Where my anime style people at? [Archive]

fletchgirl

March 5th, 2003, 02:53 PM

It's not that i don't like anime... some of it's very good and i watch it a lot. i really like the cowboy bebop and Evangelion series, and all things studio ghibli. I have evangelion and akira sound clips on my computer... :nerd: hhah. and, you can use it in your portfolio, i've seen it work. i just see it a lot. when i tought last year, all the kids would draw anime style all the time. (they liked Dragon Ball Z) but that was all they would draw, as teachers, we thought it was necessary for them to develop a style all their own so we had days where we (their T.A.s) showed them what influenced us as far as design and story... or just what made us want to study animation. anyway, i don't know where i'm really going with this. :) sorry if anyone read this all the way through. :)

clayrodery v.03

March 5th, 2003, 03:40 PM

Now, I don't want to get off on a rant here, but its hard for me to accept anime as a legitimate art form at all. Actually, I think my problem is mainly with people who ONLY draw anime stuff. They don't try to learn real technique or anatomy or anything that has to do with drawing REAL human figure before they try and tackle anime. In my local art supply store, there was a flyer for a "How to Draw Anime" workshop. That pissed me off because all these kids are gonna start drawing anime before they can draw a real person correctly. This girl in my AP Drawing Portfolio class only draws anime, and when my teacher tries to have the class do figure drawing from observation, this girl gets all pissed off. I remember Picasso said something like "you have to learn to draw an ox with 4 legs before you can draw one with 5" or something like that. Same thing I'm saying here, you should learn to draw realistically before you draw in a cookie-cutter mass-produced style

clay

JoshuaTheJames

March 5th, 2003, 07:15 PM

$?'o|i]Originally posted by Jason Manley [/i]
where is joshuaTETSUOthejames when ya need him?

hah haw ....jason you punk! lol
j [/QUOTE]

blah

:D

KayCustomz

March 5th, 2003, 08:38 PM

whos joshuathejames anyway? you special or something?

KayCustomz

March 5th, 2003, 08:44 PM

I agree with you clayrodery seeing that how to crap does piss me off too, just a way to make money :) I have book on the human anatomy and am gonna buy some more just since its good reference!! You should see the outcome or what happens when you mix the human body with alittle anime, it comes out great!! My life drawing classes helps out a lot, a bit more if my class would have a hot gurl in it if you know what i mean, but then again I think i be staring then drawing then :)

AND FINALLY

Fletchgirl your a teacher?

JoshuaTheJames

March 5th, 2003, 09:01 PM

Originally posted by KayCustomz
whos joshuathejames anyway? you special or something?

ut oh... Jason's gonna have a field day with this one...

-Joshua

:rolleyes:

KayCustomz

March 5th, 2003, 09:08 PM

:confused: I don't get, am not catching on here:confused:

Lono

March 6th, 2003, 04:11 AM

what what?? youve never heard of JoshuaTHEjames?!?

Rumor has it,, that bitch walks on water n shit,,, and his turds smell like Old Spice..

but, dont rub him wrong man... he will SMITE!

-Lono

John P.

March 6th, 2003, 07:54 AM

No offense, but this is kinda how I look at anime:

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail57.html

:D

-Maybe I just haven't seen enough of it to think otherwise.

KayCustomz

March 6th, 2003, 11:19 AM

JoshuaTHEjames is a guy who can walk on water and is evil? is that what you mean? should I keep away?

John P. thats how you think of anime? that was a funny animation link though, if thats what you think its cool!! :) I will post my art sometime soon and you can tell me what you think!!

John P.

March 6th, 2003, 11:23 AM

Heh - it was more of a joke, and incidentally I saw that flash movie today, so I felt I had to post it. :D

No offense intended.

