Arnold Zwicky's Blog

(Mostly about art.)

Two things: a note on the rich set of books offering instruction in drawing manga; and some material on Haida Manga.

Instruction books. My grand-daughter appeared at breakfast on Saturday with two books on drawing manga (plus drawing paper and pencils). If I remember correctly, these were:

Mastering Manga with Mark Crilley: 30 drawing lessons from the creator of Akiko, by Mark Crilley (2012)

(#1)

Manga for the Beginner: Everything you Need to Start Drawing Right Away!,  by Christopher Hart (2008)

(#2)

Two more, from a very rich set of books:

(#3)

(#4)

Haida Manga. A syncretic art form. From Wikipedia:

Haida Manga is a contemporary style of Haida comics and print cartoons that explores the elements of both traditional North Pacific indigenous arts and narrative, while also adapting contemporary techniques of artistic design from the Eastern portion of the North Pacific, namely the Japanese manga from which its name derives. Haida manga have so far been published in several countries including Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Macao, France, and Canada.

Haida Manga has been recently popularized by artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas who is considered as the father of Haida Manga, making its first debut in 2001 in his book, A Tale of Two Shaman which led to a series of exhibits (such as at Expo 2005 and Tokyo Designers Week 2003) and multiple print runs in Japan and Korea. Asian interest in the graphic appeal of Haida design is enhanced by the narratives which advocate a hopeful and empowering message. Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas expresses his own interest in Haida Manga in that it is “not part of the settler tradition of North America (like Archie or Marvel comics, for example)”.

On the Haida:

The Haida … are an indigenous nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their main territory is the archipelago of Haida Gwaii [formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands] in northern British Columbia, but many live across Dixon Entrance in Southeast Alaska.

… The Haida language has sometimes been classified as one of the Na-Dene group, but is usually considered to be an isolate.

Haida society continues to be very engaged in the production of a robust and highly stylized art form, a leading component of Northwest Coast art. While frequently expressed in large wooden carvings (totem poles), Chilkat weaving, or ornate jewelry, it is also moving quickly into works of popular expression such as Haida manga.

Two traditional Haida designs: a salmon and an otter with a sea urchin:

(#5)

(#6)

And on the Haida Manga artist:

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (born 1954) is a visual artist, and creator of Haida manga, from Delkatla in Masset on Haida Gwaii.

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas was born in 1954 in Masset, Haida Gwaii. He is a descendant of the influential Haida artists, Isabella and Charles Edenshaw, a member of the Saangaahl laanas sdastaas clan. Yahgulanaas was raised by John Bruce and Babs Hageman in Delkatla. His Haida name, Yahladaas means “White Raven.”

The cover and some detail from his recent book Red (some discussion here):

(#7)

(#8)

(The story line goes from left to right, not right to left as in Japanese manga. And note the expanded palette of colors, going beyond the traditional Haida black, red, and blue, as in #5 and #6.)

This entry was posted on August 13, 2013 at 10:00 am and is filed under Art/lit/music/film. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.