GOOD MORNING MASTER CLASS!!! #06 Vanilla
SMA MASTER CLASS, the future manga stars from SILENT MANGA AUDITION®.
In this series of interviews we’ll uncover the secrets to their manga creations! This week’s Indonesian star is Vanilla!
The duo – who are not only twins, but also college student – draw the cutest characters in SMA!INTERVIEW WITH VANILLA
Left: Ema. Right: Lala. You can distinguish the two by the beauty spot.
<Introduction> Lala and Ema make up the duo Vanilla. 1. How do the two of you create manga together? We don’t divide the work completely.
We think of the story together.
But for drawing, usually Lala does the sketch and makes the manga NAME (draft storyboard) first, and Ema does the inking later. And Lala helps with the toning, too. 2. What’s your work space like? Do you usually play music while drawing? Our work space is quite simple, we have 2 mini tables.
One for drawing digitally and another one for drawing traditionally.
A simple PC and pen tablet. Can you see all the figures on the shelf?
Vanilla use a compact desk for traditional drawing. Easy to carry!
We do listen to music! It helps us relax.
Sometime we play music while drawing manga to see how it feels with music, like in a movie.
Our favorite artists are Hiroyuki Sawano and Kajiura Yuki.
We love anime songs! 3. What kind of tools do you use and which is your favorite? Let us see it! For digital, we use Manga Studio and Photoshop.
For traditional, we often use our lovely mechanic pencil and watercolors tools.
One of the rare creators who uses water colors among the Master Class. They also use normal mechanical pencils.
4. Tell us how you schedule your creations! How long does it take for each step in the process? Which step is your favorite and least favorite? NAME is the hardest part, but the most important part.
Designing characters is our favorite part.
After finishing all the process, we read our manga together! 5. Tell us about your preferences when creating manga! How do you practice drawing? We decided the pose of the character first, then draw it from the eyes.
For drawing practice, we are quite active in fandom, so we draw a lot of fan arts (almost every day!).
Vanilla sometimes uploads their illustrations to SNSs.
Hobby=practice!
6. Tell us about your preferences for manga storytelling! “Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu” is important!
To be honest, it’s very hard to adopt this method in manga.
But, if you can use this you can make a great manga!
So keep practicing and never give up!
For panel layouts, HIKI-GOMA, try to always remember this!
And also make a smooth flow of panels. 7. Do you have any other skills or experiences that help you create manga? I think this counts as a skill, we can change our voices to be like a baby, child, or older person, like voice actors/actresses do (though we are amateur ^^;)
So every time we create a manga, we voice out the characters! And we have a funny habit.
When we draw a character, we unconsciously make the same facial expression as the character does.
So we are smiling when we’re drawing a smiling character! 8. Where do you get ideas from? We get an idea when we are day-dreaming, usually before we go to sleep or when we’re doodling.
And sometimes we have a similar scary dream!
If it’s interesting, we share it with each other.
Vanilla’s daily doodles.
9. Do you have a favorite manga or manga creator that influenced your art style?Aya Kannosensei! We fell in love with sensei’s gorgeous art style since we read “OTOMEN.”
We like the idea that the boy (protagonist) loves to do girly hobbies and tries to hide it!
Left to right: “School(Gakuen) Babysitters,” “Slam Dunk,” “Otomen,” “Black Butler,” and “Natsume Yujincho”
10. Are you planning any future projects? What genre would you like to attempt in the future? We are doing one-shot right now with SMAC! editorial team.
We plan to draw a slice of life story like Natsume Yuujincho by Midorikawa Yuki and Gakuen Babysitters by Tokeino Hari.
Natsume Yujincho puts us in a heart warming mood. Gakuen Babysitters is a good source to think about our characters.
The babies in Gakuen Babysitters are lethally cute! 11. Have you received any useful help or advice from the editor? Mayu always helps us when we were stuck.
She share her ideas with us and teaches us about manga creation skills like “Ki-sho-ten-ketsu.”
She patiently explains it to us so many times and gives us advice for panel flow!
And Mocchi, he told us that our strength is CUTENESS of characters.
So we try to pursue and improve it. 12. What are the specific areas you focus on when drawing for SMA? Paneling and Storytelling!
We carefully organize the paneling flow to be able to read smoothly.
And also tried to avoid making two “Ketsu” (“Ketsu” must be only one!).
But, we still need a lot of practice for these two points. 13. Are there any moments you felt, “I’m glad to have entered this contest!”? When we won an award of SILENT MANGA AUDITION®!
It was our first time drawing a manga.
And before joining the competition, we said “why don’t we give it a try?” and since then our dreams is to become a pro mangaka. Also, when we were invited to Japan!
We met other contestants and editors of SMAC!
Those were very precious moment because we didn’t have any creator friends!
And we could meet legendary manga pros, and discuss the process of making manga together ! And one more thing, Akihabara was like heaven! <Master Class Introduction> VanillaFrom Indonesia
Honourable Mention Winner of SILENT MANGA AUDITION Round 1
The Excellence Runner Up Winner of SILENT MANGA AUDITION Round 2
SILENT MANGA AUDITION Extra Round1 – MASTER CLASS CONTRIBUTION
Thank you so much, Vanilla senpai!
The twin sisters enjoy drawing everyday and ENJOYING in and of itself is the key to improvement! As Vanilla senpai said, “Ki-sho-ten-ketsu” is very important when creating an interesting manga.
