Hopeful Manga-ka's Scribbles

[KaYoKitten]

EDIT: For the record, I've been using this thread SINCE MARCH, and most of the new stuff is toward the end. Watch the progression, yosh! ^^; I've blabbered and befuddled about my art on here several times, but I've not really set anything up here to show. I would LOVE some concrit on this stuff, because I'm honestly attempting to get into TP's ever-growing armada of OEL-ers through the RSoM contest. So, without further ado...

A few pieces...
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/Bunnies.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/OfftheRoof.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/Jirk1.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/Jirk2copy.jpg

The last two were from my last attempt at the RSoM. I think I was disqualified anyway because I had to hand-write some of my information on the paper because I worked right up until the post office closed. >< Not this time!!

[nicolepalmer]

this looks good keep up the good work

[Erisu-Chan]

That great work!!
I think that you'd have a great chance of a place :D



-Erisu-Chan

[UrbanRevolution]

you have a very cool style, i love your hands......

[Foreordained99]

you have such a cool style..i wish i could draw like that...good luck!

[stickmanbob0]

sweet pics. good luck

[KaYoKitten]

i love your hands......


YAAAAAAY! ^_^ I've worked SO hard to get my hands right, so it's wonderful to hear someone say that. Thank you so much! (Although, the hand Bri has on her other arm in the last pic is buggin' me...-_-() )

Thank you all for your wonderful comments, you guys are so nice! ^_^ Forgive me for this off-the-wall remark, but O___O I'm getting a tablet. And a new scanner. And a removable drive stick. AND I've already received Manga Pro. 3.0. O__o Weird. I wonder what I'm getting for my birthday? lol Nah, I don't need anything else. ^__^ I'm happy...perhaps for the first time in a really long while.

At any rate, I wanted to show a color image of Jirkle (the character sorta berating Bri above for being hard on herself). I work mostly with prismacolor pencils and watercolor because I love what I can do with the two mediums. Actually, this color technique is rare for me--I usually use the "hard" tech for prismacolors, but this is my softie. I liked the effect, so I left it alone. ^_^ This is one of very few images that I'm proud of. Despite the fact that I've changed his character design since then.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/Jirkle_Smile_by_UglyKitten.jpg

[Tsuzuki]

wow the color image of jirkle is very good... i draw manga too but just for fun for now you really do do hands good , personally im really bad at hands(and coloring images)it takes me like 600 tries to get it right
keep up the good work
and good luck ;) 47

[KaYoKitten]

wow the color image of jirkle is very good... i draw manga too but just for fun for now you really do do hands good , personally im really bad at hands(and coloring images)it takes me like 600 tries to get it right
keep up the good work


^_^ Thank you! I love my little Jirk, he's just fun to be around. And those "600 tries to get it right" will definitely pay off in the end. ^__^ You can bet on it!

[sferrick]

I like your style a lot overall UK. :}
The amount of detail in the second picture is fantastic. It feels pretty complete. I think the crosshatching isn't working quite that well. When you do crosshatching you have to remember to follow the contours of what your shading, otherwise the drawing becomes very flat. You've done it very well in some areas, like the shading on the roof in the foreground but when we get to the shadow under the girl, it's become flat and doesn't follow the contours of the tiles.
I think the comic page could do with some more toning. Right now, it's feeling a bit flat and washed out. Adding more variety of values would really make it pop I think. Other than that, I love your character design! It's adorable. :} and that view of the cliff in the second panel is pretty darn awesome.

[Tsuzuki]

hey have u tried writing a short story with urer charachters that would be so awsome

[yukineko]

totemo kawaii *-*!
I love the way you draw pets x3

[KaYoKitten]

Sferrick, thanks so much for the crit. ^_^ My inking still has a ways to go, unfortunately, as does my tone. Thank you for giving me some pointers, I know I'm going to use it! lol, being self-taught bites sometimes cause you don't KNOW those little things.

Tsuzuki-san, I've written a fair few short stories (though most I've taken down off of dev art from sheer embarrasment ^^; ) with many of my characters. (All of these are on dev art, but I made little links in my comments where you can get to the next page).

You can see the entirety of that little two-page snippet here (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/30664842/).

This one's (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/26424011/) just me goofin' off with another of my characters, Blank (you can see her character changes an awful lot...^^; Visually, anyway. The one with the girl standing on the roof is her, too. XP ). Goofin' off in a serious manner, I suppose, kinda like a teaser to a longer story that I never really plan on writing (XD).

Another goofin' off one, of myself. (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/24306695/) ^^;; I loooove baking cookies, but I never seem to get any...

BTW, the Journey one is the first of the three, followed by the cookie one, and then the Jirkle-and-Bri one. I love seeing my own improvements. ^_^() The oldest one I have on record is this one (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/20189010/), about a cat, a boy, and his pocky. I did that one only about a year and a half ago--so far I've come, eh?

