Part One:
Please take out a piece of paper and write your name on the top of the paper. Put your head on your desk and close your eyes. It's been a long day and your first day of school so just take a breather. Now, you may choose to write or draw, but I want you to think of something pleasant that brings you joy. Develop a mental image in your head. When the music starts playing and when you're ready, you may chose to start writing or drawing the mental image you have constructed. When you are finished, please turn in the paper to me.
Hey true believers,
This is your captain speaking, professor Turnbull, welcoming you to a new school year here at Edwards Middle school. I will be your instructor for the anime elective. Unfortunately, this class title is technically wrong; anime is the Japanese term for animation. Animation is an expensive and time consuming procedure that takes years of development and practice. Even with Edwards Middle school's fabulous facilities, we will not be focusing on animation. Rather, we will be studying manga, comic books and sequential art
The Japanese word manga, literally translated, means "Whimsical Pictures" and came into common usage in the late 18th century (1750-1800). To put this period into a western time frame, This is basically the period of the French Revolution and Marie Antoinette.
So when Europeans were wearing clothes like this and "eating cake", the Japanese started making manga. Here are two covers of very early manga:
Manga starts to be seen in Japan's Meiji period which is Japan's second to last empire period before World War II. In this period Japan started its modernization and became a world power. While technically this is manga because it is "whimsical drawings", we don't begin seeing sequence and narrative until later when manga was influenced by American comic books.
Manga exploded and started making lots of money after World War II in the 1950ties. The United States of America was occupying Japan. In this time Japan's previously militaristic and ultra-nationalist Japan rebuilt its political and economic infrastructure. An explosion of artistic creativity occured in this period, including Osamu Tezuka, considered the godfather of manga.
Tezuka was the author behind various extremely influential and significant manga. His most influential work was perhaps Astroboy about a mechanical boy superhero. Both visually and narratively, we can still see Tezuka's influence on contemporary manga characters such as Megaman.
Here we have a machine boy with large expressive eyeballs ...
... and once again, here we have a mega machine man with large expressive eyeballs.
Tezuka's most significant work is arguably the series "Buddha" which is the artist's interpretation of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. It is significant for it's historic and religious references, but is also just a GREAT, action packed read with drama, romance, sword play, mystical powers and more! We'll be looking at this book in this class. A used copy of Buddha #1 goes for $7 plus shipping on Amazon. It gets the professor Turnbull seal of approval. The holiday season is just around the corner, perhaps you could persuade mom or dad ... ?
Today in Japan, everyone reads manga; kids, adults, women, men, the elderly and teenagers. There is a genre of manga for everyone. Manga, now in a global post-modern era, is unafraid of mixing genre, aesthetics and designs. Here are some examples.
Rebound is a basketball manga. While there are plenty of sports titles in other mediums, Rebound is significant because of the way playing basketball is depicted; the artist Yuriko Nishiyama uses lines and marks usually depicted in action-adventure manga for sports.
Gon is the chronicles of a series of encounters a small, mean dinosaur has with various forest dwellers. Gon is usually provoked by these animals and engages in a fight with them. It is wordless and drawn with great attention to detail. A historical comparison would be a to Albert Durer. Totally weird, but if you want to learn how to draw from reality, start looking at this series.
While technically not Manga since it's creator is Canadian, Scott Pilgrim is highly influenced by the manga aesthetic, both in its depiction of the human form and it's action sequences. Scott Pilgrim was turned into a movie this summer and as far as genre goes, is a cross over between a slacker drama, romance, an action adventure and a music comic with constant video game references. Highly recommended.
Cat Eyed Boy is a horror comic book ... for kids! It's target audience is young teenagers and its main protagonist is the cat eyed boy; a homeless mutant child who lives in suburban Japan attics and basements. Where ever he goes, strange events seem to follow.
Believe it or not, Twilight was not the first Vampire Romance. Manga has Vampire Kisses put out by Tokyopop (an American manga studio). Goth girl Raven and her vampire boyfriend, Alexander must go through a night time only romance ... mixing romance with horror, once again manga is unafraid to mix genres that typically in American culture are not seen.
Manga is now no longer just produced in Japan but is an international phenomenon. It makes up to 3.6 billion of the publishing industry!
INSTANT GRATIFICATION vs. DELAYED GRATIFICATION
–noun
1.
the state of being gratified; great satisfaction.
