I recently had a client who wanted me to do animation for a game he's producing. I figured, no problem, I'll follow the character designs and get paid. YAY
( Read more... )
I went through almost this exact same thing with an illustration job I was going for. It was several years back, and a guy posted on guru that he needed some manga-style illustrations for his company. So I contacted him. I asked if he could clarify what sort of "anime/manga" style he was looking for, since naturally that's a broad description. He said he wanted something "shoujo, like Clamp". I contacted him again, and included several samples of my work (all very "girl comic" in feel). He wrote back and said he was looking for something tighter, "more polished". I noticed that his ad was up there for quite a while after this, still looking for an artist. Now we all know how many anime/manga style artists are competing for jobs. I can't imagine that with a request for "manga anime style artist wanted" he wasn't getting more than a few interested applicants, so why was it taking so long for him to find an artist to fill his needs? Could it be that he was throwing around "shoujo" and "Clamp", without really knowing what sort of art that was? Quite a while later, I did a search for his company and found the illustrated placeholder for the page. He had finally found an artist, and the art looked quite good. But it was NOT shoujo in the slightest. Like, at all. It was a more general, hard edged, thickly outlined, angular style. Dude didn't know what he wanted.
This is also a debate that comes on constantly on the Ball-jointed-doll (dollfie) forum I frequent. The mods want discussion to focus on dolls that are "on topic". One of the qualifying characteristics is that the sculpt must have an "Asian aesthetic". You have no idea how many screaming matches and *head desk* inspiring debates have resulted from trying to put a finger on what exactly is an "Asian aesthetic". It's the same problem. Like anime or manga, there may be a general sort of something that sets most of these dolls apart - but then you'll have two that look absolutely nothing alike - yet both somehow fit "Asian aesthetic". Then you might have one made by a Korean sculptor that doesn't pass the test, while another by an American or French sculptor does.
It's extremely hard trying to define a visual something or other that someone is just sure they want, but can't describe.
This is also a debate that comes on constantly on the Ball-jointed-doll (dollfie) forum I frequent. The mods want discussion to focus on dolls that are "on topic". One of the qualifying characteristics is that the sculpt must have an "Asian aesthetic". You have no idea how many screaming matches and *head desk* inspiring debates have resulted from trying to put a finger on what exactly is an "Asian aesthetic". It's the same problem. Like anime or manga, there may be a general sort of something that sets most of these dolls apart - but then you'll have two that look absolutely nothing alike - yet both somehow fit "Asian aesthetic". Then you might have one made by a Korean sculptor that doesn't pass the test, while another by an American or French sculptor does.
It's extremely hard trying to define a visual something or other that someone is just sure they want, but can't describe.
Reply
Leave a comment