Born and educated in Tokyo, I have been interested in art and drawing
for as long as I can remember. With the secret intention of becoming
a manga artist, I studied graphic design at Nippon University for two
years. But while learning the basics, a fascination with painting overtook
me and in the late 1980s I embarked on a career as an illustrator for books
and magazines.

This web site contains examples of earlier projects such as cover illustrations for the SF novels "Pebble In The Sky" by Isaac Asimov and "10,000 Light Years From Home" by James Tiptree, Jr. In 1997, 1998 and 2001 my work was awarded the SF Magazine Reader's Prize.

The main genre has continued to be both Science Fiction and Fantasy.The principal materials and forms that I use include acrylics, gouache, transparent watercolor painting, oils, and ink.

OLS Notes: In May of 1997, I received a phone call from one Mitsuyasu Sakai, a major script writer and science advisor in the animated motion picture industry. He asked me to illustrate his ideas for the scenes of a new anime series. This was my first contact with OUTLAW STAR.

After introducing my portfolio to the series director and producer, both insisted in unison: "Tanaka-san, you will paint the end frames for OUTLAW STAR." It seems they were in need of something quite different from ordinary anime illustrations. Within two weeks in the following November the first five paintings were completed,during which time I listened to the series graceful end theme "Daytime Moon" by Arai Akino, over and over again.

( copyright 2001 Hicaru Tanaka. All rights reserved )