If you want to learn about it, please watch “Japanese manga 101!” Let’s receive advice from the editors by entering SILENT MANGA AUDITION® and becoming a member of Master Class! We want you to join SMAC (SILENT MANGA AUDITION® Community)! SMA7 THEME CONTEST!! – YOU #create #SMA7
“SMA Theme Contest” is back again !!
SMAC! – POWER to the COMMUNITY!
SILENT MANGA AUDITION® Round 7 is needing a new theme…
Give us a hand to decide what it should be, SMAC people!
Rack your brains, scratch your heads, and send us your ideas!!
A manga full of inspiration, which we can all relate to! How does a manga “master” create a “great” silent manga? Read on, enjoy, and learn from the best! What story do you want to tell? Can you beat the master’s manga? Deadline of SILENT MANGA AUDITION® Round 6 “Childhood” is right around the corner! You still have time, so grab your pens, and draw your own manga! GOOD MORNING MASTER CLASS!!! #05 MAGE
SMA MASTER CLASS, the future manga stars from SILENT MANGA AUDITION®.
In this series of interviews we’ll uncover the secrets to their manga creations! Indonesia has been one of the driving forces of SMA since the very beginning. So, here goes our 4-in-a-row Indonesian Master Class special! Please welcome MAGE, the cheerful girl who draws like a Kung Fu master and has a love for candy🍬!INTERVIEW WITH MAGE1. What’s your work space like? My work space is pretty simple and often messy.
I work with a laptop, tablet, and a scanner that I use occasionally when I’m drawing traditionally.
A bottle of candies is pretty important to boost my mood when needed.
A cute candy bottle and a doggy shaped lampshade are placed on her desk.
2. Do you usually play music while drawing? I always play music while drawing!
The choice of music depends on what kind of story I’m going to work on, but mostly I listen to instrumental/game music/film score.
Like when I’m working on a fight/epic scene, I choose Hans Zimmer’s music,
and when I need something melancholic, Yiruma is the best for me. 3. What is the origin of your pen name, “MAGE”? “MAGE” is an anagram of my real name.
It doesn’t mean a witch or magician at all! 4. What kind of tools do you use and which is your favorite? Let us see it! I use Clip Paint Studio for drawing manga!
I mainly draw manga digitally since 2013 because it is faster than traditional drawing.
However, sometimes working digitally has problems especially when scanning and saving data.
So, I still occasionally draw traditionally.
For traditional tools, Copic Multiliner is my favorite pen!
But since it’s hard to find, sometimes I use Snowman Drawing Pen, which is easy to find in my country.
For the paper, I choose HMT Comic Board.
And I’ve also worked with various Rugos Vip for the screentones.
MAGE also uses Snowman Drawing Pen! Alex senpai uses those, too.
5. Tell us how you schedule your creations! How long does it take for each step in the process? Which step is your favorite and least favorite? I always start with writing the main points I want to show in my manga, then I execute it into a manga NAME (draft storyboard).
The brainstorming process takes the biggest part from the whole creation.
After I finish the NAME, I continue to complete the sketch of the whole chapter first then continues with the same method with inking and applying BETA (solid black color).
For one day, I can finish roughly 6 pages of sketches, or 3 pages of inking or 5-6 for applying BETA.
I can’t choose either inking or applying BETA as my favorite process, but the hardest process is definitely the brainstorming, haha 🙂 . 6. Tell us about your preferences when creating manga! It begins with figuring out the panel dynamics for each page first.
In each page, I set one ‘main panel’ of the page beforehand, (usually the biggest one) which also the most important panel on the page.
And also playing with lighting, especially rim light, has been my preference because it helps to set the mood.
We can clearly distinguish the main panel from the other panels.
For drawing skill, I usually practice drawing my surroundings or figure/gesture resources on the Internet to help me to improve the anatomy.
MAGE’s daily doodles.
7. Tell us about your preferences for manga storytelling!Foreshadowing is important for me.
It’s a spice in manga to leave some hints that looks trivial to the readers, but actually will be the important thing in the future.
This helps the readers to view themselves as the main character,
because the main character sees/notices the hint but often doesn’t really attach any importance to it.
Foreshadow makes the twist more fun.
Also it becomes a good reason to reread the manga! 8. Where do you get ideas from? Ideas often come out in the morning after I wake up.
The fresh start helps the ideas to flow from one to another.
Ideas can come unexpectedly too, for example when I’m stuck in a traffic jam or when watching news, etc.
Then I usually take notes on my cellphone because if not, I often forget it one or two days later! 9. Do you have any other skills or experiences that help you create manga? I can’t say I’m skilled so much, but I have an interest in photography.
I also have a huge interest in movies, so I learned a bit about framing techniques.
Framing helps a lot to create depth in just one single panel. 10. Do you have a favorite manga or manga creator that influenced your creative style? I’m a big fan of Maekawa Takeshisensei and Tekken-Chinmi series (or Kung-fu Boy in my country)!
It has been the biggest inspiration for me to start drawing manga since I was little.
Actually, the Tekken-Chinmi series was not mine, but my brother’s.
Chinmi is such a charming character and the development of his character through the years is really wonderful.
Not to mention that I admire the way Maekawa–sensei draws the action scenes, I feel his every punch is so powerful!
Left: “Shin Angyo Onshi” by Yang Kyung Il sensei. Right: “Tekken Chinmi (Kung-fu Boy)” by Maekawa Takeshi sensei.
