Korean pop music is breaking US records right now >>>
Saturday, May 30
Interview with Manga Artist Sarah Childs (Gyzra Ink) at MCM London Comic Con
One of the fastest growing parts of the event at all of the MCM Comic Con events is that of the Comic Village, a place where comics meet in cavalcade of colour and creativity. One of the reasons for this recent growth is the explosion of indie comic book writers and artists who are attending the event to sell/exhibit their work.
One such artist is the talented Sarah Childs. MCM Buzz spoke to her about how she became an artist, her favourite MCM Comic Con memory and her manga series The Chronicles of Gyzra, the latest of which she will be selling this weekend.
MCM Buzz: How did you first discover you could draw?
Sarah: I’ve always loved drawing and I can’t remember a time before it. I just loved the ability to create my own worlds and characters. I think that inspiration came from being a fan of video games and wanting to create my own. In school everyone seemed to love asking me to draw Pokémon and Sonic characters and that just made me want to create more stories, no longer just for me, but for everyone to enjoy. From there it went from simple playing to studying new techniques and materials. Still to this day I have so much to learn, but I love every second of it.
MCM Buzz: What made you decide to start your own manga?
Sarah: My dad spent several years working in Japan and introduced my family to JRPGs, manga, anime and the beautiful movies of Hayao Miyazaki. At the same time I loved watching Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh and Dragon Ball Z and started copying them. I love the art style and when I got my first manga novel I was instantly addicted to the beautiful flowing and detailed artwork. There is something special about manga, the way the pages don’t have to stick to their panels, the words flowing around the images, and the inviting, expressive characters. I knew I wanted to tell my own stories, but as soon as I discovered manga I realised that this was the form I wanted to tell them in.
MCM Buzz: Who would you say are some of the people who inspire your work?
Sarah: Yoshitaka Amano’s artwork from Final Fantasy will always be a huge inspiration to me. One of the earliest drawings I have kept was a sketch I made of Ifrit from Final Fantasy X. I used to copy the drawings from the official guides and so I learnt so much from studying his art. Also, the beautiful works of Wenqing Yan, also known as Yuumei, melt my heart. Her artwork inspires me to keep improving, to me she is what an artist should be; someone who can take raw emotion, combine it with compelling story and tell you everything you need to know in one image. There are so many other artists that inspire me too: all the comic artists from theBLVD Studio, Kei (a vocaloid artist), Kim Hyung-tae, and also a lot of artists that visit our wonderful Comic Village at MCM.
MCM Buzz: What is the process you use for creating your work?
Sarah: Planning is very important to me and I love to create intricate detailed worlds and characters. Because of this I spend a lot of time designing the world first. This can involve anything from maps to monster designs. After this I write the main plot points. Usually there is something in my life or in a dream that has sparked the inspiration for the story so I start at this point and try to figure out how the characters would react to each event. Once I have a list of key events I will flesh it out in a script type format, detailing what certain characters will say or do. After this I will take key scenes and thumbnail them. This is where a scene is drawn in lots of little rectangles representing the pages, before drawing them full size so that I can make sure the pages flow together and make sense.
Once it comes to actually creating the manga I first start by drawing all 200 pages as quick pencil sketches using stick figures and symbols to represent characters. I read through the story, edit and then draw the pages in detail; first starting with pencil, then pen outlines, then I fill in the outlines with tone and texture and finally I colour over with markers to act as screen tones adding a sparkle here and there with a white gel pen. This is then scanned, edited in PhotoShop and words are added. Finally, I send off the pages to the printer and await the day when a big box of books arrives on my doorstep!
MCM Buzz: How long does it take you to go from idea to a finished piece of art?
Sarah: For the pages of my book it takes between two and eight hours of work depending on the complexity and detail of the art needed. For my much larger commissions (for example drawing a client and their Pokémon team in a flood lit stadium) it can take much longer, roughly a month including designing. I prefer to work in smaller bursts though, by getting my artwork complete in a couple days.
MCM Buzz: What would you say is the most challenging part about being an artist?
Sarah: Believing in yourself and not being afraid to show your work to the world. It can be hard when you receive hurtful comments and sometimes you want to run away from it. When someone is harsh about something that you poured your heart into it can be upsetting. My advice to any artists dealing with this is to try and learn from the criticism. If someone is being mean, remember that you don’t draw for them, you are drawing for yourself, so don’t worry too much about it. However, if someone really seems like they are trying to help, you have to listen to them because they might see something that you don’t. You can decide for yourself whether it is a valid criticism, but I would recommend always trying out what people suggest, you might enjoy the change.
MCM Buzz: On the flip side what would you say you enjoy most about being an artist?