And to Yuki-neko--^__^ Domo arigatou gozaimasu! I'm bad at drawing animals, so I've been trying to stylize them to hide that fact. XD

[Tsuzuki]

the name bri...is it an abriviation for a longer name like Brianna?

[SailorMaddieMouse]

Nice stuff! You should try toning in some shadows though. It'd make your art even better with some proper shading. :)

And the detail on the second picture is just stunning. The background is just jaw dropping! XD

And you have really nice profiles. :) That's something to be proud of. And on the first page of the entry, the eyelashes are beautiful! I'd like to see how you do in the future!

[KaYoKitten]

Tsuzuki: Yes, Bri is short for Bridget. ^^; I actually highly despise the name and that is the main reason why I chose it: I wanted to challenge myself to create a character with a name I hated, with attributes that I dislike, and see if I could figure out exactly what made her tick. LOL, and now Bri is one of my favorite characters. XD Her full name is Bridget Kokomo Wolf. My brother made me highly dislike the Beach Boys' song, Kokomo, and I'm terrified of wolves.

SailorMaddieMouse: Thank you very much! I've recently come into a toning program, so I've been fiddling around with it lately. But I'll still keep the tone to a minimum--I like my art to be uncluttered and breezy, but solid at the same time. ^^; Um...an example of what my work would NOT look like is Shutterbox. I LOVE that style, but I'd never try and emulate it. And thank you for the profile comment. When I first started out, profiles were a nightmare. But I worked at it and now I'm pleased with how they look (most of the time). ^_^

Okay, like I said, I finally got my paws on Manga Pro. 3.0 Debut and a brand new tablet. SO! I shall show my tentative baby steps down the path of...tone and digital drawing. ^^; I jumped in head-first into this thing and drew this entire image on the computer. Hope you like!

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/randomboy1.jpg

[SailorMaddieMouse]

WOW! Now that looks like it could be RSoM quality! :eek:

[KaYoKitten]

WOW! Now that looks like it could be RSoM quality!


*blush, toe tracing imaginary circles in the sand...* Thank you...

[KaYoKitten]

Here's another attempt in Manga Pro. Doing some practice, fiddling with tones, and trying to work in the Yu-Gi-Oh! style. My brother likes YGO, that's why...^^; It's his birthday. Um...should I tone down on the tone, or is this okay?

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/DavidYugiStyle.jpg

[UrbanRevolution]

i think is looks grand! very well done....

i like your tonez....

[Samara Rivenhart]

nice rendition very good i like your art keep it up ..

[KaYoKitten]

Um, yes, I've begun doing some more work, and I've started up a webcomic...^-^ You can find the first page on my dev art (link in my sig) and updates on how it's coming along on my LJ (also link in sig). But since I was having such a blast with it, I decided to share my what-if shonen ai. It's a pairing between the secondary love interest (she's rejected by the first) and best friend of my main character, Jirkle, and the main antagonist, Dirken. No, I didn't realize their names were that similar until after I'd been writing this for seven years and someone pointed it out to me...^^;;;

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/JirknDirk.jpg

There's also this little man, who I decided to draw just because I happened to like the BG on another drawing and wanted to incorporate it again. XD I went a liiiiiiittle crazy with the tones on this one...just shows how much more work I have to do. XD

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/dynamicboy.jpg

[KaYoKitten]

Umm...all right...here's the first page of my webcomic, Third Sapphire. You can view the rest of it by following the picture/link in my signature. ^-^

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/ThirdSapphireCha1Pg1.jpg

[takoon51]

yo kitten i love how you draw your realy good

[KaYoKitten]

^-^ Yup...got some more stuffies for ya'll...I've got the first chapter completely DONE!

So, here's the cover for Chapter 2...
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/ThirdSapphireCh2Coverpage.jpg

And a sneak peek at the first page (which I haven't put up on the site yet...only TP people get to see it first!).

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/ThirdSapphireCh2page1.jpg

And my loverly filler page between the two chapters, basically just a self-portrait of myself. ^-^

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/filler1aboutme.jpg

To read the rest of the story, click the picture-link in my sig! And check out my dev art for additional arts. ^-^ Danke, danke!

[Tsuzuki]

aww how cute uk ^^ -lol- love the self portrait.

[Erisu-Chan]

Wow, it's been a while since i last went on this board ^_^ anywho, i've started my manga too =) The story developed over 3 years and nows it's ready for action, but the manga pages have got a bit more work needed, i think you've got a very good chance to make it to TP. I'm self taught too, but it's strange people who have had art lessons ask me how i got so dam good by myself, how about you, i bet someone has to have asked you that XD Mind you, i'm in Australia so i got no RSoM to enter :( but that's why i got my 3 book seires on her way to subbmit to TP, I give you all the best of your dream ^_^

[ChristianKitsune]

WOW I like your style!! uber kawaii!!