2.
something that gratifies; source of pleasure or satisfaction.
3.
the act of gratifying.
4.
Archaic . a reward, recompense, or gratuity.
In this class we will be studying manga, comic books and sequential art. Sequential art is the Mixed Martial Arts of design. In order to make a proficient manga/comic book, you must have fantastic writing, drawing, design and sequence. In drawing there are pencilers, inkers, colorists and letterers. They must work closely with the writer to make sure the narrative of the writing goes hand in hand with the sequence of the comic. If all this sounds confusing, don't be alarmed. IT IS!!! Comics are made usually in teams. This is deceiving because the covers of manga usually only credit 1 creator. These creators usually work with a team of assistants.
I will be honest with you, class, ... by the end of this class you will not be making art that is on par with Berserk, Dragonball Z or Nurato. The creators of these series are seasoned professionals and are usually in their late twenties/early thirties. It takes years at a drawing board to get to this point. Think of it this way: they're black belts and you're all starting out as white belts.
If I can teach you ANYTHING in this class it is to LOVE to process of making comic books. This does not go for just comic books but everything in your life. So many people at your age quit early because they do not love the product they make because it doesn't look professional. But if you love the process, the act of drawing, your products will eventually become amazing and professional; like magic, you won't even notice it because it will happen gradually. This is the difference between delayed gratification and instant gratification.
EXAMPLE: Below are two pages from Kentaro Miura's 34 continuous ongoing dark fantasy series BERSERK. I do not recommend this title to this class as it is inappropriate for young readers. Fortunately they're sold in plastic wraps so they can't warp your minds. (Side note: embrace and enjoy your childhood! Trust me, there's nothing great about being an adult!)
The first illustration is from volume 1 constructed in the late 1980ties. Guts, Berserk's protagonist, is slicing a bad guy in half.
This illustration is from 2008; volume 33. Guts, Berserk's protaganist, is preparing to slice some bad guys in half.
Class discussion
What differences do you see? Describe these differences. What makes Kentaro Miura make 34 volumes of 250 page books of Manga? What drives him? Any ideas?
Example:
Here is a basketball example. I will make a lot of basketball analogies. I am a huge Boston Celtics fan and even went to their games in the 1990ties when they were terrible and scoring the lowest point games in NBA history.
Paul Pierce has been on the Boston Celtics for 10 plus years. In an era of constant trading, increased player salaries, this is unheard of. Pierce was on the Celtics when they had NOTHING and were finishing second to last in the Eastern Conferences. In this time period, Pierce's stats were still up.
Paul Pierce simply LOVES the process of playing basketball. Obviously he is effected if he wins or loses psychologically, but this is secondary for his love of the game. In my 26 years of watching the Boston Celtics, I have never seen him give up. I've seen him in 2008 be carried off the court in a wheel chair only to return a little later with a mild limp. This comes from a love of the game.
Question: How good at Basketball do you think Paul Pierce was when he was in 6th grade? How did he get better?
EXAMPLE:
Gary Panter
Gary Panter is an American cartoonist, painter and artist. He is most famous notably for his work as the set designer for PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE, a 1980ties children's television show. However, he is accomplished in many different fields. Much of his work is strongly influenced by Japanese Manga.
Aesthetically, Panter's work is childish and ... well ... from a traditionalist point of view "bad". However, it is strongly appealing and showcases an understanding of design, perspective, sequence and narrative. You do not have to be a fantastic illustrator in the classical sense of the term to make strong work. Some of the best artists in the world are not the greatest draftsmen. Their hearts are stronger then their eyes.
David Hockney, a renouned British painter has a quote I find to be very true: "To be a great artist, you only need three things: Your hands, your eyes and your heart." Some artists have fantastic hands; their penmanship is unique. Some artists have amazing eyes: Their ability to process information and duplicate it in a naturalistic way is astounding. But no artist can work, create and succeed without the drive of the heart. In whatever you do in life, you must love it. I promise you, while money and offer you stability and material reward, it can not offer you happiness. You must love what you do and not care about the outcome or product. Material possession can be taken away from you. A storm can blow down your house. A recession can put a neighborhood into poverty. But your soul is made of iron. If you love what you're doing in the moment, nothing can take that away.
REVIEW:
TERMS
instant gratification vs. delayed gratification
aesthetics
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