Sarah: The best thing is how fun it is. Meeting so many wonderful people, both artists and fans is just amazing. Knowing that you make your living from what you love to do is just unbelievably amazing too. Yes, there are stresses, and there’s a lot of work you have to do, but I wake up everyday happy with my job and looking forward to what new exciting projects I have planned. The absolute best part though, is when you hand your artwork over to a customer and you see their face light up with happiness. That smile makes my day.
MCM Buzz: How would you describe The Chronicles of Gyzra manga graphic novel series?
Sarah: The Chronicles of Gyzra is an action, adventure trilogy. One night a strange, black rain falls on the village of New Eden, transforming the forest animals into ferocious monsters. We follow the journey of Eiki, a blue haired, adventurous young man, as he fights to protect his village and little sister, Mikana, from the contagion of the black rain. Follow Eiki into the crystal forest to discover the dark truth behind the black rain and its mysterious controller, Gyzra. The artwork is highly detailed with vast forest landscapes and powerful, magical fight scenes, all drawn traditionally by hand.
MCM Buzz: How did you come up with the idea for the series?
Sarah: I was about 13 years old when I first watched Princess Mononoke and the film filled me with inspiration. The following few nights I dreamt of a stunning, crystal forest plagued by an inky, black rain that was creating gruesome monsters in the depths of the trees. I couldn’t shake the dream and started scribbling little notes about it, drawing what I had seen and creating little stories for my mysterious world. In 2010, aged 17, I trialed a mini comic at MCM to see if others would be as fascinated as me with this world and the reaction was wonderful. Now, aged 21, I have two 200 page graphic novels about that world.
MCM Buzz: You are releasing the second volume of the The Chronicles of Gyzra Book 2: Wisdom and Strength at MCM London Comic Con this October. What can fans expect from the graphic novel?
Sarah: The first book, Courage and Hope, introduced us to the beautiful yet harsh world of The Chronicles of Gyzra. In volume 2, Wisdom and Strength, we delve into the darker depths of this world and start to uncover the hidden truth behind why our heroes are here as we begin the treacherous journey to destroy the evil that is Gyzra.
MCM Buzz: What made you first decide to attend MCM London Comic Con?
Sarah: Anime, video games, cosplay and meeting some of my favourite voice actors and actresses. My friends and I couldn’t wait to visit, and when we walked into the hall for the first time it was like walking into a dream. That was about six years ago and I still visit every year, but now my favorite part is meeting all the other visitors!
MCM Buzz: How would you describe the experience of attending MCM London Comic Con as an artist as opposed to a fan?
Sarah: It’s very strange at first! Seeing the hall start as a giant shell and evolve into a bustling event is very exciting. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to visit the shows anymore, but I still love seeing all the cosplayers. My favourite thing about MCM is the great atmosphere and how you can be anything or anyone at the show and no one cares. It’s a celebration of our mutual love of everything from sci-fi to anime and that always feels special.
MCM Buzz: What has been your favourite MCM Comic Con moment?
Sarah: The first convention I sold at was amazing because everything was new and exciting. It was the first time that I had sold my artwork and it filled me with confidence. I was very shy at the time and the confidence that the event gave me showed me how to come out of my shell. I met so many amazing artists, including Bernard Chang, who my table was opposite. He was incredibly encouraging and gave me so much advice as well as signing and gifting me some of his art books. Having the opportunity to talk to other artists has been one of the best things for me in improving my artwork and every meeting with these people, who I admire and respect, will stay with me forever.
MCM Buzz: You describe yourself as an avid gamer. If you could create a piece of manga based on any video game character, who would it be, why and what would the story be?
Sarah: Now that’s a hard question! My heart is torn between The Legend of Zelda or .Hack//, two worlds which I am absolutely obsessed with. I think that there is a lot of potential in creating a story about Dark Link. I’d love to combine his story with the Twilight realm from Twilight Princess as we didn’t really get to explore it much. Perhaps there could be an alternate time line where Dark Link is trying to get to the Twilight Realm and jumping through different dimensions and games/time lines. He has to complete tasks in each game whilst the Link of that world is in the background. He learns, by being defeated by Link in Ocarina of Time, that losing one battle doesn’t stop you from getting to where you need to be. At the end of the manga he finally arrives at the Twilight Realm where he can stay and live with other creatures that understand what it is like to live as shadows. Maybe even a little love story with Midna; I miss her, she was a wonderful character.
MCM Buzz: Where can attendees find you at MCM London Comic Con?
Sarah: I will be in Comic Village Friday to Sunday. I will have a double table called Gyzra Ink which you will be able to find in the official MCM guide book online or at the show, or you can follow my Twitter @gyzra and facebook.com/Gyzra to see updates. For any other information or if anyone wants to contact me visit my website www.gyzra.com. I look forward to meeting lots of new people!
