Ayami Kojima

Also uses a pen name "Kuronuma Odile".

Ayami Kojima stands out as an artist not only for her highly praised work in the Castlevania videogames series, but also for the fact she is self-taught. Kojima has developed an array of personal drawing techniques that have served to define her unique style, some of which have been featured in art technique books, such as the Japanese Color Kingdom book series, and the Comickers magazine series showcasing techniques used by popular Japanese manga artists and western comic artists.

Kojima's early work in art started with designing novel covers, and occasionally black and white illustrations for inside content. She has a lengthy history of work as an illustration artist preluding her experience in conceptual videogame design, with novel series including Majin, Cluster Saga, and Nobunaga's Ambition. Kojima has long been a fan of shonen manga, despite the majority of it catering toward a male audience. Other sources of admitted fascination include creepy movies and surgery, both likely inspirations in her dark and sometimes chilling depictions.

The beginning of Kojima's Castlevania fame started with the PlayStation release of Symphony of the Night in 1997. Fans of the series immediately fell in love with her work, grounding her position as returning character artist for Castlevania Chronicles, a remake of the 1993 Sharp X68000 game that was originally released only in Japan. Kojima was commissioned once again for Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow on the Game Boy Advance, and then Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness on the PlayStation 2.

Kojima uses many traditional mediums in her paintings. The series of personal techniques frequently followed in her drawings are to first make a sketch with conté crayon sticks, then create shadows with more conté and india ink. Depth and textures are often added, usually to the background, by spreading and shaping molding paste with a palette knife. Base colors are then painted into the work using diluted acrylics. As more prominant coloring is added, finger smudging is used to create glows. The work is then brought to completion with metallic paint highlights and finishing touches, and enhanced with a gloss polymer finish.

(Note: Infomation used from http://creativeuncut.com/)