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Of course it’s important to learn all the right artistic techniques and perfect your drawing skills in order to make it big in the illustration industry. But knowing about the mindset of successful artists can be really helpful too!
Let’s take a look at some more wise words and inspirational quotes from artists whose work has been featured in popular manga magazine Shounen JUMP!
And make sure you check out part 1 of our series HERE
6) “JUMP is a very fair world indeed!” – Akira Toriyama (“Dragon Ball”)
“Yes, there are many artist applying for awards who already have editors. But that’s no reason for you to feel daunted as a first-time applicant. As long as your work’s entertaining, you’re good. JUMP is a very fair world indeed. I’m proud of that fact.”
Coming from a top JUMP artist, these are very comforting words! Another manga artist encouraging us just to get on with it and apply!
7) “Dance around with your d*** out!” – Takehiko Inoue (“SLAM DUNK”)
“They say a lot can be understood about an illustrator by their work – and I think that’s true. Among your audience, there’ll be plenty of people thinking “what kind of person is this writer?” They want to know and love you. If that wasn’t the case, they’d have quit reading and thrown the book out. So, what kind of person are you? Quit keeping up appearances, and just dance around with your d*** out.”
Inoue encourages us to have a no-holds-barred attitude to our work, and let our personality shine through in our work! Maybe don’t actually get naked in the editor’s office though – you might have a lawsuit on your hands.
8) “You must battle to show yourself to the world” – Kazue Katou (“Blue Exorcist”)
“What do I personally want to see in a new manga-ka? I want to see them battling to show themselves to the world. Always be thinking how you can pull the attention of total strangers with your story, and what you want to show the world. When I read your work, I want to see that you’ve put absolutely everything into it, and really fought for it unrelentingly.”
This is something that can be said about Japanese society as a whole – people love to see someone “doing their best”! If your pure effort and determination comes across to your audience and editor, you’ll be sure to gain a lot of support!
9) “Try triangular composition for a good balance!” – Tezuka Promotion
“In order to show your ideas and characters to the audience the best way possible, we need to provide them with an easy to understand scene. One of Tezuka’s hints for drawing a great scene is this – when the items in a scene make a triangle shape, they look pleasing to the eye. Drawing scenes with a triangular composition will give your audience a sense of stability.”
This is a top hint that we also use a lot in our lessons at Anime Art Academy! When composing a scene, don’t just think about filling the whole page or cell up, think about the empty space in a scene, and use it wisely for a great composition.
10) “Variety makes for great cell composition!”
“If you ask me what’s important when composing my work, I’d probably say “cell variety”. For example, if you have a long scene where two characters are talking, don’t just show them from the waist up for the whole scene. Add in some shots that confirm how and where the characters are standing, and when there’s an important line, try bringing us back in for a closeup. We should always think about how we can stop our readers from getting bored!”
More great, practical advice from Toriyama here. We don’t want to show the same style of composition of scene for too long. Try mixing longer shots with closeups to keep the audience interested! It’s actually very interesting to look back over Toriyama’s work with this advice in mind – you’ll see that he really does use this technique a lot in his own work.
There we have it – five more great quotes from five manga masters! Hopefully this has given you a glimpse into the mind a manga-ka, and helped you get motivated to draw more yourself!
If you’re feeling fired up and ready to study, be sure to head over to our online courses and get started with your manga studies today!
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