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Final Reflection

If anyone had told me I would be learning how to create comics by a professional manga artist, I would not have believed them. Yet, at the end of a semester-long internship, I am still amazed at my predicament and the strides and experiences I have made for myself, developing and honing my passion to become a mangaka. Through Maekawa sensei’s instruction and socializing with other students, I gained a wide wealth of technical skill and perspectives which allowed me to grow both as an artist as well as a human being.

Over this semester, I have gained an understanding of Clip studio, learned how to effectively use a tablet pen, practice Japanese, made new friends, filled a humble portfolio with projects, crafted my own story and artwork into a physical, tangible piece of media, learned the lifestyle and work ethic of manga artist, learned the process of printing, established outlets for social media, created my first business card, attended my first convention as a vendor, and made a record of my journey in the form of tumblr posts. Looking back on everything, I can say that I did a lot and learned a lot in these several months. The paths to growth and accomplishments were not easy and I have made some sacrifices along the way. To remain focused on my work I limited my social interactions and outside life to the point where I would only think about my projects, eating, sleeping, and work. I left some friends alone for the entire semester and made necessary cuts in ties to maintain my diligence and health of mind, but in the end I feel it paid off; the feeling of setting one’s mind on something and going out to achieve it is incredibly gratifying. Having done everything I did, I firmly believe that one can accomplish much when they find the right motivation to do it. I feel that not only did I find a great motivation, but an amazing teacher.

In my 20+ years of living in Hawaii, I never once had a mentor to learn from. I can say that having a mentor like Maekawa makes all the difference in how effectively one can learn and improve their craft. Although I periodically learned my craft on my own, I never had any urgency. I learned what I thought was interesting the way I normally taught myself. Although I did improve, it took discipline and was easy to shirk and I eventually ceased learning for a while because I reached my goal with nothing new to go on. A mentor like Maekawa gives one incentive to keep progressing as an artist, gradually pushing for improvement with potential that could otherwise be left underdeveloped and unmotivated. Having access to prior experience, a dedicated student can quickly hone their craft with someone to guide them and provide insight on any shortcomings to improve on as well as a provide new goals to push the boundaries of self-imposed limits. I saw Maekawa’s lessons as a gateway into his 20+ years as a manga artist, using his experiences to better future generations from what he witnessed and learned firsthand to those who wished to take it to heart.

Working with other artists was a mix of excitement, belonging, but also the occasional annoyance. Meeting others who share your interest is great as it instantly provides an outlet for conversation and usually artists share similar hobbies. The group I worked with who are from UH Manoa are generally nice and inclusive. Although a bit awkward, they were a lot of fun to hang out with and learn together. Working together as a group was still a bit rough because not all personalities, regardless of interests, always see eye to eye. Also, upbringing, values, ambitions and other aspects make people diverse and unique. I may not always agree with others, but I must make it a point to respect their beliefs and feelings. I have not fully grasped this yet, but I am trying to be less curt and socially distant with others. Me being thick skinned (and thick-headed) thinks this will still take a while, but at least I am trying.

Diligence is the key to results

This internship gave me a great incentive to move forward and do everything I wanted to accomplish but just left on the back burner for the longest time. With all these goals having been accomplished, I am now turning to new horizons, continuing tutelage under Maekawa sensei. I still seek refinement in my craft and I feel Maekawa enjoys watching me mature as an artist. As of the end of this internship, I will currently be working on practicing various art styles to build upon my own. I will also continue to work on stories for new comics and artwork to refine my writing and line delivery. Maekawa is also thinking about setting up a school for manga artists and I want to stick around to give him a hand if necessary. Likewise, our group is also planning to go to Comic Market in the winter of 2020 to sell our works in the largest comic convention in Japan (500,000 people in 3 days) to give us a taste of the world of amateur and professional mangaka. Though this is the end of my internship, I feel this is only the beginning of something greater.

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reflection for 5/3

For the final week of this semester, I have been tying up any loose ends I may have for this internship. I met with my mentor, Maekawa sensei to discuss our future plans. He has submitted my evaluation both via email and through postal service, and I will continue to learn from him throughout the summer. I also put together my Behance portfolio with my works created throughout this internship and compiled my stated hours from tumblr posts into a simplified spreadsheet format.

