Subject: Manga Reviews: Style School, vol. 1 | Author | Messages | Billy Aguiar
Posts: 84
 | Posted: 12/14/2007 3:20:28 PM | Style School, vol. 1
Dark Horse Manga
$14.95, Color, 144 pages, Available Now!
Edited by Chris Warner
Rated for 16+
Reviewed by Billy Aguiar
2 1/2 stars
Style School is another Japanese import that focuses on art skills and techniques. But in this case the title is for a much wider array of art styles than one normally sees intended for manga publication. Step by step instructions are given for watercolors, technical pens, acrylics along with several other techniques in this first issue. I am not artist, so I can not say with certainty how useful each step by step description, though from my perusal if you have some experience with any one method, that will give you enough of a background knowledge to follow the directions for the others. It is nice that it has fairly detailed instructions, but all of the finished art they show are basically splash pages. This is a book about art techniques, not the storytelling techniques that you have to layer upon your art skills in order to tell a story. I also think too much of the book is taken up by submitted art. While some samples of how others have used the techniques described in the book would be useful, I don't see those links being made. I can only wholeheartedly recommend this book for artists who want to expand their artistic repertoire, rather than master any one technique or who may see this as stepping stone to a career in manga.
This is a weekly manga review here on the CBG site, but don’t forgot to check out my other review site, Prospero’s Manga for more manga reviews.
www.darkhorse.com
Vol 1. ISBN: 1-59307-625-8
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