“I focus on creating what I want instead of what I think the industry expects of me,” says the multi-talented Dutch illustrator Robin Raaphorst.
Over the last couple of years, Robin Raaphorst’s portfolio has transformed in terms of breadth, themes, and quality. A graduate of HKU Utrecht’s game art programme, she has mastered areas such as character design, concept, and environmental art and contributed to numerous titles. However, AI has reduced opportunities in the sector and led her to reevaluate her career path.
“Instead, I’ve designed children’s book covers, created murals, worked on movie projects and been focusing on my personal work,” says Robin. “Currently, I am working on some creature designs for a movie and have a storyboard lined up for another film project. I’ve also started messing around with tattooing.”
Some of her most stunning work is also her most personal. Growing up the daughter of a Dutch father and a Korean mother, she has always felt different – neither fully Dutch nor Korean – but didn’t really explore her Asian side. “I always had an interest in manga, East Asian folklore and food, but it always felt superficial to me. Who doesn’t love sushi and watching Pokémon?” she explains.
Recently, however, her work has begun exploring her heritage – sometimes consciously, sometimes not – resulting in pieces with a Korean influence tempered by her own unique approach. Under her new moniker, Raven Milo, pieces such as the mural Smoking Tiger, the private commission Fu Dogs, and her Red Herron print are just a handful of pieces demonstrating her new style – the one she’s most comfortable working in.
“I draw mechas in Rotterdam, monster parades through Amsterdam and dragons decorated in Delfts blauw, smoking dragons and talking herons,” she says. “Working with real materials has really helped me develop my style and identity as an artist. It forces you to make different design choices, which changes the overall look and feel of the final piece.”
With mood music playing—Radiohead, Bonobo, or Moderat, for example—she creates her larger pieces almost without thinking, going with what feels right, an attitude that has more or less defined her career of late. Yet beneath it all, her inspiration never drifts too far from the 90s manga and anime she’s always loved. Chainsaw Man, Blame, and Dandadan are my favourites lately.
Infinity Pool designs.
Stellar brand illustrations.
You will find a much wider variety of looks in Robin’s client work, demonstrating the versatility ingrained in her when she worked in the games industry. Stepping into a limited palette of yellow and purple, she created brand illustrations for the blockchain outfit Stellar. That’s a favourite, but it couldn’t be more different from another of her choice projects—concept art for Brandon Cronenberg’s sci-fi horror flick Infinity Pool.
The latter was a collaboration with her father, Richard Raaphorst, who is also an artist. “There’s nothing quite like working with your dad trying to creep people out,” laughs Robin.
However, it could be that the melange of visual styles in Robin’s portfolio is on the way out. The artworks that unify her Eastern and Western roots are becoming more prominent—she’s selling them as a range of prints—along with the large-scale work. She’d love to paint the side of a building, like a massive aquarium.
“There’s no point in copying others anymore now that AI can do it faster. It’s more important than ever to create something original and build your own brand, which is way more fun if you ask me,” she says. “AI can kiss my ass.”
Fu Dogs – a private commission.
