This post will cover the format of my story and the art style it will follow.
After planning the story and deciding on the structure, I needed to decide on the format. My first thought was a digital comic as I am a fan of works of Junji Ito as well as the format in general.
I first started by drawing out various character faces and comic panels on paper to see how the format would work. I quickly stopped this though as I was drawing it all from imagination. The video 3 STEPS TO INSTANTLY FIND YOUR STYLE| NEVER draw from IMAGINATION! by Ethan Becker (2020) details why not to draw from imagination and instead take inspiration from other artists, combining elements from their style to land upon one yourself. After watching this I looked back at the work of Junji Ito and decided I would attempt to draw characters in his style.
Though Junji Ito’s various manga are the inspiration behind using the comic/manga format. I found that attempting to draw in his style was harder than anticipated. Though I am able to draw characters from his manga, creating my own characters using the style was extremely hard. The characters I created came out looking bland and emotionless.
Having completely failed to draw in the style of Junji Ito, I was stuck as I didn’t know where to go. After watching a YouTube video by Yuuike (2016) giving tips to new digital artists, I realized that my drawing didn’t have to be the most detailed illustrations ever and that I was just overthinking the entire thing instead of just getting to it.
Another manga, though of a different genre, I am a fan of is One-Punch Man (2008). This is a digital manga written and drawn by One. One’s art is very simplistic compared to that of Junji Ito; regardless of simplicity the characters in One-Punch Man (2008) are all extremely distinctive. Even in the most chaotic panels, characters are still able to be identified by their distinctive features.
I drew out a few faces inspired by One’s style and they came out far better than my attempts with Junji Ito’s style.
Reference:
Ethan Becker (2020) 3 STEPS TO INSTANTLY FIND YOUR STYLE| NEVER draw from IMAGINATION! Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEvMHRgPdyk [Accessed 28/10/2022]
Ito, J (1987) Tomie [Manga] Available online: https://mangareader.to/read/tomie-1336/en/chapter-1 (Site Visited: 28/10/2022)
One (2009) One-Punch Man [Manga] Available online: http://galaxyheavyblow.web.fc2.com/ {Accessed: 28/10/2022]
Yuuike (2016) [HOW TO MAKE MANGA Pt.1] – 6 Tips to Get You Started! [Youtube Video] Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO05hUEXRDQ [Accessed: 28/10/2022]