The fourth aspect of Genji art I would like to discuss is the facial features of the characters.
All Japanese art, including comic books (or manga) have highly stylized expressions, and different conventions are used for different genres. In Genji, three features are most prominent: the round, white faces with the dashes for eyes and small hooks for noses. This technique actually has a name in Japanese: hikime-kagihana.
Obviously, this technique is quiet different from modern anime. Now, the eyes seemingly can't get any bigger! But in the Genji scrolls, characters are given little, if any, facial expressions. You have to look at the direction of their heads to see what they are looking at. Even then, they appear without emotion.
The most recent manga versions give the characters larger eyes, probably to show more emotion, as you can see in the images above.
All Japanese art, including comic books (or manga) have highly stylized expressions, and different conventions are used for different genres. In Genji, three features are most prominent: the round, white faces with the dashes for eyes and small hooks for noses. This technique actually has a name in Japanese: hikime-kagihana.
Obviously, this technique is quiet different from modern anime. Now, the eyes seemingly can't get any bigger! But in the Genji scrolls, characters are given little, if any, facial expressions. You have to look at the direction of their heads to see what they are looking at. Even then, they appear without emotion.
The most recent manga versions give the characters larger eyes, probably to show more emotion, as you can see in the images above.
YOUR TASK:
Choose one style of expression for the people in your drawing, either hikime-kagihana, or the modern version with larger eyes. Be consistent!
No comments:
Post a Comment