Looking at all the work I have compiled, I really have done a lot this semester. I remember when I did not have a single piece to place in a portfolio, but throughout my internship, it gradually transformed into a timeline of my progress and stepping stones of improvement. I still have a long way to go in becoming a competent artist, but seeing how far I have come, all that is left to do is move forward and build upon what I currently know. For my time log, I learned that I need to also improve my time management skills to keep my workflow a reasonable pace. Although I am told I work well under pressure, it is still should not be an excuse to reinforce poor life choices such as procrastination. The time I spent on these projects have also allowed me to understand how I think when developing ideas and concepts.Reflecting and planning helps straighten my ideas out for upcoming projects, but I learned I take too long on this process when I really need more time in the actual ‘doing’ process. Quick decision making is also needed when those long, thought out plans fall short in certain areas.

There is much to talk about the different aspects of my internship which I wish to compile in my my final reflection.

Time spreadsheet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mxbcFud_B1ydD_J9cRq0KBuomi395coZyNkAXb05dQ4/edit?usp=sharing

behance

https://www.behance.net/gallery/75218125/Internship-with-Maekawa

[snarkastic-blog1]

reflection for 4/26

In the past several weeks after the KawaiiKon I have been taking time to catch up on school work and reflecting on what remains beyond my degree and college. The convention was a great experience to make contacts, advertise my work, and to thank the people in the art field who have supported and helped me grow as an artist. Looking back on the preparation, work, and eventual payoff, I wish to pursue a career as a mangaka, that is, writing and drawing comics professionally as well as help my mentor, Maekawa sensei establish his school for budding future mangaka. To finally admitting to wanting to be a mangaka is a scary thought, but learning the trade over the past several months and finally creating a bonafide comic, makes this dream feel very tangible and real. Although my internship with Maekawa is officially wrapping to a close, I will continue to work hard to produce more content to spread my work and name throughout the interblag. I have thought of several new ideas for my next issue.

Despite undertaking my tasks in this internship with the sole purpose of aiding and learning valuable skills from a mangaka, many side effects have emerged from my studies. While proving to myself that I have the passion and commitment to be a mangaka, I was surprised to receive recognition from my family members, giving their support of what I am currently doing. Though a seemingly selfish endeavor, I never expected anything from my friends and family, but I do feel very grateful.

After talking with some teachers and mentors, I have come to the conclusion that I will also continue to improve my Japanese, both reading and conversational, in order to further my goals of working with and within Japan. As long as I am helping people who work closely with Japan, it seems like an ideal opportunity to build upon my skills and create as many experiences as possible.

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catch-up entries

12 March 2019- Tuesday

12:30p-8:00p

I worked on my manga pages and finished line art for the pictures I selected. I thought they came out nice. I originally was planning on coloring them, but one of us considered not doing it so that the younger students could think of the colors on their own. I agree that is a good way of thinking about it. One of the drawings I chose had already been fully colored, so I will be coloring that one. However, I have another drawing which looks and sounds like it may be one brushstroke away from becoming a Hot Topic mannequin of blacks and bright multi-colored rainbow streaks, so I am on the fence about whether I want to add anymore artistic liberties.

29 March 2019- Friday

6:00a - 11:00p

I worked all day and all night on constructing my comic for the convention. I had found a printer for my works the previous day and inquired about the time it would take to print. Having a little more than a week left, I was busy finalizing my line work and added screentones.

30 March - 31 March 2019- Saturday/Sunday

7:00a -12:00a, 12:00a - 3:00a

Having finished the linework the night before, I layed out screen tones and dialogue for remaining pages. I also had to meet with Maekawa sensei and our group to finalize plans for the convention and also learn about posing and anatomic proportions. We drew using posable figures with the knowledge of body proportions. I learned the best way is to start with the torso and fill out limbs and appendages according to the pose and perspective of the torso which keeps the character’s face from being too big for the entire body. After our lesson, I chauffeured Maekawa back to his home and also went home to finish up my comic. I could not finish that night, left with two more pages of screentone.

