I was just online looking for some good Astro Boy shots myself to study off of.
Lots of my favourite Japanese art is the stuff we rarely see here. It's all the little local signs and package art everywhere that I love. I'm moving back to Osaka soon and would love sending you any insane stuff I find.
Thanks again for this amazing source of information you're providing us, John.
But, John, the thing is everyone has it all wrong. "Anime" is not a style. The Japanese pronounce animation, "ah nee may shone"—"ah nee may" for short. Japanese like to shorten long words, especially foreign words. So all "anime" means in Japan is "animation". Sure, there is a style that non-Japanese see when thinking of Japanese animation, but Ren & Stimpy is considered anime in Japan.
It's the same with the word manga. Manga is not a style; it just means "comic".
So in Japan, if you say, "I don't think I'm cut out to be an anime artist", that is the same as saying that you're not cut out to be an animation artist.
I understand everyone in America views anime as a style, but, John, you ARE an anime artist. A great one, in fact.
Forget Kaspar, you should pick up anime properties and remake them. I'd love to see a show where the character's mouth melts all over the place and starts talking out of different body parts.
You'd do fine! but only working with Kazuya Tsurumaki, and you'd be doing actions. Together you'd be like an atom bomb on AS. but you made Astroboy into the cutest asshole ever.
Bacon is truly a powerful force. I love these, especially the one with Disney and his rodent. There's something quite Sonic the Hedgehog about your Astro Boy in that one.
They also show just how integral the big eyes and eyelashes are to the character.
Great drawings! But you may be right John - the expressions on your characters are far too specific for the bulk of generic (and a bit boring) anime that gets produced. Although I'm quite selective when it comes to anime - when it's good, it's very very good. Personally I love Studio Ghibli stuff, those movies are actually about something. Also check out Genius Party, Mindgame and Dead Leaves. I have a feeling you may really enjoy watching Dead Leaves.
Woah , John. I love the looks of that. Astro Boy was ment to be a toon! hehe. you should definitely use him in one of ur animation some time, like you did with Donald Duck. If you don't get sued for it, that is.
Astro Boy had a cement construction theory going, as if the characters were cast in concrete, moving in space. It made all of them look overdue for a killer crap, which still passes for charm depending on earth geography.
Tezuka's main influence was 30's and 40's american animation, so it makes perfect sense John K. drawing Astro Boy.
He wasn't a pure cartoonist, but a cartoony storyteller. He used the clarity and eloquence of cartoon art to tell stories.
He's known for the generic big eye style he used for his leads, but his most interesting characters are the incidental ones. He has hundreds of them and they have individual designs.
The Black Jack series are the best comics I've ever read.
Is it weird of me to think that the only drawings that make him really look like Astro-Boy are the ones where you put a milt-gross type expression on him?
Hey John, I've never left a comment, but I've read your blog for a long time. Are you still accepting people for cartoon college? Here are my exercises
Those are cool but you toned down Elefun/Ochanomizu a little. I'm a big Astroboy fan and one of the biggest disappointments for me is how bad they made him look in this new movie. It gives Astroboy a bad name.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9syiM94rOA : Here's a clip of how he looked in the cartoon.
Is there any appealing design in anime outside of early quasi-Disney stuff like Astro Boy in your opinion? I used to watch 80s animated sitcoms created by Rumiko Takahasi (Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura) because their poses were really lively and I thought her human characters were drawn funny.
Like the way he stretches out... Its mostly just his arms... What if his whole body could stretch... with his feet on the ground, but his body stretching hundreds of feet upwards and changing scale...Perhaps to battle a giant metallic hawk from another planet...
Did the original Astro Boy do this? I was really more of a Tobor fan.
Man, I'd much rather see an Astro Boy movie with designs like these, than the one they're doing. Anime baffles me in that alot of those artists are very technically skilled and creative, but somehow become retarded when it comes to drawing faces. Like the eyes are just asburd, and they seem to just wish that the human nose didnt exist at all.
>> Somehow, I don't think I'm cut out to be an anime artist.<<
Key: Start by studying anime girl drawings for the head style. Keep the top eyelids really thick, note how little white there is left in the eye, and that the shapes are not round.
Anime baffles me in that alot of those artists are very technically skilled and creative, but somehow become retarded when it comes to drawing faces. Like the eyes are just asburd, and they seem to just wish that the human nose didnt exist at all.
The answer is that they're not very technically skilled. The number of anime artists without very basic anatomy errors is a tiny handful. All anime is is a way of hiding your flaws. That's why the best anime artists use hardly any of the cliches and the worst artists use them obsessively. (Like the deviantART horrors where the eyes literally take up 80% of the face.)