For my art style, I was influenced by Yang Kyung-Il of Shin Angyo Onshi the most.
Also Shirahama Kamome’s beautiful line work also gave a big influence to me. 11. Have you received any useful help or advice from the editor? So much great advice!
I remember when Taiyo-san told me to give more ‘explosions of emotion’ to the story so the readers can feel the power from each page.
As another piece of advice, one of my editors once told me to never put my ‘fetishes’ or biases into my manga or else because it will become self indulgent.
This is the world of the main characters, not mine. 12. Are you planning any future projects? What genre would you like to attempt in the future? I’m working on a story for SMAC! Mag which hopefully can be realized soon!
Also, recently I’ve been interested in the super robot genre in a dystopian setting.
But, I still need to do more research and practice on drawing mecha. Hopefully I will be ready to work on this someday.
What kind of character will come next? Can’t wait to see her next work!
13. What are the specific areas you focus on when creating for SMA? I focus mostly on the element of surprise.
I want my readers to start reading casually but then something unexpected happens in the middle,
so they finish reading with something like, ‘oh I didn’t expect that!’ in their mind. 14. Are there any moments you felt, “I’m glad to have entered this contest!”? It started from the announcement and I’m still feeling very grateful now.
When I met the SMAC! editors and fellow Master Class, I felt it’s like a dream to be in the presence of the professionals!
MAGE’s self portrait
<Master Class Profile> MAGEfrom Jakarta, Indonesia
MAGE’s entry for SILENT MANGA AUDITION Round 1, “CloveR”.
GRAND PRIX Runner up Winner of SILENT MANGA AUDITION Round 2
SILENT MANGA AUDITION Extra Round 1 – Master Class Contribution
Thank you for sharing all that with SMAC (SILENT MANGA AUDITION® Community) MAGE senpai! Her adorable characters always fascinate readers as well as everyone at the SMAC! editorial team! We’re looking forward to reading her giant robots and Kung-Fu action series! And she keeps developing her manga creation skills working with SMAC! editorial team. GOOD MORNING MASTER CLASS!!! #4 Snippy MJ
SMA MASTER CLASS, the future manga stars from SILENT MANGA AUDITION®.
In this series of interviews we’ll uncover the secrets to their manga creations! The 4th Master Class is the winner of the GRAND PRIX award in SMA Round 4, Snippy MJ – from Vietnam!
At the tender age of 20, you’ll be amazed by her manga creation skills!INTERVIEW WITH SNIPPY MJ1. What’s your work space like? Do you usually play music when drawing? My work space is usually a desk, a laptop, a tablet, and a lamp.
My traditional art tools are in a smaller cabinet beside me.
It’s usually fairly organized because I like to know where I can find my tools quickly.
Snippy’s desk. Full of tools and apples…?
And I play music all the time!
My favorite artist is myuuji.
It helps me “get in the zone” so to speak, block out all distractions from other people and puts me almost in a trance.
Half the time I don’t even hear what the people around me say. 2. What kind of tools do you use and which is your favorite? Let us see it! I use both digital and traditional tools, but I lean more towards digital because it’s more convenient for a travelling student like me.
Digital: I use a MSI laptop, a Wacom Intuous Draw. My art programs are ClipStudio EX and Artweaver.
Traditional: Ink, G-pens, manga paper, white ink and rulers mostly!
Snippy’s PC and pen tablet. Her Potable PC has gotten many scratches during her travels!
Snippy uses a variety of tools! Some of them are made in Japan.
3. Tell us how you schedule your creations! How long does it take for each step in the process? Which step is your favorite and least favorite? To create something, usually I brainstorm an idea, then I write a short script for it, without thinking about camera angles, expressions and other stuff.
Snippy’s idea notebook. Very detailed!
And thinking about characters is one of the most important things in manga creation!
Then I jump straight into making very rough sketches for the pages (I don’t do a manga NAME (draft storyboard) usually).
When I do sketches, I change the page layouts and gauge the amount of content I should put on each page.
After the sketches give me a general idea of what each panel contains, I go straight to line art.
And after I do line art for the page, I do the shadings and add the dialogue.
My least favorite process would be sketching, since that is the most intellectually draining part. 4. Tell us about your preferences when creating manga! My preference for drawing manga and art in general is MINIMALISM and SIMPLICITY: how to draw the least yet convey the most.
I prefer to tell the story through the atmosphere more than the dialogue, so I usually keep the dialogue to a minimum.
I like white spaces and strong clear lines, because I believe that empty spaces can speak much more than details.
Simple paneling does not make the readers tired.
5. Tell us about your preferences for manga storytelling! Comparatively, I prefer neutral expressions to overly exaggerated ones.
I don’t like fancy panels so my panels are very simple in shape. I like unique, exotic fonts that fits the general atmosphere of the comic.
If it’s a shonen scifi or some strong genre, I’d use sans serif fonts.
If it’s a horror, I’d find a scribbly, typewriter font. 6. Where do you get ideas from? My ideas usually come from my imagination, from other stories, manga, comics, and sometimes real life.
A lot of them are just random thoughts of scenarios or just an image that popped into my mind, and then I create a story for it.
A Manga by Junji Ito sensei, “DEADPOOL,” Plato’s “Republic,” and a book by PewDiePie…what a complicated bookshelf!
7. Do you have any other skills or experiences that help you create manga? I don’t think I have any special skills, maybe just my imagination hahaha 😀 ! 8. Do you have a favorite manga or manga creator that influenced your creative style? I love Junji Ito’s works and I read most of his works religiously and carefully.
