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Selection of screen shots featuring some of my web things...

'About me' https://about.me/benkrefta also covers most of my web presence.

I Did a thing

Here's a little compilation of characters I'd created from my tutorial book 'Drawing Manga - Step by Step'.

It's a relatively short how to draw guide book I worked on years which and had been re-released more recently. The idea being to create a cast of characters, teaching how they can be drawn. For those still learning how to create a character artwork, this book offers initial guidance and step-by-step instruction.

I get nostalgic looking back at previous projects I'd worked on

Learning to draw (Manga and Anime)

Learning to draw anime and manga characters is both useful and fun for several reasons. Firstly, it provides a creative outlet for self-expression. Anime and manga styles allow artists to convey emotions, tell stories, and create unique worlds through distinctive character designs. This fosters a sense of accomplishment as artists bring their imagination to life on paper.

Moreover, mastering anime and manga drawing techniques enhances overall artistic skills. Artists learn proportions, anatomy, and dynamic poses, honing their abilities to capture movement and expression. This foundational knowledge is transferable to other art forms and styles, contributing to a well-rounded skill set.

The anime and manga community is vast and global, making it a shared cultural experience. Learning to draw in these styles allows artists to connect with a diverse audience, share their work online, and participate in a vibrant artistic community. Collaborating with fellow enthusiasts, attending conventions, or even creating fan art fosters a sense of camaraderie and belonging.

Additionally, drawing anime and manga characters is a gateway to understanding Japanese culture and storytelling. It provides insights into different artistic traditions, narrative structures, and character archetypes prevalent in Japanese media. This cultural exchange broadens perspectives and enriches the overall learning experience.

In essence, learning to draw anime and manga characters is a fulfilling and enjoyable journey that combines artistic growth, cultural exploration, and the opportunity to connect with a global community of fellow enthusiasts.

Some Creepy Monster Designs:

Some Random Sketch Requests:

Some more Random Sketch Requests:

Commission for Tegan

This was made as a gift for a Dad's daughter, Tegan. She's a fan of Japan, Dragon Ball Z and Card Captor Sakura, so it was cool to get a few references in there with her portrait.

I think this must be one of the few times I draw a seated pose, and I like the colours with this one. Looking back, my only regret is that the shoes should be closed-toe, but like with every picture, you do what you think is right at the time.

Commission for Jessica

This commission was drawn for a friend of Jessica. She needed to look like she meant business and went with a foreshortened perspective with this. I don't know what the dinosaur bone is about? I'm sure it has some significance.

I'm not a caricaturist by trade so adapting the art I do to look like someone specific but with a manga vibe is always a challenge. Is it possible to convert real people's features into a simplified and stylized manga form (such as Pokemon, Dragonball) while managing to retain a likeness?

Birthday cake

This anime style portrait illustration was created for a a young family's twin daughter's Birthday. Made with the intention of being printed on a birthday cake. I wonder how it looked in the end? Or how it tasted?

Ever wanted to publish a guide book?

Here's a a short overview how I created Digital Manga- A step-by-step guide, teaching more or less everything I know about Photoshop and turning an initial drawing into a full rendered work of art. Perhaps you'll find it useful, or interesting to learn what was involved?

The project

People have often been impressed with my digital colouring. And so I've wanted to create a book on how I colour my character art since my last year at Uni, back in 2007. Finally in 2013 I put together a proposal and asked the Publisher of my previous titles if they'd be interested in the project. It got the go ahead!

Originally, I wanted full control of the project, even down to creating the layouts. Although I was asked to alter my initial idea somewhat to make it work for the publishers. But I was so keen to see it out there that I was happy to compromise. We dropped a section or two and added in something else and I needed to collaborate with an in-house graphic designer who took the lead on layouts.

In 2014 the book was finished and Published. I was happy!

Time

It took a while to complete- the initial given deadline was around 4 months to submit both the text and images. I then needed a number of weeks some time later to revise the page layouts and re-check over the edited text.

Initial planning took a few weeks prior. I had already created a 30 page BLAD (book layout and design proposal) years ago, which helped speed the initial planning stages up, and of course aided in pitching the idea to the publisher.

Fortunately, I also already had several finished character artworks I'd go on to contribute to the book. Each of which would have otherwise taken a good 20 hours to complete.

I worked my own hours. Some days spending 15 hours solidly working. Other days, just 4 or 5 hours. With 160 pages to fill up with well written, fresh content, it was never going to be a breeze. If I were to guess, all in, I must have spent well over 500 hours on the project.

Effort

I wanted the book to be one of the best things I'd ever produced! I was willing to go above and beyond to bring it up to my standards, even if the publisher was otherwise content with a product that was passable. Unlike my previous book TAODM, Digital Manga needed about 55% more written content and 50% more image content. Unlike the previous book, I also didn't want to use a writing assistant or several image contributions from collaborators this time around. It was important that the work would be my own. Other than a a couple of pages at the back offering tips from fellow artists I happen to follow.

I also took it upon myself to record / screen capture several of the book's character tutorials. These were converted into time lapse videos and upload to a web page I'd created along with downloadable content.

Positives

The book had been available for years now. I appreciate it may not be everyone's cup of tea, or it may not be the best instructional book in the world, but I'm really proud of the end result. After having researched hundreds of online art tutorials, forums and videos over the last decade , I know the book is covering all the necessary bases and more. It draws upon everything I've learned about Photoshop art creation since I started using it back in 2000. Years later, the book's content is still relevant even with modern versions of Photoshop having been released.

