Hello!

Yusuke Watanabe (he/him) is a Japanese illustrator for children’s books and a Visual Development Artist for animation. He is also active as a guest lecturer, sharing his expertise through special lectures at art universities. After beginning his career in sales in Japan, he moved to the United States to study storytelling at CalArts, where he earned a BFA in Character Animation. Yusuke loves creating whimsical illustrations and stories using mixed media including watercolor, colored pencil, and crayon.

When he’s not making art, he’s busy thinking about what his walk-up song would be if he were an MLB player.

Contact

Yusuke is represented by Jemiscoe Chambers-Black at Starling Literary + Media
For all book inquiries seeking me as an illustrator, please contact my agent, Jem at jemiscoe@starlingliterary.com

For anything else which include, but not limited to: visual development or background design for television and feature animation, please reach me at yusukewatanabe@alum.calarts.edu

日本語でのご依頼も受け付けております。

Upcoming Picture Book

TURTLE ON THE TARMAC | written by Annette Bay Pimentel, illustrated by me | Abrams, 2027