🌿Elaine Tipping🍃 is on 🦋

Entering the Japanese manga industry — Part 11 “Drawing Skill” In the past, Korean artists who entered the Japanese manga industry generally had strong drawing skills and placed great importance on their artwork. European artists who came to Japan then were much the same, as were Chinese artists. And drawing skill had one important commercial advantage. From the perspective of Japanese publishers, there was an appeal in being able to think, “We can hire an artist with this level of drawing ability and productivity, but pay them at the rate of a newcomer.” It was also a time when Japanese readers placed much more importance than they do today on drawing ability and the dedication put into the artwork. Simply having strong drawing skills and being diligent in your artwork could, at the very least, give you a chance to make your debut and get your first serialization. Today, the times have changed in many ways. In many areas of manga, drawing skill isn't as important as it used to be. Instead, understanding how manga communicates and expresses itself is becoming increasingly important. This is because the techniques used to express things visually in manga keep advancing. In other words, “You just need to be good at drawing” is no longer enough. You need to understand manga. In fact, Japanese manga editors of the past sometimes had a misconception about foreign artists. They assumed, “If someone can draw this well, they must understand manga, too.” But some artists had simply developed their draftsmanship without developing an understanding of manga—especially an understanding of direction and visual expression. Some had barely read any manga at all. And, perhaps most surprisingly, there were even mangaka who looked down on manga itself. They would say things like, “Japanese manga is all about characters with huge eyes.” That kind of dismissive attitude existed in the West as well. Anyway, when editors saw someone with exceptional drawing skills, they sometimes assumed that the person must understand manga and decided to give them a chance. Only to discover that, in reality, the person did not know how to make manga. I once attended a gathering where I met one French comics artist alongside the great Japanese manga master. I saw him sitting there drawing only his own pictures. He was trying to impress one of the waitresses at the restaurant with his drawings. I suppose he thought he was very good at drawing. And that being good at drawing was enough. Yes, I still believe that drawing skill has value. But what is more important is understanding manga and understanding how to express things through it. This includes visual direction and staging, the use of techniques, the ability to convey emotion, and the ability to communicate a story smoothly and clearly—which is different from direction and staging. When manga industries begin to emerge in countries around the world, drawing skill tends to become less important in their early stages. This is something worth paying attention to. On the other hand, if global manga platforms emerge around the world, drawing skill will become far more important than it was in the past. This is what Hollywood developed in the 1990s under the idea of “well-made” entertainment. A mangaka's life is long, just like our own. Over that lifetime, there will be many changes in the times, and many changes in manga itself. Whatever changes may come, having strong drawing skills can never be a bad thing. Drawing skill is like strong timber. It helps a mangaka's life withstand the waves of changing times. And drawing skill influences a manga artist in much the same way that technology influences human beings. Drawing is like a way of seeing the world. It is one of the ways human beings understand the world. And through the effort to develop drawing skills, you also gain many things that help you understand manga. Well, not everything, but many things... I also think a mangaka should have an attitude like this: “You don't have to draw perfectly, but you should always try to draw better and better.” This is a feeling you have for your readers, and a feeling you have for manga itself. The heart is not in reaching the destination. It is in the effort to get there.