British Illustrator works in Japanese Manga Style
PingMag has yet another great article up. This time they’ve interviewed Gez Fry a British animator that went from zero to hero by teaching himself not only how to illustrate at all, but to illustrate in the manga style. He completely switched career paths, focused on what he wanted to do and has achieved incredible success in a short time; gives me hope.
At one point in the article he comments on the sorry state of the comic industry in America and even mentions that it doesn’t compare to twenty years ago. That’s one point for my generation. Haha suckers!
[In America] they have an assembly line to make the comic: 6 different people each in charge of different aspects of the comic, which then often feels a little disjointed. In Japan there is quite a hierarchic system: one boss having a vision and a style telling all his assistants exactly what to draw… which seems to work better for the story in the end.
Anyway, read on for his comments on breaking into the Japanese market; using photoshop for drawing; the state of comics in America and Manga in Japan; as well as character development.
http://www.pingmag.jp/2006/06/02/how-japanese-style-illustration-works/