[Mutsuki_Kaori]

Okay, it’s certainly passable. However I am noticing that there aren’t many people giving objective critiques on this board, so I’m going to risk getting immature flames and rants to give you one. Not because I mean to be a cow or anything, but because I want you, and everyone else (including myself ^_^;) to keep improving.
Don’t feel bad; you’ll get the same wringing from portfolio reviewers and the like.
Okay now so take a deep breath…
1. The first thing I’m noticing is your inking. That needs a little work. Mainly because I’m not noticing much line width variation, it’s quite common for those just learning inking but here’s a few tips.
For hair it’s best to use thinner wispier lines than for the skin or clothing. I find that I also like to thinner lines when I do the eyes as well, that allows for more detail. Also it’s good to thicken just a little bit more where you have the lines meet under the chin. It gives the illusion of three-dimensionality.
When doing skin, use thicker lines, while for clothing it depends on the fabric. Generally I use thicker lines for clothing though.
To help with the illusion of three-dimensionality use thinner lines for things further back and thicker ones for the things up close. You’ll be surprised what a difference that makes.
It looks a bit like your hand was unsteady when you were inking, do you use long steady strokes with your arm? If not that’s a good way to start. Always make sure you are in control of your arms when you ink, if you make a mistake just white it out and photocopy (or erase on the computer). Oh and NEVER leave anything un-inked. The pencil exists only to tell your pen where to go. That’s it; if it gets really bad invest in a non-print or blue pencil, just so you know its purpose.
2. Okay, now for the tone-work. You actually aren’t doing too badly on this. While I can still tell that you are using software (don’t worry too much about that, I can usually tell) I like how you don’t overdo them. Most North American artists make things too complex by using WAY too much tone. They’re trying too hard to mimic colour work. Don’t think about that, just appreciate the line drawing for it’s own sake before you add the tones, they exist only for certain effects, patterns and shading. Too much tone becomes a major eyesore.
However what I am noticing is you are lacking a bit on the tone effects. Remember the tone is your shading apparatus, your special effects, and your patterns (especially if you are uber-lazy like me ^_^;). You use a program right? Well bring it to it’s limits. There’s lots of effects you can do by hand like etching, sand erasing, ect. Be sure to try and mimic them because they are very important for enriching the artwork.
3. Anatomy and basic technique:
Okay in all honesty I think this is what you have to work on the MOST. For the heads I’m noticing what you’re doing comes closest to what is professionally known as “open” style. While it is sometimes used by the pros I’d personally try to avoid it, especially if you’re not uber-skill genius or anything (I never use open style, mainly because I find it irritating ^_^;). The simple reason for that is it’s often the first thing people notice. Keep in mind there’s a skull under than skin and hair.
It helps to get used to the concept of using sausage and shape people as a base. That way when you draw the clothing and hair on them it looks more accurate, don’t be so quick to say you can’t do this either. There is never a “can’t” it’s always a “won’t” (I only give an exception to that rule if it’s medically related).
Your faces also look quite long at times, try focusing a bit more on bulging the cheeks out and making it more symmetrical and appealing. I am noticing that improving, but just to make sure you’ve got it.
For the eyes try to pay a bit more attention to the basic structure and overall shape of the eyes. I know a lot of pros don’t seem to bother at times (like a lot of shoujo artists) however I’d try doing that first before exaggerating things. Try to avoid exaggerating the eyes too much as well, I’m noticing your “up-turned” eye characters tend to have their eyes turned up a little higher than necessary (not always, just on occasion). Remember balance is key here…
Okay now take another breath, breath in through nose and out through mouth. Again. Repeat it. Okay…
So I’ve put you through the wringer a bit eh? Well I assure you this in only because I personally think you have a lot of potential and can go really far. Trust me nobody is perfect. I can give equally harsh critiques to some pros I’ve seen. The moral? Everybody sucks, no seriously. You can ALWAYS improve, and you should always think you can improve. But at the same don’t let that get you down. As long as you stay cheerful and hold up that attitude you’ll do great! Ganbatte kudasai!‘\(^_^)/’

P.S. I really need to get my stuff up here sometime so people can pop my ego… must get scanner access… one of these days. ^_^;

[KaYoKitten]

O.O....*GLOMP!* Did I say I love you? JEEZ. I've been drawing for seven years and all I ever asked for was a decent crit. Just one! One! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! ^-^

I unfortunately have a bit of trouble with inking because I wasn't introduced the the idea of line variation until three months ago. ^^; I'm not "just learning" inking--I'm just learning the variation part. It bites being self-taught, because you don't get this kind of information. >.> I'm trying my very best to fix it, and I'll prolly end up copy-pasting this whole thing into a Word document and memorizing it. O.O Because this is exactly what I needed.

