PROFILE
Pen Name / Name: Leena Jasim 
Country: Iraq
Social media: Instagram: @nilovaar_ X: @nilovaar_
Age: 25
Favorite manga: The Promised Neverland, Naruto, Slam Dunk
Favorite movie: How to Train Your Dragon, Suzume
Favorite quote: “There are two ways to live, you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”

Entry title: “I am here even if I am not”
Round: SMA22: “Seized With Rage”
Award: Excellence Award

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“My advice is this: just draw! Don’t wait for your drawings to magically improve, and don’t spend all your time studying manga from books and videos without actually drawing.”

About SMA

How does it feel to receive a SILENT MANGA AUDITION® award?
It has always been a dream of mine – and still is – to visit Japan and attend a MasterClass. Since I was a child, I’ve dreamed of learning manga from great and talented masters, or even just meeting one of them and learning more from their passion for manga. I always used to wonder: am I on the right path? Is my art good? Am I improving? Winning this award has given me a huge boost of confidence; it made me feel that I am good and that I should keep going.

Niemand (writer): I was a bit relieved, but not really satisfied. Don’t get me wrong – I am really grateful to finally win an SMA award, but somehow, I know that we can do better.

What was the inspiration behind your awarded work?
As the illustrator, I was very happy when my writer friend shared the story with me. I especially loved the presence of the cat. It really appealed to me, and I felt it was a new challenge to draw a cat with different emotions. The girl and her love for drawing also caught my attention because of my own passion for art. I also enjoyed the fact that she truly tried to overcome her fears. Drawing all these emotions was incredibly fun for me.

What challenges did you face while making your manga? How did you overcome them?
I think the biggest challenge I’ve faced – and still face – is hesitation. Are the expressions right? Are they appropriate? In many scenes, I redrew the same illustration several times, focusing on the expressions and the natural flow of movement. I recorded myself doing the poses, in addition to imagining them, so I could bring a sense of reality to the motions and make them feel more natural. However, I always found myself wondering – is this really good enough? That’s always been a challenge for me.

Niemand (writer): I’m constantly seeking to improve things, which leads to many edits in the story and/or the storyboard. I needed to check myself and sometimes keep things as they were, which was a challenge in and of itself.

READ Leena Jasim and Niemand’s SMA22 ENTRY HERE!

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About Your Manga

How and when did you start making manga? What do you wish you knew as a beginner? What advice would you give to someone who wants to start drawing manga?

I started drawing manga at the age of 16. I was never really good at it back then, haha! I always wished someone could guide me or even give me direct feedback on my work. Now, when I look at my old drawings, I can kind of spot the mistakes right away. I really wish there had been someone who also drew manga to critique my work seriously.

My advice is this: just draw! Don’t wait for your drawings to magically improve, and don’t spend all your time studying manga from books and videos without actually drawing. I don’t believe that any of us can jump straight to being perfect without going through what someone dear to me calls ‘the beast phase’, or the stage where your drawings are so bad, they’re scary, haha!

Do you draw your manga digitally or by hand? What are your go-to digital or analogue tools?
I draw manga on a 12.9-inch iPad Pro. I use the program Clip Studio Paint.


What was the first manga you picked up? Is it easy to access manga where you live?
The first manga I ever received was a gift from my mother on my 20th birthday. It was the first volume of The Promised Neverland, which she ordered for me from Amazon. In my country, Iraq, it’s very difficult to find original manga in any language.

Which manga changed your life?
It was Naruto! I grew up loving this anime, and I used to follow the manga as it was released. I remember clearly – there was a new manga chapter every Wednesday and a new episode of the anime every Thursday. Naruto was at the peak of its story back then. I truly grew up loving Naruto.

Which manga character do you most identify with? Why?
I think I would choose Robin from One Piece. She is a character who is happy in her own world, proud of her roots, and has a goal she wants to achieve.

What kind of manga do you want to make next?
I really want to draw a historical manga. Perhaps that is because of my love for manga like Kingdom and Vinland Saga. I truly love history. The challenge is that, in my country, there’s no field that allows you to study manga, and you cannot work as a mangaka at any company. That means I have to find a real job and keep drawing manga as a secondary pursuit.



About You

What do you do when you’re not making manga? How do you relax?
When I’m not drawing manga, I fall into a state of depression, since I don’t feel any sense of accomplishment. At times like those, what I do instead is read other manga. I read a lot to learn techniques from each artist. I’m really obsessed with manga.

What industry do you work in (if manga making isn’t your primary job)?
Currently, I work at Manga Al-Arabia in Saudi Arabia as a freelance artist. I started as an assistant drawing backgrounds, and now I’m working as the main artist on the manga Living My Memories in Reverse.


Where do you see your manga career in five years time?
I hope that I have developed as an artist, that I’ve drawn a very long manga with an interesting historical story, and that I have followers who are eagerly awaiting the next chapter to know what happens next!

Niemand (Writer): I hope to be where I am supposed to be.

What manga making advice would you give to your younger self if you could?
Use 3D models to draw your characters’ bodies, please! I didn’t used to use them, and back then, the body movements I drew were distorted, haha! Also, finishing a chapter is something I struggle with. Sometimes, due to my hesitation, I leave the chapter unfinished. I doubt the story, the art – everything – and compare myself to the great artists… I used to rush through drawing the storyboard because I wanted to start inking quickly, even though the storyboard is the most important element in drawing manga.

What advice would you give to people entering the SILENT MANGA AUDITION®?
I got this advice from my writer friend: keeping the story simple with fewer scenes is key. There’s no need for a complicated story with too many scenes because it won’t be understood in just 17 pages. Also, the emotions of the characters are really important to give them life.

Niemand (Writer): Thank you, Leena (haha)! Nothing to add from my side 🙂

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Thank you, Leena Jasim and Niemand! We’re eagerly awaiting your next manga masterpiece!

The deadline to join SMA23 is October 1st. Enter for a chance to develop your potential as a manga creator with us in Japan!