Like with many books sold, I realise a lot of readers will simply just buy it for the pretty pictures and with the intention of one day making use of it. But I really hope people out there get the chance to read it fully or practice some of the content I've provided. I'd love to know readers have learned something interesting, useful, and for the book to help with their digital art endeavours.

Problems

The book isn't as perfect as I'd like it to be. Frustratingly, I found several small errors still left in the book after having gone to print! (Mostly not my fault). These could have been easily resolved, but unfortunately, I was not given the opportunity to check out a final proof. I imagine the publishing team were up against deadlines or problems of their own and not as invested in the project? I did all that I could to make sure many of these errors were rectified when to book was reprinted in my expanded Art Class: Manga Art title.

I remember having to spend a lot of time adjusting the graphic designer's layouts or advising upon how each page was presented. There were an unacceptable amount of inconsistencies and some cases, horrendous design choices- use of garish, clashing colours, tacky background images. I hate to think how the book would have ended up had I not insisted on overseeing the layout stages. It was frustrating that the publisher insisted on using their own graphic designer for layout when I knew I could have done a much better job.

I suspected sales wouldn't reach the same levels as my previous titles. While the book is, in my opinion, totally awesome and a huge step up from the last ones, I realize Photoshop isn't as accessible to manga fans as a pencil and paper. Or indeed cheaper and free art software which many beginners use. While the book is accessible, some of the content is more advances and not something for complete novices. The book teaches how I work, but this may not be to everyone's taste.

Dealing with Publishers

Communication was done completely over email. It was great to have a record of everything sent and received and suited my late working hours.

Although there is this detachment whereby I don't know exactly what is going on their end. Like me, are they also frantically trying to get everything done and staying up until the early hours to do so? Or are they not taking the project as seriously, slapping together a half-baked job and calling it a day? If often felt like the latter. It can be easy to fear the worst if there is a lack of face to face communication or if there's a problem and I can't talk to the designer, the sales team, the accountants directly. Instead everything is going through the editor as a middle-man.

What's Next?

Another tutorial book perhaps? I was asked to work on something else which has the same of visual impact as Digital Manga. At the time of writing, nothing has been confirmed yet. I've already given my all to this book. It's hard to know how I can top it. For now I'll continue to build up a new portfolio and give myself a back-catalogue of fresh, full coloured artwork to use in a new title.

Until then, I'm looking forward to producing some more artwork and moving onto the next stage of my career

A C+P from chrisoatley.com. Thought it was worth a repost on the blog...

What Do Bad Clients Look Like?

Many years ago, I was offered what sounded like a nice freelance gig.

An oil painting. A huge portrait of a couple that would be given to them as a gift.

The painting would have taken me about two weeks.

I quoted my hourly rate which was around $35/hr at the time.

2 weeks (80 hours)  x  $35/hr = $2800

If you ask me, for a huge double-portrait in fracking oil paint, 28-hundy is a legitimate steal.

But the man offering the job did not agree. In fact, he was shocked and offended. He had a much lower figure in mind…

He the offered me $25 for the portrait.

I asked him how much he got paid for his job and if it was higher than $12.50 a week.

…and that’s the end of that story.

Granted, the “$25 Portrait” example, although true, is ridiculous. No sane artist would accept that guy’s offer.

My point here is that bad clients usually look bad right from the beginning.

It’s desperation that blinds us.

It is our desperation that gives power to the bad clients.

I'd say this example represents 90+% of the job offers I've had while freelancing. Perhaps not to this extent, but similar. With the huge pool of internet artists for both companies and private individuals to choose from these days, generating the kinda money an artist deserves is no easy task.

A Deviantart meme thingy

I drew the cyberpunk ninja Bengosha a long time ago. He was originally created for a character design contest and then used as a character example in the book 'The Art of Drawing Manga'. This year I started working on a new book about digital techniques due for release in 2014 and decided to include a Bengosha revamp.

I still like a few aspects of the original, even if it is a very old piece, although I hope anyone else agrees that the new art is an improvement! I've never been an amazing artist and probably never will, but I still like to think I'm pretty good at busting out a cool picture here and there when I put in a lot of time and effort

I've worked as a manga inspired/influenced/style artist for years. Although a large percentage of people I meet don't really know what manga is! Let alone understanding the differences between it an anime. Older relatives, or those completely removed from popular culture often need educating. For most people who are unfamiliar, I'll usually just say I draw "Japanese style comics and cartoons". However, I don't think the answer to "What is manga?" or "What is anime?" is a simple 'one description fits all scenarios' sentence. With a little help from Wikipedia I thought I'd try my best at summing it up these definitions.

What is the difference between Anime and Manga?

Anime is a term to describe animation created in Japan. In the west, the term is “anime” is defined as a style and genre of animation typically originating in Japan, and can often feature detailed, colourful imagery, unique, in-depth characters and action orientated plot lines either set in the past, present, future or often within a fantasy setting. The meaning of the term ‘anime’ can sometimes vary depending on the context it’s used in.

Manga is a term to describe comics created in Japan, or produced by Japanese Manga Ka (artists), primarily for a Japanese audience. The style was developed in Japan though the mid to late 19th century with heavy influences from western and American comics combined with the long and complex history of Japanese art and wood-block prints. In the western world, the term is often defined as a style of drawing originating in Japan and many western artists have adopted this style and refer to themselves as Manga artists.

We could summarize, that typically:

Anime = animation in a typical Japanese cartoon style. Often in full Colour.
Manga = comics in a typical Japanese cartoon style. Often in black & white and with grey tones.

How would you describe anime and manga to the uninformed?