I'm actually better with tone because I've studied every single one of my manga (and I own a lot) for what I liked and what I disliked about the tone usage. And basically applied and revamped what I liked into what I'm doing. I only have one tone so far that I made myself (it's the cobblestones for the floor...^^; ), but I'm working on it. This is a whole new thing for me because I've never used them before. O.O I'm improving before my own eyes, which makes a very happy me. ^-^

You will have to explain to me this "open" style thing, because I am quite clueless on technical terms. ^^; Self-taught and all. I basically draw what I see, and sometimes what I see isn't what everybody else does. I was actually an impressionist artist for a while, and I think that kinda pokes fun at my own work. >.> Also, what are "up-turned" eyes? O.O ^^; I know...I know...I'm an idiot...

^^; I'm working on the anatomy. It's kinda hard because I don't have much to go on. I'm a very chubby person (and the main character Bri is kinda based on my body size >.>). So I really don't have lot to go on for where a lot of muscles and bones stick out on a thinner person. And it's doubly hard for guys, because guys don't want to pose, and my references usually bite rocks.

I thank you very, very much and hope that you'll continue helping others out with their stuff. ^-^ I'm not angry, as you seem to think I might have been--I'm ecstatic. Because that means IMPROVEMENT! *dance dance* ^-^ Danke danke!

[Erisu-Chan]

I'm glad someone did say something, i just hate feeling like the bad guy, so i do agree, i hope you can go and be the best you can be ^_^ and i guess it is understandable, when you got no one to teach you (like myself) it becomes very hard to become a master without a little bit of help. All the best to the future ^_^

[Mutsuki_Kaori]

Yay, good to know my typing was appreciated. (I have a constant flame phobia because I always think I’m being too harsh…)

Anyways I’ll explain the different styles to you, kinda hard because I don’t have a scanner to sketch examples but I’ll use manga I know as a reference and recommend artists when I can.
So basically with manga expression you can divide it into three general styles:
1) Realism: Think of Angel Heart or City Hunter (Tsukasa Hojo), Blade of the Immortal (Hiroaki Samura) or any of Yoshitoshi Abe’s illustrations. Basically, like what the name suggests, it’s drawn based on what you see with a few stylistic changes that come with drawing things in ink form.
2) Manga Design Style: For lack of a better title. Basically this style follows few anatomical rules other than symmetry and consistency. Good examples of this style are Rozen Maiden (PEACH-PIT), Neon Genesis Evangelion (Yoshiyuki Sadamoto), Oh My Goddess (Kosuke Fujishima).
3) Sensitive Style: There is only one big difference between this and the previously mentioned style. With this style you can give the face a slightly sideways facing look, disregard the circular eye shape if it looks good, or draw the forehead open. When I say drawing it open I mean something like this http://the.animearchive.org/miraclegirls/1/miracle_girls-4.jpg It’s from the anime “Miracle Girls” based on Nami Akimoto's manga. If you look closely at Tomomi’s (The girl with the short hair) forehead it’s drawn with the line defining the shape of the face curving outwards, not giving any regard for the shape of the skull. This is a quite common thing for shoujo manga artists to do as that form of story telling is more involved with “feelings” or the “abstract”. It can be hard to grasp though because
a. The design isn’t very consistent at times. The artist relies more on feeling than logic which often changes from panel to panel. Often this isn’t noticeable and is accepted as part of the style of the manga, but I’d imagine it’d be a pain for animaters. This is often why certain animes look quite different from their manga counterparts. Other than the change of character designer an anime requires character design consistency or the animation looks odd.
b. Drawing hair pulled back can be a major headache. Because you aren’t following the shape of the skull it can look weird especially when drawing the hairline.
If you look at “Miracle Girls” you can spot this. I’d point out other titles but I’m not much of a shoujo reader (^_^;) you can spot the slight sideways look when you look at the Sailor Moon manga (Naoko Takeuchi) or countless others.
I personally combine aspects of all the above styles even though my more natural one leans more towards a realistic style (it depends on the manga I’m making though). I can however do any of them upon request. Always try to be flexible and don’t be afraid to draw anything. Want to see a really good line drawing artist? Check out Alphonse Maria Mucha’s work http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/mucha.htm you may notice quite a bit of manga style drawings that look similar or were inspired from his work. Floating World pictures are also good to learn from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukiyo-e because while they are more traditional Japanese if you check out the line work you can see some similarities.
Okay now onto anatomy. There are some pretty basic rules to follow. Again I really need to get a scanner to properly demonstrate this but here’s some basic ‘rules’:
Women: Generally 6-7 head heights. 6 head heights equals about 5 feet (sounds short, but it’s around average height for Japanese people). The bottom of the bust is about a head and a half down from the head (depending on size, the bigger the further down, unless they’re wearing special underwear). It’s between three and three and a half head heights to the crotch. The arms are about two head heights. (The variation of leg length depends on the height of your character and the type of build you want them to have. Realistically the shin is actually slightly shorter than the thigh. But if you want to draw a more attractive character (or simply one with nice legs) you’d make the shin longer than the thigh.
Men: Generally 7-8 head heights. Men are pretty blocky and bony, which of course makes them a pain to draw if you aren’t good with anatomy and muscles. As a matter of fact the pros have problems with this sometimes and you get male characters that look like female ones. It’s sometimes intentional, but not always. The best advice I can give you with them is base them on a triangle, with the shoulders wider than the hips. The proportion is similar to that of a woman but there are some slight differences (as last time a checked, they don’t really have breasts ^_^;). Oh and they tend to have smaller eyes, there’s a good reason for this, it relates to the type of character they are. If you need a detailed explanation feel free to ask. Just I’ll leave it out for now… this post is already getting long…
Okay, now we’ll go onto the different eye types:
“Up turned” or “Slanted”: Basically you just draw the upper and lower (sometimes just upper) eyelid slanting upwards. Rather than doing this for ethnic reasons, it’s mostly done to visually represent a character type. You’d use this type of eye to make a character seem harsher or more aggressive. So the antiheros and villans tend to have this eye type. I’ll go deeper into the theory if you want it explained more, but we’ll leave it at that for now.
“Droopy Eyes”: The upper (and lower) eyelids droop downwards. This is done to express a sensitive or compassionate character.
“Normal Eyes”: Just standard run of the mill eyes. No drooping, no slanting. Obviously best suited for a “normal” character.
Oh and here’s some tips on making attractive female characters of all sorts of body types:
Bigger: Most think the character has to be uber-skinny to be pretty, not really.
To make this type beautiful it’s best to give them rounder facial features (droopy eyes ect) to give them a more compassionate or cute look. Use heavy uncomplicated lines when drawing the curves and exaggerate them. The breasts as well would be bigger obviously. The key here is to express the girlish softness and give the character a very motherly look.
Smaller: Most think skinny is pretty. Well not if you’re not careful, what if the character has no curves or small breasts (a plague many skinnier people, myself included, suffer from). The key here is the muscles, define the ones in the legs especially and show them off. I’d go more into detail, but it’s upon request (It’s like 2:29 AM here…).
Oh and just so you know, I’m self-taught as well. Learn mostly from books and observation. I do have the benefit of reading some Japanese though, there isn’t many good drawing tutorial sites in English that teach you the theory properly or anything like that. In Japanese however there’s plenty.

