I've been teaching myself Google SketchUp these past few days. It's made drawing backgrounds and life in general a lot easier. A buddy of mine introduced it to me over a year ago but failed to be convinced of it's awesomeness. Sorry, Daxx. I've seen the light to say the least. It's not like I'm constructing every little detail but using it more as a guide for tricky angles and shit. I mean, I'm workin' with just squares and circles, yo. It's not complicated at all. I implore any artists reading this to try it out and to not leave such a vital tool untouched.
I've also been taking some time to read up on the extensive discussion brought about by the MJ statue and the Sana Takeda cover. The MJ statue aside, I just wanted to give my 2 cents about the latter. No one really reads this blog so I'll be totally honest here. First of all, I've met Takeda-san and like C.B. states in the Lying in the Gutters article she really is a nice and sweet person. I very much doubt she drew the cover to provoke or otherwise offend women in any way. When you step back from all the anger, what you get is a cool looking cover done by a talented artist.
I drew the previous cover to Heroes for Hire and was asked to choose at least two girls out of the cast and draw them as sexy as possible so, naturally, I did. It ended up looking more cute than sexy but herein lies my point, I guess. Cultural attitudes towards sex and nudity are, well, different. Especially between North America and Japan. J-comic readers know that there are many non-porn titles that will probably never see the light of day due to these differing tastes. Showing penises and boobies aren't that big of a deal in Japan but often get censored or edited backhome. Even if it's the cute Dragonball style double U for a wee-wee. Y'know what I'm talking about.
There is also the issue of what an "ideal" woman is considered to be between NA and J. Basically, dominant vs submissive. I'm not saying which is better, just that it does indeed exist and that it falls under the umbrella of sexy and attractive. And I'm speculating that what hit the biggest chord with most people had nothing to do with the tentacles or the hairband or the cleavage but the expressions on the faces of the three girls. And, y'know, I understand. Especially since I'm somewhat familiar with the characters and the fact that they are supposed to be strong kick-ass amazon woman-like. It's rather uncharacteristic of all three of them to be acting so helpless and contrary to the purpose of the property. I'm sure Takeda-san had no idea, though, and since she recieves work through translated e-mails and notes, I'm not surprised. She drew the most attractive cover in a way only she could.
So, what it boils down to in my opinion is partial miscommunication and differing standards of what is considered sexy. From the pov of an artist.
TAK
I've also been taking some time to read up on the extensive discussion brought about by the MJ statue and the Sana Takeda cover. The MJ statue aside, I just wanted to give my 2 cents about the latter. No one really reads this blog so I'll be totally honest here. First of all, I've met Takeda-san and like C.B. states in the Lying in the Gutters article she really is a nice and sweet person. I very much doubt she drew the cover to provoke or otherwise offend women in any way. When you step back from all the anger, what you get is a cool looking cover done by a talented artist.
I drew the previous cover to Heroes for Hire and was asked to choose at least two girls out of the cast and draw them as sexy as possible so, naturally, I did. It ended up looking more cute than sexy but herein lies my point, I guess. Cultural attitudes towards sex and nudity are, well, different. Especially between North America and Japan. J-comic readers know that there are many non-porn titles that will probably never see the light of day due to these differing tastes. Showing penises and boobies aren't that big of a deal in Japan but often get censored or edited backhome. Even if it's the cute Dragonball style double U for a wee-wee. Y'know what I'm talking about.
There is also the issue of what an "ideal" woman is considered to be between NA and J. Basically, dominant vs submissive. I'm not saying which is better, just that it does indeed exist and that it falls under the umbrella of sexy and attractive. And I'm speculating that what hit the biggest chord with most people had nothing to do with the tentacles or the hairband or the cleavage but the expressions on the faces of the three girls. And, y'know, I understand. Especially since I'm somewhat familiar with the characters and the fact that they are supposed to be strong kick-ass amazon woman-like. It's rather uncharacteristic of all three of them to be acting so helpless and contrary to the purpose of the property. I'm sure Takeda-san had no idea, though, and since she recieves work through translated e-mails and notes, I'm not surprised. She drew the most attractive cover in a way only she could.
So, what it boils down to in my opinion is partial miscommunication and differing standards of what is considered sexy. From the pov of an artist.
TAK
posted by TAK at 4:42 AM
