Another (More Recent) Pic

Hi guys! After your support (thanks guys), I made a visit to the library where I was able to scan up some of my drawings. They ARE more recent than the drawings I've been posting, but I'm still wrestling with manga, so yeah....I'll get better, I promise....

Sorry about the quality. I guess the scanners at the library aren't that good. And, although we have a scanner at our house, it doesn't work..So until I find a better way, here's one picture from my second sketchbook.

This picture compares something like anime to manga. The anime thing is bad because it's chibi instead of a full figure. I whipped it up quickly, so it's not my best...T.T And the manga....The costumes are bad. My bad...Sorry...The smaller girl's hair is inked pretty badly. You can't tell from this but it's inked carelessly. Although the drawing the picture itself actually took pretty long because I did the "coloring" with pencils. Graphite drawing kit, they seem to be called...Wow. No shadows at all. I'll get better, I promise.

At least from this picture you can see the difference between manga and anime. Manga is usually filled with speed lines and weird lines that indicate action. Which I still can't do. T.T But anime, since it's more like a movie (also note that it's in color) speed lines are not really needed. There MIGHT be. But usually there aren't any.

Right now I'm working on a prologue. It's only the first draft and I'm struggling to stuff the whole prologue into one page where there are too many actions to fit into one. And I need to stuff a whole figure, a man's figure in it...

Before I worry about that, at least my paneling is SLIGHTLY better. I've scanned up a part of manga I drew before, which actually has speed lines (they're TILTED!!! waaaahhh~~~!!) and okay paneling. Again, I'm a beginner...So yeah. I'll put these up too soon. It's an excerpt from The Last Rider! (A pretty much messed up story I've ranted about in my writing blog). But in terms of paneling and story-telling technique I'm better there. In terms of speed lines and everything else...I suppose the one I'm working on is better. When I finish the prologue I'll scan them up too.

So....yeah. Okay. I'll be back soon!
(And yes, I drew that...)

Hi!! This Time With My Own Pic

Rant time!

Wow. Thinking back to this, this picture was pretty bad-drawn. Seriously. The wood on the bow looks like it's made of sponge. And, the folds look extremely unrealistic. The dress looks like a crystal on Dragonfable. (Yes, I used to play that.) And, the colors are bad.

Yeah, I won't really blame myself for the color, because the colored pencils I was using at that time was cheap, and cheap usually = bad. The colors were very dry and the colors didn't come out as easily as they should have.

First thing on my wishlist for art supplies: Prismacolor colored pencils. Those are amazing. They have very thick color...But I think colored pencils aren't meant to be used to color manga. I've seen on videos on Youtube that you can color manga with watercolor pencils. I think the maker's username was sophiechan or something. The manga that user draws is amazing.

Anyway, the whole point of this post was just to show you my starting manga. Even this, I drew months ago. It was at least a semester and a couple weeks ago, since I uploaded this on my school HTML website. Which is still there, but is pretty bad. Visit my friend Alice's school website. Hers is really cool.

Back to the point!!! So yeah. I think I've been drawing manga since at least early February of last year, which makes my manga drawing history about a little more than a year. Most likely is goes even more further back. The only reason of how I know this is because back then I used to draw my manga on scrap paper and on the last pages of my writing notebooks and stuff like that, so most of it's gone, but the ones I could find through moving (literally) was dated from way back there. So I've been drawing for a bit over a year, and hope to continue drawing.

But I think people improve the most after a year, and improvement also depends on how frequently people draw. Like Xepher said, he gets addicted to drawing manga, and so do I. for the past couple days, I haven't been getting a whole ton of internet, meaning I spent practically 80% of my time drawing manga, curled up on my wheely chair. I'm serious. For the first two weeks of summer, I was either moving heavy stuff or drawing. Ask Hamy if you don't believe me. That was literally all I was doing. Drawing. I was either moving, sleeping, enjoying the park right next to my new place, or drawing. And even in the park I was drawing.

But that was actually pretty good for me, since I improved a LOT. For example, my girls' hair has improved (by a lot), I can draw boys (somewhat, which is a lot better), and every part of my manga is getting so much better. But that doesn't mean I'm as good as Xepher or anything like that. I suck at paneling. And speed lines. And practically everything essential about that. (Another shout-out to ya and ur manga, Xepher!)

