Art Contest - Interview with the Summer Advanced Coloring Contest winner

The deadline for the MH Birthday Header Contest is only two weeks away. Don't miss your chance to have your artistic talent shown atop of MH for all to see!

Now, I'd like to introduce everyone to Googlez_kun, one of our MH Artists and the winner of the Summer Advanced Coloring Contest! =)



1.Please introduce yourself to us!

Er...what should I say, I'm Googlez_kun and everyone calls me Googlez or Goo. I'm from Berlin (that's in Germany for those who don't know) My favourite manga, as you may have guessed is Naruto, even though i also love other manga. I also enjoy drawing and coloring. I'm pretty lazy and also like all the stuff everybody likes:<music,food and hanging out with friends. I guess you could say that I'm pretty boring.xD If you want to know more about me,you can come to the Fun Forums and hang out with us crazy users or just read the interview^^

2.Have you participated in any Arts Contests before?

I never took part in any kind of art contest. I had the intention, but never really finished my works or just forgot to submit my entry. The only time I managed to do that was in a MH contest, but without success. The second time I participated in a contest was in this Summer Art Contest.

3.What do you find most challenging in colouring panels?

I don't really have problems with shades, colors or stuff like that, but what still challenges me is the atmosphere. I always try to find the fitting mood depending on the story and the characters. I mainly color Naruto panels for I want to create the dark mood,which is hidden in Naruto, with my colors.

4. Any tips for our aspiring artists?

Just like Dynamic Dragon/Pokefreak once said It is like this: ART = 10% Talent + 90% practice. It's all about practice, but that's nothing new i guess.I'm not really a great artist, so I'm not in the position to give tips,but i can tell you one thing: Take every kind of critic into consideration. Even if it sounds harsh sometimes, don't see it as an insult,but as an important advice. You won't get far if you always just hear "Awesome job" or "Nice".

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

If I had to chose one, I would definitly take Kishimoto Masashi and no, it's not because I'm a Narutard. There are amazing and outstanding manga-ka out there,who also inspired me,but that only for a short time. Kishimoto somehow always manages to inspire me and not only with Naruto. His art is rather simple,but still really fresh. I also like his nihilistic writing style, even though he has to hide that often, because Naruto is a shonen.

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

I started drawing manga when I was really small, I think i was in third grade then. I had a Pokemon sticker book, which i was quite proud of, and traced my favourite Pokemon. Obviously I watched Pokemon and other anime on tv, so I always drew the characters and got into drawing, reading and buying manga. I taught everything to myself or rather by looking at the volumes at home.

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

I'm quite satisfied with this one,but it's not perfect,obviously. I still have problems when it comes to backgrounds, which is clearly visible here, so I'm trying to improve on that.

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

The MH community is great!I like the conversation in the discussion forums and all the talk about manga, but for me the best parts of MH are where you can just chat with other people like the mods in the Getting in Touch forum. Not to forget the Fun Forums, my favourite place. Sadly, the Manga Art forums are not as active as in the past, but it's still nice there.

9. Leave a message for the fellow users!

First of all, thanks to everyone who voted for my coloring! I also want to thank everyone who participated in this coloring contest and I hope that some users from the Amateur Contest will show up in the Advanced Contest.

Thank you for reading my interview, I hope it was not too long!