31 March - 1 April 2019- Sunday/Monday

9:00p - 12:00a, 12:00a - 6:30a

After coming home from work and dinner, I got to work adding the finishing touches to my comic. I originally had 10 pages planned for my comic, but the folks at the printing store recommended I make 12 pages for the sake of economy, filling up all the extra pages left over in the book. After screen toning the final 2 pages, I drew an extra doodle and added social media information to the final two pages. I also had to create a cover and back for the book as well, opting for a simple one. To be honest, I probably should have put more thought into the title and artwork of the cover, but at the time, initial presentation was the least of my worries. I made adjustments to my business card and print and went to sleep.

1 april 2019- monday

9:30a-5:00p

I took the finalized data to the printing store in the and submitted my payment for their services. I used the rest of the day before my class to reflect on my endeavors and hoping everything would be completed by the start of the convention.

[snarkastic-blog1]

7 April 2019- Sunday

10:00a -6:30p

Today was the last day of Kawaiikon. I arrived to help set up my goods and to change into a costume. I ended up starting before my shift to help compensate for a missing member. I did not sell any prints, but with everything that happened, I was okay. Dr Jayson visited our booth and provided an example of how to engage customers when handing out magazines. It was so effective that we finally ran out of the 800+ magazines we had for the 3 day period. To think one man could inspire so many people to get up and perform extraordinary feats of service, if it was not Dr. Jayson, I probably would not have believed it. I manned the register for most of the day and got to watch Maekawa sensei draw portraits. I also got my portrait secretly done during a slow period while I was handing out magazines earlier in the day. After the early closing, everyone packed up their belongings and helped with Maekawa sensei’s final workshop. After the workshop, I drove Maekawa to Alamoana to pick up dinner and chauffeured him back home while discussing plans for more things to learn beyond Kawaiikon. This entire Kawaiikon had been a new, exciting, nerve-wracking, experience to me, finally learning to man a booth. Although, our focus this convention was not placed on our works, but more on wasabi and shining light on Maekawas plans, I still managed to come out with an educational experience and money to cover some printing costs of my manga. I think the most important things I've learned from this convention is that selling one's self is important (because you cannot always rely on others to do it for you), networking is vital to attracting attention as family, friends, and acquaintances prove to be a good starting point for growing an identity and platform, and never stop learning. There are countless numbers of skilled artists in the world and to be satisfied where one stands today will not help in creating their better tomorrow. I will continue to learn under Maekawa’s instruction to better myself, preparing for the next step: winter Comic Market 2020 in Japan. I wish to grow into a near-professional level by that time, so I will continue to study and hone my craft until then. I must continue my good habits learned from this internship and continue to improve as an artist every day until that eventual day in 20 months.

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6 April 2019- Saturday

9:00a -10:30p

This was the second day of Kawaiikon, the big event that our group had been preparing for. We started by moving goods from Nikkansan’s building to Kawaiikon. A member became sick between Friday and Saturday so our team was short an opener. We somehow managed to cover each others' shifts by hanging back and supporting the booth. It was easily the busiest day and we received a lot of traffic by people wanting to see Maekawa sensei. Despite the hectic pace, the day moved rather quickly and I managed to sell a few books and prints to friends and relatives who were aware of my wares. For majority of the day, I had been on edge trying to compensate for the no-shows and the scatterbrains trying to work their positions. It was a rather frustrating feeling and required me to ditch niceties when directing the crew through the process of steps in their jobs. It feels like these students may have never worked a day in retail in their lives, or have no motivation to do anything according to work ethics. After lunch, I had discovered majority of the group went to help Maekawa with his workshop, leaving the remaining two to play on a Nintendo Switch on the floor rather than man the booth with professionalism. I would have surely exploded if I  had not stopped caring at that point and decided it could not be helped. Surely if I had pride in my work, such petty actions should not bother me as to hold others to my own standards is a futile endeavor which only leads to further disappointments. Expect nothing of others. Our group had been worn down from this day and were tired, trying to take breaks and relax in between slow periods. After the dealers room had begun to close, we transported goods back to Nikkansan, coordinated dinner and reviewed the day amongst our fellow students and mentor. After dinner, I chauffeured my mentor and his family back to their home and ended the day.

