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Christopher Hart's latest blog posts
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8:02 AM PDT, April 24, 2008
Greetings, cartooning, manga and comics warriors! Just back from the New York City Comicon. This show is just getting bigger and bigger. It’s certainly one of the biggest cons, second only to San Diego. Lots of artists’ signings. People in storm trooper outfits and other costumes. Mostly American style, but also manga comics. The sophisticated sculptures of action heroes is increasing in popularity. These figurines are really amazing. Reminds me of the character sculptures that animators use to stay on model.
I hope you’ll be sure to check out my newest books, which are on sale now on Amazon: “Drawing the New Adventure Cartoons,” Cartooning: The Ultimate Character Design Book” and “Manga Mania: Romance.”
I’ve been getting emails lately, asking how to get published. Yeah, I know it seems like a mystery. But I think I can give a few pointers. First of all, there are a lot of ambitious young people who want to see their work in print – right now. But if you’re 14, 15 or 16, it’s really better to hone your craft and wait until your art has matured somewhat. Remember, you’re going to be competing with people who have been doing this professionally for over a decade.
If high school art class is unsatisfying, then going to a community arts center is an ambitious way to lift your skill level. When I was 16, I used to go to the Cartoonist’s Union offices in Studio City, California, for their life drawing classes.
Some community art centers are now even teaching manga. But if they’re not, take general art, or figure drawing, and apply what you’ve learned to your personal style, which may be manga, action heroes, or cartoons. The basic principles apply across the board, even if the styles are different. You can always get the tips you need on the styles you like through my books.
For adults, check out the continuing education classes in art at your local colleges. You often find excellent art teachers at the dedicated art colleges. Going a couple of times a week can really improve your drawing.
And for everyone starting out, go to the comicons. There are cons all over the country. Bring your artwork, and schedule some time to get you work seen at the portfolio reviews by the editors of the publications you’d like to work for.
And for manga artists, check out Tokyo Pop’s “Rising Stars of Manga” contest. Some big talents have been launched through it.
Cartoonists may wish to join their local chapter of the NCS (National Cartoonist’s society). Animation enthusiasts will want to join ASIFA, the international society for animation. Children’s book artists have the SCBWI (Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators).
I hope that helps! For some free tutorials on manga, cartoons and comics, check out my website at www.chrishartbooks.com.
2:18 AM PST, December 11, 2007
Your intrepid reporter (me) just got back from the New York Anime Festival at the Jacob Javitz Center. New York is a weird town, and in any other city, people dressed up like super goths for Cosplay would raise eyebrows. But here, the locals just thought they were from Greenwich Village.
As I worked past the Sailor Moon look-alikes, cat girls and other anthros, I made it into the sanctuary of manga. And yes, although it says "Anime Festival," it appeared that manga was king.
Stopped by Tokyo Pop and spoke to a few editors at length. Then I moved onto Del Rey, where I saw a large poster for my upcoming graphic novel, "The Reformed." It's a story about a dark and brooding vampire who falls in love with a human he was about to kill. It's written by me. My partner, Anzu, an Asian manga artist, has just finished illustrating it.
Then it was off to Artist's Alley, which, I must confess, had a few highlights, but was generally somewhat disappointing. Yes, I know fan art is fun to draw, but when an artist concentrates almost exclusively on fan art, he or she becomes good at copying favorite characters, but not a good manga artist. For example, the Rising Star of Manga got their start not by drawing something already published, for Tokyopop, but by coming up with something original, from their own heads. When I asked to see the original art in these artists' portfolios, it was far below their fan art level.
There was tons of merchandise available. If you had a personal shortage of small, squeezable, furry toys, this was the place to be.
I especially liked the smaller booths. There are tons - TONS - of smaller independent publishers of great manga coming up -- as well as Japanese publishers who are now making inroads into the U.S. market. Look for them to shake things up in the next few years. If they bring out new material, with a new angle, I believe they can survive. If they try to simply copy the big boys who already dominate the field, I think they'll get stomped on.
Okay, that's your mini-tour. Hope you liked it. You can always visit my website for more stuff, at WWW.CHRISHARTBOOKS.COM
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