I'd like to see some of your stuff, of course, especially if it can give me a new impression of anime. :)

fletchgirl

March 6th, 2003, 11:34 AM

hahaha, i loooove homestarrunner. oh, by the way, if you click on the oombogolations, or what ever, you get more stuff... do it twice. they were selling stinkoman shirts for a while, they might still be... ANYWAY! um, no. i'm sort of a teacher. at calarts there was a program called CAP (now it's called SMAP... but it's a thing between calarts and the city of L.A. we would drive to Watts once a week and like six of us would teach animation to the kids there. i also did this in wilmington (near Long Beach) it's really a great experience and i'd still be doing it but i graduated and am at home in missouri for a while. but yeah, the only thing most of the kids at watts would draw was anime. when we forced them to life draw... some of them did very well, but some of them would make the drawing STILL look like anime. :rolleyes: but i would highly recommend teaching... There are times when a kid'll ask you a question, and it'll be one you've asked yourself, and you'll be telling them answer, and they'll get it, but more importantly, you realize YOU get it. hahah. it's a great feeling and when you're done, you just want to go home and draw. after you take a nice long nap. :D

KayCustomz

March 6th, 2003, 11:40 AM

you silly :) I wouldn't mine teaching some kids some art!! It would make my day if I hear some kids say "I wanna be a bum artist like you" then again all the kids around where i live "Horrible NJ" smoke weed and think they cool

Lorik

March 8th, 2003, 04:45 AM

Uggg, its painfull to hear when people only know anime from the couple of shows that were translated (not very well) into english. Things like sailor moon and dragon ball z or pokemon... thats not even close to the world of anime and manga! The reason you dont know of the good stuff is...well...chances are either you dont know how to speak japanese or if you do...you havent looked.

Anime and manga arent just a style that everyone jumps up and copy. ( here is one artist that does some interesting things http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~sigeya/pupa/e/kokuen.htm ).

Anime and manga arent just "im a big robot with super mega powers". Heh not even close... in japan this type of thing is along ALL ranges of subject...for the old and young. (there is even a manga about bass fishing).

It would kind of be like japanese watching some thunder cats and putting down american cartooning. (But we go one farther, we dont even consider anime and manga real art LOL)

Thats what is keeping the good anime and manga out of the us and other places...people who think they have it all figured out and after they watched their first pokemon turned off the tele and marked anime as "crap".

Have you even taken a look at american cartoons?! WHEW, i cant even watch them...they were made for little kids and will forever be a little kids thing. (look look the cat, its after the mouse!) People grow up thinking that ALL animated things are for children... very very wrong. Like i said before...anime and manga are for ALL ages. (If i remember this right...something like 60 percent of all printed material is manga in japan. ***20 percent of that being hentai LOL...but thats another story***)

I for one am trying as hard as i can to master the japanese art. No...not pokemon...im going after the good stuff that people outside japan dont know about.

One last thing...when you say that all japanese art isnt correct on anatomy. Thats like watching some powerpuffs and saying americans...are....idiots (is that far off? heh im american too...and sometimes...im shocked).

KayCustomz

March 8th, 2003, 01:24 PM

Damn Lorik, you have a lot to say and it makes lots of sense, the american cartoon art is something I don't have interest in, then again I enjoy the simpsons and futurama just like everyone else here, but for some reason they seem so realistic to me, even though there yellow.

Japanese animation art? well I never really watch it...for real, when I was little I don't remember how I got the style, and growing up I have never watched anime at all, I watch some stuff now since I have DSL and you know where am getting with that.

Clodhopper

March 8th, 2003, 01:48 PM

I have a revelation to share. I recently experienced an epiphoney of sorts when my friend came home from college with a "Ninja Scroll" Dvd...I was like, "aw jesus dude, what have they done to you at college!? that pokemon bullshit is not getting anywhere near my TV!" but when he actually told me to shut my ignorant mouth and whatch it, i was amazed. I have a whole new appreciation and I only wish that more ignorant people like me could get slapped in the mouth an enlighted. I've been a fast fan ever since.