Anyways, I’ll leave you guys for now. Here’s some more fun links:
Julie Dillon’s Manga tutorials
Believe it or not I started out on these, I still consider this one of the few good tutorials aimed at English speaking audiences.
http://www.howtodrawmanga.com/tutorial.html

Poly Karbon
Very nice place to learn as well, even has a hand tutorial. Another one of my early favourites.
http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/index.htm

Ribbon’s Manga School
A short pictorial set of drawing tips, in Japanese but all you really need is to look at the pictures. (the second and third links down)
http://ribon.shueisha.co.jp/school/set.html

Drawing Manga
Okay, this site is entirely in Japanese which may make navigation a bit of a pain. It does provide nice examples if you’re willing to wander around it for a bit.
http://mangakakouze.com/

I also recommend The How To Draw Manga books, although they’re quite expensive. For anatomy try and check out your local library for some anatomy books. Looking up Greek sculptures on the internet helps as well.

Anyways… Goodnight… *falls asleep*

[Nere]

Wow, lovely stuff, ugly kitten. I love the way you tone, very original! I can't offer much in the way of advice, well at least not as good the post above me - I've already got my notepad on my knee, scribbling down notes. =P

Keep it up, can't wait to see more work from you. ^^

[lunylady]

The first scan is fine for cartoon work. The second as fine details, but the character needs some brushing up. The third is fine, but the forth needs a lot of work on proportions. The coloring of the scan on your second post needs help. It’s far from efficient. Etc, etc, etc.

Other than that you really should ignore the “constructive criticism” because in reality what you think of your art is all that will sell. You have to convince yourself first, then others will follow in that belief. I can be a bit of a swindler… a person who took all the “right” courses.

Luny Lady

[KaYoKitten]

Other than that you really should ignore the “constructive criticism” because in reality what you think of your art is all that will sell. You have to convince yourself first, then others will follow in that belief. I can be a bit of a swindler… a person who took all the “right” courses.

The only problem with that, cakes, is that I think I'm a completely terrible artist and that only by seeing the errors I can't figure out through someone else's eyes will be able to fix that. I'm good now...I want to be great. I want to be great at what I do, because I believe I CAN be great. I'm just not there yet.

Mutsuki Kaori-dono...O.O...You are a goddess...*shakes self*

For the most part, I think I've known all along a good majority of what you're talking about. O.O It's just, putting the anatomy INTO perspective is difficult. I can draw realism very, very well (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/21076313/) (<=clickie to see what I mean), but I despise doing so because...o.O I really don't know why, I just don't like doing it. It feels like I'm copying life, when what I want to do is draw a completely different kind of life. Like...like I'm seeing the real world, but I'm seeing it through different sets of eyes.

