What paints do Studio Ghibli use?
The Nerima Ward of Tokyo is often said to be the birthplace of anime. Fittingly, it is also the location of Nicker, the paint brand used by many leading manga and anime artists, including Hayao Miyazaki, the genius behind such beloved films as My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.
I recommend Holbein watercolors, they are inexpensive and easy to use, and you can paint a lot with just a little bit."
Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, and filmmaker. He co-founded Studio Ghibli. He is a masterful storyteller and uses colour in the same way an author uses words. A colour palette sets the mood and tone in a film and gives information about characters and locations.
Much like the artists of Impressionism. The difference here is while simplification and stylization take place, in the case of Ghibli background paintings, simplification is done on a more micro level than the paintings of impressionists, leaving the viewer with much more detail to look at.
Here are two videos that demonstrate some gouache techniques resembling those used in background paintings for Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli. He pre-mixes four colors before starting on the sky: a lighter and darker blue for the gradation of the sky, plus a white and a gray for the lit part of the cloud and the shadow part.
how to paint a studio ghibli scene in acrylic // step by step - YouTube
Studio Ghibli Watercolor Painting — Pascual Productions. This watercolor painting is a mash-up honoring Studio Ghibli's most beloved animations - from My Neighbor Totoro to Kiki's Delivery Service. All the characters are encapsulated in the silhouette of Howl's Moving Castle. Can you spot your favorite characters?
Totoro appears as a large furry creature with grey fur and beige belly with grey arrows on his chest. He has pointy ears, long whiskers along with large paws with long claws.
Spirited Away carefully combines dark and light hues and a contrast of colors to tell its story. The interior of the train feels cold and foreboding and uses darker tones of bright colors (reds, purples) to give the audience a sense of the unusual.
Spirited Away stands apart from other animated movies because it is hand-drawn—not computer-generated—a method of animation that is nearly extinct in the United States. In early filmmaking, all animation was hand-drawn and was almost as simple as the flip books from which animation evolved.
Who paints the Ghibli backgrounds?
Using only traditional media, Artist Yohichi Nishikawa has worked as a background painter at Studio Ghibli from 2004 to 2014. He will be flying to LA for this special one day only 5 hour painting workshop / art exhibition. Original paintings will be on display and available for purchase.
Miyazaki, whose films include "Princess Mononoke," "Howl's Moving Castle" and "My Neighbor Totoro," has used computer animation to embellish hand-drawn images. But before "Ponyo" went into production, he shut down the computer-graphics department at his Studio Ghibli, opting to work solely in hand-drawn images.

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation film studio based in Tokyo and Hayao Miyazaki is the imaginative and visionary director behind many of the studio's iconic films. From strange fantastical creatures to fully developed animated worlds, their films capture the mix of reality and animation wonderfully.
How to Paint Studio Ghibli Style Clouds | Acrylic Tutorial - YouTube
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Studio Ghibli Inc.
Native name | 株式会社スタジオジブリ |
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Website | www.ghibli.jp |
Studio Ghibli's background painting master Kazuo Oga uses Nicker poster color (also spelled 'Knicker'), which comes in jars. He wets both sides of the paper before placing it on the work surface. Then he takes some liquid colors, together with white, out of the jars and places them on a nearby dish.
Painting Studio Ghibli Scene With Watercolor - Paint With Me! - YouTube
As an artist, filmmaker, and co-founder of the legendary Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki has been enthralling audiences for decades with his compelling creative vision.