chooky

Test Post

admin — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 10:32:59 +0000

This is a test post, if you are reading this then XML-RPC is working

Test Post

admin — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 10:31:26 +0000

This is a test post, if you are reading this then XML-RPC is working

8 Steps To Draw Manga Properly

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 20:01:14 +0000

Let me ask you a question. Are you a big fan of manga or Japanese animation? If so, have you fulfilled what you plan to do or still struggling to come up with your own drawings. If so, you are not alone as that was me as well when I first started out 22 years ago. With that said, here are my 8 steps to draw manga properly. 1. A4 Size White Paper Firstly, get an A4 size white paper. They are easy to get in bookstores and manga bookshops. You can either get a drawing block which if you can remember drawing as a kid during school days or pieces of paper packaged together. Although Japanese started out drawing on card boards, you do not need to start that way since paper is available in abundance. I suggest having at least 4-5 drawing blocks of A4 size white paper. 2. Markers, Pencils, Poster Colors And Rulers This are the other set of essential tools you need to have. For markers, I recommend Pilot Drawing Pens with the tip thickness of about 0.2mm. Though there are other markers, this is what I used frequently as they are always available and hence easier to obtain from my local bookstores be it in towns or cities. But do not draw with markers right away. Instead trace them after you have done pencil sketches. For pencils, I highly recommend mechanical ones. Though they cost more with separate supplies of pencil leads, they are well worth the price as conventional pencils and sharpeners may not always complement each other in creating quality drawings. To add color to your drawings, get both colored pencils and poster colors if you have to with filler trays, thin and thick brushes. For rulers, get both short and long ones. The short is for drawing smaller objects like swords, rifles, knives, guitars, guns and boxes while the long is for designing ships, robots, cars and battlecruisers. 3. DVD, Comic And Magazines Although those costs money, they are still the essential tools you need to create a great story with great drawings. Unless you are a creative storyteller and artiste by nature, you need an abundant collection of manga dvds, comics and magazines for both inspiration and creating a mental mindmap in remembering the manga characters most common features, expressions and characteristics. Such as their big eyes, colourful hair, different forms and moods etc. 4. Create Your Story Begin by writing your story. I do not know about you but I usually get a collection of ideas after watching numerous manga shows and reading comics. Such as Mobile Suit Gundam, Macross, Robotech. I started off with 1 article but as my ideas expanded, I created more articles which ultimately formed into a booklet and then a book with each article as its chapter. At this point, do not think of drawing just yet. Just think of how to write your story and make it better from there. 5. Sketch All Characters On Each Page Once you have your story in place, try sketching all your story characters on each separate page. At the same time refer back to your comics and graphic magazines for reference and remembering better without copying. The first page should be the character standing and in normal mode while the next should be their variety of different expressions based on their moods. Begin by drawing basic shapes like circles and oval shapes for their heads and bodies before further adding hair, faces and clothes they wear. This should be for humans and animals. For weapons and machines, use squares, rectangles and triangles as starting points. Doing all these will take about 1-2 weeks to fine tune everything based on experience and depending on number of characters you have in your story. 6. Scan And Photocopying All Your Drawings To avoid your drawings from getting lost or spoilt, make multiple scans and photocopies of all your drawings through your PC and printed paper so that you do not have to draw everything from scratch and save a lot of time as well. 7. Trace And Color Your Drawings Doing both of these will take about 3-4 weeks as you not only have to trace over pencil sketches but color your drawings with different tones of light and shadow. 8. Binding Once you are done with everything, bind all your works. Relax for a day. Then go back to your works and see if there are improvements needed to be made.