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5 April 2019- Friday

8:00a-10:00p The first day of Kawaiikon was a hectic and nerve wracking day. I had to make preparations at home such as updating my social media and printing special prints for visitors of our booth.

I arrived at the convention center at 10 and helped Nikkansan transport their goods and set up the table with wares. I helped pass out magazines to promote Maekawa and Wasabi magazine and distributed surveys to people visiting the booth.  When people bought items, I handled change and recording the transaction in Nikkansan's ledger for them to count against their inventory. I managed to sell 5 copies of my book to non-relatives and have so far managed to recuperate about 1/3 of my printing costs. Our student works sold slowly, but I feel it will sell better on the full swing of the event on Saturday. I helped pack up Nikkansan merchandise and drove Maekawa sensei back home. He lives surprisingly close to the convention. I was running ragged by the end of the day and spent half the day with a mild headache. Between worrying and finishing up my duties, I forgot to eat and had little to drink during the day. I felt exhausted and agitated especially when my backup for the end of my shift arrived late. Some of these students have so little understanding of work ethic and promoting themselves to an audience. Also, some people think just because they get a ride in with those with an early shift, it means they do not have to work when scheduled. Obviously schedules are made to cover for others and not just for one’s self.  Also I realized what being scatterbrained truly looks like in the working world, it is truly terrible. I didn't ask nor want to manage people, but wrangling the situation may become necessary should things become dire. Perhaps its an age thing where younger students have forever to figure what they want from life, and others are raring to go. Who truly knows?

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4 April 2019- Thursday

3:00p-6:00p After my work shift, I arrived at Nikkansan to help set up the convention. Everything went fairly quickly and soon after picked up my goods from the printers to sell at my booth. Afterward, I drove a fellow student to Walmart to buy snacks and display stands for our group members.

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reflection for 3/31

These past couple of weeks have been incredibly busy. In the past several days I have been running on less than 4 hours of sleep in order to finalize my works in time to be printed for the upcoming KawaiiKon all the while maintaining my part time job and school. I am happy to say my manga, which was once 4 pages, then 10, then 12  and 2 cover pages has finally been sent off to be created into its final book form. My business cards will also soon be ready to print after slight adjustments after some initial slip-ups in sizing. I am still running on 4 hours of sleep as I piece together this reflection but I can feel a weight of a crushing deadline lift off my chest.

Unlike printed posters, books require additional time to print and cut, so it is a relief to have turned in a manuscript and now await its completion by Thursday. This internship has taught me a lot about the manga industry as well as improving my technical skills to become a desirable worker in my field. These two weeks have taught me time management, printing schedules and ordering prints, the everyday life of a mangaka, and how much I love this feeling. Throughout this time I did not feel immense pressure, but a calm collection of work which needed to be done and a sense of competence going through the motion of finishing every line, character, dialogue, panel and page. I realize that if I could, I would like to do something similar as a profession. Despite such stressful predicaments popping up, I was happy knowing I could handle most of it professionally under pressure. I acknowledge my time crunch would not have happened so severely had I only planned accordingly, but I now know this and will will use the experience to better myself in future endeavors.

I understand now that as a freelance mangaka, it will be important to manage my time so that I may complete my projects promptly in timely fashion. I will receive multiple assignments in any period of time and it is up to my better judgement where to best and effectively allocate my resources and limited hours to.

Nearing the deadline of KawaiiKon I must also admit the shortcomings of my past self for not being disciplined enough to constantly work with every free moment as well as not staying as connected with Maekawa as much as I would have liked (to be fair, Maekawa sensei is also incredibly busy so sometimes communication could not be helped as much either during his deadlines). If I could have, I would have made a couple more prints to sell at KawaiiKon, but instead I have but 1 print and a 12 page manga.

