This section of the site is dedicated to both personal and project based Manga and Graphic Novel style work.
I have been a Manga and Anime lover since my early teen hood - I have always been a fan of picture books and comics, but something about this Japanese art style drew me in. I really appreciate all the hard work that people put into Manga and Graphic Novels and they just feel beautiful to me. I can enter a completely new world with them.
I've been practising Manga on and off for years, but now I have finished my degree, I finally allowed myself to give it a proper go. But now I am also thinking about creating my own Graphic Novel projects with a Manga-esque style...
I have been a Manga and Anime lover since my early teen hood - I have always been a fan of picture books and comics, but something about this Japanese art style drew me in. I really appreciate all the hard work that people put into Manga and Graphic Novels and they just feel beautiful to me. I can enter a completely new world with them.
I've been practising Manga on and off for years, but now I have finished my degree, I finally allowed myself to give it a proper go. But now I am also thinking about creating my own Graphic Novel projects with a Manga-esque style...
Christmas Card '12
For 2012, I decided I really must produce my own Christmas cards for family and friends. This was a personal project but this was also my first proper go at drawing and colouring completely digitally!
Using Manga Studio Debut 4 to sketch, draw and colour the characters and Photoshop to create the background, border and text, there has been no traditional influence to it at all, and I am so pleased with how it has come out! This is my fourth attempt at drawing on a tablet and my third for colouring. I did get a little stuck when I was putting it all together as it looked quite empty, but I was running out of time to get it sent off and printed into cards, so I used the snow and reindeers from my Christmas Activity Sheet (see 'Editorials') to fill it out a little. I got plenty of appreciative feedback from the receivers, so I was very happy! Definitely going to do a card every year now!
Using Manga Studio Debut 4 to sketch, draw and colour the characters and Photoshop to create the background, border and text, there has been no traditional influence to it at all, and I am so pleased with how it has come out! This is my fourth attempt at drawing on a tablet and my third for colouring. I did get a little stuck when I was putting it all together as it looked quite empty, but I was running out of time to get it sent off and printed into cards, so I used the snow and reindeers from my Christmas Activity Sheet (see 'Editorials') to fill it out a little. I got plenty of appreciative feedback from the receivers, so I was very happy! Definitely going to do a card every year now!
Drawing/Colouring Trial
These were done before the Christmas card above and are in order of completion. And they are all practise character development for a secret Graphic Novel project I am concocting...
All the illustrations have been sketched, drawn and in the case of the last two, coloured on Manga Studio. The left image was my very first go at drawing straight onto a 'page' using my Wacom Bamboo tablet and with some undoing and erasing, it turned out well for an initial go. The image in my head for the character changed though, so I had to get it out! This time, I wanted to see her come to life in techno colour. Using what I assumed was the same Pen type I used before, I got a lovely flow going and it really did start to look Manga (with further undoing and rubbing out) Colouring was a little testing due to the settings and not having any knowledge of the programme yet, but using layers the same way as in Photoshop, it worked and for a second, and first, go, I was thrilled.
Our little fox friend on the right, however, didn't work out quite how I wanted it to. The creature is still foggy in my head of how it really looks, and trying to draw something when it IS in clear in your head is hard enough! The line drawing looked pretty good, even if I'm still not too sure how I want her to look, but when I started colouring it just didn't feel right. I think it looks ok, but it's just not how I want it. Compared to my female character, my little vixen looks more digital and a little flat. I also decided to try some sketches of a couple of facial expressions and these both worked and didn't at the same time.
I think I am going to have to experiment in both traditional and digital style until I get the desired look - I also want to get some pens like on the program to really use!
To see some of the images when they were in development (sneak peeks as it were), have a look at my Facebook page Wall Photos by clicking on the icon at the top of the page.
All the illustrations have been sketched, drawn and in the case of the last two, coloured on Manga Studio. The left image was my very first go at drawing straight onto a 'page' using my Wacom Bamboo tablet and with some undoing and erasing, it turned out well for an initial go. The image in my head for the character changed though, so I had to get it out! This time, I wanted to see her come to life in techno colour. Using what I assumed was the same Pen type I used before, I got a lovely flow going and it really did start to look Manga (with further undoing and rubbing out) Colouring was a little testing due to the settings and not having any knowledge of the programme yet, but using layers the same way as in Photoshop, it worked and for a second, and first, go, I was thrilled.
Our little fox friend on the right, however, didn't work out quite how I wanted it to. The creature is still foggy in my head of how it really looks, and trying to draw something when it IS in clear in your head is hard enough! The line drawing looked pretty good, even if I'm still not too sure how I want her to look, but when I started colouring it just didn't feel right. I think it looks ok, but it's just not how I want it. Compared to my female character, my little vixen looks more digital and a little flat. I also decided to try some sketches of a couple of facial expressions and these both worked and didn't at the same time.
I think I am going to have to experiment in both traditional and digital style until I get the desired look - I also want to get some pens like on the program to really use!
To see some of the images when they were in development (sneak peeks as it were), have a look at my Facebook page Wall Photos by clicking on the icon at the top of the page.