Blade of Berserk is possibly my favorite comic, and I'm not usually one to pick a favorite. There are many paralells between Anime and American "comic" style. I wonder if the Japanese look down on "comic" style as some Americans look down on Anime?

Coma

March 8th, 2003, 01:51 PM

Jeez just because I'm American doesn't mean I know nothing about anime... I've see tons of anime and love some of it... but like with all forms of art most of it sucks big time.

By reacting like that to that one guys opinion you just type cast Americans in the same way your speaking against type casting anime...

It is a style, the reason most artists reject it is because it is a style, not reality. And for some reason copying a style is considered "unoriginal"... Where as an artist that bases his art on realism is creating his own style by taking reality to paper...

I think that any artist should first understand reality before trying to create fantasy. but that's just an opinion.

I'm kind of sick of seeing this topic discussed so much...
It's like beating dead bodies with sticks...

Lorik

March 8th, 2003, 03:54 PM

Coma....japanese art is based on realism. A LOT more then most others. Artists working on it study, figure drawing...anatomy...everything that a realist does. To say that anime or manga is just a "style" that those type of artist copy from eachother...is like saying that people who draw in america all work with the same style also.

From powerpuff girls....to Simpsons...to...(gahh i named the really cartoony ones that dont even come close to reality...but cant think of any american works that are up on the good side. Heh thats what you get when this art form is looked down on...it stays a way keep children in front of the tv. I would list some forms of american "high" art...but really...with only thinking that japanese art is pokemon and porn...you wouldnt even come close to believing me. Perhaps if you were to go to japan for a while and look around...you would be on this end fighting for this art to be seen for what it really is)

When you say that most people reject it because its a style? lets assume that it is. (couldnt be farther from the truth...but lets pretend) What do you think realism is? Just imitating the world around you? Artists arent coming up with this on their own...no...they are just copying. So from what you have said...that would be considered "unoriginal".

I so wish i could start showing a bunch of japanese work...but sadly most of it is offline.

((Btw im not just talking about anime here...manga is a huge other part. As well as painting and single works. Anime is just manga taken and animated **at least most is**)

Coma

March 8th, 2003, 04:33 PM

....

I didn't say anything was wrong with it man...
I also never said that the Japanese don't study reality.
but that there are a lot of artist in the us that DON'T...

I said that it was a style. The reason that is a fact is:
Anyone can look at a life study, then look at "anime/manga" and tell the difference... the simple fact that it has a name for it means that its a style... That however doesn't mean individual artists can't draw their own style manga...

I also never said that I thought Japanese art was only pokemon and porn...

And YES they DO copy each others style... What you think that every manga artist in the world just, came up with that "anime" look? I mean... that would be quite a coincidence... COME ON....

You can't say realists are unoriginal because what they draw is how they see the world. where as manga is a fantasy.

KayCustomz

March 8th, 2003, 07:53 PM

You know what, I just asked who likes anime here, and it ends up into a little argument. I just like anime cuase I do!! I don't think any of us need a reason to like it.

You know no one has even answered my question that I even STARTED with!!

everyone has been hating for some reason....

Stop mentioning pokemon I hate that cartoon!!! It's rushed and not enough effort is put into it!!!