I have so many books on anatomy--you wouldn't believe me even if I took a picture of all my how-to books. T_T It's just, getting these two things to CLICK TOGETHER is a lot harder than I thought. Part of the problem is that I've begun using a different medium (tablet and computer) and I'm still getting used to that.

I'm having to relearn inking techniques because I've done it one way for seven years and now I'm finding out I was doing it wrong the entire time. But I'm glad to say I've been drawing for that long and that I'm learning with everything I do. And people like you help me out a great deal, you really don't know how much it means to me to get my mistakes put back in front of me. ^-^ Usually people dance around pointing out the mistakes even though people plainly state that's what they want.

Hmm...about the different styles...o.o Do you think I would do better trying to lean more toward realism anyway? T__T I kinda like my style, even though it seems to be evolving on me once again. O.o I swear, Tien didn't look like that before. O.O And Lex looks like something weird happened to her. (Could this be attributed to the fact that I have carpal tunnel and was a bad kitty and decided to draw anyway?? ^^; )

[Mutsuki_Kaori]

Mutsuki Kaori-dono...O.O...You are a goddess...*shakes self*
—Sweatdrops slightly at the “goddess” comment—
Okay, anyways…
Your realism does look quite good actually; I think that that’s a good place to start for you when you draw manga.
See the main thing with manga is the style has evolved to suit the story telling in a sense. People often wonder why stories like Dragonball and Shaman King sport different styles than stories like Sailor Moon or Tokyo Mew Mew. There is a VERY good reason for this and it relates to:
1) Target audience. Yes I know that there is the occasional girl that loves the way Akira Toriyama draws, or the guy that adores Mia Ikumi’s cute designs but in general…
Shounen/Boys manga
You’ll notice that most shounen manga pays special attention to things like backgrounds, weaponry, buildings and vehicles. While the inking is more solid and draftsman like and the character design is often ordinary and the eyes simple…
This is because most boys like to see the mechanics of things and how they work. So having Taro/John carry a properly drawn AK-47 is much more important than how pretty Taro/John’s eyes look. Also boys do like to look more at clean lines and fight scenes than seeing the character’s emotional state using flowers/sparklies. As a matter of fact my roomate finds the shoujo sparklies scary and he isn't the only one.
(stereotypical I know, but stereotypes exist for a reason. )
Shoujo/Girls manga
With shoujo you’ll notice right away the detailed hairstyles, sparkly huge eyes, pretty clothes, stunning character designs and… lack of backgrounds or incorrectly drawn or presented weaponry (if it’s included at all…). As well as the wispy artist lines and layer upon layer of tone. As usual all of this has a reason for being there. Most girls will like John/Taro better if he is pretty, as a matter of fact many will probably pay more attention to his prettiness than to the desert eagle that he just happens to be holding with one hand. Girls also care a bit more about how Hanako/Susie feels about having to kill her best friend than about her actually killing her best friend. So wads of tone, flower symbolism and symbolic blood splatter are needed to really pump it up.

(Random fun fact: guess which manga magazine (phonebook manga) is most popular with girls in Japan…? Ribon? Nakayoshi? Nope… it’s Shounen Jump… looks like times are changing… )

2) Mood. Creating a manga is not at all that different from directing a movie. As a matter of fact movies are what inspired manga and made it what it is today. With that in mind paying attention to the character design and drawing style is a must. Huge eyes may not seem out of place in a romance story, but in a story about a bunch of emotionless killing machines huge sparkly eyes may not work as well. Although if you want to check out a good example of how to use huge eyes in a violent, deep and dark anime watch “Elfen Lied” (beware of gore though) the manga has a beautiful plot BUT it’s a good example of just how bad Japanese artists can be… they aren’t always the pros that most people think they are. They just have the advantage of having grown up around manga and getting a writing system with complex characters.