The last ones really remind me of Spike Milligan drawings for some reason. :)
Wrote a long and informative rebuttal to all the predictable, misinformed, visually-illiterate 'wah wah urgh anime style big eyes LOL' rubbish in these threads but I just deleted it because who cares. The Japanese certainly don't, so why should I?
You could make a HYSTERICAL cartoon poking fun at anime!
Yeaaaahhh maybe not; the Japanese do already a pretty good job at this and they have actually seen some anime and know what it even is, which gives them an unfair advantage.
Far from it. I could write a loooooong article about this, but for example, anime eyes are drawn because their attempts at realistic eyes would be vague and crude, (to them; to me, they may not be vague, but they're certainly crude) noses aren't drawn because artists with no skill can't draw noses, (they're easy if you've spent a little time learning, hell if you haven't) and various blobs, lines, etc. are drawn for mouths because they don't understand the intricate subtleties of real mouths.
In fact, many of the "stylistic elements" of anime are mistakes that bad artists already make.
My loooooong article would have lots of arguments and other points, but that's the gist of it.
Wrote a long and informative rebuttal to all the predictable, misinformed, visually-illiterate 'wah wah urgh anime style big eyes LOL' rubbish in these threads but I just deleted it because who cares.
How interesting that you decide that anyone who does not like anime is totally ignorant of anime and everything. Or rather, not interesting, as it's a common trick and it's so very tiresome now.
Yes, I do know plenty about anime and yes, I have heard of Mind Game. And really, if you have to imagine that anyone who disagrees with you is a bumbling idiot, how good can your position really be?
The problem I have with your comment is that it is over-generalized.
All anime is is a way of hiding your flaws.
To label all of Japanese animation as a way to hide flaws, and to act like you understand why all Japanese animators do what they do is short-sighted.
What you are doing is stereotyping all Japanese animators based on some things you don't like that some animators do. It's like judging all American animation based on Cartoon Network.
Hey Guy, thanks for the reply I guess but I wasn't talking to/about you, you have made incorrect assumptions about my opinions of other people's opinions, and the rest of the stuff you are saying is just pretty much wrong. THANKS ANYWAY.
Hey, just one thing, learn to back up that "educated connoisseur dismissively rebuking the foolish lamentations of ignorant philistines" act with actual substance sometime, OK?
(Refering to the topic The first anime I was aware of:)
Jesus, Johnny K!
You included on the topic The first anime I was aware of, references from the anime Gigantor (TCJ/Eiken, 1963)! I remember very much of this anime which you refered on that topic. Gigantor was aired here in Brazil in the early 70s. Here in Brazil, this anime was known as O Homem de Aço, and the overture of this same anime, when was aired here in Brazil, was presented with the title in Spanish (El Hombre de Acero). It aired here in Brazil, between 1970 and 1976.
Honestly I don't mind Anime its just that it seems the only reason kids want to go into animation these days is because of Anime. Seriously try studying other forms of art and built upon that otherwise I would highly doubt your a serious artist. Honestly I don't get why CAL Arts accepts portfolios based on animations of their favorite manga characters.
71 comments:
These are perfect.
I'll have to show you some of those crazy faces, it'll be a thrill and a half.
The more I look at these the more hysterical they get!
Great Job!
I was just online looking for some good Astro Boy shots myself to study off of.
Lots of my favourite Japanese art is the stuff we rarely see here. It's all the little local signs and package art everywhere that I love. I'm moving back to Osaka soon and would love sending you any insane stuff I find.
Thanks again for this amazing source of information you're providing us, John.
You are amazing, John.
That's ok, you're a great Canadian/American cartoonist.
That one with Walt & Mickey is hilarious!
First of all, those are cool drawings.
But, John, the thing is everyone has it all wrong. "Anime" is not a style. The Japanese pronounce animation, "ah nee may shone"—"ah nee may" for short. Japanese like to shorten long words, especially foreign words. So all "anime" means in Japan is "animation". Sure, there is a style that non-Japanese see when thinking of Japanese animation, but Ren & Stimpy is considered anime in Japan.
It's the same with the word manga. Manga is not a style; it just means "comic".
So in Japan, if you say, "I don't think I'm cut out to be an anime artist", that is the same as saying that you're not cut out to be an animation artist.
I understand everyone in America views anime as a style, but, John, you ARE an anime artist. A great one, in fact.
= )
You are not unoriginal enough. Gosh.
Forget Kaspar, you should pick up anime properties and remake them. I'd love to see a show where the character's mouth melts all over the place and starts talking out of different body parts.
You'd do fine! but only working with Kazuya Tsurumaki, and you'd be doing actions. Together you'd be like an atom bomb on AS. but you made Astroboy into the cutest asshole ever.