fletchgirl

March 8th, 2003, 11:53 PM

haha, i almost hate to keep talking about this... but, no one hit me!!!! pokemon is awesome. i didn't say it was animated well, or translated well, but it's fricken hilarious. and i'm going to try to set the record straight, Lorik. no one said they didn't like anime. Kay started the thread asking if anyone drew anime style, thereby implying drawing in a style... when i went to japan on a field trip, we got to visit production I.G. and Ghibli, two of my favorite animation studios. the artists we saw were amazing, dedicated, hardworking people, just like the artists here and everywhere. nobody's bashing anybody's art. i have a few friends who's designs are great and very derivitive of the anime style, much as early anime was derivitive of the early disney style. but it was made into it's own thing, as american animation has become it's own thing, french animation has become it's own thing, canadian animation is DEFINATELY it's own thing... :P but i love it. anyway, everyones style is a mixture of what they've seen and liked, COMBINED with how they see the world, or want to see the world. that's it. so KayCustomz, i'm sorry if we got the wrong idea... all most of us our saying is, we would love to see your stuff in your style. if your style is influenced by anime, that's great, but let's see you in it too. it's like writing. A good writer is one who puts their voice in their work. You can pick up a book by Hemingway or Dickens or J.D. Salinger, or any number of others... and the reason you know the book you're reading is by them is the VOICE. it's clear, it rings through. no matter what genre, or style it's in. take famous artists of a certain time period in the same place, or, how about, directors, or film composers. if John Williams, Danny Elfman, and Hans Zimmerman all wrote a score to the same film, say, a horror film... they'd still be in the horror genre, it'd be the same film even, but you can bet those scores would be unique. they might have the same elements, but it'd be theirs.... does this make sense? So, whatever you do, whatever influences you, it can be there... just make sure YOU are there too, your vision... that's all anyones trying to say. NO DISRESPECT to ANY ONE person, OR STYLE... :blah: this is getting long, i'm sorry... i know i'm just reiterating what others have said... hopefully it makes sense put together like this. there are great artists on all sides of the world... and we can learn from them... build off of that, make it our own... that's what it's all about!!!! that's what i think anyway. hope i didn't put anyone to sleep. :o

Nimrod

March 9th, 2003, 01:22 AM

squirtle rulez \m/

Lorik

March 9th, 2003, 02:22 AM

haha sorry coma, the things i said i didnt want to direct at you. it was more to people who think those things (a lot do!). Most art boards i have been to i find a thread about anime and most the time people turning up their noses at the "low art form". Bleh... Anime will take a while to come full into the west...oh well change takes time.

KayCustomz

March 9th, 2003, 07:18 AM

fletchgirl don't worry how much ya write I still read it!! You got to go to ghibli studio's huh? was it nice? I be liking there cartoons, How come you Definitely beside canadian animation was up with there's? :sniper:
I remember next to not to put such a post up... no one will answer it anyway. It will end up in another Argument!! :D

fletchgirl

March 9th, 2003, 12:31 PM

haha, no offense inteded toward canadian animation. They get to be cool cause in Canada, they have the national film board. they HAVE to fund a number of films a year, so a lot of animation gets made and it's very awesome and jealousy inspiring. (if i get that wrong, some one let me know) i tend to associate canadian animation with "The Cat Came Back" style...i love it, it's hilarious (i know that's not what everything candian looks like). like pokemon. i love squirtle too. it's all about squirtle and bulbasaur. yeah, i got to visit ghibli... i saw the back of miyazaki's head :bow: heheh. but, wow... walking around there, the art posted on the walls... gorgeous stuff. we had a little more free roamabilty at the background painting building... less at the animation studio. the funny thing was, we were all nervous before we went... because during the day, it seemed like everyone in japan is wearing a suit. then our contact shows up, and he's wearing a t-shirt and jeans... everyone breathed a sigh of relief, even in japan, animators are still animators. :) then we sat down with two of the guys from the studio and had a question and answer session... with both sides.. it was funny... they said, what animation inspires you? and we all look at eachother, and we're like... "You guys!" believe it or not, they were suprised. we asked the same, and they said, "you guys!" hahah. They especially love pixar... John Lassater has a close relationship with them and they had everything pixar on the wall behind them. it was a lot of fun and a great experience. actually, Lorik, this would intrest you, they WERE curious to know why all american animated films have a happy ending, why they're all for kids. We told them that we would love to make films that aren't, but right now, they wouldn't get made for lack of funding.... sigh. funding.

