Nice work def. And interesting commentary of Kyoto.

I used to work there one day a week for a few years. It just ended up being a place where I got on and off the train. I guess it's always like that when you get really familiar with a place. It's hard to get spiritual and reflective when you are just trying to get a seat on a train after a long day.

I share your wariness of other English speakers in Japan. Especially in Kyoto, where a lot of them seem to be trying to be more Japanese than the Japanese.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of your splendid work.
Keep it up.

Thanks! The end result of this story will be somewhat about what you wrote: that it's best to visit, rather than have it all become normal.

I did them alternate days this week instead of daily. A guy can rest, right?

def wrote:I did them alternate days this week instead of daily. A guy can rest, right?

...

I'm loving this def.

THWOTH wrote:
I'm loving this def.

Thank you kindly! A little bit more to come.

I've googled some of those places, and I have to say...
It's amazing how well def has captured them with his well-placed lines!

Mike_L wrote:I've googled some of those places, and I have to say...
It's amazing how well def has captured them with his well-placed lines!

There should be lots of discrepancies between the art and the actual places. My technique is to do a thumbnail sketch from a photo, then use the thumbnail to guide me on the page. That way, it doesn't get too bogged down with photographic angles. I have to flip things from left to right sometimes as well, to keep the page flowing. I think if you brought a copy of this with you to Kyoto, you might be disappointed

Your technique works very well!

Fantastic work def, your excellent draftsmanship really does the job.

It was interesting that you said you work from a thumbnail and construct the panel from there, hinting at a certain selectivity.
I think this is connected and similar to a way of looking that I had to adopt once started to consider what I was seeing in Japanese urban and rural environments.
When I first went to Kyoto (and Nara and other 'sightseeing places') I was taken aback by how visually selective one would have to be when looking. There might be an ancient temple, exuding history and tradition, and abutting it would be a garish neon lit Karaoke place, or a corrugated iron roofed garage covered in peeling posters, or some other eyesore.

This kind of scene would raise howls of protest in 'historic' places in the UK, like Chester or York or Cotswold villages, but the gleeful mixing of ancient with utilitarian modern just happens in Japan. I learned to not 'see' the incongruous intrusion when looking.
I no longer 'see' the ever-present tangle of overhead powercables, telephone lines and other cords and cables that criss-cross any view in urban and sometimes not so urban Japan.
Not seeing what one does not want to see (in more than a purely visual sense) is a particular way of being in many aspects of life in Japan. If nobody mentions it it doesn't exist, right?

And regarding the timing of your visit, Golden week in Kyoto...you are a braver man than I...

Eagerly awaiting the next installment.

I got some lessons in comic story telling which told me that reality was not the best approach. Photo realism has an impact, but it isn't in the best interest of story telling. Ignoring reality also helps placement as well, as comics are about images popping and not simply clarity. I'm no master, but I'm working on it.

As far as mixing ancient and modern, I love it. I know it doesn't create a romantic image, but it packs more of a punch to me. The Coke machine at Ryoanji, the power wires above Gion (since placed underground). I didn't include it in my story, but somewhere in Daitokuji, I found a rack storing plastic buckets and gloves, and it just touched me. There is such a desire to be sentimental about things, and a voice in me tells me not to care or romanticise, but seeing modern, human things just rings home how 'real' these places are, and makes the all the more alive.


About five pages left...

Two more pages left! Can I stick the landing?

An Xmas treat! Thanks, def!
The use of light and shadow in the night-time scenes is topnotch!

You're a saint, Mike! For sure, things are looking better than even the first pages of this thing. I've been posting in this thread for a few years, and I think if you compared my earliest posts here to what's appearing now, it's a heck of a lot improved. All the same, I'll be trying to improve in 2015!

def wrote:You're a saint, Mike! For sure, things are looking better than even the first pages of this thing. I've been posting in this thread for a few years, and I think if you compared my earliest posts here to what's appearing now, it's a heck of a lot improved. All the same, I'll be trying to improve in 2015!

Only by drawing it with red and green and issuing 3d glasses!

Top job def.

Thanks Doug! I did this story after a lot of little experiments, and my goal is to do a bunch of colour work to start the year, and see if I can wind back to another long narrative by years end.

Completed! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

def wrote:Completed!

A very fine achievement!

Thanks for reading...

Thank you! Very enjoyable.

Smashing stuff def. Thank you so much

Well done def. A fine treat.
It must be a satisfying feeling to complete it. I imagine you are already thinking about the next project.

I love your draftsmanship and use of black/white contrasts, as has been noted by other posters. In addition I like the frames in which you include people... the queues at temples or counter staff at shops, etc. They are not just staffage but individuated and nuanced. (I loved the cinema counter girl giving you the hands crossed 'no way' gesture...ha ha. It is a familiar scene for me!)

Looking forward to whatever you do next.