Best Work Award (1981, 1st Poetry and Fairy Tale Illustration Contest) 12th Sanrio Fine Arts Award (1986)
Keibun Ōta (おおた慶文,Ōta Keibun), real nameYoshifumi Ōta (太田慶文,Ōta Yoshifumi), is apainter andillustrator born on November 10, 1951, inHaboro,Hokkaidō Prefecture, Japan.[1] He is best known for hiswatercolor paintings of young girls and children. Ōta has multiple books in print which collect his works, and he has created illustrations for magazines, books, calendars, and posters, and has had multiple one-man exhibitions.
Ōta was born inHaboro,Hokkaidō Prefecture,Japan on 10 November 1951.[1] He graduated fromHokkaido Bifuka High School. After moving toTokyo to work as a freelanceinterior designer, he taught himself to paint and began doing work as an illustrator. In 1981, he won the Best Work Award at the 1st Poetry and Fairy Tale Illustration Contest sponsored bySanrio.[1] He won the 12th Sanrio Fine Arts Award in 1986.[1]
In 1992, Ōta held his first series of exhibitions at department stores in every major city in Japan. This has become a regular event since then. He held a nationwide exhibit tour at five locations throughout Japan in 1995. Due to over 600,000 people attending the exhibits, the exhibit had to be extended to accommodate the additional attendees.
Ōta established his home page in 2000 for the 20th anniversary of his professional debut. In 2001, he held an exhibit at theYokohama Sogō Fine Arts Gallery, and in 2002, exhibits were held at the Sakai Takashimaya and Matsuyama Takashimaya department stores.