KayCustomz

March 9th, 2003, 03:23 PM

you seem to have qiute a life there, I still need a vacation badly...I haven't been anywhere that has anything to do with art! I still wonder how come I like to draw so much when I lived in a non-art orieted ( can't spell it ) social group of people.

fletchgirl

March 9th, 2003, 11:25 PM

hahah.. that WAS my life... then i graduated. Now i'm just tryin to find my way back. :D

KayCustomz

March 10th, 2003, 08:10 AM

to what

hoku

August 21st, 2003, 12:28 AM

I really really love anime, especially the style of Studio Ghibli / Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, Laputa, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind) . . . .

Yet it's simple, and complicated. I'm going to go the other way around like check out Watts Atelier up here in Diego . . .

Gotta have balance. I'm really into 3D art, yet my research turned up it's better to have the illustration side / drawing etc down (especially colors and lighting) so that's where I'm going.

As for anime it really is great for detail (like mechanical things).

And you can find more top anime movies which showcase the full potential of cells, than top US counterparts. Even disney's starting to pull some anime style (Tarzan).

Other than that it is a valid style, one that's very influential today. Some people knock it, but that's like knocking black and white vs color.

Ian Mack

August 22nd, 2003, 09:12 PM

"im trying so hard to make my drawings look NOT like
anime "

Yea man! I've got the same thing going on.

anime is a wickid art style, and I think it has alot of freedom within itself (Toriyama, Ghiblie, etc).

The ppl who just draw anime and do not try to progress as an artist is another issue. But hey, whatever makes 'em happy right ?

Szyslack

August 22nd, 2003, 10:01 PM

sometimes the only thing about anime style that is not realistic is the face.

(if you knew anything about the history of the style, you would know that it developed, in part, by the influence of american comic strips in japan.)

anyway. i appologize for keeping yet another pointless debate going.

jrr

August 22nd, 2003, 10:08 PM

i like anime, but i'm not sure my style reflects it. but wait, um, i dont' really have a style.
i think alot of people here who are dissing it are just ignorant and dont' know enough about it to really give an answer. it's like people who say they hate rap music because it all sounds alike.
here. :chug:

BlackRose

August 22nd, 2003, 11:26 PM

i personally love anime. and yes it started with dragon ball z. i do like that kind of art and style but i dont always draw like that. to me anime is just a high quality cartoon meaning better art and better story line in a cartoon. i cant watch cartoons like powder puff girls or samurai jack because to me it looks like weird. I think today anime is one the the biggest growing trends in the art world. to limit yourself to just anime is not very wise but to over look it as an art from is also bad.

Patton Art

August 23rd, 2003, 08:44 PM

I don't think anyones problem is the actual anime style, but rather, the people who draw it. And I don't mean the Japanese.
Go to any big art school, or look at the most popular online anime artists (who just so happen to be between 17-21 years of age). What's the problem? They all draw anime, and ONLY anime. They all lack a lot of technical skill. You don't learn technicall skill by copying Princess Mononoke; you learn by working from life. The "anime freaks," as lots of people at art schools refer to them as, completely ignore life drawing. They think you can just draw your good ol' anime and you'll eventually be the next Toriyama or Amano!
I won't give any examples of the popular online anime artists (I speak of american artists here, the ones that the kiddie anime fans like); but, I remember speaking with one of them. I told her that she needed to work from life more, learn to draw realistic. She said that "realism is cool, but I think I can express myself better with anime. Realism is more restrictive, I feel I have more freedom with anime." That's nonsense. Drawing from life isn't a suggestion to "express your inner feelings," it's to learn how to freaking draw. Any style, wether it's comic, manga, or fantasy realism; are simplifications of reality. You can't break the rules until you learn them.

