Ayami Kojima

is a Japanese independent artist. She has often worked in video games as a character designer and is most known for her work on the Castlevania series of video games by Konami.
==Career==
Ayami Kojima is mostly known for her work in the Castlevania Gothic-horror and action series of video games by Konami. Her first renowned works were for the 1997 video game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, where she worked alongside director Koji Igarashi (IGA) and composer Michiru Yamane. While being a self-taught artist, that hasn't stopped her for creating some of the most elegant and haunting character designs in gaming today.Castlevania: The Retrospective at IGN. (archived: November 2, 2007) She has told interviewers that her favorite character to draw is Dracula himself. An artbook (Santa Lilio Sangre ~Akai Yuri~ Ayami Kojima Art Works) of her past works was released in 2010.
She is known to enjoy reading shōnen manga (marketed to young teen boys), presumably because they have more action than shōjo (marketed to the teen female demographic). She has released many dōjinshi as well (self-published print works), some of them in the yaoi genre (genre featuring homoerotic relationships). She has worked on many illustrations for Hideyuki Kikuchi's novels and was also in charge of the catalog cover of the coterie event "Comic Market".
She worked on the packaging artwork for physical copies of the 2019 video game and spiritual successor to the Castlevania series, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night –also directed by IGA and scored by Yamane– for those who donated 100 dollars or more, stating that she could "only offer a small amount of time" for the project.
==Style and media==
Kojima's style focuses on strong shading, monochrome colors, and an overall pastel-like technique. She often uses molding paste, Conté Crayon, acrylics, India ink, gloss polymer medium, stumps and finger smudging in her paintings to achieve their unique look and depth.
Generally speaking, the sketch and composition is laid out using the Conté crayon. Shadows are darkened monochromatically using both Conté and India ink. The color composition is then blocked in using diluted acrylics. The three-dimensional textured aspects in the majority of her paintings are created using molding paste and a palette knife. During the addition of stronger colors, additional water and the artists' fingers (smudging) are used to create the glowing gradiation which is apparent in much of Kojima's artwork. Once the base paint is finished, metallic paints are applied with a palette knife. Glows and highlights are enhanced using a gloss polymer medium.
==Production roles==
*Söldnerschild (Koei, 1998)
*Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Konami, 1997)
*Castlevania Chronicles (Konami, 2001 re-release)
*Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (Konami, 2002)
*Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Konami, 2003)
*Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (Konami, 2003)
*Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (Konami, 2005)
*Castlevania: Double Pack (Konami, 2006)
*Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (Konami, 2007)
*Akumajō Dracula: The Medal (Konami, 2009)
*Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (Konami, 2010)
*Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls (Konami, 2019)
==Gallery==
===Selected artworks===
SOTN Cover Artwork.jpg
CastleVania - Harmony of Dissonance - 01.jpg
AriaArtwork.jpg
LeonDarkness.jpg
LeonFlames.jpg
Castlevania - Lament of Innocence - 01.png
Hector Painting.png
Curse of Darkness Poster.png
SimonRed.jpg
Chron-art4.jpg
Castlevania The Dracula X Chronicles Cover Painting.jpg
Cdxc-main-characters2.jpg
443657dc44e4f7af72963f864be26a38 original.jpg|Kojima's contribution to Castlevania’s spiritual successor Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
Castlevania - Symphony of the Night - 01.jpg
Castlevania - Harmony of Dissonance - 02.jpg
SomaARTSY.jpg
Castlevania Harmony of Despair Full Poster.jpg
===Personal photos===
Ayami Kojima - 02.jpg
Ayami Kojima - 04.jpg
Ayami Kojima - 05.png
Koji Igarashi, Michiru Yamane, and Ayami Kojima - 01.jpg|Koji Igarashi, Michiru Yamane and Ayami Kojima.
Ayami-kojima-workspace.jpg|Workspace.
Ayami-kojima-drawing-technique.jpg|Painting process.
===Other===
Ayami Kojima - Magic The Gathering - 01.jpg|Kojima has also done some guest art for the strategy card game Magic: The Gathering.Magic: The Gathering taps Castlevania artist Ayami Kojima for card art at Destructoid.Castlevania Artist Ayami Kojima Does Art For Magic The Gathering's Innistrad: Crimson Vow at Thegamer.
==See also==
*Santa Lilio Sangre ~Akai Yuri~ Ayami Kojima Art Works
==References==
==External links==
*Ayami Kojima at the Bloodstained Wiki
*BOX=ART (archived: August 15, 2022)
*Famous contemporary female illustrator in Japan, Kojima Ayami at Dàozi Xīzhī (Chinese)
*MobyGames
es:Ayami Kojima
Category:Illustrators