This post seems to be getting off topic all the time, so I'll go a little more off topic.
Guess what?
I'm getting a student! It's a friend of ours, especially Hamy's.
He's asking me to teach him manga, and I consented, but I'm not sure what I can teach him.

So...if there's any suggestions, just slide it in the (suggestion) comment box!

---End Rant---

Intro: This is Xepher taking over your screen

I guess Mulan has already introduced me.
Well, umm....where too start......
I LOVE to draw manga. I mean, i just cant stop drawing it, its like an addiction.
I guess that's one thing interests that me and my G-Friend share...(Less than 3 Mulan, Less than 3 ;)
I guess i'll start by posting some of my manga i drew.
I'm working on the kinks. Its all Sharpie Pens and the smell nearly killed me last night.
Right now, im interested in reading that "Maximum Ride" Manga that was made recently.
This may be one of the few posts i'll ever do in 3 months, im going out-of-country for a while.
T'was a pleasure to meet you all
So let there be Light!

Umm...that was God i was quoting. I was quoting God.

Yeah I Know

Third post of the day. That's not bad, I guess. I'm updating!! (cough cough Alice)

Just to let people know:
I'm not getting internet at home right now, so I can only get internet here, at the public library.
Please forgive me if I don't respond right away...T.T
I'll get it soon...At least in a week or so. So just please be patient while I have no connection.

That's all. I'll go and talk about Tsubasa Chronicle...

Intro: New Contributor!

Dedicated to you, Xepher!

This is our new contributor! Already had a brief intro from you in my other blog, (the one with four editors including me) so I'll just be lazy and post a link...

Link:
http://bsblog77.blogspot.com/2011/05/summer.html?showComment=1307996680093#c2787304216540466108

Update and do an intro, if you want. Looking forward to writing this blog with you!

Manga and the Japanese Culture

Recently, I've noticed this happening to me, how reading a lot of manga over the summer really does help me learn more about the Japanese culture than from reading something like textbooks.
I mean, just reading translated manga won't do a whole lot, but reading it helps me learn more. Which is really cool. I've always wanted to visit Tokyo. Or Japan. But first I gotta know more about the country and culture. (I wish I took the Japanese class in my school...)

One big example: the honorifics! I'm still confused about this so correct me, please, if I'm getting this wrong. I'm still confused what honorific goes where, but here's some. All learned from translated manga...
Knowing these will help you, because sometimes, there will be jokes made based on these (like in Angelic Layer) and you won't get it unless you know these. First, they might seem awkward but then as you read more manga, it becomes natural.

1. -chan : used for younger girls than the speaker, or girls who are familiar to the speaker, like friends or family. Or also used to boys who are close to the speaker. For example, see Angelic Layer. Tamayo calls Kotaro Kotaro-chan, whereas he wants her to call him Kotaro-kun. And Tamayo would be called Tamayo-chan.
   
2. -kun: used for boys. Boys who are lower in the social ladder than the speaker is, or are friends with. For example, in Tsubasa Chronicles (by CLAMP), Syaoran, one of the four main protagonists, is called Syaoran-kun, by those around him.
   
3. -san: used for adults, and sometimes people who might be younger than the speaker but is higher in the social ladder. For example, see Fruits Basket. Even when Akito was a child, older people around him called him Akito-san.

Of course, there are more honorifics out there. Seems to me there're too many to memorize...T.T But I'll figure it out! (Sometime)

Another smaller example: tea! It seems, especially in Fruits Basket, there's a lot about drinking tea. Maybe it's a natural thing. Have tea with guests, maybe as an enjoyed drink. Honestly, tea isn't really my favorite drink but maybe something'll change if I go to Japan. Maybe. Oh, and this isn't only in Fruits Basket. Check out this cute anime (also manga, but a little confusing regarding order) CCC. Card Captor Sakura, also by CLAMP. It's cute. My new contributor (will introduce in next blog post) told me innocent and anime don't go together, but oh well. :) But it's not that I disagree....

Right now, that's all I can think of and this post is getting long. Better go off into intros!

