Hi folks!
Most of you may have already known, but I took a spontaneous trip to Japan in February. Our primary goal was to see this Kaoru Mori exhibit since we didn’t know if there would be one in the near future, and we had the funds for it… so why not!
It has taken me a while to make this write-up because there is a lot of information I’ve transcribed. I’ve also included some information about my trip to the Manga Museum that we went to!
The ZIP file will be available for direct download through a link at the bottom.
We luckily found a place in Yokote, Akita! It was quite the… time to go. On top of it being WINTER up there, we found out that the days we were going we during the Kamakura Festival, so hotels were basically BOOKED. But I managed to find one that only had a Japanese website, only accepts payment at the hotel, and they had a lovely onsen! So happy we managed!
It was so so cool to see the Kamakura, because it’s such an iconic festival that happens up there.
Here is a Kamakura that was right in front of hotel!
A free flyer we got from our hotel!
To the Museum!
We took a very confusing bus ride over to the Yokote Manga Museum. It’s the home of mangaka Takao Yaguchi, who was best known for Fisherman Sanpei! He really pushed for a museum in his hometown that specializes in archiving original pages.
Here’s some images of his work, and some really cool things I was allowed to take pictures of! There were so many things I wanted to photograph, but couldn’t… but if you’re interested in seeing some of the artists who had original work up for their permanent exhibit, click here!
Ohhh the Kamakura… it’s so cute to see Yaguchi draw inspiration from his hometown. It really inspired me.
Here’s some original artwork celebrating the new year and the museum itself!
The people at the museum were SO NICE. They did NOT speak English at all, but we used our translation app and our rudimentary Japanese to the best of our abilities. But after we started settling in, they found a person who spoke English within their staff to welcome us!!! It was REALLY CUTE. It’s a very, very small space, and I don’t think they often get foreign visitors.
Kaoru Mori
Here’s some art from the many photos we took! Click to ENLARGE! Or just download the folder at the bottom.
Here’s some interview highlights, which are also all included in the zip file!
If you could give advice to your younger self when you first started drawing manga, what would you say?
In any case, do body sketches. The better you get at them, the faster you'll get.
Get enough sleep and proper nutrition like it's your job. Have the courage to sleep.
Be careful of the perfectionism trap. Don't be afraid to suck at first.
Read manga. Read it all.
Read books, too. Read more.
Keep putting out drafts that are a bit better than the last one. To be extreme, that's all that matters.
There are people out there who will approve of your slightly questionable hobbies. Rather a lot.
You're not the only one who's a bit crazy. So don't worry about it and just draw.
What are your favorite tools you usually use for drawing manga?
I use Tachikawa Spoon nibs for my main lines. I also use Nikko Maru (Mapping) nibs and Zebra titanium G nibs depending on the thickness I need. For paper, I use Muse's B4 135kg sheets, and for ink, I mainly use Pilot Drafting Pen Ink, but I also use Kaimei Lettering Sol Ink for borders and areas I black out. Masking tape comes in handy too when inking a sketch. Acrylic tape used for painting buildings is convenient because it leaves little residue behand and it's not too sticky. If you put tape down along the edges of a panel, it saves time because you don't have to go back and get rid of any cross-hatching or speed lines that would have otherwise gone outside the border.
What advice would you give someone for improving their drawing skills?
Art, like every other form of study, is ultimately about the fundamentals. I think most people want to learn how to draw people well, so that means learning how to sketch bodies. Specifically, it's about understanding and having knowledge of the human structure. Put in terms of English, memorizing the locations and shapes of individual bones and muscles in the human body is like memorizing vocabulary, and learning how they connect, how they work together as a continuous mass of parts like arms, legs, and hands, and the extent to which they can move as one is like learning grammar.
Drawing powerful lines and giving your strokes a personal touch is like giving a speech with an ear-catching intonation; it's an advanced technique built on a strong foundation. If your fundamentals are still iffy, you'll eventually get stuck at some point. If you feel like you're not progressing well in your art, I recommend going back to review all the bones and the muscles in the body and check how they connect. A new special edition of the Morpho: Anatomy for Artists Miniseries was recently released, which I recommend for people who draw because its compact and contains all the information you need.
You should focus on Simplified forms, and if you'd like, you can pick up Joint Forms and Muscular Functions or Hands and Feet too. After that, if you can get your hands on something that explains human proportions, you'd have enough material to serve as a good textbook for drawing. I find this miniseries really useful too, so I always keep it next to me for reference while I draw.
When I tell people to sketch and learn about the human body, a lot of the time they feel obligated to even though they're feeling down. But sketching is supposed to be something that's a lot of fun. Everyone should have some part of the human body that they like drawing. Whether it's breasts, hips, or good-looking muscles, the parts that you want to draw are the ones that you're going to get good at drawing, so have fun mastering it. I'm still learning about the structure of the human body every day too. The joy you feel when you get even slightly better is irreplaceable.
Have you gotten any advice from an editor that has left an impression on you?
I've gotten so much advice that I can't remember it anymore, but I feel like in the beginning they constantly asked me, "When it comes down to it, what is it that you want to draw?" I felt like I needed to give a proper, cool answer, so I'd give an indecipherable response.
But once I realized that wasn't me, I could cheerfully say, "I want to draw a maid! I want her to have glasses, and I want her to get along well with the head of the household!"
I've learned that oftentimes people's real, true feelings are surprisingly based on very mundane preferences, and when it comes to making manga, those are actually better sometimes. Living true to yourself is a beautiful thing.
Hope this was fun! I hope this inspires you as it did for me! There are MANY more photos in the zip, and you can see all the mark-making! Please take a look!
Ta-ta for now!
And here is my 6 ft 4 in partner next to the snow. LOL