The Prophet Driller’s Journey of Being a Powerful Artist

For most people, being an artist is not an easy path or career. So was mine. It took several years before I could get to the style you see on my Twitter and Instagram pages today. In fact, many job openings for illustration require you to pass an art certification test, or even have a college degree in any field of art. For example, Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of Sailor Moon, studied to be a pharmacist as a backup plain just in case she didn’t find success in the manga industry.

If I wanted to create video games, I had to become an artist. I do both retro pixel and modern-style art. For both, I use 1990s-style shading techniques all because I love old video games. Of course, you can’t prove yourself to be the best artist in the entire world. I grew up on anime and other Japanese popular culture, motivating me to replicate what the Japanese do in their games. I wanted all of my players to enjoy a rich world based on their interests.

A lot of young people like anime-style art, and they are often motivated to do their own artworks in that style.

The original Chuhou Joutai doesn’t use the art direction you see today because my artistic skills were not very high. Things ended up looking crude, even though it is still a great game. Players thought I was a failed artist for that game. Same thing happened with original version of the first Touhou Project NES Demake, The Highly Responsive to Prayers. It wasn’t until I discovered VRoid Studio in a Touhou Project Discord server, which eventually shaped my direction.

The first game to use the new art direction was the second Touhou Project NES Demake, The Story of Eastern Wonderland. What came next? The second Chuhou Joutai game and third Touhou Project NES Demake, The Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dreams. Starting from the fourth Touhou Project NES Demake, Lotus Land Story, things started receiving better acclaim.

While I might not be the greatest pixel artist in the world, it was imperative to learn from the mistakes I made in the past. VRoid certainly helped me create the basis for my work. In my earlier days, I was delusional of what I could create when in reality I didn’t have that bit of talent yet. My choices of VRoid were limited, until I purchased VRM Posing Desktop in November 2022. I now had more creative freedom to do whatever I wanted.

Spring of 2023 is when I devised the art direction you would see in Touhou Meijinka ~ Song of Divine Tempest. Not all of them have been perfect. For example, when Studio Emiko was creating Veronika Grieg for the Emiverse. I had to design thumbnail art for a video of her theme. Initially, I envisioned Grieg with a pixie cut and an idol outfit inspired by Norwegian historical clothing. I got a lukewarm reception, even though I did a good job with her art. I ended up ruining her vision, and I was forced to draw something different. Below is the failed image and the revised one.

When I created the failed prototype, I ruined Emiko’s expectations. Sometimes, it takes multiple images before a design can be agreed upon. I expressed no bitterness on the failed prototype. When I devise a new art direction, it can take a few or several hours before creating the first artwork based on that style. Subsequent artworks take less time as I’ve formed a basis for the framework.

As my career advances into the future, you may expect many different art directions to come.