Manga
artist Satoshi Shiki, creator of the Riot series that has been distributed
worldwide, gave Katsucon fans a rare, special treat on the convention's
Saturday, a chance to take a close look at original manga art. When he
spoke at a panel discussion, Shiki first displayed prints made from a calendar
of his art, then invited people to gather around a table and view original
pages of his work. As with most comic art, Shiki's originals are far larger
than the printed version, to let the artist add as much detail as possible.
Shiki follows the pattern of penciling art, then inking the result, but
he has to take an intermediate step of clearing his page layouts with an
editor before he can proceed. Shiki works in the assembly-line fashion
of most major manga artists, drawing the human characters while assistants
add backgrounds and screentone. Even with several people working on a project,
a major drawing - such as a two-page, violent sword battle that Shiki displayed
- can take a day and a half to complete.
Adobe
Photoshop, computer drawing tablets and scanners are part of the comic
artist's basic equipment for the new century, but Shiki is holding back
from that switch to computer-aided art. "I just feel that my artwork is
best represented by using the medium of paper and ink." he said. "I just
do not have the trust in how computers have the abilities to reproduce
the best qualities of my art." There's a three-dimensional nature to Shiki's
originals, where the inked lines seem to grow out of the paper, and that
might be lost in computerized drawing. And it takes more than a computer
to come up with the stories that Shiki draws. "My ideas come from the background
of my life and my experiences," Shiki told fans. "The material that i'm
working on right now is more fantasy oriented. I really have to wait for
the god of idea giving to descend on my head from the heavens to give me
that midas touch to let me come up with different material. That god does
not descend very often when I need him."
Manga
fans are amazed by the unearthly beauty of female characters, and Shiki
was asked what makes a woman beautiful on paper when drawn. "I suppose
you have to fall in love with them...to answer that question in a serious
manner, you have to depict the characters in an attractive. Your
own conceptions of beauty plays an important part in how you're going to
define a character as beautiful. When I mentioned `falling in love,' in
that love affair you might be compelled to see that person wear different
clothing where the affinity would increase. Just as you'd want your love
to wear clothing that makes them look better and you'd go out of way to
buy those clothes, by falling in love with a character that exists only
on paper you think of things for that person to wear and different poses
that make that character look better. You're forced to draw the character
in desirable ways."
Manga
artist Satoshi Shiki, creator of the Riot series that has been distributed
worldwide, gave Katsucon fans a rare, special treat on the convention's
Saturday, a chance to take a close look at original manga art. When he
spoke at a panel discussion, Shiki first displayed prints made from a calendar
of his art, then invited people to gather around a table and view original
pages of his work. As with most comic art, Shiki's originals are far larger
than the printed version, to let the artist add as much detail as possible.
Shiki follows the pattern of penciling art, then inking the result, but
he has to take an intermediate step of clearing his page layouts with an
editor before he can proceed. Shiki works in the assembly-line fashion
of most major manga artists, drawing the human characters while assistants
add backgrounds and screentone. Even with several people working on a project,
a major drawing - such as a two-page, violent sword battle that Shiki displayed
- can take a day and a half to complete.
Adobe
Photoshop, computer drawing tablets and scanners are part of the comic
artist's basic equipment for the new century, but Shiki is holding back
from that switch to computer-aided art. "I just feel that my artwork is
best represented by using the medium of paper and ink." he said. "I just
do not have the trust in how computers have the abilities to reproduce
the best qualities of my art." There's a three-dimensional nature to Shiki's
originals, where the inked lines seem to grow out of the paper, and that
might be lost in computerized drawing. And it takes more than a computer
to come up with the stories that Shiki draws. "My ideas come from the background
of my life and my experiences," Shiki told fans. "The material that i'm
working on right now is more fantasy oriented. I really have to wait for
the god of idea giving to descend on my head from the heavens to give me
that midas touch to let me come up with different material. That god does
not descend very often when I need him."
Manga
fans are amazed by the unearthly beauty of female characters, and Shiki
was asked what makes a woman beautiful on paper when drawn. "I suppose
you have to fall in love with them...to answer that question in a serious
manner, you have to depict the characters in an attractive. Your
own conceptions of beauty plays an important part in how you're going to
define a character as beautiful. When I mentioned `falling in love,' in
that love affair you might be compelled to see that person wear different
clothing where the affinity would increase. Just as you'd want your love
to wear clothing that makes them look better and you'd go out of way to
buy those clothes, by falling in love with a character that exists only
on paper you think of things for that person to wear and different poses
that make that character look better. You're forced to draw the character
in desirable ways."