How to Read Manga-General and Panels

Hi, I'm back. This time with a short rant about how you're supposed to read manga...Although I'm not sure if it's necessary or not. There are a lot of people reading manga out there after all. But I wanted to update this more often and I thought, whatever!

Okay.

Japanese manga is read from right to left. Everybody's heard that before, right? But unlike American graphic novels, the panels in manga and their styles vary between artists/groups. For example, something by Clamp and something by Natsuki Takaya (author of Fruits Basket!) might be told differently, even if they were telling the same thing. Panels are the same. Different artists spread out their panels differently, so the readers just have to go along with that.

Panels are really interesting, especially with me since I kinda draw manga. I've been trying to take it piece by piece and figure it out. For example, take hair, and draw thousands (not literally) of different girl hair styles. (I can't draw guy hair T.T)

Anyway, back to the panel thing. To me, it's amazing how artists tell their stories in panels, since they can take any shape or size, zoom in or out, be open or closed, or even just take up the whole page. And did I mention how any part of anything could be portrayed in a single panel, or how something can overlap between panels, or the tone and the shading over some of them...

Overall, I think any artist that can use panels are amazing. Even just unknown ones, just practicing at home, to professionals.

Okay. Now I'm going to go back and rant about how you're supposed to read manga.
I was just reading Fruits Basket, (a post about it coming soon!) and obviously, as mentioned above, it's a Japanese manga. So, you read it from the right side of the book to the left. The panels of the pages are read that way too. From the right side of the page to the left, starting with the top right panel to the bottom left panel.

First it was confusing, but now it's a natural thing. So...try opening one next time you're in the library! (Oh, my. I sound ridiculous saying that...)

Time to Reveal My Bad Manga...

Okay, for those of you who've been following other blogs, you should have seen this post already on Mulan & Hamy & Two More blog, but I thought I should reshare it here, since it's related to manga.

This picture I drew a long time ago, but I'll just put it up anyway. Extra emphasis on LONG TIME AGO. :P Computers apparently don't like me and I don't feel like putting up with trying to correctly insert images right now, so I'll just be lazy and stick the link to my post.

Comment, but please be nice. I drew it a long time ago. Sometime soon, I'll upload one of my better drawn pics. I'm getting better. So please be nice.

Link: http://bsblog77.blogspot.com/2011/03/bad-manga-example.html

Angelic Layer Pics

This is Tamayo-chan, Kotaro-kun's long time friend and Misakichi's namer!

Icchan!! I love this dude! He's funny...XDDD

Here's a picture of Kotaro-kun.

Left is Misakichi (the nickname Tamayo gives Suzuhara-chan) and Hikaru, her angel.

Those were some pics of Angelic Layer, the manga/anime I mentioned in the post below.
These pictures are not mine, just here to get you an idea of what they are.
Again, these pictures are not mine. They are owned by whoever their original artists were!!

There are more characters in there, obviously, but this is all I'll post for now.

Angelic Layer Cont.

Here's some pics on the manga/anime, Angelic Layer.
These pics aren't mine!!! Not mine!!! But they're uploaded to familiarize people of this anime, if they're visual people.
Again, these pictures are NOT MINE.

Angelic Layer

Well, since this blog is so general, there are a lot of things to talk about...But I've decided to start out with one of manga/animes I've gone through, Angelic Layer.

Angelic Layer is an innocent shojo story, written by a group, CLAMP, composed of four Japanese manga artists (all women). It's both manga and anime; five book series of manga, I'm not sure how many episodes of anime there are.

Anyway, it's based on this girl in seventh grade, named Suzuhara Misakichi, and she lives in this world where a game called Angelic Layer is popular (Japan). While she goes to live with her aunt in Tokyo because she has not seen her mother since preschool, she watches angels battle (the game) on TV. She meets this mysterious Icchan, who helps her buy everything, including her own angel, whom she names Hikaru, and helps her learn about the rules. Along the way, she meets a preschooler, Hatoko, her older brother and classmate, Kotaro, and Tamayo, Kotaro's friend, who is obsessed with martial arts. And loves to beat up Kotaro, although he's also a martial artist...And then the plot is obvious from there, at least in the manga. I haven't watched the anime. She finds her mom, and falls in love with Kotaro, etc etc.

