Lexus Commissions Original Manga Artworks For ES, UX And LC

Have you ever seen a Lexus flee a fire-breathing dragon? Don’t worry, it’s not a modern day rendition of Game of Thrones, but rather an original manga illustration, much like the warrior escaping from an exploding city or the woman pausing on a tranquil seashore.

These were all commissioned by Lexus so as to capture the influence of Japanese traditions and aesthetics using cars in a comic book type of way. The three artists featured here were Yishan Li, Timothy Kong and Daniel Atanasov.

As for the cars, there’s the new UX compact SUV, the LC Coupe and the ES saloon, although the latter (as a family car) does seem a bit too out of place in a land where dragons roam free.

The Lexus ES illustration was drawn up by Timothy Kong, who explained: “I chose a dragon to highlight the brave design of Lexus cars. In Japanese culture dragons are shown to be incredibly powerful and proud creatures that represent courage and strength, and to challenge one is seen to be a brave endeavour.”

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Then there’s Yishan Li, who has been published internationally in more than 30 comic books and her interpretation of the UX is inspired by the car’s “New Horizons” tagline. The goal was to draw a woman “sitting on her car by the shore at sunset, relaxing after completing a big creative project.”

As for the Lexus LC Coupe with the warrior figure on its roof, it was done by Daniel Atasanov, a Bulgarian-born artist who prefers a form of manga which focuses on sci-fi, adventure and martial arts.

“This was the first time I had been asked to draw a real car within a piece and make it look like part of a fictional story. The car itself is an autonomous being, but at the same time has a symbiotic relationship with the man. That’s why there is no driver behind the wheel; the car is intelligent, self-driving and reliable.”