Colfe’s was delighted to welcome Manga artist Sonia Leong to present the latest in the John Glyn Lecture series. Ms Leong delighted the highly enthusiastic audience with her exploration of Manga, its origins, drawing techniques and processes, along with industry advice and anecdotes about working as a Manga artist.
Year 7’s Henry reported on the talk:
Manga is the Japanese art of comics and storytelling, in the form of pictures with their own unique style. This was the topic of the first John Glyn Lecture of the year, with the incredible artist Sonia Leong, which will have left a lasting impression on those who attended. Though commonly seen as a more modern form of storytelling, manga has been around for over 800 years, with historians finding artworks similar to those of modern day manga inscribed upon scrolls in ancient Japan. Sonia gave us many tips on both how to read manga and how to tell styles apart. The more the lecture progressed, the more interested we became. The subject is multi-faceted, with many small and interesting details that bring the entire art to life. Yet many believe that the manga style is all the same, in terms of illustrations. This is not the case at all! Manga is primarily split into four styles; Shonen (boy manga), Shojo (girl manga), Josei (female adults manga) and Seinen (male adult manga). The artwork is drawn to appeal to a certain audience, for example Shojo manga features a rather cutesy form of drawing and focuses on the characters’ emotions, with many close ups of faces. However, these four styles do not mean manga is limited by gender – anyone can read any manga they wish. Manga is to be enjoyed by everyone.
Towards the end of her talk, Sonia gave us a taste of a simplistic yet impressive illustration of a classic manga character, drawn live on screen. As she did so, we learnt about the differences and complexities between hand drawn and digitally drawn manga, and how to design the numerous body parts and proportions a character may have. Overall, the lecture was a huge success and will inspire many eager artists to explore this form of art.