So when doing character design think about the story you’re trying to tell and base it on that. If you’re really not at all sure which style best suits your story try envisioning the characters in reality and then draw them realistically. Look at them and think, “What kind of character is he?” and then try a few things. Give him huge eyes and see how it looks. You may notice that drawing huge eyes means you have to simplify the nose and mouth or the face looks ugly. In general the nose isn't the cutest looking thing in the world, and the mouth it's iffy... This is why the nose and mouth are smaller even in the more realistic manga.
Oh and I’m browsing through your DA account (couldn’t help myself)… you may want to change your font (http://www.blambot.com/ and http://www.haroldsfonts.com/ are good places to get some for free) Many Western comic artists will stress to you the importance of a good font. In manga it is all the more important because often it isn’t the dialogue itself that is important (in general manga relies more on imagery anyways) but the way the dialogue looks. When you have a character with a very odd or creepy sounding voice it’s sometimes good to change the font (http://www.wot-club.org.uk/Inuyasha/images/b_and_w/v45c02p03.jpg a scan from Inuyasha in Japanese, while you may or may not understand the writing you can still tell the character’s voice is creepier than in http://www.wot-club.org.uk/Inuyasha/images/b_and_w/v45c03p06.jpg where the voices are more normal)
Oh and also when drawing the speech bubbles be sure to work them more into the artwork. This is one of the major stylistic differences between Japanese manga and Western comics (I do love both) the dialogue is always considered a big part of the artwork in manga. So don’t be afraid to draw them directly on the characters and fancy them up a bit. I’d say add more SFX as well, it’s a bit harder when using English onomatopoeia as we don’t really have any natural FX for say… “to look fresh in a career” but we can still try… (Although I do fall into the habit of using Japanese sound effects… ^_^; )
I'm good now...I want to be great. I want to be great at what I do, because I believe I CAN be great. I'm just not there yet.
I think you’ve got the perfect attitude for a manga-ka/comic artist/artist in general, no seriously. Always hold up that attitude. I know we’re always our own worst critics because we know exactly how many layers of whiteout was placed on page so and so of whatever series we wrote however what’s important is the finished product. True it may always look bad in our eyes however try comparing your work to other artists (this includes the pros) and see where we’re at, for example lets look at Megumi Tachikawa’s work http://mx.geocities.com/nikki_scans/saintail/saint_07.jpg okay first what is nice about it? She inks quite well however:
The faces look flat
The head may be drawn “sensitive style” but it looks too off.
The ears are over simplified (actually in general anatomy needs work ^_^;)
The folds in clothing need work
Lacks detail
She’s also quite popular as well. I enjoyed her stories quite a bit but her art definitely needs work.
So don’t feel so bad when you look at your work and look at it objectively. Don’t think about what you did to make it just take it at face value. I’d say ask everyone around you, but most aren’t 100% honest (I have yet to find people who properly critique mine >_<) so you’ve got to compare, and compare it to the best and see where you are at. Oh and also don’t let the carpel tunnel get to you, seriously mine’s so bad that I can barely write legibly anymore (seriously, I can barely read it) drawing doesn’t irritate it much though… maybe it’s the way you hold your pencil and pens? Don't worry about styles evolving either, happens to everyone. A classic example is Yoko Matsushita's style in "Descendants of Darkness" the recent Hana to Yume installments look very different than her earilier work.

I’ll leave you with this link:
http://bane-huntress.com/Kojima_Ayami/Kojima_Ayami.html
Drawn by Ayami Kojima, another self-taught amateur like the rest of us… who does character designs for the Castlevania games (^_~)

(Oh and with perspective and anatomy together, there is a trick to it... need to hunt down or draw an example though... must get scanner >_<)

[grimmy]

^^; I've blabbered and befuddled about my art on here several times, but I've not really set anything up here to show. I would LOVE some concrit on this stuff, because I'm honestly attempting to get into TP's ever-growing armada of OEL-ers through the RSoM contest. So, without further ado...

I'll give some examples later in this post, but these are the characters that I'm going to be using for my next RSoM entry. Tell me what you think, please! ^_^

This is Tikki (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/31090302/), a boy who has run away from home so he doesn't have to learn how to play guitar and sing.

Ramelda, or just Ra (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/31090731/), is a music-loving sailor who gets caught up in an F2 waterspout and unceremoniously dumped on Tikki's island. She wants to be rescued, but Tikki and the next character, Awk, sabotage her plans.

Awk is Tikki's pet penguin (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/31091238/), with most unusual marking on his head and back. He's adorable and a great comedy relief. He also helps the hopeless Tikki catch food--because the poor boy has never gone fishing before.

A few other pieces of my work...

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/Bunnies.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/OfftheRoof.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/Jirk1.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/Jirk2copy.jpg

The last two were from my last attempt at the RSoM. I think I was disqualified anyway because I had to hand-write some of my information on the paper because I worked right up until the post office closed. >< Not this time!!



Yo! make some comments and suggestions to these.
I need to get better!
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g5...e/100_0641.jpg (http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g59/katake/100_0641.jpg)
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g5...e/100_0584.jpg (http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g59/katake/100_0584.jpg)
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g5...e/100_0583.jpg (http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g59/katake/100_0583.jpg)
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g5...e/100_0585.jpg (http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g59/katake/100_0585.jpg)
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g5...e/100_0624.jpg (http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g59/katake/100_0624.jpg)
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g5...e/100_0626.jpg (http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g59/katake/100_0626.jpg)
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g5...e/100_0627.jpg (http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g59/katake/100_0627.jpg)
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g5...e/100_0628.jpg (http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g59/katake/100_0628.jpg)
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g5...e/100_0536.jpg (http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g59/katake/100_0536.jpg)
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g5...e/100_0539.jpg (http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g59/katake/100_0539.jpg)
I couldn't get all my pics online but I pick out the decent ones.
I make my own characters

[Erisu-Chan]

WOW @_@ those pic's are SOOOO GOOD ^_^ the thing is i feel OEL manga's are getting a little too comicy but if someone like you Grimmy, made a manga i would probaly buy it because your manga style is the same style of OJL manga and i really think they're good, i hope to see more art like that in OEL's.

