Shohei Otomo

Otomo's illustrations are described as hyperrealistic with cyberpunk elements. When including human figures in his art, he tends to cover their eyes with goggles, justifying this by saying, "if you show the eyes, the character’s presence overwhelms the picture". The only colors he present in his art are black, white, and red, which he states is inspired by the color combination's use in ancient Japanese makeup: "the only colors used were red, black, and white: red lipstick, black teeth—Japanese women used to paint their teeth black—and white powder."

Shohei Otomo studied oil painting while he attended Tama Art University, but switched to ballpoint pens to create ink art, as oil paints are expensive. He prefers ink pens to pencils, as pencils left a silvery finish he found undesirable. He uses "ordinary ballpoints that you can buy anywhere for about 80 yen". Additionally, he uses permanent markers for coloring in objects. He creates the drawings on paperboard, though, at one gallery exhibition in Japan, he applied acrylic paint to a human model in a live sketching session. He spends up to a month on an illustration. A 2017 exhibition in Australia marked his first use of sculpture: He designed a sumo wrestler, which he then illustrated with tattoo-like graphics.

His first art exhibition was in the US at a gallery in Kansas City in the early 2000s. In 2012, he had his first art exhibition in Australia with an exhibition called Fool's Paradise. In 2017, he had this third gallery exhibition in Australia. Australian gallery director Alexander Mitchell of Backwoods Gallery called Otomo "most talented person I know", saying, "His technique is incredible, his work is flawless and his imagery is awe inspiring."

Shohei Otomo (born 1980), sometimes stylized professionally as SHOHEI, is a Japanese artist known for his drawings with ballpoint pens.

Shohei Otomo was born in 1980 and grew up in Tokyo. He is the son of manga artist Katsuhiro Otomo and his wife, Yoko. Starting at three or four years old, Otomo began drawing every day. He always envisioned that he would become an artist. His father did not give him drawing advice or lessons, and Shohei unsuccessfully tried to avoid being influenced by his artistic style, saying, "I had no intention of being influenced by my father, but now I see the influence in my work."