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Mecha Illustrator Hidetaka Tenjin Guest at London Comic Con
posted on by Andrew Osmond
The organizers of MCM London Comic Con have announced they will host mecha illustrator Hidetaka Tenjin during the May 22-24 convention in London's ExCel Centre. Tenjin will meet fans on the Friday and Saturday of the event, to which he was invited by the online video service Viewster.
Tenjin's drawings have adorned the boxes of Macross, Gundam, and Space Battleship Yamato works for over a decade, and he has provided his talents to anime productions from Macross Frontier to Hellsing Ultimate.
Despite having no format art training, Tenjin began garnering fans in college when he posted his Macross fan artwork on his personal website. That attracted the attention of the Macross creators, including the designer of the Valkyries, Shōji Kawamori. One thing led to another, and Tenjin began illustrating model kit boxes for not just Macross, but also Gundam, VOTOMS, Patlabor, and other mecha classics. He also illustrated games such as Gradius V and became the main artist for new art in Macross Chronicle and Space Battleship Yamato Fact File, the definitive resources for those two science-fiction series.
Eventually, he began working directly in anime as a visual and special effects artist, particulary for works from Kawamori's studio Satelight. His credits include Macross Zero, Macross Frontier, Hellsing Ultimate, Gundam Evolve, the Saint Seiya movie, and Genesis of Aquarion.
From the Comic Con press release:
Known for his realistic art style, Hidetaka Tenjin had been bringing the iconic mecha of the long-running Macross franchise to life for over a decade now... As an artist and illustrator, Hidetaka Tenjin also works on the Master Grade Gundam model series box art for Bandai, as well as that company's Star Wars range of models. In addition, the Kobe-born Tenjin has published a series of art books showcasing his mecha illustrations for Macross and has appeared as a voice actor in a number of anime series.
Image © 1982 Big West