His style is terrifying and unique.
I think I also drew some inspiration from Kubo Tite’s (Bleach) clean, minimalist style.
As a famous Japanese horror manga creator, Junji Ito sensei has produced master pieces such as “Tomie.”
We all know and love him: Tite Kubo sensei, the creator of “BLEACH.”
9. Have you received any useful help or advice from the editor? I’ve received much advice about the flow of panels and camera angles that is very helpful.
The editors remind me to vary my drawings to create more excitement and dynamics. 10. Are you planning any future projects? What genre would you like to attempt in the future? I’m planning for a Sci-fi – Fantasy manga about robots with human emotions!
It’s going to be LGBTQA+ friendly because robots are essentially genderless/genderfluid.
It’s going to have lots of feels and hopefully provide an interesting take on genres dealing with mechas and robots. 11. What are the specific areas you focus on when drawing for SMA? When I draw for SMA, I tend to focus more on the atmosphere of the work rather than the finer details and the background.
I focus more on the effective use of empty space and facial expression to convey feelings. 12. Are there any moments you felt: “I’m glad I entered this contest!” Before winning a Grand Prix, I actually knew about SILENT MANGA AUDITION® for two years.
I planned to join the other two auditions, but I never got motivated enough to do so.
Half because I had a story, but the story was too complex and long. Half because I was lazy and did not leave enough time for drawing.
The SMA that I won a Grand Prix was actually an immense mental motivation.
The manga was actually finished within one week, with a short story prompt that I thought up long ago.
I told myself flat out that I had to do it or nothing.
I’m glad I challenged myself to see this through to the end, to prove to myself that I can. Master class profile: Snippy MJFrom Vietnam
GRAND PRIX Award Winner of SILENT MANGA AUDITION Round 4
Thank you so much, Snippy senpai!
Currently she’s in NY, far away from Vietnam, and creating her next series while studying abroad.
Lets make it a great series together! Are you inspired by her?
If so, please enter SILENT MANGA AUDITION®! Please send us your manga! Hopefully you, too, will join our SMA MASTERCLASS and create the future of manga together! GOOD MORNING MASTER CLASS!!! #3 Mikko Raassina
SMA MASTER CLASS, the future manga stars from SILENT MANGA AUDITION®.
In this series of interviews we’ll uncover the secrets to their manga creations! The 3rd master class is Mikko Raassina from Finland!
Many of you know the popular 4-koma (4-pannal) series on SMAC! Web Magazine “THIS WEEK @ SMAC!“.
His manga are full of humorous and unique characters that always entertain us!INTERVIEW WITH MIKKO RAASSINA 1. What’s your work space like? Do you usually play music while drawing? My workplace is quite spacious and tidy.
But, after I start drawing all kinds of pens, papers, and ink bottles (what I have been collecting all these years) take over the desk.
I’m overwhelmed by them!
A simple desk with only a PC and desk light. But, when he starts drawing….
I can’t really listen to music while I’m drawing the pencil lines or other doodles because there is too much brainstorming going on.
The music comes to the picture when I’m inking.
Usually I like to listen to something that matches the mood of the story. For instance, when I was drawing a manga NAME (draft storyboard) of a new one-shot manga, I was listening to AVANTASIA’s “Lucifer.”
Its melody really fits to the battle scene!
And I also like Gloryhammer, Pyramaze, and some game music like Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid.
I love metal music! 2. What kind of tools do you use and which is your favorite? Let us see it! Like most manga artists in Japan, I also draw traditionally with nib pen, brushes, and ink.
It took years for me to find the perfect nib and ink combo since there are so many different variations.
My current favorite nib is the Gillot 1068A, and as for ink, I use Pilot brand.
Mikko’s favorite tools. Nothing special but refined.
Paper type isn’t that important to me, but it definitely has to be thick enough, so that the ink doesn’t absorb through it.
Any of these items cannot be found in the stores of my town, so I have to order them online. 3. Tell us about how you schedule your creations! How long does it take for each step in the process? Which step is your favorite and least favorite? Writing is clearly the hardest part for me so it takes a big chunk of the process.
NAME of the manga series, “THIS WEEK @ SMAC!” In a 4koma-manga, organization is more important than drawing.
At drawing I am slowly starting to get faster though.
I like to do lot of hatching and small scribbles, it’s calming to do them while I am listening to music/podcast.
Some kind of self-therapy, I’d say. 4. Tell us about your preferences when creating manga! After I have a rough plot/idea I usually start with the characters since they are the most important part of the story.
When I start designing the characters I want them to have an interesting shape that matches their personality.
If my character’s design is too boring or missing altogether, I can’t get into their heads so easily and their dialogue becomes wooden. I can see the characters move in my head like actors but it’s hard to get them to do the same on the paper. Those damn buggers won’t listen to me!Need more work on that aspect.
For practice, I try to draw something every day. Even something little.
That keeps my drawing hand in good shape.
Funny and unique characters. What’s inside Mikko’s head…?
And colored monsters. Can’t stop the flood of ideas and imagination!
5. Tell us about your preferences for manga storytelling! Layouts in manga are very different compared to other comics, so I try to look up panel layouts in manga more closely. Usually I want my own panels to go a very simple and easy to understandable way, but in certain scenes it’s good to spice things up by putting really interesting panel choices. I tried the same thing at SILENT MANGA AUDITION®, too.
