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In the Studio: Chris Malbon

October 29, 2025

Illustrator Chris Malbon went deep for his work on the Folio book of Shōgun, and the result is a lavish new version of the Japanese historical masterpiece.

The end result may feature incredible illustrations of honourable samurai, majestic ships and sweeping vistas, but for Chris Malbon, illustrator of our thrilling new Folio book of James Clavell’s Shōgun, it all began with a simple stick man. ‘Just stick men on loose bits of paper,’ he says. ‘Shapes, figures, rough composition sketches. I think of interesting angles, as if I’m a camera, or a fly on the wall, or sitting on a shelf, or a snake looking up from the ground. I try to create energy and drama.’

In the case of Shōgun, not only is there drama aplenty in the novel, it also recently received an award-winning screen adaptation. So before Chris ever took pen in hand, he immersed himself in the TV series, the novel and the audiobook. ‘I was building up images in my head all the time,’ he says.

Another surprising source of inspiration was Chris’s mother-in-law. An avid Clavell fan, she had read not only Shōgun but the author’s entire Asian Saga at least four times. ‘So I sat down with her as well. I wanted to be fully immersed in the Shōgun universe, and I had all these different information sources hitting me from all angles in those early weeks.’

This initial preparation and experimentation led to a flurry of detailed pieces, for which Chris turned to his Wacom pen tablet. ‘Inside this,’ he says, holding the ergonomic black stylus, ‘is every paintbrush I’ll ever need. Every crayon, every felt tip. It’s just crazy and I absolutely love it. I’ve got my own brushes that I really like, and a blue crayon setting which I find really great to sketch with.’

Mostly he works seated, or at a standing desk with a large monitor, but the tablet can go anywhere. ‘I did some of the work for Shōgun in a coffee shop. I put headphones on – either music or the audiobook – and just go for it.’ That music is often the Wu-Tang Clan, for whom Chris has designed tour artwork.

His interest in east Asian visual and musical culture is longstanding, having previously illustrated a great deal of material related to east Asian cinema – film covers, DVD slipcases and posters. ‘Sophia, the Folio editor, was able to show those to the Clavell estate so they could see I really understand the culture. Around my workspace you’ll find pictures of Japanese war masks, weapons and old books about martial arts movies.’

“I think of interesting angles, as if I'm a fly on the wall or a snake looking up from the ground. I try to create energy and drama.”

Chris’s experience producing art for Marvel and Disney, and being ‘a massive comic book nerd’, means he’s always searching for a dynamic composition, then refining it with a level of artistry that Folio books demand. ‘There’s one scene that’s essentially just the heroine and the hero parting ways on a bridge, and what can you do with that?’ says Chris.

‘I wanted to add a little more. I thought: “What if you panned out to see the blossom trees and branches?” Then finally I added a pair of moths flying together, to represent the characters. Sophia and the Folio team were also there to offer advice and fine-tune details about clothing, colours or what a specific sword should look like, which was great.’

All his research, inspiration and experience went into the melting pot for this sumptuous, first ever illustrated version of Clavell’s masterpiece, and the result was around 15 beautiful, cinematic images. ‘And the great thing was, both Folio and the estate knew the ones they wanted straight away. Just a few small changes and that was it. If you invest everything in that first phase, the final piece is not going to be too far off.’

Photography: ©Felix.Russell.Saw