I would suggest this to anyone, really. Nothing nasty there. And it's by CLAMP. I love CLAMP. They've drawn stuff like Card Captor Sakura (shojo, really as you can tell by the title) and Tsubasa Chronicles, 28 books, all good, but shonen and the end gets disturbing. Anyway, yup. So for Angelic Layer, for now, that's that.

Manga, Anime, What Are They Anyway??

Okay, so I've decided to start out with some definitions...Although I really think this isn't TOO necessary as lots of people know what they are as they got more popular, worldwide.

Something I think people get confused with is the difference between manga and anime. So. What is the difference?

Manga: Manga is the term referring to printed/online graphic novels, a similar concept as western comics, only in Japanese style. When one takes a western graphic novel in one hand and a manga book in another, there is a lot of difference. Usually, a manga novel is black and white rather than in full color, like western books. Artists draw characters, background, objects differently. Characters have a major difference. Also, the size of the book itself might be different as a manga novel is usually much smaller than a western novel. Manga novels are usually in paperback, where western novels might be in hardcover and vary in size.
Take, for example, the western style graphic novel, Rapunzel's Revenge. If you're not familiar with that, then try something like Wonder Woman or Superman. These kind of graphic novels are considered western, I think. (I'm an amateur too, so don't think I'm a total expert in this.) Compare that to any manga in your library. See the difference? In manga, the panels might be distributed differently, in various shapes and sizes. There might be Japanese characters, indicating sound. Usually there is an age level marker on the back cover. And, a major difference here, manga is read from right to left!!
Okay, so I think people pretty much get the idea of what manga is.

Anime: Anime is, in a blunt way, animated manga. Everything, I think (not completely sure) is hand-drawn by hundreds of animators, so basically it's a movie, only drawn. I think most people has seen these before. (This is going to be short as I'm tired from writing all about manga.) Some examples are: Hayao Miyazaki's animations, such as Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, Howl's Moving Castle, The Castle in the Sky, Ponyo, etc, are animations. Literally. However there are other types of anime, in different forms. For example, anime can be in TV show forms, and to name a few: Card Captor Sakura, Tsubasa Chronicles (by Clamp), Fruits Basket, etc. (All pretty cute ones, except for Tsubasa Chronicles where the final two parts get messed up, confusing. So Tsubasa Chronicles is an example of a shonen (not bothering with accents here) manga/anime.

Yes, on that note, a story can be in both manga and anime. All the animes mentioned after Hayao Miyazaki's animations are both. Which is nice, really. It's too bad that sometimes, in anime, they cut out good scenes from the manga. But then again, you can't really blame them as I can't imagine drawing thousands of scenes just for one episode...
Yeah.
I'll just end here before I sound overly obsessed with this...

About this blog

Hi. I'm Mulan.
Although blogging is not one of my specialties, this became my third blog!

If you want to visit my other blogs, here are their links:
Mulan & Hamy & Two Others
Mulan's Writing Blog


Okay, so back to this blog.

This blog will be about manga and anime (basically what the title says).
For those of you who do not know what the above are, the next blog post will be about some vocab...Not that very many people will need to know about that. More on that later.

I kind of draw some PRETTY BAD manga/anime, so sometimes, I will post my own pics up when I can. Although I'm not that good at it, it's fun to try. So there.

Some other stuff this blog will contain is stuff about or from manga and animes out there that are some favorites of mine. Feel free to comment and let me know of any other great manga/animes through comments, as long as they are appropriate. I always like feedback!

Also, this blog is a tribute to just manga and anime. This, meaning, that ANYTHING that has to do with either category is welcome here. For example, great manga cuts, images (black and white or color), drawing equipment (which are good and which are bad), how-to-draw books, good sketchbooks to use, to even funny AMVs and great soundtrack. You guys get the idea here, right? So comment and please contribute!


Enjoy! (And seriously, plz contribute, help make this a great blog.)

FIRST!!! PLZ READ!!!

Disclaimer

IMPORTANT: I did not draw this picture, I do not own this image, I do not have ANY credit to the background image. This image is NOT MINE AT ALL.

Again, this image is NOT MINE AT ALL.