Ghibli style art to once again show how easy it is to make with real human hands. yes i am being very petty about this.

[elementskatsuo]

Made this to prove a point. after seeing all the AI gen #ghibli style filters I wanted to show just how simple it is to NOT STEAL ART.

I made this in #clipstudiopaint solely with the RealG-pen and limited features. I didn't even use my fancy brushes, but like, this took maybe two hours total. I say this as yes a seasoned artist who has spent years developing that skill, and i did so by like, mimicking styles like sailor moon, teen titan, naruto, and so on. yeah as a kid my art was bad, but its also not wrong to try to copy a style as a way learn to draw, you grow from it.

there is none of that growth in the appropriation of a beloved aesthetic. I've already shared my distain for AI works, but it's bothering me again.

not sorry for getting all political on an art page. it will happen again.

[elementskatsuo]

This one goes out to all you customer service workers out there. God Speed.

Okay, Bye. | エレメンツ勝雄 #pixiv #retail https://www.pixiv.net/artworks/128832178

[elementskatsuo]

With all the talk about #AIart I'm making a commitment for all my work to be AI-Free. If my art or writing is bad, its 100% my work because its made by a human and I am flawed. That means no generated art or text will be used in my books. not even using #ChatGPT for research.

I'm making this commitment because I want to be a model of authenticity and to remind people the true value of human work and the joys and pains of artistic expression.

I'm opposed to generative AI for many reasons. 1. its trained on other's work and that's theft. 2. it takes an enormous amount of physical resources (energy and water, for example) to generate and I don't want to waste it 3. being an artist is a valuable skill that real people spend years cultivating and I do not want to see that diminished.

So, I implore you to join me in my commitment to make my story AI-Free. Make a stand and say no to generative "art" and make your own works and make them bad! bad is beautiful!

(feel free to copy the pose and post it with your own OCs! I'd love to see it!)

[elementskatsuo]

Swing Dance Anyone?

(more like with everyone)

What started as a fun doodle turned into... well I kind of want to have this as a poster or like a blanket. What do you all think of getting Elements merch and what would you want to see?

[elementskatsuo]

"Upside Down and Inside Out" by Ok GO

lyrics read:

So when you met the new you Were you scared? Were you cold? Were you kind? Yeah when you met the new you Did someone die inside?

Anyway, that song really resonated with me and how it relates to my characters. The music video is really great.

[elementskatsuo]

Happy Belated New Year! I originally made this page on NYD but I got a bit caught up before being able to post anything. Life, y'a know. I wanted another, more accessible place to share the artwork I made for my book (and other fun pieces). Speaking of which, Here's 2021 vs 2023 images. SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED SINCE THEN. I'm eager for what the year may bring though, and so should you.

[elementskatsuo]

My favorite "Vulgar" sticker.

[elementskatsuo]

Its really a shame that so many of the initial illustrations for Volume 1/Waves of Change will go unpublished. I had nearly something of every or at least every other page, sometimes even multi-panel pieces. I'm happy to share them here at least.

[elementskatsuo]

Banner Image and Stickers of the main cast. Had a lot of fun making all of them!

[elementskatsuo]

HELLO!

I am utilizing Tumblr now!

Expect a lot of art and fun posts and maybe some previews of the book (at least the perpetual reformatting).