OH and by the way i have a Koren friend so your not the only Koren ^_^

[KaYoKitten]

Soooo...I decided to post some of my latest color work...^^; I haven't done anything trad in a while, so it didn't end up anywhere near as good as I'd hoped. But the scanner made it look even WORSE!! @__@ Anyways, this is Bri, and the chibi of all five of the Guiding: Criss, Blank, Zen, Bri, and Lexis, or the Diamond, Ruby, Onyx, Sapphire, and Alexandrite, respectively.

Criss is the one with the wild white/orange/brown/black hair, Blank is the one in the green bandana, Zen is the African girl, and Lexis is the blond. Bri is the brown-haired girl in the front and as the chibi. Also, a close-up on the sapphire pendant! ^__^

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/colorfiller1.jpg

[Erisu-Chan]

@_@ what did you use to colour it?

[KaYoKitten]

O.O AH! AH! Sumimasen! I forgot to say that, didn't I. ^^; Lately, I've been using nothing but my tablet and Manga Studio, so using a trad medium was really weird. It's watercolor, the whole thing. And...some ink, post-paint.

[BlizzardGarnet]

Those are really good! Good luck in RSoM!

[TheBohemian]

O.O AH! AH! Sumimasen! I forgot to say that, didn't I. ^^; Lately, I've been using nothing but my tablet and Manga Studio, so using a trad medium was really weird. It's watercolor, the whole thing. And...some ink, post-paint.
Nice use of the dry-brush technique! It's always great for adding texture!

[Johnni]

Awww sweet deal UK! I don't understand Grimmy's post though. Good luck on the RSOM!

[KaYoKitten]

^^; I didn't understand it, either...I'm actually going to go ahead with a pitch. ^-^ If I don't receive word by the time I leave for Florida, I know they don't wanna work with me yet, and I'll do an RSOM. XD And in the meantime, I'll work on my webcomic. What a plan, eh, what a plan.

And danke, Bohemian! I love my watercolors. I love experimenting even more, though. XD

[TheBohemian]

Ah, do it anyway. Waiting for a proposal to ge ok'ed would be to long a wait to see your stuff in print, anyways! ;)
Looks like a helluva competition, this year; I can't wait!!!

[Karei]

I like your work. Would you be interested in doing a webmanga?

[KaYoKitten]

Something new that I'm a lil proud of...^-^ And do be sure to check out my webcomic every Sunday and Wednesday for new pages~!

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/Brilookinsmexy2.jpg

[Shizu-san]

That's very good. Nice working with perspective and whatnot.

[KaYoKitten]

^_^ Thank you, Shizu-san! I have my adorable friend Hoshi to thank. She was rolling around on the floor with her girlfriend and I was sketching them like a mad woman. XD

[KaYoKitten]

RAAAAWWWR...I caved and decided to post this page here, way ahead of my schedule, btw. I'm so far ahead of my own schedule, I think if I get enough pages backed up, I'll just add a day to my week. XDDDD lol But this one was just too cute. Jirkle can't be serious about ANYTHING. XD But I posted it mainly for the itty bitty kitties. ^-^ Without text so ya'll have no idea what's going on. Hopefully.

I was put up to it! O.O YamPuff told me to! Really! (Not really...she was only interested in the itty bitty kitties. XD)

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/WIPpagekitties.jpg

[YamPuff]

That's right, blame it all on Yam.

<.<

>.>

KITTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIES! CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!!

[KaYoKitten]

...Reviving this old thing to bring ya'll two new pieces. One, a fanart for Mark of the Succubus...of Veril. It's kinda a joke we had on the MotS forums, of what Veril would be if he came to the human world to help out Maeve. One of the suggestions was a model...or a cowboy. This was aaaaaaages ago...but it came back to me when I found this awesome calendar pic, and used that as reference. ^-^

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/Verilfanart.jpg

The second is of my anatagonists for Third Sapphire (clicky the banner in my sig to read the webcomic!). The two in front are Donald and Dirken (Donald is the lioness demon looking...dangerously sexy ^^; ). The one in back is our behind-the-scenes antagonist and no one knows who he is except me. And you'll just have to find out about that one. ;)

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/UKImouto/filler--badguys.jpg

...just a question...anyone want the practice to color Veril? I won't have access to any of mine for almost a month. T_T

[MellowStrawberry]

you seem to be improving at a good pace. Keep practicing anatomy and you'll be fine. ^_^ good luck. :D