About the facial expression, it’s hard to say where it comes from. I think they shape in my head.
When I’m drawing, all the faces that the characters make are mirrored on my own. Like this…
I heard that many artists do this.
Mikko’s face must has been like this when he was drawing Taiyo!
6. Where do you get ideas from?For me the best ideas come when I’m laying in bed trying to sleep. All kinds of characters, plot points, and ideas just start popping up in my head so I have to get up to write them down.
Still, most of the inspirations comes from the world around me.
Manga, comics, tv-series, movies, games, books, or anything else can cause a spark for a new idea. 7. Do you have any other skills or experiences that help you create manga? I’m not sure if I would count it as a skill, but I tend to be a little bit of a perfectionist.
It hinders my working pace a little, but the end result is always better. 8. Do you have a favorite manga or manga creator that influenced your creative style? I have many! Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball), Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), and Hirohiko Araki (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure) are probably the ones that has influenced my art style the most.
Mikko’s Vol.1 collection. We can find “ONE PIECE” and “Astro Boy” and some textbooks.
Dragon Ball, Hunter×Hunter, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind… Great sources of imagination!
“JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” by Hirohiko Araki sensei.
Of course, there are others as well and especially many western comic creators too, like Dave Sim, Hunt Emerson, James Stokoe, Stan Sakai, Jack Kirby, and Jean Giraud.
Of course, Finnish creators like Tove Jansson and Mauri Kunnas had influenced me so much!
Some of my other influences comes from 2D animation, historical art, and fantasy/sci-fi movies. 9. Have you received any useful advice from the editor? Yes, I have got great tips and hints from my editor.
We have been discussing a lot about manga creating process, especially how a good story will flow on a consisted pace. It’s great to have feedback from someone who understands what my strengths are and guides me to get better results.That is when I feel “I’m glad to have entered this contest.” I still have much to learn though, so I occasionally make my own research on storytelling. 10. Are you planning any future projects? What genre would you like to attempt in the future? I am working on a one-shot at the moment.
Very excited for it but more about that in a short time.
In the future I’d like to try and create more mature and compelling stories.
Of course my trademark humor would still be present, but slightly on the background.
That’s what I have been thinking about lately.
We’ll see how it goes soon!
Mikko’s self portrait
Master Class Profile: Mikko RaassinaFinland
The Excellence Runner Up Award Winner of SILENT MANGA AUDITION Round1
The Excellence Award Winner of SILENT MANGA AUDITION Round2
SILENT MANGA AUDITION Extra Round1 – MASTER CLASS CONTRIBUTION
Serialized manga on SMAC! Web Magazine, “THIS WEEK @ SMAC!”
Thank you so much, Mikko senpai!
His character drawing skills and story-telling skills are cultivated by his daily effort. So keep on drawing and thinking with the rest of us! Please send us your manga! Hopefully you, too, will join our SMA MASTERCLASS and create the future of manga together! GOOD MORNING MASTER CLASS! #02 Alex Irzaqi SMA MASTER CLASS, the future manga stars from SILENT MANGA AUDITION®.In this series of interviews we’ll uncover the secrets to their manga creation! In this installment we spoke with the first ever GRAND PRIX winner and our star from Indonesia – Good morning, Alex Irzaqi sensei!INTERVIEW WITH ALEX IRZAQI 1. What is your work space like? My work space is simple. All I need are my laptop computer and a pen tablet.
I move it around everywhere I want, whenever I like! I don’t like sitting down too long, so I change my work place often.
That’s why my work place is dynamic and high mobility, hahaha 😀 !
Alex’s work place… what’s the skull doing there!?
2.What kind of tools do you use and which is your favorite? Let us see it! I prefer drawing digitally, ever since I made my debut as a comic artist. My tools are my old Wacom bamboo, ALIENWARE m11x, and illuststudio app.
But, when the work needs special treatment I also draw traditionally.
When I draw a comic in a traditional way, I use “Snowman drawing pen” and pencils.
Here in Indonesia, Snowman drawing pen is the most popular drawing pen.
It’s the only drawing pen we know!
ALIENWARE m11x (PC) and Wacom Bamboo (Pen tablet).
Indonesia’s favourite, Snowman Drawing Pen!
3. Tell us how you schedule your creations! How long does it take for each step in the process? Which is your favorite and least favorite? Schedule is something I can’t describe.
People tell me to write them down, but in reality it never works that way. “Plans always change,” I guess. Hahaha 😀 .
Time durations vary, depending on the project. For me, creating the storyboard is the hardest part. It takes 50 % of my power, haha 🙂 .
My favorite part is “MENGARSIR (shading)”.
To bring depth to the drawings, it must be done with single line strokes, which overlap with each other.
It’s a tough process, but that’s why it’s so fun!
From lines to tones, to the complete contrast.
Alex works in Full-Digital!
4. Tell us about your preferences when creating manga! When drawing a manga, I always start from the dialogue first and do the drawing later.
It makes it easier to decide the camera angles in the panels. When I draw a face, I start from the eyes. As for the whole body, it depends on what gesture I decide to draw.
Every gesture has its own focus and I start drawing from that focus point.
If the focus is on the hand, I start from the hand.
If the focus is on the foot, I start from the foot… just like that.
I take a lot of photo references to practice drawing.
Mostly if I like the gesture or the lighting/shade of an object, I try to make a sketch of it. 5. Tell us about your preferences for manga storytelling! I like to focus on how emotions can be dramatically depicted in a scene.
