The Journey of an Artist:
Allen Say
Becoming an Artist
If you have read his book, Drawing from Memory, you will already know that Allen Say was born in Yokohama, Japan in 1937. Can you find Allen Say's hometown on the map to the right?
Allen Say knew from a very young age that he wanted to be an artist and while his apprenticeship was a great learning experience, after he moved to the United States at the age of 15, he decided to study architecture and then became a professional photographer. Realizing how much he missed drawing and painting, he started writing and illustrating books when he was 35.
Have you thought about what you might like to do when you grow up? What will you have to do so you can be successful in getting the job you want? If you want to be a professional athlete, you will have to spend many hours practicing your sport. If you want to be a veteranarian, you will have to go to college for more than 4 years. Maybe you don't know yet and that's okay! At the website Kids.gov which is the United States government website devoted to all things kids like you might be interested in. You can browse through a whole list of jobs and even listen to a real zoo veterinarian and watch an Army dentist talk about their jobs.
Even if you don't want to be an artist, you probably enjoy reading comics. You can create your comic strip at Pixton.com. You'll need to create an account so you might need an adult to help you set one up. You can also tell your teacher how fun it would be to use comics in the classroom. You can always show them the example below.
Allen learned very early to read and especially loved comic books. He started drawing by copying what he saw in the comic books and soon he decided he wanted to be a cartoonist when he grew up. When Allen was only 12 years old, he was given the chance to live on his own in Tokyo where he decided to ask his favorite comic book artist, Noro Shinpei, if he could be his apprentice. Allen was then able to see how Shinpei created his comic book characters and helped his sensei ,or master, by filling in the hair and sky of Shinpei's work. Many years later in Drawing From Memory, Allen drew how he remembered Noro Shinpei's studio when they first met. Read more about the book Drawing from Memory at Scholastic.
On the next page, watch the video to hear Allen Say describe his experience of how he came to live alone in Japan and how he found his hero, Noro Shinpei from an article in a newspaper.
Here is a cover from one of Noro Shinpei's comic books from the 1950's. What do you think of his comicbook style? Does it look like the comics you read? In Japan, comics and cartooning are actually called manga. Manga is so popular in Japan that people of all ages read it and there is even the Kyoto International Manga Museum devoted to the art and the artists who create it.
Apprenticeship
Manga
Create a Comic
When You Grow Up
Want to try you hand at creating manga? If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can download a free app called Manga University. The app has book and video tutorials to teach you everything from how to draw eyes, bodies, hair and clothes. Or you can watch videos like the one to learn how to draw manga-style. Mark Crilley has many manga tutorials on YouTube like the one that shows the difference in drawing male vs. female eyes. Just type in the word manga when you get to YouTube and there will be many choices.
To find out more about Manga, check out Culture Grams, which is a database that you could access either at school or your local library. You can find information on manga and anime after doing a search for Japan. It is listed under The Culture Section.