Cosplay interview with Kei of EZCosplay
J-rock is a huge genre and style of sound that promotes Japanese rock music around the world. There are sub categories and genres that spur off the initial title of J-rock along with the fashion that surrounds the name as well. With anime-esque hair, outlandish clothing, men dressed as women, women performing deep growling vocals, and a mix of classical, rock, heavy metal, and pop combined to create unique and unforgettable songs.
Now it’s no secret that at the MCM Comic Con there is a love for Japanese culture, fashion, food, drink, and music. But something else that is growing year by year is cosplay within the scene. With J-rock becoming more prominent and with the popularity of cosplay booming more than ever it was only a matter of time till we saw amazing costumes and replicas of our favourite Japanese rock stars.
I got the chance to interview 18-year-old Kei from Scotland, a bartender and social media intern for EZCosplay Costumes who often attends conventions during her free time and has a thorough love for the fandom she is part of. Below are a few of her thoughts about cosplay, J-rock and MCM Comic Con.
How were you introduced to cosplay?
I got into cosplay through a friend and seeing their posts about going to conventions on my Facebook. I always loved the idea of dressing up, so I went scouring the web to find a convention that was local to me so I could try it out. The convention I found was Dee-Con in Dundee, it was free so I thought, “Why not?” – though it was short notice and I only had two weeks to decide what I wanted to cosplay! I made a really quick cosplay of RUKI (the GazettE) from The Suicide Circus. It was an utter failure, but even though my cosplay wasn’t great, I really enjoyed the community and atmosphere. Everyone was so welcoming.
How did you get into the J-rock scene?
I was introduced to J-rock by a good friend of mine from England. He had always been a Japanese rock fan since he is half Japanese. We were just about talking music one day and I asked about the “girly” looking band of men he always listened to, which went by the name of ‘the GazettE’. The first song he introduced me to was ‘Invisible Wall’ and from there on out, I found my love of Japanese rock. Although my first ever J-rock song was in fact GACKT’s ‘Vanilla’, at the time I wasn’t aware that it was J-rock!
Do you have a personal favourite group or people within the J-rock scene?
This is a hard question. I’ve been a J-rock fan for many years now so my list of bands has grown since the GazettE. I now listen to a wider range of bands and artists, including X Japan, VAMPS, L’arc~En~Ciel, ACID BLACK CHERRY and GACKT, so choosing just one is really hard! But if you’re asking now as I answer, I’d say my two top bands right now are X JAPAN and VAMPS. My bias from each band would be Yoshiki from X JAPAN and HYDE from VAMPS. Yoshiki’s music really enchants me and I am teaching myself to play piano so I look up to him. He lost his father at a young age, as did I, so his lyrics and melodies I can really relate to. As for HYDE, I just adore his personality, quirkiness and how he is so down to earth. Again, his music has brought me to meet some of my best friends now and I’ve had the opportunity to meet him and KAZ at their London shows. Attending their concerts with my friends has brought us all a lot closer than we’ve ever been.
How do you feel about J-rock and the Japanese culture becoming more accepted within the western world?
I am really glad because when I first began getting into J-rock, which would be around four years ago now, it was hard to listen to music from another country. I was judged in high school because of this. People just didn’t understand why you would listen to music you didn’t understand initially. But I found myself listening on a daily basis anyway because I really enjoyed the new sounds and melodies. It was refreshing from the generic rock music that English-speaking bands produce.
What are your thoughts on cosplay?
I love it! I feel like I can really be who I am without anyone judging me. I’ve met so many amazing people through cosplay, including my best friend, and I am super glad I chose to give it a try. The community is wonderful, with everyone always helping each other. Of course, there are always rough patches, but everything has its rough spots. My favourite thing about cosplay is the idea of bringing a character to life or just becoming your favourite idol for a day, showing your love and passion for them and just being who you are.
Why do you attend MCM London Comic Conventions?
I’ll have been attending MCM London Comic Con for around three years this October. I go because it’s a chance to see the friends I’ve made up and down the country in one place, over a weekend. Both May and October have been highlights of my year for the last two and a bit years. I work on new costumes ready for debut at both MCM London events, and since the crowd is more varied and larger than at other conventions, there is always someone who recognises your costume, even though I usually go for pretty obscure cosplays when it comes to J-rock.
If you had to recommend some J-rock music to the readers who would you pick?
I’d say go listen to:
– The GazettE
– VAMPS
– X JAPAN
– GACKT
– ACID BLACK CHERRY
Do you have a formula or routine you follow when creating your costumes?