Most of the time I start from imagining the “key moments” – the main event that needs to be drawn on the page – in my mind.
Like I said, dialogue helps me decide the camera angle.
It decides the flow and the compositions of the panels, too. There’s one thing I want to talk about when drawing manga.
Many people use truetype font for the sound effects, but I don’t like it.
To me, sound effects should be DRAWN by hand!
It is part of your artwork.
Hand drawn sound effects adds greater impact to the action.
Look how the sounds “dance”!
So, I keep saying this every time: “DON’T TYPE YOUR SOUND EFFECTS! DRAW IT!!” 6. Where do you get ideas from? I believe it can come from anywhere.
Many people ask the same questions, but ideas are everywhere around us.
People just don’t realize it.
The real question is not “how/where you get an idea,” but rather “how you use that idea and turn it into something real”… and that needs creativity, haha 🙂 . My inspirations come from other artists and their creations, like watching movies (especially TOKUSATSU in my case), and playing games (all hail Kojima!) can also become a trigger.
TOKUSATSU heroes, including the classics ones are massively popular to this day. The original “Kamen Rider” is back on screen in 2016. http://www.superhero-movie.com/
Talking about inspirations… I sometimes re-read old comic books and the funny thing is that I always find and learn something new from it every time.
That’s when I say, “God, Classic mangas are really super!”
Alex’s sketch books filled with graffiti.
7. Do you have any other skills or experiences that help you create manga? No I don’t. I’m just a normal guy who can draw.
I can grow sweet potatoes and dragon fruits in my garden. Does that count as skills? 8. Do you have a favorite manga or manga creator that influenced your creative style? I think I’ve already answered this question so many times! Hahaha 😀 .
Well, it is always “Mugen no Juunin” and Samura Hiroakisensei.
“Mugen no Junin” by Samura Hiroaki sensei
But, it is true I was influenced by a lot from other manga.
Like “AKIRA,” “Hokuto no Ken,” “City Hunter,” “Dragon Ball” (who isn’t?), “Saint Seiya,” “Kamen Rider”…the lists go on.
“Fist of the North Stars” by Tetsuo Hara sensei
“City Hunter” by Tsukasa Hojo sensei
“Kamen Rider” by Shotaro Ishinomori sensei
9. What are the specific areas you focus on when creating a manga for SMA? I focus on facial expressions and body gestures.
If a character has to look stupid I make sure to draw them in a way the reader will say, “lol he looks very stupid!”
If a character has to look scary or freaky I make sure to draw them in a way the reader will say, “damn! this guy’s a freak!” Also, while I’m drawing I focus on the overall quality by looking at my drawings over and over… then I will be asking myself endlessly questions like : “is this really what I want to draw?” / “No, I need something more…” / “hmm. This will do” / “Aha! This is exactly what I want!” 10. Have you received any particularly help or advice from the editor?
Of course I have gotten a lot of help and advice from my editors.
My first Editor, Mr.G, sure helped me with many things in my first debut back in 2010.
He is the one who first introduced the comic industry to me. He is also the one who gave me a comic book by Chan Mou.
Chan Mou’s left an impression on Alex.
I find myself enjoying working with the guys from SMAC! editorial too.
I think I will learn lot of things from them in the future.
Taiyo-san is always good in triggering new ideas.
You know what?
The ending of my Sakuramori manga is actualy Mocchi-san’s idea.
It turns out great. I love it! 11. Are you planning any future projects? What genre would you like to attempt in the future? I still have an ongoing Project: “Madasastra” ( I need to finish it before I think of another project).
There’s a plan to have it published on SMAC! and I was very excited when Taiyo-san gave me the Japanese translation of it.
I could imagine “Madasastra” as an anime with the narrator sounding like the ones in a Jidaigeki (Period Drama) movie.
And I have some other ongoing projects, so I can’t think of another project right now. 12. Are there any moments you felt, “I’m glad I entered this contest!”? It is hard to pick one, SMA led me to many wonderful experiences.
I don’t know which one would describe my happiness and my gratefulness…
But I can tell you for sure, I’m happy to meet the editors of the SMAC! team and to get to know them. Having lot of friends is a blessing.
When I’m chatting with the editors, just like I’m doing right now, I am glad to have entered SILENT MANGA AUDITION®!
Alex’s self portrait
MASTER CLASS Profile:
Alex IrzaqiFrom Indonesia
The GRAND PRIX Award Winner of SILENT MANGA AUDITION Round1
SILENT MANGA AUDITION Extra-Round1 – MASTER CLASS CONTRIBUTION
Thank you very much, Alex senpai! Since winning the award he has been busy drawing for different mediums in his homeland, Indonesia, as well as for international clients. He’s also busy creating a new manga with SMAC! Web Magazine. His enthusiasm has excited all our creativity! Please send us your manga! Hopefully you, too, will join our SMA MASTERCLASS and create the future of manga together! GOOD MORNING MASTER CLASS! #01 ICHIROU
Master Class, the Future Manga Stars from SILENT MANGA AUDITION®.
Now it’s time to unveil their faces…!
Watch their manga creation skills! The very first volume is Ichirou, winner of 2 Grand-prix in a row!
The most detailed and boldest work has been produced by the most logical man!INTERVIEW WITH ICHIROU1. What’s your work space like? Do you usually play music when drawing? Messy.