Now that the main project is wrapping up,  I will use what remaining time before the convention to work on my social platforms and square away any loose ends that may need attending to such as school work, and maintaining my personal health and well-being.

I will add more reflection and time logs in future posts. For now I will reflect upon what I have managed to accomplish within my time Maekawa and how far I come. I will also catch up on some sleep before my next projects begin and attending the KawaiiKon as an artist for the first time.

[snarkastic-blog1]

11 March 2019- Monday

2:00p-8:00p

During our last meeting with Maekawa Sensei, Lancen had asked a favor of us. He had taught an after school session of drawing manga to a group of 40 kids and parents and asked us to recreate the students’ drawings in our own style. According to Lancen a lot of kids who participated in the session had a low self-image so perhaps some words of encouragement and the acknowledgement of their desires of older artists could help them on their way to following their dreams and passions in the future.

I never had anyone to look up in art growing up. My only relative who had any artistic talent was in Seattle and I no friends who knew or wanted to draw. Then again, I would have needed friends to make that last claim, but I digress. I do think this little side project would be fun to do although I would have prefered it if we had been given this task after our convention(seriously, I’m a little swamped at the moment). Then again, a few of the artists seemed to have dropped some of their ideas for the convention and do not really have much to do right now. I believe Lancen wanted to turn this collection of art into a book for the children either for them to look at or their dispositioned parents. Either way, it does feel fitting to work on this in the meantime as it would help advertise our presence at the convention to the children in Mililani as well as their parents. Apparently people in Mililani may be more close knit than other neighborhoods (who knew?).

The exercise reminds me of a father artist who recreates his sons drawings on Youtube. I cannot argue the merits of this activity and support it despite my cramped schedule. Also, because it is an artistic recreation, I feel it helps keep my skills up.

[snarkastic-blog1]

9 March 2019- Saturday

3:45p-7:45p

We went over a lot of material with everyone.  We discussed what each of us students hoped to gain from this experience, to reflect on what our goals are and if anything had changed in us during our time under Maekawa’s mentorship. Also, Maekawa asked each of us to share what their friends and family thought of pursuing a degree or career in the arts. After hearing each of us out, Maekawa announced his plans to create a manga school and publication in Hawaii in the near future. We were all very excited at the notion. This will of course require research in similar veins of art and cram schools which will uncover its success here on Oahu which we will be doing in the near future.

Maekawa taught us how to draw hair today as well as how to use a colored pencil and how artists use them as shortcuts in the inking process of traditional drawing. No one had any idea what the use of a colored pencil was used for, but I had witnessed its use in the manga and animation industry while viewing the Disney Museum in San Francisco and from previous research on the matter. Colored pencils are used to designate specific shading as well as creating rough drafts and skeletons to be inked in. When sending monochromatic scans and faxes, the machines do not pick up light colored pencil and will only copy the ink. Needless to say it saves a lot of time creating a manuscript for animation and comics alike. After our crash course in creating acceptable hair, Maekawa pitched us his idea for the workshop he has to lead at the convention. It was a fun game and takes what we previously learned with Jun Sensei and incorporates some of Maekawa Sensei’s twists.

A lot of us claim to have a passion for anime and manga, hoping  to improve our craft and skills during our time with a professional. Some of us had some interesting reflections on what they have learned during our time together. One person came hoping to improve his skills as an artist, but over time had discovered their passion for teaching others and passing on their teachings to children to further their dreams. A very noble goal, and I hope it works out for him. He is much better with people than I could ever hope to be, which is why I have gone down the path of personal growth and fulfillment.

I have grown tired of trying to please others before myself and is the cause of how I ended up in my current predicament in the first place. Having answered Maekawa’s question so honestly has reminded me of my past events which have brought me here. To first improve as a person for others, one must understand who is themself. I will hope to one day express myself to others and make personal connections and friends, but for now, I have to improve myself as the person I wish to become.

