About Anime Artists

Japanese animation has become a popular media format around the world over the last decades. With its stylized artwork, complex story lines, and market tie-ins, anime has steadily gained viewers in Japan and other countries since it first premiered in the early 1900s. As anime becomes more popular, it makes sense that more people want to get into the business of creating anime artwork. But it takes more than just an ability to draw to become a real anime artist.

Function

Anime artists draw cells, sketches, storyboards and other necessary items that are used to create animated movies, television series and film shorts.

History

Anime, or Japanese-style animation, first premiered in 1917. The first anime feature was about 3 seconds and consisted of a young boy drawing kanji. Shimokawa Oten was one of the first real anime artists, though he began as a political caricaturist and cartoonist. He was hired by a company called Tenkatsu and completed five films for them. Another early anime artist was Kochi Jun'ichi, who also began his art career as a caricaturist as well as a painter. He became an anime artist and did a total of 15 movies. He was considered one of the most technically advanced Japanese animators of the time period. One of the first anime artists to work independently of a larger production company was Kitayama Seitaro. He animated his own films with the production company he founded, which he called Kitayama Eiga Seisakujo.

Types

Anime began with all hand-drawn artwork, so many anime artists began with actually drawing cells, sketches and backgrounds. With advancements in technology, many anime artists now color and draw cells with the computer, though initial sketches and storyboards are still done by hand. Some production companies continue to do the majority of their work with hand-drawn artwork, though others have moved on to using computers almost exclusively.

Time Frame

Becoming an anime artist can take years of study and work. Those years should include classes in figure drawing as well as animation techniques. A college degree in art and animation is also necessary, along with working up a portfolio of figure drawings and cell samples. Most anime artists have to start at the bottom of the production ladder and must be willing to work on whatever projects and duties they are given. After they have perfected their skills and gained enough experience, they can move on to being a top anime artist or even director.

Considerations

Anime artists must be versed in filmmaking techniques as well as drawing and coloring, since anime consists of elements of all of these things. They must be able to draw the human body accurately and consistently, draw in the "anime" style--which usually consists of long bodies, large eyes and wildly colored hair--and draw the same thing over and over again quickly with no mistakes, since there is limited time to create drawings for an anime series or movie. Fledgling artists must be willing to start at the bottom of the animation ladder and work through all of the positions and duties on their way to becoming a senior animator and eventually a director and creator.