Japanese animation or, ‘anime’, is just that: the specific animation style of Japan. It can be distinguished from other animation styles just at a glance. It’s known for its carefully detailed characters, backgrounds, storylines, and just the animation itself. It’s certainly not new, but is steadily becoming a most favored animation style, as there are many imitators. From movies, to television shows, to video games, it’s a craze with a huge fan base, sweeping country to country!

It all started with ukyo-e, the original Japanese painting styles of the Edo (1603 to 1868) period. They featured almost anything, from landscapes, to animals, to people. Ukyo-e were painted or printed onto scrolls. Just as you would see many ukyo-e of beautiful scenery, there would be just as many of the adventures of small woodland creatures, such as frogs and rabbits, made into what would be considered a primitive comic strip.

As every true anime fan knows, before a series is made into an animation, it is a manga. ‘Manga’ is the Japanese word for comic (which are sold in weekly or monthly Japanese magazines such as, the Asuka), and if the manga is popular, it is made into an animation.

Here on the wall, are only but a few examples of the vast array of different anime characters that Selena Cotton and I (Harley Smith) draw. Sometimes we haven’t a name for them; just draw them as we see them in our mind. We do, however, have some characters that we do name. Drawing isn’t a chore to us, it’s more so a fun activity. We have embraced the anime style and use it in almost all of our drawings. When drawing for as long as we have, you develop a sense of creativity, and it’s hard not to make your own characters.

We have always used pencil for our drawings, but have recently started using fine-tip Sharpie markers. They are great for filling in and darkening in a way that a pencil could not. We have also started using Macromedia Flash (MX 2004), which allows you to manually draw, color, and animate. It’s excellent for coloring and animation, but it’s always more enjoyable to work by hand.
By Harley S.