Sammy

August 24th, 2003, 07:54 PM

Anime screwed up my artistic and creative abilities... it's taken me 4 years to gain back what I once had.. :(

It's not a style anymore .. it's a cultural facett of art that offers nothing in origionality..

gasmask

August 24th, 2003, 08:47 PM

Bottom line, anime is a good source of entetainment and be my guest drawing your anime, but good luck getting a job in the US or anywhere for that matter, no one wants to see a anime portfolio and there are prolly thousands of japanses kids that are better neways, so if u want to do anime and be unemployed than go for it. my 2 cents, oh and in seattle its not anime its fanime because only fans draw the stuff

hawkwin

August 24th, 2003, 09:51 PM

Anime seems to be more of a design style when it comes to being a static image. The line construction and exaggerated facial features were optimized for the limited animation that the Japanese Anime is known for. Apparently, the Japanese during the time of Astroboy couldn't afford the 12 frame animation that was done in the US.

Now, to compensate for the limited animation the designers of anime put their focus on the characters face to convey emotion, thus the bigger eyes and wacky hair. (Actually, the bigger eyes were an attempt to imitate Disney, but they quite didn't get it. hehe) If you notice western animation designs the body construction is more simplified and "animatable" than their anime counterparts. This characteristic gives emphasis on the character's perfomance animation rather than emotion. The emotion in western animation is usually emphasized by the lighting and background changes ... a bit theatrical really. Anime makes use of a limited palette, to compensate this production issue they got lots of details with thir mechs and clothes. Even their lighting is economised ... notice how the shimmers of light are emphasized in some scenes?

Anime isn't really about fluid movement. They focus mostly on the storytelling part of animation. In a way the Animation style employed is more Graphic Design than a Painting.

Is it art? Yes, Graphic Art.

Two Cents. :)

Pencil Soldier

August 25th, 2003, 04:52 PM

Anime screwed up my artistic and creative abilities... it's taken me 4 years to gain back what I once had..

Same here. :(

Gezstar

August 25th, 2003, 08:24 PM

OK, there's a lot of debate going on here, but I want to remind you of a basic fact: anime is just what Japanese people call animation - any type of animation. (It's derived from the french word). Do you see my point? There are so many types of anime, from the ridiculous to the sublime, that it seems pointless to argue over its merits. It's like saying 'do you like concept art?'

I draw with a strong Japanese influence, but I couldn't really give a shit whether people consider it anime or not.

Szyslack

August 25th, 2003, 10:25 PM

jrr, you are right about people shooting their mouths off about stuff they know little or nothing about. unfortunately this will always happen though.

Evil_Dan

August 26th, 2003, 12:53 PM

Manga/anime has its own look just like everything else. Take a look at american comics and cartoons it has its own look with exeptions of course. When was the last time you saw 6-5 guy running around in tights with every single muscle visible? How about higlights on every single muscle? Or how about cartoons that use the rules that were set by disney ages ago.
It's not all the same, you have to be blind not see the difference between Otomo and toriyama or others. Thats like saying Frank miller draws like Mike mignola.
I do have a problem with people who copy it exactly but i'm pretty sure those people are learning and will find their own way sooner or later. No different than copying from disney or comics when we were kids.

3bleadpencil

August 29th, 2003, 05:01 AM

I really don't see anything wrong with Japanese animation.....if you look at the educational backgrounds of some of these anime artists you can see that many did study fine art which includes proper colour theory/anatomy/etc. and even mechanical and engineering design......how can one say that they know nothing of what's "real."
Yes there is some bad artwork out there but I think it's safe to say that there's a lot of bad art work everywhere including the western world.
..the Japanese are probably looking at the simpsons, or ren and stimpy???? I mean what the....yeah funny as hell but look at the anatomy proportions.

anyway ...singling out a specific style is a flimsy excuse for saying "I can't draw now...look at what Anime has done my artistic abilities"......I call bullshit on that.....pick up your pencil and start drawing ....sit down and keep practicing your contour line exercises.

You might as well discard Fauvism/ Dada/ german Expressionism too becuase they had nothing to do with "realism"....

3B