One of my favorite things about Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (vs the original anime) is how much they pulled directly from the manga. They utilized a lot of Hiromu Arikawa’s artwork and also have all of the same goofiness of the manga. Very fun.
Here’s a study I did of the anime vs the manga. This is episode 3 of the FMA Brotherhood anime, and chapter 1 and 2 of the manga.
I just got back from Comic Con in Salt Lake City and it was pretty much amazing. Well, the first day was a little not amazing, but only because we had to stand in line for four hours. …FOUR HOURS! It was a kind of awful, but as soon as we got inside, I was in nerd-heaven. It was basically wonderful to see that many people selling art and geeky goods, and to be able to go to panels with artists and writers I’ve been a fan of for ages!
So, here 3 reasons why I can’t wait to go to Comic Con again:
1: The Panels
The panels were really awesome; so awesome that I pretty much thought that they were all too short. It was really neat to be able to hear from authors like James A. Owen and Brandon Mull. Basically, I learned that authors and artists are even cooler in person! I was able to get advice straight from the mouths of these very wise sages.
And then there was Brandon Sanderson. As in THE Brandon Sanderson. He read a portion of his novel to us that won’t even come out until next year.It was so cool that I just want to completely overuse words like “cool,” “awesome,” and “amazing.”
2: The Costumes
Many of the costumes were… too cool for words. I mean, look at this Team Rocket duo. Come on, right? SO cool!
And this family just had my heart. I loved their costumes so much, I even got my picture taken with them. Sir, you’re raising your kids right. That’s all I can say.
3. Meeting the Creative Masterminds
My absolute favorite part of Comic Con was being able to buy things directly from their creators. It was so neat to be able to buy books from their authors, and art from the artists. I loved how friendly they were! The artist of the book pictured above was especially friendly. His name is Travis Hanson and as soon as my husband and I stopped by his table, he asked us what we’d like him to sketch for us. It turns out he does free sketches for anyone who stops at his table, drawing them on the back of cards with some of his art and information on them. SO smart! We ended up talking to him for at least half an hour, and he gave me advice on illustration and encouraged me to follow my dreams.
I came away from comic con feeling a major boost in creativity and motivation. Thank you to all those artists, writers, and comickers who were so kind and awesome. You’ve definitely made a fan out of me.
This will be my last Style Study post about Hiromu Arakawa, and today it’s all about hands! What artists doesn’t (even if in the past) have trouble with hands? Here are some tips bout how to draw and simplify hands.
I really love how Arakawa shades the digits of the hands. It’s just gorgeous. Merging the top 2 digits of the finger is just so interesting to me. It just looks nice. Of course, it’s better when the hand is in a dynamic position rather than when it’s relaxed. That’s probably why Arakawa does it so much with Scar.
And that’s it for my Hiromu Arakawa series! Next, I’m doing to be redrawing and studying the art of Rei Toma, Artist of the manga Dawn of the Arcana.
I have always loved how Hiromu Arakawa has illustrated heads and faces. She adds this drama to her faces which is just awesome!
1. Dramatic Head angles
2. Dramatic mouths
I’m a little timid when it comes to mouths. I am heavily influenced by anime, but one trait I haven’ figured out yet is how to make a mouth dramatic while still making it look… well, good. I’m always afraid of making my characters look cheesy. It’s just a block I need to get over. Whew! Tanya, be brave!
Here’s some examples by Hiromu Arakawa, taken from Fullmetal Alchemist and Hero Tales. She has really figured out the art of using big dramatic mouths not just for humor, but for dramatic and serious situations as well. PS: You can probably tell that I love Hughes’ face. I just…like to look at that giant frown of his, haha.
3. Manly Faces
I…. just adore the ultra manly faces that Arakawa draws. They are just… so satisfying to look at. Like, I just love them and am so jealous of how easily it seems that she draws them. I could go on about it forever, but… enough said.
Thanks for reading part 3!
While studying the art of Hiromu Arakawa for my Style Challenge, there were two things regarding to paneling that I noticed and liked.
1. When doing long/wide shots, the sum of the parts is more important than any detail.
I noticed that Arakawa doesn’t worry about making any detail look totally crisp and rendered. Rather, she focuses on conveying message. If that massage gets across, then it doesn’t mater if every single tiny figure is as detailed as those shown in close-up shots.
Here are some images that I scanned in from the first three volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist
If you look relly close, it’s amazing how simle she leaves the forms of these characters. Look at little-itty-bitty Armstrong?
And yet, the scene still speaks to me, and conveys the right message. Armstrong’s lack of rendering doesn’t matter to me. If I followed Arakawa’s example, then I would save a lot of time.This is easier when you are not working digital. When I have the option to zoom in and render every detail, i usually do it. When my comic page s finished and re-sized, can I see all those details? No, but I spent the time on them anyway.