Personally, I still am using this mentorship to improve my technical skills. I want to improve as an artist and will continue to practice to make my own path as one. I have learned a lot about what type of skills, mindset, and discipline it takes to become a mangaka and that hard work and consistency are what help cultivate the skills necessary to improve as an artist. I still believe this and have been trying to instill such work ethic into this internship. I do not feel I have come close to an acceptable regularity of practice and feel burnt out between days. However, I believe if I do not give up and continues to press forward, the actions and mindset will one day become habit. Until then, I must strive to become a hard working artist.

During my time in this internship, I feel I am growing as an artist, my skills in drawing, storytelling, and aesthetic choices have improved over time. I say this, but to be put to the true test, I must see how well I fair in public. The KawaiiKon is soon arriving, and I must not miss my chance to debut. Perhaps after the convention I can learn what it takes to work as an assistant.

In the vein of career paths, I feel comfortable working as a manga artist. If I can adjust my work ethic, I feel I could accomplish much in this field. Alongside this, I would not mind mentoring others to create their own works on the side. I feel I was fated to have met Maekawa and to be asked to help make a manga school in Hawaii a reality. Surprisingly, Maekawa’s idea to start a school in Hawaii came from one of us students wanting to learn to be a mangaka but lacking the proficiency to learn Japanese (unsurprisingly). Seeing it as a calling, Maekawa is working to make this a reality. Despite my personal feelings of how this possibility came to be, I gratefully accept its outcome.

[snarkastic-blog1]

2 March 2019- Saturday

12:00p- 3:00p

I made an excursion to Moanalua Gardens to better understand the significance of my source material: the Hitachi Tree. The gardens are beautiful and the day was sunny. Both tourists from Japan and locals could be seen enjoying their day around the numerous ulu and monkey pod trees. The park is peaceful, clean, and charges admission to sustain its staff and maintain its mystique and ambiance. There are Kamaaina rates so I managed to get in for $1. The Hitachi Tree itself is a ginormous monkeypod tree sitting close to the entrance of the park. Tourists take a lot of pictures with the tree, gathering around its edge to stand in awe. Like Dr Jayson told me, if you wait for tour buses, eventually a group of tourists from Japan will start to sing the Hitachi Tree song. I do not think anyone believes it is true, but I saw it with my own eyes and ears and can confirm it does happen.

The origin of the Hitachi Tree came from the Hitachi Group of Japan using it as their mascot in 1973. It is because of this Hitachi Group makes contributions to Moanalua Gardens and why their name is so closely associated with it. The tree is supposed to represent a unity of people supported under the umbrella of Hitachi company’s reach and wide assortment of manufactured products. Hitachi is a conglomerate much like those of Mitsubishi. They created a commercial staring the large tree and gave it its own song describing the unknown, indescribable, yet lovable tree. The song continues to be played and recreated til this very day using visuals of the Hitachi tree. Its significance in Japanese-American relations is the reason why Moanalua Gardens is a popular attraction for the Japanese tourists and why I have decided to use it as one of my illustrations.

This internship has led my to learn many interesting things about popular culture and how I can work with elements so that my works can appeal to a broader audience. The Hitachi Tree gives me a better understanding of what other cultures like the Japanese see in Hawaii and helps create a deeper connection and understanding with them.

[snarkastic-blog1]

1 March 2019- Friday

8:00p-11:00p

I worked on the final draft of my manga, penning in rough draft work and setting up panel arrangements for future days. I also worked on components for my illustrations such as linework and coloring. I created concept sketches to be used in a composition including the Hitachi Tree at Moanalua Gardens. I will scan them to be worked on electronically at a later date.

[snarkastic-blog1]

26 February 2019- Tuesday

2:00p-4:30p

I met with Maekawa today to have him look over my manga and some rough drafts for my illustrations for the convention in April. Time really flies and I will be kicking into overdrive from this point on to stay on track and complete my works before April. Maekawa gave me good advice in placement of my panels and how to increase the effectiveness of my jokes and storytelling in a manga format. Maekawa seemed to enjoy my jokes and found the overall tone of my work to be cute. I have decided to also work on two illustrations of my four, one being of the Hitachi tree and another of breakfast foods. I also relayed what the other group members are planning to work on for the convention.

