For those reaching this place for the first time, my name is Will Murai and I've been working as an illustrator and concept artist for more than a decade. It's been a while since I had a website at all. I've been uploading my latest work on Artstation and Instagram for a couple of years now since they are great platforms and very easy to update. To be honest, with the busy routine that I have, they are very handy.
In 2018, something very cool happened: I decided to participate in the "Inktober". If you are not familiar with it, the amazing Jake Parker created this challenge that happens in October of each year in which he challenges other artists to do a drawing using ink (Ink-Tober, got it?) every day for all the 31 days of the month. I was able to complete the challenge that year. During the process I discovered a part of myself that I haven't paid too much attention for a long time: when I was a kid, I used to sit and draw for hours. My father used to bring boxes of paper that his office would not use, and I'd fill those with all kinds of drawings. Just with pen, no paints, nothing fancy. Just lines.
During that moment, when I challenged myself to draw every day for 31 days, I rediscovered the simplicity of drawing just for fun. Since I needed to create something every day, I wanted it to be something very personal, very intimate and ultimately, very simple in story and execution. Most of the pieces found in this website are depictions of characters that mixes my personal taste in art, heavily impacted by the work of masters such as Katsuhiro Otomo and Akira Toriyama, my childhood experiences and the influence of the Japanese culture my father used to raise both me and my brother. Making something with only paper and pen forced me to relax and enjoy the ride. Not all lines were going to be perfect, mistakes were to be made and I was ok with that. Whatever came out of that specific day, I would accept as the best I could do at that moment. I remembered that it was because of that feeling of immersion and freedom that I unconsciously decided that I wanted to be an artist.
That's why I created this website. I think that all my professional work already has nice places to be showcased, and I felt that such an intimate collection of drawings deserved its own place.
And also, in case you didn't notice, I am using my middle name on the header of this website.
秀樹 "Hideki” is my Japanese name chosen by my grandmother, which only my closest family and friends call me. I thought that there wasn't anything more appropriate.
Hope you all enjoy this personal artwork as much as I am enjoying making them.
Will Hideki Murai.