Original anime/manga art collecting…

One of the things I always look for at the Armageddon events, is original anime/manga style artwork to buy. When I say “original” I usually mean the actual art itself, and not a print or photo copy. One of my secret addictions is collecting original artwork, I also love supporting local artists.

Problem is, I am so picky about what I like and don’t like… something that isn’t helped by the fact that I have well over 350 anime/manga related artbooks and have a very good idea of the range of skills artists can have.

My favourite artists include Masamune Shirow, CLAMP (in their earlier years) Range Murata, Chiho Saito, Aoi Nanase and Satoshi Urushihara. If you are even vaguely familiar with these artists’ works, you’ll know that while I love variety, everything has to have style, professionalism and a certain amount of uniqueness.

So at this year’s Auckland Armageddon event, I was dissapointed. Usually there would be more artists around, but all I saw was the small deviantArt stand that really didn’t have that much art on display

To make up for it, I did something very very naughty ^_^;

Some of you will be familiar with Elizabeth Leaper’s work.
A little bit of naughty, a little bit of nice, such an interesting style and amazing skill with colouring no matter what medium. I remember when she first started out, her work was still very good, but nothing like it is today. I remember when she had a stand at Armageddon a few years ago and how well she did back then. Now, she doesn’t need Armageddon because she is so well known in the online art circles, with her work selling for well over the US$100 mark, and a variety of people commissioning her to do work for them.

I asked her yesterday via MSN to create me a sketchbook. With 50 sketches in total, and giving her free reign over what she could draw. She had asked what my favourite series/characters were, and this I gave her, but with the edict that she should draw only what she wants to draw.
Part of the appeal in this for me is having something that is “freely” created and fun for the artist. When an artist is enjoying what they are doing, it really does show in the quality of the work they produce.
The price tag on this sketchbook makes even me gulp, but thankfully I can pay it off in 5 fortnights worth of pay. It’s the kind of money I think most artists want to be getting, but for Liz’s work, it’s worth it.

In the next few weeks I’ll be scanning up all the original artwork I own (with permission from the artists) and creating a gallery on this site to share with you. With over 80 pieces, hopefully it will give people an idea of the range of skill in the anime/manga fandom as far as art is concerned, and also encourage others to look into local artists, and support them.
Below is a photo I took a while ago of Liz’s work, just to give you an idea of what will be in this gallery…

A gorgeous mermaid Liz drew for me as a birthday gift.

Another artist whose recently caught my eye is a girl by the name of Evi. Just need to think about what I’d like her to draw for me, and then go from there. And once thats done, I really hope Keysha is still taking commissions XDp.s. Another form of “original” is original characters as opposed to fan art. I have nothing against fan art, but I do not have much respect for artists who only draw and sell fan art.
The true mark of an artist, is their ability to create something new. NOT re-create someone else’s work, even though it is done in their own style.