I do play music when I am drawing,
but when I’m planning a story I need absolute silence. 2.What kind of tools do you use and which is your favorite? Let us see it! Generally I use G-pen, brushes, and draw on A3 size paper.
Simple tools, complex drawing.
3. Tell us how you schedule your creations! How long does it take for each step in the process?
Which step is your favorite and least favorite? First, I need to write the story – like creating characters, doing some research,
and all the preparation I need to draw the storyboard.
Then I do the storyboard, which is my favorite process.
It could take a day, a week, or more depending on the length of the story.
Once I have the storyboard done I just need to draw the pages, which often takes me a day per page. 4. Tell us about your preferences when creating manga! I often draw the scenery first. Or at least the basic lines of the scenery.
I guess that’s easier for me, rather than drawing the character first, and working on the scenery later.
To practice drawing I normally sketch everyday, mostly my surroundings.
Dynamic use of a double page spread!
5. Tell us about your preferences for manga storytelling! I mostly focus on the composition, including the layout of the page,
the arrangement of the elements in each panel, lighting and shadowing, etc.
Regarding these elements, I always try asking questions to myself about
“how the readers will read/feel my manga,” and “how I control the rhythm of the story.”
Then, I ask myself the most important question:
“Is the element going to add something to the development of the story, characters, or scenario?”
If the answer is “no,” I take it out. Another point I find important in storytelling is the “panel-to-panel transition,” although I feel some manga artists overlook this aspect and only draw “action-to-action” style.
I always try to find the best transition in each moment of the story.
I prefer “aspect-to-aspect” transitions, which I especially find a lot in Japanese manga,
rather than other comic styles.
I’m also quite keen of human emotions and expressions.
As Paul Ekman allegedly said, “It’s the most sincere response you can get from someone.”
So to draw them, I keep the “Six Core Universal Emotions” in mind.
Those are: “Happiness,” “Sadness,” “Anger” “Surprise,” “Fear,” and “Disgust”.
Once you have those emotions and corresponding expressions in mind,
the rest are just a variation of intensity or a combination of the six.
Of course, having photo references or FACS (Facial Action Coding System, used by animators) makes the job much easier.
Explosion of happy emotions!
Sad emotion weeping out.
6. Where do you get ideas from? I don’t know, actually… Mostly from books, maybe from news,
sometimes from music… It depends on the story.
However, I think one’s entire life experience cannot be excluded when he/she is creating something.
So, it’s mostly a mix of everything that was saw, heard, read, felt, lived, etc. during the life time.
Ideas come from anywhere…like when you are on a bus?
7. Do you have any other skills or experiences that help you create manga? I guess any skill or knowledge is useful somehow.
I’ve read that Tezuka Osamu’s knowledge in medicine helped him a lot in his creations.
I know a bit about digital games, programming, practiced some sports, etc.
And it sometimes helps me when I need to draw something specific. 8. Do you have a favorite manga or manga creator that influenced your creative style? Well, my favorite manga artist is Naoki Urasawa sensei,
yet I don’t know whether his works influenced my art style directly.
I guess I’m influenced by lots of different artists indirectly. Tsukasa Hojo sensei and Takeshi Obata sensei have an outstanding art style I admire as well.
Or artists such as Greg Tocchini, Kim Jung Gi…the list goes on.
“Platinum End,” the latest series by Takeshi Obata seisei (art) and Tsugumi Ohba seisei (story).
“City Hunter” by Tsukasa Hojo sensei
“BILLY BAT” by Naoki Urasawa sensei
9. What are the specific areas you focus on when creating a manga for SMA? Mostly the storytelling. As it’s a silent competition, I tried my best to deliver the message as clearly and effectively as possible. 10. Are there any moments you felt, “I’m glad to have entered this contest!”? At the announcement of the results, I had a nice sense of accomplishment. 11. Have you received any useful help advice from the editor? I guess Mocchi’s advice are among the best I’ve received,
one that stuck in my mind was: “It’s always best to do what you love.” 12. Are you planning any future projects? What genre would you like to attempt in the future? Well, as you may know, I’m very interested in sci-fi stories,
so I think I’m going to stick with this genre for my next project.
Ichirou’s self portrait
ICHIROUFrom Brazil
The GRAND PRIX Award Winner of SILENT MANGA AUDITION Round 2
The GRAND PRIX Award Winner of SILENT MANGA AUDITION Round 3
Thank you very much, Ichirou senpai! He’s currently preparing his next manga series on SMAC! Web Magazine.
Let’s make it great series together! Stay tuned! Please send us your manga! Hopefully you, too, will join our SMA MASTERCLASS and create the future of manga together 😉 ! Manga is like FABRIC – the "Vertical/Horizontal THREADS"- Japanese Manga 101 #047b Hey guys!
It’s been sometime since last update,
So for today we’d like to cover a very special topic. “The secret art of story art creation”, that my senpais and great artists have been practicing for many decades. This is originally a method for manga editors to master the way of manga creation.
But it helps greatly for all manga creators, please do pay special attention for today’s episode! Secret 1 : “Story Manga is like Fabric – WOVEN with vertical and horizontal threads.” This may not be too obvious at first.
This is the wording of the fifth chief editor of Weekly Shonen JUMP, Nobuhiko Horie – our CEO at COAMIX, Inc.
He has many hit manga titles to his credit. Fabric, is woven with horizontal threads and vertical threads. Each direction of the thread making each other stronger, forming a sheet of fabric,
which of course is much stronger and useful, than any single thread can ever be.