This is something I want to do for long shots from now on. Focus more on the composition and the overall feel rather than every little detail.
2. If showing something in a panel isn’t giving us any new information, then why show it at all?
This is something I noticed Arakawa do early on in volume 1. There are times, usually when characters are conversing, that there may not be a lot of changes in characters face or posture. You really don’t want to show them with the same expression twice, so what do you do? This is one answer.
Instead of trying to cram all the text into one panel, you can place it int another panel and then focus on something other than the characters’ faces! This might mean showing their body language, like clenched fists, or nervously tapping feet. Or it could mean focusing on their surroundings, as Arakawa did above. If she had given us more of those same expressions, we wouldn’t have learned anything new. However, by focusing on a detail of the surroundings, we gain new insight about Cornello and his opulent lifestyle.
One of my favorite anime shows, Steins;Gate, did this frequently. As a sci-fi, there were often a lot of technical things to be discussed. Instead of constantly focusing on the characters’ faces, it would frequently focus on details of their surroundings while they talked. This helped us to get to know their world better. It gave the show a sense of emotion and real-ness that it wouldn’t have had otherwise.
These are just 2 of the things I’ve learned from Hiromu Arakawa! More to come!
When I decided to work on the Style Development Challenge, I instantly knew that one of the artists I would study was Hiromu Arakawa, most famously known as the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist. I have adored her style and characters ever since I first heard of FMA. And you can’t overlook the awesomeness of how she draws herself as a bespectacled cow. Seriously.
For this challenge, I decided to copy images straight out of the three volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist that I own. I chose amix of characters, but focused mainly on images I thought could teach me something. Some of these images are ones I looked out and thought, “Wow, how can I learn how to draw something that cool without looking at a picture?”
Doing this study has helped me a lot. It helped me to think of things I want to do with my style and deliberate choices that I want to make. Though I will never work in quite such a manga style as Hiromu Arakawa, There is so much I can still learn from her and her art and comics. What an incredible artist.
Next Post: I’ll talk specifically about what I’ve learned from doing this study and what I’m gong to start implementing into my art!
Pushing Character Design
I was recently taught an important lesson by my illustration teacher. He told me that in order to give my cast of characters more diversity, I need to push each of their designs a little further. They have aspects that set them apart from one another, and I need to take those and run with them.
Character design is important, independent from the skill level an artist has at illustrating people. I own one volume of The Gentlemen’s Alliance by Arina Tanemura. If you’ve read any of this manga, you know that her art is gorgeous. She has a fantastic style, flow and her use of screen tones is beautiful. However, there were times while reading where I would get characters mixed up. The main character and her best friend look incredibly similar when they make certain expressions, as do the main character’s love interest and her little brother.
I loved her art, but needing to reread a certain passage or compare characters to figure out what’s going on was jarring.
Distinct Characters
A series that is phenomenal at character design is the Avatar series. While watching Legend of Korra with my husband, it was fun to look at Mako and Bolin, and observe just how different they are. Though they are brothers, their eyes, nose, jaw, hair, and especially their body shape are very different. If Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino could make two brothers look so different, then we know that we have tons of room to push our characters to look more unique.
My Challenge: Redesign Characters that are too Similar
In order to give my cast of characters more visual power, I need to make each more dynamic and unique from the others. Mango is lithe and thin, whereas Kay is a little broader. I need to make Kay broader and Mango lither. What sets Kaipo apart is his child-like features. I need to make him even more childlike, especially in his face. I’ve already pushed Araya when I chose to broaden her hips, so now I just need to work with her outfit.
I have a long way to go, but I’m going to keep making breakthroughs, because that’s one of the joys and adventures of being an artist. I hope that those of you who are working with characters you love will keep working until you have the perfect character designs as well.
I decided to make a series of posts about “Great Character Design,” talking about artists who have created characters whose appearance and design is spot on. There’s so much good stuff out there, and there are so many talented artists to learn from!
The first characters I want to look at are from a manga series called “Tegami Bachi,” which translates to “Letter Bee”. This is a really charming series with an amazing premise, fascinating setting and truly gorgeous characters. While reading, I often find myself just staring. The stark black and white style used for most of the characters is really appealing and gives a little oomph to their appearance.
Here are some images the artists, Hiroyuki Asada, put between chapters.
These two main characters, Lag Seeing and Niche, just blow me away. Their outfits (along with those of the rest of the characters) are so intricate and interesting to look at. So pretty…
Another thing I love is how well their appearance supports their personality. Niche’s expressions almost never change. She’s sort of like a cat in that regard, and indeed, there’s something very feral about her behavior. She’s a really fun character because of that.
That’s all for our first Character Design session! For anyone else who is a fan of Tegami Bachi, who is your favorite character, and what do you like about their design?