At the Core, Still Red

The first Midichi sketches looked like this.

Red. Loud. Happy.

This was around 2014—playful, excited characters with happy-go-lucky expressions. That’s what I wanted my art to evoke. Joy, love, and a sense of lightness.

The red? It symbolized oneness.

I was explaining to someone why I paint my characters red. And it’s really this simple:

If we, as human beings, were to—hypothetically—have our skin peeled back, you wouldn’t be able to tell us apart. So what’s with all this back-and-forth about race?

It never made sense to me. But then I grew up, and I couldn’t avoid the concept of race—it’s everywhere.

Now it’s 2025, and I’ll be painting different skin tones. But the core?

The core will always be there—somehow.