Bacon is truly a powerful force. I love these, especially the one with Disney and his rodent. There's something quite Sonic the Hedgehog about your Astro Boy in that one.
They also show just how integral the big eyes and eyelashes are to the character.
Great drawings! But you may be right John - the expressions on your characters are far too specific for the bulk of generic (and a bit boring) anime that gets produced. Although I'm quite selective when it comes to anime - when it's good, it's very very good. Personally I love Studio Ghibli stuff, those movies are actually about something. Also check out Genius Party, Mindgame and Dead Leaves. I have a feeling you may really enjoy watching Dead Leaves.
Woah , John.
I love the looks of that.
Astro Boy was ment to be a toon! hehe.
you should definitely use him in one of ur animation some time, like you did with Donald Duck.
If you don't get sued for it, that is.
Fantastic! Love 'em!
Morning john:)
I would like to know if they are less flat now
flat?
cheers
Tezuka just rolled in his grave... with glee. Fun stuff!
Astro Boy against Walt and Mickey... YEAH!!!!
Everything you scribble should be produced instantly.
Hey the mouth is a seperate entity! Way to go to play with anime conventions!
Ha! I love how you force them mouth SOMEWHERE in the struct.. struc... That thing over the shoulders!
Wow, too much fun. Love it!
LOL @ the 7th picture from the top, I get your message
EXCELENT!!!!!!!!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
http://elperro79-artedemente.blogspot.com/
EL PERRO79.
I dunno, bacon's pretty powerful stuff. Maybe you just needed to eat more.
I'm delighted to inform you that your 'tude drawing has too much personality.
I like his futuristic roboto keyhole.
Better than most american attempts at "anime style" that's for sure. :)
I'd totally watch this show!
Too many facial expressions to be anime.
Astro Boy had a cement construction theory going, as if the characters were cast in concrete, moving in space. It made all of them look overdue for a killer crap, which still passes for charm depending on earth geography.
I really like them!!!
Tezuka's main influence was 30's and 40's american animation, so it makes perfect sense John K. drawing Astro Boy.
He wasn't a pure cartoonist, but a cartoony storyteller. He used the clarity and eloquence of cartoon art to tell stories.
He's known for the generic big eye style he used for his leads, but his most interesting characters are the incidental ones. He has hundreds of them and they have individual designs.
The Black Jack series are the best comics I've ever read.
Luckily for you there are close to 12,000 books on the subject of learning it.
ha ha! these are great, John!
Ha! Wow, these are all wonderful.
I enjoyed those Astro sketches more then the trailer for the new movie.
Thanks!
not cut to be a anime artist ?
I love your version of astro boy you put alot of funny expressions that It makes look so much more lively than the bland stiff original astro boy
I wish you could make an Astro Boy cartoon. That would be amazing.
Is it weird of me to think that the only drawings that make him really look like Astro-Boy are the ones where you put a milt-gross type expression on him?
this cracks me up so bad... haha "even with the power of bacon fueling me."
Hey John,
I've never left a comment, but I've read your blog for a long time. Are you still accepting people for cartoon college?
Here are my exercises
Walt is priceless
This is pretty neat charicature artwork.
Great, John. I don't know why but your finger-wagging poses are always hilarious.
You could make a HYSTERICAL cartoon poking fun at anime!
Those are cool but you toned down Elefun/Ochanomizu a little. I'm a big Astroboy fan and one of the biggest disappointments for me is how bad they made him look in this new movie. It gives Astroboy a bad name.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9syiM94rOA : Here's a clip of how he looked in the cartoon.
i love these! please make an anime style cartoon!!! i wanna see your anime chicks too!!!!
I'd tap that.
He's much cuter here than in the upcoming movie.
Is there any appealing design in anime outside of early quasi-Disney stuff like Astro Boy in your opinion? I used to watch 80s animated sitcoms created by Rumiko Takahasi (Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura) because their poses were really lively and I thought her human characters were drawn funny.
Hahaha I hadn't seen the 'TUDE one!!
I'd like to see John K's take Matsumoto potato-head characters.
Bacon power!
This made my week. I think the mouth is a little too low in some of them, though.
I dunno, John, I really like 'em. You should pitch it!
These drawings are so funny!
These are so much better than Frankie Miller's version that it's not even funny. Now do Gigantor!
Holy Crap! ASTRO BOY! I love him! I LOVE Tezuka's works!
Wow, you draw him crazy in your style. Nice attempts at drawing him, though. I love the one with Mickey & Walt in it.
It's fun watching you break the rules.
My favourites are the 'Tude astroboy and the one with a tiny mouth on the side of his face.
Like the way he stretches out... Its mostly just his arms... What if his whole body could stretch... with his feet on the ground, but his body stretching hundreds of feet upwards and changing scale...Perhaps to battle a giant metallic hawk from another planet...
