I was at the panel on Sunday, so here are the notes I took during the Q&A. It was really cool to watch Mr. Arita work on his sketch and we gained some insight into the mind of a great artist. I sat in the back so sometimes it was hard to hear the specific question or answer, but hopefully my notes are cohesive! Some of this might have been mentioned already. Enjoy! 
- In the beginning nobody really spoke up although I’m sure many people had ideas about what to ask. So someone broke the ice by asking him his favourite flavour of ramen which was a great opener. Mr. Arita said he likes shio (salt) ramen!
- Mr. Arita is inspired by movies such as Blade Runner, Alien, Gladiator
- In his spare time he likes to exercise
- His favourite manga/anime is Cyborg 009 and Galaxy Express 999, the art directors inspired Mr. Arita in his own work
- When someone asked him his favourite pokemon, he responded by saying Voltorb - because it is easy to draw
- As PFM mentioned earlier, Mr. Arita has a computer science degree from university and thought he might go into software engineer
- Someone asked if he likes golf, and he said no
- He can work on up to 6 projects at a time, and he can keep up the high quality across his work as long as there is a theme to work towards (a goal)
- He liked his time in Toronto although he said if it had been colder he might not have enjoyed it as much. He originally thought that it would be more like an American city, but when he arrived he said it feels more like a European city
- He listens to instrumental music
- When working on a new project for Pokemon, he does research before starting the card artwork - how the pokemon looks in the game, its moves, etc.
- He doesn’t have a specific favourite art or project he’s worked on
- He likes to combine hand-drawn with digital. There are pros and cons to both. For hand-drawn, he likes how it can be realistic. For digital work he says it feels more “space-y” (maybe not grounded in reality), like it doesn’t exist. So by putting the two together he can work to fill in the gaps.
- He learned how to draw through sketching and repetition
- He doesn’t hang his own work in his house, and he doesn’t have any self-portraits (I think I understood that one correctly!)
- He said it is risky to put all his projects and time into one company/trademark, so he has also put effort and time into other brands. This way he avoids having his networth all in one basket. He is concerned that he is becoming a big Pokemon name
- Someone asked if he usually hides who he is in public, and he said he doesn’t really do that but in fact his wife hides his identity from other people
- I think someone had mentioned above that Pokemon gives him copies of his cards but he said to us that he doesn’t open them
- He is happy that his Lugia V is playable now
- When he first started playing the pokemon games, his starter was Charmander
- Since he travels so much, he likes to go camping in his free time. He said that he prefers to go camping in Japan since camping overseas feels more dangerous to him
- If you are able to visit Japan, he recommends seeing the architecture in Tokyo and the nature in Okinawa. For Pokemon fans attending Worlds in 2023, check out the Akihabara district.
(Oh my gosh I’m getting tired and still have more to type up, how did I take so many notes lol)
- Someone asked Mr. Arita if he finds any inspiration from any particular region in the world (Contintent, country, etc.) when drawing - especially because of all his scenic backgrounds. I wanted about to ask a similar question so I’m glad it was asked! However, Mr. Arita replied this is not the case. When he watches movies or shows, he creates a mental library of inspirational images that he can refer back to. So when he starts a project, he often finds something from these images he remembers rather than specific landmarks or regions in real life
- Someone asked him if he had a favourite restaurant he visited while in Toronto, or what his favourite food here was (there are so many great options in Toronto!) however Mr. Arita said that during the weekend they only had time to eat at the hotel
- Someone asked Mr. Arita how he uses the interplay between technology and nature in his art. He said that as an illustrator, he needs to understand both so that his art is better
- Mr. Arita said that emerging artists should have a wide skillset to combine digital art skills, observation skills, and understanding of the subject (There was something here about a specific card or set of cards but I didn’t catch it)
- He said that whenever he draws Mewtwo he always feels like it is the coolest Mewtwo he’s ever drawn
- Someone asked whether it is important for emerging artists to stick to their own style, or to be more flexible. Mr. Arita said that both are good, but as a professionally paid illustrator he is practical and believes being flexible is more important than sticking to just one specific style which might restrict opportunities for work.
- He has no clue if he has more fans in Japan or in (North) America
- When asked if he has a specific studio or home office where he likes to work, Mr. Arita said that he feels more productive working at the company’s office
- As mentioned elsewhere, near the end of the session he asked the room, how do fans recognize his work? Is there something about his work that stands out? People mentioned several aspects - it is dynamic, it makes the viewers feel something. I sat beside @professorsamphire (whom I met on Friday and hung out with over the course of the weekend, and who is also an artist - they’re on IG @thebinderinstitute ) who said that Mr. Arita’s work tends to have a unique grain-y or gritty quality, as a positive feature that makes the art feel like a photograph.
- Mr. Arita seemed happy to hear these answers. One of the important parts of his work is finding the “center of gravity” or the “weight” in the image, to create that dynamic feeling in his art. This tip came from an old Disney art book. Mr. Arita said that lots of beginners might have the observation skills (i.e., working with reference pictures), but if they don’t think about the gravity/weight in their work, the end result will look flat and lacks that quality Mr. Arita’s work has.
- Arita also said that out of the 3 sketches he did this weekend (frog rider, blue dragon, war tortoise) the tortoise on Sunday was the most challenging. He had to think of a way to draw something wide (the turtle) on a vertical canvas, it was tough to fit everything on there.
- He will turn down a request from any company if he thinks the final piece won’t give him the feeling he wants in his work - although he said he doesn’t have a specific mood that he wants his viewers to feel exactly.
- As well, if he starts a project and then decides that it doesn’t have the right mood he’s aiming for, he will try to adjust or change the work to reflect the mood he wants (as much as he can within the guidelines he’s given)
- E.g., the war tortoise was originally going to be more fantastical, like a mythical creature. However since it was challenging to figure out the proportions on the canvas, he changed his idea to be more realistic (inspired by war elephants)
Okay, that’s all from me! It was a fun weekend and attending the panel on Sunday was the perfect conclusion to an exciting event!