This time working with Maekawa has been an eye-opening experience. I have learned a lot of technical skills and I get to see what the life of a Mangaka entails, including the company of other mangaka and how their styles vary from person to person. Although it does not feel like I have done a whole lot this month, looking back at my hour log, I have gained quite a few skills and churned out some good ideas on paper. I am filled with anticipation for the upcoming month and completing my set goals for the month within the reasonable timeframe.

I hope I can find a printer who does book stapling at an affordable price. I better finish my manga first things first.

[snarkastic-blog1]

23 February 2019- Sat

2:00p-10:00p

Today maekawa and Jun matsuda held a drawing workshop at jodonmission temple. Much like Wednesday, jun covered the basics of drawing for the first couple hours. After that, jun went into the formulas of creating an writing stories. He talked about and drew the aspects of a hero, his friends, the mentor character, and the obstacles in the heroes path to overcome and grow as a person.

I helped arrange desks, distribute papers, and got to talk with jun and rie again about being a mangaka. Apparently jun is also a monk. Which would explain his teachings of balance and zen in drawing in his other workshop. Jun also teaches his workshop to elementary, middle school, college, and companies to help build skills of art and expression.

During this workshop I got to explore my characters in depth to see whether they can work in a serial manga series. It was a great time and I learned a lot about speed and efficiency in drawing for manga.

It was also nice to have a refresher on storytelling. I enjoy  drawing, but only drawing g without a story behind it also makes me feel wanting more.

Also, my technical skills are not on par with some of our students, but I can make it up with speed, planning and storytelling.

After the workshop I got to drive jun and maekawa back to their residences. They went to hike diamond head today and they seemed to have had a lot of fun. It gives me ideas for some new prints to work on

[snarkastic-blog1]

20 February 2019- Wed

12:00p-5:00p

I went to West Oahu to watch a manga artists teach students beginner drawing techniques. The artists are Jun, Rie, and Kyoko who taught the class to draw characters using combinations of basic shapes and techniques. Maekawa had informed me of them coming to West Oahu for a workshop which I attended and assisted in passing out art books created by the artists to the students as well as other learning materials. From what I understood, Jun, Rie, and Kyoko are a team of mangaka who teach people throughout japan how to draw as well as express one’s thoughts through manga.

The lesson was rather short, lasting a couple hours, but they taught their drawing lesson to three separate batches of students, one for the general public, one for Asia Cool, and a third for Beginner Japanese in which they spoke mostly in Japanese without a translator. I had a chance to speak with them a bit after their first lesson, using some of my Japanese to talk with them about Maekawa and being an artist. To be honest, I wish I had prepared more questions for them to ask them what it is like being an artist in Japan as well as more details about their jobs. I did get to talk with their children or ‘helper angels’, Iria (11) and Momoka (8). The two of them like to draw and Iria showed me her sketchbook. For someone so young, Iria has some impressive drawings of anime characters she likes. They look as if they were drawn from scenes, but no signs of tracing. The linework was tight and the overall presentation was composed very well.There is no doubt that Iria could become a great artist in the future.

This is perhaps another avenue to explore in my career as an artist, teaching others to create their own works, as Maekawa had suggested before. Whether it could be in Japan or somewhere else in the world, I will have to decide for myself.

I need to work on my business cards soon, I will need them for professional contacts sooner than I would imagine.

[snarkastic-blog1]

10 February 2019- Sunday

11:00p-1:30p

12 February 2019- Tuesday

6:00p-8:00p

While working I came up with a new concept for the logo for our group. I thought of a rabbit working really hard making moon medicine and thought they could have internet and a drawing tablet there as well. I drew some sketches during my break.

On Tuesday I scanned the logos and created vector art to show to the group over social media and asked them what they thought of my new designs. Thankfully their opinions were positive and I now have a new logo for the group: A rabbit on the moon doing art.

It feels good to receive assurance from others once in a while. To know I can make things that people like helps validate my intuition and makes me feel less disconnected from people’s tastes in the real world. The feeling does not happen often, but for a shut in it pops up from time to time.