niponica

2024 NO.36

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All Things Pen and Paper in Japan

5


Tools the Manga Artist Cherishes

What tools are used to create manga? Explore what the professionals use and how they use these tools to create manga.

Photos: Kurihara Osamu Cooperation: Wacom

Manga artist Tanaka Teko sketches in pencil. To create her manga, she uses a combination of stationery tools and digital devices.

Manga are enjoyed by readers around the world. In recent years, most manga are drawn by artists entirely on digital devices. But there are still artists who create on paper — using pen, paper, and ink for everything from drawing the sketches to applying the finishing touches. Furthermore, more than a few groups have gone hybrid, using both pen on paper and digital tools to produce their work.

A favorite of the manga artist has always been, and still is today, the dip pen with a nib that is inserted into a barrel. The dip pen is essential to the inking process, in which the artist traces over initial sketches done in pencil. Of all nibs, the G-pen nib is most often used for outlining manga characters because of its deep, open slit down the center and the ability to vary line thickness by adjusting the amount of pressure used. The Maru-pen nib is used to draw fine, sophisticated lines for things like eyes, hair, and backgrounds. Whichever they choose, there are manga artists who believe that only hand drawing can truly imbue their characters with soul, and they are extremely particular about their non-digital tools, meticulously selecting the nibs, barrels, pencils, and inks they use.

The advent of computer-connected LCD pen tablets with digital pens has created new opportunities in manga expression. Like with pen and paper, the digital pen also reacts to drawing pressure, making it possible to draw lines and apply color just as expressively. The artist can select one of hundreds of millions of possible colors, and the backdrop can be altered instantly with imported photos or added background patterns, for instance.

From plotting out the story to applying the finishing touches, completing a manga book is no small feat. Manga will surely continue to evolve as artists make use of the advantages of both analog and digital tools.

Tanaka Teko demonstrates each step in the process of creating color drawings. She uses blue lead (1) in a mechanical pencil (2) to draw an initial sketch that will not be visible when the drawing is printed, then uses a pencil (3) to trace over the sketch (4).

She then inks in the main lines. Inserting a G-pen (5) and a Maru-pen (6) nib into a pen barrel, she dips the pen in ink (7) and traces the lines (8). She chooses just the right nib for lines of the thickness she wants to achieve. This is a tense moment because hand-drawn lines cannot be redrawn.

Coloring is done with an LCD pen tablet (9). The hand-inked drawing is scanned as a digital image, and she uses a digital pen to apply color (10). She chooses her color from the color palette and uses the brush tool to easily add blur and other effects (11).

The vividly colored drawing is complete.

Manga by Tanaka Teko Hokago Ponytail (“Ponytail After School”)
(Margaret Comics, Shueisha Inc.)

Advantages of Hand Drawing vs. Digital Drawing

Digital data is easy to share and gives a sense of security since you can always undo mistakes. When drawing on paper, on the other hand, lines cannot be undone, and this gives more intensity and power to the lines. Whether you use stationery or digital tools, practicing over and over is very important to becoming proficient with them.
(From an interview with manga artist Tanaka Teko)

©Teko Tanaka 2024