Girls In Japanese Animation

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:33:42 +0000

From 1990, girls have been featured as both protagonists and antagonists in most Japanese animation shows. Yet they have proven themselves to be smarter with their charm and being perceived as weaker species. Those serve as their weapons which helped to overcome obstacles and get them what they want. That was very different from the mangas in the 1950s to 1980s when they played one-dimensional supporting roles such as damsels in distress and doing everything they are told by men. Now they are more independent and capable than anyone may think. Instead of men saving women, it is now the other way round when they saw their men being abused and beaten up by their own kind. Examples of such animation shows are Apple Seed Ex Machina by John Woo and Shinji Aramaki as well as Silent Mobius by Kia Asamiya. Silent Mobius is especially memorable to me when the main character Katsumi Liqeur plays both protagonist and antagonist when she fell to the dark side after her boyfriend Roys death on the eve of their marriage. Other than Katsumi, Kia also focuses on developing other supporting characters in an all-women police force. Leader Rally Cheyenne, her second-in-command Mana Isozaki, tomboy Kiddy Penne, girl with psychic powers Yuki Saiko, socceress warrior Lum Cheng and IT analyst Lebia Maverick. In spite of their unique abilities, they are very much human. They made mistakes and have mood swings occasionally. Yet the way they managed their problems is much better than men most of the time. What amazes me is that Kia has a great understanding of women despite being man himself. This is apparent in the way his Silent Mobius characters argued, communicate and ultimately work together against a common adversary to achieve peace for the society. Besides Silent Mobius, Dark Angel, Compiler and Accelerator are his other trademarks of having women as main characters. I also like Apple Seed Machina. In the story, main character Deunan pulls herself together from a trauma of losing her boyfriend Briareos from humanity to accepting him as reborn cyborg. Yet when Briareos is wounded again, she faces the same dilemma when her new partner looks exactly like her boyfriends former human self. On the whole, the contrasting personalities and traits of different girls are created with the authors objective to make the story more realistic and engaging to the audience as compared to conventional guy saves girl action shows.

Girls In Japanese Animation

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:30:38 +0000

Girls In Japanese Animation

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:29:34 +0000

Girls In Japanese Animation

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:28:52 +0000

Girls In Japanese Animation

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:28:17 +0000

Girls In Japanese Animation

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:28:00 +0000

Pixilation Animation

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:23:22 +0000

Not all animation is done by hand. Many animations are done using different techniques, and in animation school, one of the most popular was pixilation animation. While somewhat similar to stop motion animation, pixilation often uses live actors and objects and sometimes other forms of animation, such as Claymation into its fun filled mix. Pixilation uses the technique of shooting one frame at a time, just like in like stop motion and is primarily used with live actors. While it sounds easy enough, it can be a rather time consuming process, as you have to keep things like continuity in mind. If youre filming something outside, you want make sure the lighting is consistent and that theres no differentiation in the actual photography. The overall effect can be a rewarding exercise and if youre in animation school, its a good way to play around and get a feel for it. Say youre shooting a sequence where two people are walking across a field. You want to shoot one frame, then have them walk maybe about a foot, then shoot another frame, all the while repeating the process until they cross to the end. When reviewing the animation, itll look as if theyve bounced across the field rather quickly in just a few seconds, giving the actors the appearance of puppets. Try the same thing using actors walking down a busy street, and youll see how the characters, as well as others in the background, bounce all over the pace and how it makes for a startling effect. Pixilation is a great way for students in animation school to get a grasp not only of the genres many possibilities, but also how to experiment with the camera. Pixilation uses the same breakdown as does most other forms of animation. Theres usually a storyboard involved with sketches on how the action should progress. If youre in animation school and trying this for the first time, its a good way to get a grasp of how pixilation works. You might make a few mistakes, but the end result can be really cool looking and serve as a great learning opportunity as your style progresses over time. Pixilation has existed since the early days of filmmaking, with the oldest known use of it in the short Spanish film El hotel eléctrico in 1908. Since then, its been an extremely popular form of animation that has appeared in film, television commercials and music videos. In fact, many celebrated filmmakers have flirted with pixilation, such as Norman McLaren, The Brothers Quay, and Mike Jittlov, with the best known being Czech animator Jan Svankmajer, whos created many surrealistic animated films and influenced many animators and filmmakers. While the general technological approach to pixilation has remained the over the decades, probably the greatest use of it appears in the critically acclaimed Sledgehammer video by singer Peter Gabriel that combines elements of Claymation and stop motion animation. This particular video is ruthlessly inventive, featuring Gabriel in live action and in animated form surrounded by a myriad of objects. Its breezy five-minute running time cannot mask the fact that it took perhaps months to create, due to its complex fusion of live action and Claymation. Watching this particular video in animation school, as well as seeing it countless times on MTV, still remains a visual smorgasbord. Its inventive use of rapid paced imagery, especially the dancing chickens, has inspired numerous filmmakers and animators since it first appeared in 1986.