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| What
is your definition of "art?" |
| Art, if you want to compartmentalize
it, really refers to things that evoke emotional responses from other people.
In a sense, it can work in one way to communicate specific emotions, or can be
more experimental in that you don't know what the responses people will have to
it till others see it. Comic art is more specific – I'm trying to communicate
specific things, and all the art in a comic makes up the totality of it. |
| What
is your motivation and or inspiration? |
| Life in general. ^_^ One of
the things that people like about anime and manga is that it sort of deals more
with the normalcy of life and its problems. Sure, there are crazy things that
happen, here and there, but really, it's all about the in-between days. People
need things to connect to, to identify with, and entertainment is where much of
this support comes from. I feel that people who endeavor to entertain people really
have a responsibility to understand their audiences and understand that sometimes
you actually can help them through their day. It's always good to be able to look
at bad things that happen as at least being good story material, no matter how
bad or good it is. |
| What
kind of formal art training do you have? |
| None. I'm an architect
by trade, and I've never taken any drawing classes. I learned whatever pathetic
skills I have on my own. That's one reason why I am wary of putting up lessons
–I don't want to teach people my bad habits. |
| How
do you overcome mental blocks and or get past negative criticism? |
| Honestly, that's the hardest
thing to deal with when you do art or anything artistic – anyone can draw
or be creative when the mood takes you, but what do you do when you aren't in
the mood, or you feel down about your work? That's where learning to turn on creativity
like a switch is important. It's what separates inspiration from talent. Its like
a muscle – you can train it, if you work hard at it. |
| What
is your favourite piece of art that you have created? Why? |
| Tough question – I tend
to look at the stuff I've done based on how well it contains and communicates
the emotional ideas behind it. The Pirogoeth drawing, even the original I did,
is one of the best in this, but I really like the most recent Piro and Kimiko
sketch I did. Somehow I just nailed the personalities of those two in that drawing,
and the relationship between them. It's my fave right now. |
| What
do you think is the most stressful part of being an artist? |
| Self doubt, self-criticism,
expectations people have of you, and not wanting to let people down. It's a lot
of stress, especially when you expect yourself to deliver something really good
3 times a week. |
| If
you were not an artist, what would you be doing (professionally speaking)? |
| Heh. Architecture, which is
what I should be doing, instead of messing with this comic stuff. |
| Which
do you prefer – designing architecture or creating manga/ anime style art?
Why? |
| Anime/manga style art. Why?
Because it's a better vehicle for what I want to do – communicate ideas and
emotions and whatnot. Architecture does this, and is very sophisticated in this
respect – it too can [affect] a lot of people on a daily basis, because the
buildings you build people work in and live in everyday. But the nature of what
I want to communicate can't really be done in that medium, which is why I work
so hard at this 'hobby' of mine. |
| What
impact does being a professional architect as well as running a web comic have
on your life (socially or otherwise)? |
| No free time. No time to just
kick back and relax and watch TV now and then. I haven't played any games in ages.
Someone once asked me how I managed to play all those games and work and do the
comic, because they were having problems getting drawings done. And I said it's
easy, I don't play the games. I don't think they liked the answer ^_^ Doing stuff
like this requires a commitment, and yes, there are sacrifices – but for
me, I enjoy the results, so its worth the work. |
| How
much do you think your own identity permeates into your artistic creations? |
| Way too much. It's part of
why I am so sensitive to criticism about it. It's way too big a chunk of my soul
to trust with the public. |
| What
do you think makes you stand out amongst other artists (as an architect and or
as a manga web comic artist)? |
| Nothing. I fully expect to
be blown away by some young upstart any day now. The only thing I am doing is,
well, just doing it and sticking to it. That's it. |
| As
an artist, have you ever felt like giving up on your career? If so, what made
you go on? |
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Sure, I'd love to go full time with this, but you have to be realistic to your
commitments in life. If it got to the point I could be secure and live off of
MT, that'd be great, I will probably do it.
As for art as a career, I would never have [chosen] it. I don't want to draw
what other people want me to draw – I want to draw what I want to draw. You
can't do it as a career unless you are willing to do that.
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| How
similar are you to your character (Piro) in the MegaTokyo web comic? |
| The line between me and him
is blurry on purpose. There is a lot of me in him, and then again he has a lot
of things that are just him. I want it to be vague – we are the same, but
we are different. |
| Stylistically,
architecture and your web comic are likely very different. How else are they different? |
| Actually, they are more similar
than different. Doing a comic is similar to doing construction documents. You
have to communicate a lot of information on a floor plan or whatnot to contractors
so they know what to build. It's a lot like telling a story with all the information
needed to do it. Same with comics. Also, some of my penciling techniques are not
unusual in architecture at all – the pencil shading, for instance. |
| Who
is/are your favourite artist(s)? |
| God, I dunno. I have many.
Off the top of my head I would say that my inspiration has come from Yuzo Takada
(3x3 Eyes), Koge Donbo (DigiCharat), Akamatsu Ken (Love Hina), Matsumoto Izumi
(Kimagure Orange Road), Kosuke Fujishima (Oh My Goddess) Masakazu Katsura (Video
Girl Ai), to name just a few. |
| Do
you have any mentors? If so, who? |
| Well, a few – but not
really in this field. My biggest support comes from my girlfriend, Sarah. |
| What
do you think is the best way for someone to learn and or improve artistically? |
| To work hard, draw all the
time, and be honest and forward looking about your own work. You have to like
what you do, even if it needs work, and always work on ways to make it better.
The trick is to DO it, don't be afraid to waste paper and pens and ink or anything.
Production is the key – its how you find your own style |
| What
advice would you give to an aspiring artist? |
| Basically just to draw and
create, and don't let anything get in the way of it. You think football players
are tough? Not at all. When we were kids, we all used to draw all the time. Why
do we stop drawing? Simple, because we don't want to give other kids another thing
to judge us by – to pick on us. It takes a lot of inner strength to be an
artist. You have faith in what you want to say? Don't let anyone or anything keep
you from saying it. And don't [think] it will be easy, its a lotta work ^_^ |
| What
do you think about the "starving artist" cliché? |
| It's bullshit, if you will
pardon my statement. ^_^ How can you really be creative if you are struggling
to survive? No one's vision can be honestly and truly portrayed if you are worrying
where your next meal is coming from. Get yourself settled in life, keep yourself
stable and well employed, do art on the side – because then it can be your
passion, not your bane. Sleep is overrated anyway :) |
| When
did you sell your first piece of art? |
| Haven't yet. Well, I guess
some of my stuff has been purchased at some anime auctions. I don't like the idea
of selling original art tho. I don't think it has any more value than the blank
sheet of paper I started with. After all, I can always make more. I think its
a rip charging people lots of money for things you create – but I'm kinda
weird that way |
| Do
you still like any of the works from when you first started out as an artist? |
|
Yes, I do, actually. Funny thing about communicating feelings – sometimes
a drawing can be technically a mess, but somehow the message gets thru. Art isn't
about skill; it's about passion and driving forward your message. I think people
who want to draw need to remember that.
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