To those of you who have supported me, this does not apply to you. I'm just hoping these words will reach the random viewer who comes to my page.


Normally, I detest using these journals as an opportunity to gripe and complain about people not liking my art. I understand that people have different preferences, that many of the people on here are often fans looking for fanwork. I also recognize the fact that there are so many phenomenal artists on DA and that my work is often overshadowed by them.

It's just that I noticed this week that what I love to do - my comics and comic pages - were viewed much less then the two very OLD pieces that I submitted of my Fashion designs. Don't get me wrong, I love to design clothes. I'm glad that there are people who like my designs, and all of you who have told me so I am deeply appreciative and happy to know there are people that I appeal to on the market. I have an eerie knack for fashion that serves me well, but it's not what I want people to like most in my portfolio.

There are so many manga fans on here, and I proudly say I am in comics because I read Manga. I love Manga, but it just seems that lately the people who were into it because of the new stories and genres that were opened to us are fading...and quickly being replaced by people who like it just because of the stylization and only specific conventionalized genres. It's not an entirely bad thing, but it is certainly limiting both for artists and readers. It's also a deterrent as well when someone favs a poorly drawn image of their favorite character instead of a gorgeous original piece. Now, I'm not saying mine is gorgeous beyond compare (just go to my watch list and you will find artists that are far more deserving of that description), but I feel that I have some remote talent that's better then a simple line drawing with no sense of line weight, a light source and lacks a sense of value. Is it so that fantastic art, by anyone, can so easily be trumped because it simply does not retain an iconic or popular character? I did the same thing, once, so I really have no place to judge - except for the fact that I moved beyond what I knew and explored new things both as an artist and viewer.

I've started delving into American comics (there are good ones people! you just have to look for them!) the Alternative scene, and French BD. I've encountered Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Belladone by Pierre Alary, Scott Pilgrim by Brian O'Malley, the 'Death' Miniseries my Neil Gaiman, Watchman by Alan Moore, Corgie by Christian Slade, Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi and Artesia from Archaia Studio Press. I've tried to adapt my style, try something beyond Manga. And I've improved. I've improved quite a good bit, and I have learned so much that I wished I had known before. I desire others could do the same, and enrich their reading and their lives in more ways then one. I want the excitement that once existed in Manga to come back.

Manga is sadly dying, people. The fad that has lasted over 20 years is now starting to lose its glamor, it's potency, it's ability to invoke our emotions (or at least mine and many others in the sequential department at SCAD). I remember crying when I first read Magic Knight Rayearth. I don't experience that in Naruto, Bleach, Deathnote, or Code Geass. Series that moved and inspired me personally were often overlooked, like Last Exile, Mars, Red River, Paradise Kiss, Clover, Gankatsuo, The Twelve Kingdoms, and even Gurren Lagann to a certain extent. It makes me furious the the books that molded Manga such as Wolf and Cub, most of Ozuma's works, Akira, Domu and Tekkonkenkrit are almost completely unknown by many fans. I miss the days of Escaflowne, Card Captor Sakura, Robotech Macross, Dragon Ball (the original, not Z or G!!), Gundam Wing and yes by the stars I even miss Sailor Moon. It just seems to me what's happened in American comics that has made it seem (and I emphasize seem) so cheap and generic is now happening to Manga. Companies, knowing what genres and characters do succeed, exploit them over their limit. I look down the much enlarged Manga aisle that should fill my heart with joy and excitement - but I only feel disappointment as I see the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over as different titles with different names and different faces...

It just feels so fruitless to put something new out there, if all people want to see is what they are familiar with. What's the point of pouring my heart, creativity and energy into a comic if people discard it for a fan drawing that someone drew in five minutes? I can do that, easily. But I won't. Because I like a challenge, I like to think and figure out a composition and spend tedious hours doing color sketches. It's what I love, it's my passion.

I merely wish people could move beyond their fandom. Not just for artists, but for themselves...because they deprive themselves of a rich culture that thrives right underneath the surface. A new world of artistic inspiration waits...you just have make the choice to open the door.

And I beg, no, implore you to make that decision.