Here, the vertical thread is the story, and the horizontal thread is the characters. You can’t weave fabric, with just vertical loom only, nor horizontal loom only. Story manga is woven, by combined movement of both Vertical and Horizontal looms working in synchronized motion.Secret 2 : “Editors can help the Vertical Thread – Horizontal threads are creator’s own”Editors can help with the story making process, but the CHARACTER can only be created by the Manga-ka self. The word “Character” may not mean much to you.
In this context, when we say “Characters” – what we mean is “The everyday life of the characters”. Now imagine, your afternoon, with a person you like – feel attracted even.
Without doing anything in particular, just being in the same space with that person,
somehow feels good, maybe even joyful. There is nothing new or surprising, but just hanging around with that person,
Talking about nothing important, observing just ordinary gestures and just the fact that person is there, somehow just feels satisfying. When we say “Characters”, this “Being in the same room-ness”, is the horizontal thread.ONLY the manga artist, can make those moods and feelings come out as drawings on paper. The editor can never make that happen. So what is this “Vertical Thread” that we editors can help?
Being in the same room with the person you feel attractions to,
is enough for some time but it will eventually become, BORING.
Not good. And that excitement and surprises, are what that may cause chemical reactions to happen in your relationship. This, is what we call “STORY”, the vertical thread, that interlocks the Horizontal threads. Very often, just the horizontal threads alone are more than interesting.
However, the editor will assist the artists adding Events and Incidents,
the vertical threads, that will form Manga as one expanding fabric. Let’s take “Dragon ball” as an example.
Goku and Burma, Kuririn and Master Roshi… Their happy everyday lives, are the colorful horizontal threads. By adding vertical threads of events and incidents, such as the Tenkaichi-Budokai tournament, the horizontal threads knows their colors and purpose, expanding the fabric of Manga to wider world. The secret art of Story Manga creation is to know that it’s a fabric,
and that combined motion of Vertical and Horizontal thread is the only way to weave it. Secret 3 :“Many hit titles are woven in the ratio of ‘1 : 3’ / 1 vertical thread, to 3 horizontal threads.” Would you like to spend your afternoon with someone you don’t really know, or go dating several times with that person?
I don’t think you do.
Exciting events and extraordinary things are pointless,
if a reader doesn’t know who this character, who is in the same room as him or her. We very often talk about the importance of “Characters” in Manga,
more specifically the atmosphere, the mood, the kind of warm, cosy and cheerful that only good characters can present to the readers. This is not an easy concept to grasp at first, but a vital key element that any manga just can’t exist without.
Please have a good, deep think about this one! GOT IT? We will be covering deeper in the secret art, of Story art creation.
What we talked today is super useful once you grab the idea.
I personally recommend watching this video again, and again till it begins to make sense.
It’s seriously that good. Manga CHARACTER Thinking “The WAY OF LIFE”- Japanese Manga 101 #048 Hey guys!
Last time, we talked about how we WEAVE manga like a sheet of fabric, with vertical threads and horizontal threads.
Today, we continue talking about the SECRET ART of manga creation.
We have learned from great artists themselves and our senpais. The secret art: MANGA is CHARACTERS. This is a famous line by a great manga writer and storyboard creator Kazuo Koike,
and is handed down as the most important principle in the world of Japanese manga creation. To be quite honest, when I was young, I also thought,
“Hey wait a minute, the world and story are also important in Manga”. But through the years of working a with great many manga creators, I realized the truth and importance of this principle, more and more. In series manga, we often hit the creators block, as to how the story should proceed.
There is nothing WRONG with the story, but the manga is just not satisfying to read. “Will the readers, really be entertained by this?” That moment we scratch our heads, late into the night.
What to do, in times like this?
The next secret art: WHAT EMOTIONS of the characters, will make the readers happiest?What ACTIONS will move the readers?Concentrate hard on thinking about just those two points. So, we focus on the protagonist and supporting actors, imagine being them ourselves.
And think, what situation will make our characters REALLY struggle,
REALLY scared, REALLY happy, REALLY Angry, REALLY full of tears, and EXPLODE with laughter?
We think deep, hard, and dig REALLY deep into the characters’ mindset. That often gave us great turn of events, that we just didn’t see before.
Many of those ideas were just what made the whole manga, a big success. We have said this several times here on Japanese manga 101, and say it again.
The readers experience the world and story, though the eyes and senses of the characters.
For the readers to want to TURN THE PAGE of the manga, we must first make the readers, feel attached to the characters, feel sympathy, and wish to become the characters themselves. Not a page of that manga story will progress, without the reader turning the page. It’s not some grand ideas like a big world, or a mission to save the world that makes readers to turn the pages of your manga. First you got to entertain the readers with your characters living everyday life likeSleeping, getting up, and eating breakfast. Really everyday stuff. THEN the next step is to show the readers what makes the characters to show changing emotions,
On what principles, do they make important judgement in their life.
You show the readers, their way of life, their missions and goals through the decisions your characters make. This is how you make the reader, feel the empathy, become one with the character. Put simply, The secret of art: The CHARACTER, is IT’S WAY OF LIFE. Here in Japan, we often hear how people say,
“I have learned all important things in life, through MANGA.”
That may be an indication of the fact, how many readers project themselves onto Manga characters,
and how many important lessons in life are told through all those characters. GOT IT? We will continue to uncover the secret art of Manga creation.
Stay tuned!