I don’t have a routine or formula, per se. It’s more like I watch a PV (promotional video) or see a photoshoot and really enjoy the look of a certain member of the band or the artist and decide that I want to copy that look. From there on out, I’ll source out reference images, the more high quality the better, though high quality pictures in J-rock aren’t always easy to get hold of. For example, I’m currently working on GACKT’s ‘Requiem et Reminiscence II’ look. The character name goes by ZERO. So first on Google Image I would search: ‘GACKT – Requiem et Reminiscence II’, and other similar phrases to gather what I can. Then I’ll look onto fansites for scans and other images. If it’s a cosplay that I am really passionate about, I’ll even go purchase photobooks to make sure I am as accurate as I can possibly be while keeping to my budget.
What advice would you give to those wishing to do J-rock cosplay? Do you have any tips or tricks for anyone wanting to make costumes of stars from the J-rock genre?
Those wishing to do J-rock cosplay, I’ll stress this; Gather as much reference photos as you can, whether it be official photoshoots, candids or even screen captures. Every picture helps! Practice different make up and hair techniques as J-rockers have a large variation of make up and hairstyles. But with J-rock cosplay not being generic enough, make sure you have a budget that is sensible for the cosplay you want to do because wigs, costumes and little accessories will add up and may cost more than you thought. So budget wisely and always scout out the cheapest seller with the best feedback to buy your items from! I always allow for a large budget because J-rock cosplays can’t always be bought like your typical anime or game costumes. For instance, my HYDE – VAMPS Halloween Party 2010 dress was commissioned and cost me around £180, including the wig. But it’s absolutely beautiful and worth every single penny. It looks just like his and I couldn’t ask for more. But it wasn’t a cosplay you could simply buy online. To achieve the level of accuracy I got, I had to get A LOT, and I mean A LOT, of reference photos for my commissioner and make sure I was willing to spend that much on one outfit.
What about the make-up and hair? It is pretty unique!
J-rockers are known for their odd and often thin eyebrows and extravagant make-up. I usually do many make-up tests before the event I aim to debut a cosplay at, so I have time to perfect it. I didn’t do that the first time I cosplayed and the result was a disaster. So I learned my lesson. But master concealing your eyebrows and drawing eyebrows along with the make-up before the event. Wigs are also another thing that can be costly in J-rock cosplay. Luckily over the years I have learned how to style elaborate J-rock hairstyles on various wigs. I’ve styled wigs for Yasu from ACID BLACK CHERRY’s Kuro Neko ~Adult Black Cat~ PV, RUKI’s The Suicide Circus hair and his INSIDE BEAST hair. I usually reserve a budget of £30-40 for my wigs, and that includes styling products, wefts and commissioning a base wig if need be.
Of all your previous cosplays, which have been your favourite and why?
I’ve been cosplaying for just under three years now, and I’ve worn a variety of costumes. Though, I’ll have to say, I really do love my HYDE – Halloween Party 2010 and my RUKI INSIDE BEAST (Red Suit) cosplays! I’m really happy with how they turned out, and I feel like I’ve mastered the make-up. The feedback I got from the cosplays were amazing: I felt overwhelmed. Though my HYDE cosplay is special to me because I wore it to meet HYDE back at VAMPS’ London show in March. He smiled brightly at me. It’s a moment I won’t forget.
What advice would you give to those attending MCM London Comic Con for the first time?
For the people attending Comic Con for the first time I’d advise getting a Weekend ticket. You’ll gain faster entry and it’s worth the money, plus you don’t have to wait in endless queues for hours just to get in. Also, get there early and make sure you have snacks and water for queuing if you have to. Be prepared for large crowds, especially on the Saturday! If you’re cosplaying, make sure to bring make up to touch up during the day and I always carry a sewing kit in my bag, in case myself or a friend have a cosplay malfunction. Hairspray is good too for keeping your wig styled!
Are there any cosplayers or J-rock entertainers that you would like to see at MCM Comic Con?
There are so many people I’d love to see at MCM Comic Con – from HYDE, GACKT and Yoshiki (again) to cosplayers like Reika!
What are you cosplaying for MCM London Comic Con? If people want to grab a photo of you this weekend is there anywhere particular where they can grab a snap of you?
HYDE from Halloween Junky Orchestra, with my cosplay partner cosplaying Rina from the same group today. Then on Saturday it should be hide from X Japan, and hopefully GACKT Requiem et Reminiscence II look! I won’t be locked down to one location at Comic Con, but if people want to catch me they can always message me on my Facebook page! As for photoshoots, I have nothing planned, but if there are photographers interested, again send me a message on my Facebook page and we can arrange something!
I would like to say a big thank you to Kei for the interview. If you would like to contact Kei regarding her passion for J-rock or cosplay then you can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Deviant Art. Don’t forget to keep checking back to MCM Buzz over the weekend for further photos from Kei as well as other cosplayers and updates from the MCM London Comic Con, where our photographers will be looking out for more fantastic cosplayers. If you have a costume you’d like to show off, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for our team!