Did the original Astro Boy do this? I was really more of a Tobor fan.
fun drawings
Man, I'd much rather see an Astro Boy movie with designs like these, than the one they're doing. Anime baffles me in that alot of those artists are very technically skilled and creative, but somehow become retarded when it comes to drawing faces. Like the eyes are just asburd, and they seem to just wish that the human nose didnt exist at all.
>> Somehow, I don't think I'm cut out to be an anime artist.<<
Key: Start by studying anime girl drawings for the head style. Keep the top eyelids really thick, note how little white there is left in the eye, and that the shapes are not round.
Oh no! The cartoon police of Walt and Mickey are putting the heat on Astro Boy!!!
Anime baffles me in that alot of those artists are very technically skilled and creative, but somehow become retarded when it comes to drawing faces. Like the eyes are just asburd, and they seem to just wish that the human nose didnt exist at all.
The answer is that they're not very technically skilled. The number of anime artists without very basic anatomy errors is a tiny handful. All anime is is a way of hiding your flaws. That's why the best anime artists use hardly any of the cliches and the worst artists use them obsessively. (Like the deviantART horrors where the eyes literally take up 80% of the face.)
And creative? Now that's just bizarre.
that picture of Walt Disney is hilarious! He looks like that dover boys villain you mentioned a while back
Guy, I think you are over-generalizing in your view on Japanese animation.
All anime is is a way of hiding your flaws.
That's crazy talk.
= )
The last ones really remind me of Spike Milligan drawings for some reason. :)
Wrote a long and informative rebuttal to all the predictable, misinformed, visually-illiterate 'wah wah urgh anime style big eyes LOL' rubbish in these threads but I just deleted it because who cares. The Japanese certainly don't, so why should I?
You could make a HYSTERICAL cartoon poking fun at anime!
Yeaaaahhh maybe not; the Japanese do already a pretty good job at this and they have actually seen some anime and know what it even is, which gives them an unfair advantage.
That's crazy talk.
Far from it. I could write a loooooong article about this, but for example, anime eyes are drawn because their attempts at realistic eyes would be vague and crude, (to them; to me, they may not be vague, but they're certainly crude) noses aren't drawn because artists with no skill can't draw noses, (they're easy if you've spent a little time learning, hell if you haven't) and various blobs, lines, etc. are drawn for mouths because they don't understand the intricate subtleties of real mouths.
In fact, many of the "stylistic elements" of anime are mistakes that bad artists already make.
My loooooong article would have lots of arguments and other points, but that's the gist of it.
Wrote a long and informative rebuttal to all the predictable, misinformed, visually-illiterate 'wah wah urgh anime style big eyes LOL' rubbish in these threads but I just deleted it because who cares.
How interesting that you decide that anyone who does not like anime is totally ignorant of anime and everything. Or rather, not interesting, as it's a common trick and it's so very tiresome now.
Yes, I do know plenty about anime and yes, I have heard of Mind Game. And really, if you have to imagine that anyone who disagrees with you is a bumbling idiot, how good can your position really be?
Guy,
The problem I have with your comment is that it is over-generalized.
All anime is is a way of hiding your flaws.
To label all of Japanese animation as a way to hide flaws, and to act like you understand why all Japanese animators do what they do is short-sighted.
What you are doing is stereotyping all Japanese animators based on some things you don't like that some animators do. It's like judging all American animation based on Cartoon Network.
Hey Guy, thanks for the reply I guess but I wasn't talking to/about you, you have made incorrect assumptions about my opinions of other people's opinions, and the rest of the stuff you are saying is just pretty much wrong. THANKS ANYWAY.
cemenTIMental: Oh, sure, sure.
Hey, just one thing, learn to back up that "educated connoisseur dismissively rebuking the foolish lamentations of ignorant philistines" act with actual substance sometime, OK?
(Refering to the topic The first anime I was aware of:)
Jesus, Johnny K!
You included on the topic The first anime I was aware of, references from the anime Gigantor (TCJ/Eiken, 1963)! I remember very much of this anime which you refered on that topic.
Gigantor was aired here in Brazil in the early 70s. Here in Brazil, this anime was known as O Homem de Aço, and the overture of this same anime, when was aired here in Brazil, was presented with the title in Spanish (El Hombre de Acero). It aired here in Brazil, between 1970 and 1976.
Johnny K.,
I saw the drawings which you done about the Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy and they got funny!
Honestly I don't mind Anime its just that it seems the only reason kids want to go into animation these days is because of Anime. Seriously try studying other forms of art and built upon that otherwise I would highly doubt your a serious artist. Honestly I don't get why CAL Arts accepts portfolios based on animations of their favorite manga characters.
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