Art Contest - Interview with the Autumn Black Colored Art Contest winner

I hope you guys are working hard for the Winter Contest...there are already some entries around, but we have room for much, much more! And of course, let's not forget about the One Piece Art Contest and its awesome prizes...c'mon guys, everyone up there must be freezing inside home right now, so get a pencil and start working!
(unless you're here in the south like me, in the middle of this hell of a summer. I'm melting. ;_;).

So to inspire you guys, today I'd like to introduce you to Elkin, the winner of our Autumn B/W art contest winner! Let's hear a bit of his thoughts! =)



1.Please introduce yourself to us!

Yo I'm Elkin. I'm a translator for 2 groups (Vagrants, Domo) and 2 novel series (Baccano!, Durarara!!). Real life's threatening to turn me into an ex-translator though.

Also in the process of being converted into one of the horde of the mindless zombies... known as the Auditors... dun dun dun....

2.Have you participated in any Arts Contests before?

Yuppers, the Summer one.



3. Tell us something about your winning piece. What inspired you to draw it?

I'd been meaning to do a Nurarihyon fan art for a while, I wanted to draw, and I had a sketch (if you can call 5-odd lines that) sitting on my computer for a long while. Then I saw the Autumn contest with 2 days left, went 'oh ****', and started drawing.

Nothing like stress to get the creative juices flowing.

Frankly though? The submission of sketches to the Black & White category. That ticked me off more than some submissions to the Colour Fan art section... Perhaps I'm being a tad harsh here, but I personally feel that putting sketches, especially messy ones, under B&W is an insult to all the manga, comic and B&W artists out there. B&W is about working with contrasts… it’s not just a case of drawing.

4. Any tips for our aspiring artists?

Practice. Especially practice stuff you hate... be it backgrounds, or colours, or a particular style. It's also pretty useful looking at other people's work and mimicking their style. Mind you, copying someone’s art and copying their styles are two completely different things. Please, don't copy their art. You don't learn anything.

Also, try not to use the erase tool (says the person who abuses it to no end). And learn to do art using traditional mediums, i.e. pencil, inks, chalks, paints etc. You learn so much more than way... and it shows in your digital work.

5. Which is the mangaka that inspires you most? Why?

...I can't say there is any specific mangaka who inspires me. But generally speaking, I admire those who can change their style when the story calls for it, or weave stories that can capture the imagination of the reader and make them go '...wow, I'm glad I read that'.

Inspiration-wise, I draw it mostly from characters I'm particularly fond of. It's why I draw people... background bores me, even though it's an essential part of drawing, or indeed, any picture.

6. Where did you learn and how did you begin to draw/color/write manga?

I think very few people learn to draw manga from the get go. But anyway, I started drawing when I was quite young, stopped before I was 10, then picked it up again 4 years ago.

I don’t remember exactly why I drew when I was young (don’t all kids draw when they’re young?). As for 4 years ago, I picked up drawing again because: a) I had too much time, b) it was the time I got into anime/manga, c) several of my friends were into it.

7. Are you satisified with your artwork? What are you trying to accomplish/improve?

Satisfied? Hardly. I'm actually trying not to draw manga-style. Failing rather miserably... It really doesn't help when your hobbies include manga and anime.

What I'm trying to accomplish... is to put the pictures in my head down onto digital paper. Digital, because I really don't have the time/energy/money/knowledge to dabble on the traditional art side. Bad, I know, but I gotta keep the dough rolling in.

Improvements-wise, I'd like to be able to pull off realism. Even just once. I also badly need to start drawing backgrounds, because I fail so hard at it it's not even funny.

8. How do you like the MH community so far?

Can't say I'm an active participant, especially forums-wise, so I'm not in any position to comment. I really appreciate the time and effort njt, other staff and translators are pouring into this site though The system makes everything so much easier, especially in terms of linking translators to scanlators.

9. Leave a message for the fellow users!

Support the publishers! And Vagrants is in dire need of people... typesetters, translators, proofreaders, cleaners are all welcome!