'In These Words' has the best art i've ever seen in a yaoi manga. *.*
You mean in manga? If it's manga, I idolize Kentaro Miura, who draws Berserk. His contrasting black and white art is amazing, the characters are creative and awesome looking without relying on prettiness, and the man can freaking draw a double-page with an army of medieval helmets without repeating a single design <3
As for yaoi, I love Naono Bohra's art for the pencil lines and the rich coloring. Her anatomy is not the best, but the art is refreshing and cute.
Nao tsukiji's adekan has one of the best arts I've seen...specially since it really grown on you. And the coloured pages are amazing
Details:
Akizuki Sorata and Mori Kaoru
(I could get lost in those backgrounds)
Atmosphere:
Ogawa Chise, Tenzen Momoko, Kizu Natsuki/Gusari, Fujitani Youko, Hori
(based on the complexity a single panel can express)
Smooth: Itsuki Kaname
(is that still something that can be drawn by hand?)
Vivid movements:
Naono Bohra, Morimoto Shu, Tsurugi Kai
[Please note, that these are my personal preferences (▰˘◡˘▰) ]
That so hard to do though. My preference for art is so flexible that I couldn't just pick one. I guess if I really had to pick, I find artist that have expressive art to be amazing (ex: Kyuugou & Kizu Natsuki). But honestly my prefrence goes from nice & clean art to messy & odd art.
Wow, I really liked those choices! (=・ω・=)
I didn't know Mori Kaoru, but the details are amazing. I checked Otoyomegatari and got lost figuring HOW she had the patience or the assistants had the patience to draw the clothes. I couldn't read Emma because the art was still improving, but I'll try it now~
As for Atmosphere, I got what you said. Agreed 100% on Ogawa Chise, because I don't know the others too well. Yoneda Kou and Yamamori Mika are also the queens of good pacing. I think they can never go wrong with the pannels.
And YES: Tsurugi Kai and Naono Bohra just have such expressive bodies. The hands, faces, positions communicate very well, which is rare in BL and shoujo. Shounen manga are more likely to be physically expressive.
The only one I don't agree much is Kaname. The line is very clean and smooth, but I can't get over the fact that all perfectness makes her art and pace a little stiff. Though these are just my preferences, also :3
I'm confused about this question, too. Art in general is too broad because it encompasses the entire history of all civilization. As for art in manga, I tend to hold that up to a higher standard than art in yaoi (along with greater expectations around plot and character development) because for me, yaoi is about the gratifying the id and libido, not necessarily finding deeper satisfaction (although if that happens — as it sometimes does — I certainly don't complain.)
Anyway, my favourite yaoi/shounen ai artist is Aoi Aki. My favourite illustrators for more general 2D-art were the late Thores Shibamoto, and the still living Ninagawa Yaeko and Kazuya Minkura.
Mori Kaoru - try http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/otoyomegatari/ (though I liked "Emma", too)
Yoneda Kou - for sure! (I just had to draw the line somewhere, it isn't helpful anymore, if I list 50+ mangakas ^^)
Kaname - you're right, I mentioned her because her art is - well...unique? It's stiff (and repeating, but that boot fits many) but impressive in terms of sculpting (like the advice our art teacher gave us long long ago together with a huge piece of cellular concrete: "Just remove everything that's not sculpture" )
#－.－) ha, genius...
Alas, all in all I shouldn't belittle any single penstroke out there, since I'm part of the crowd troubled by "the other eye" (￣∇￣")
If you mean in a manga, then I would say Adekan. Some of the images are completely similar to the Art Nouveau movement from the early 1900's, they are so beautiful and detailed.
Trying not to be over analytical, I guessed since the question was in a manga website, it was about manga art. But I was unsure if the standarts were regular manga or BL, because like you said, (going without the psychology lingo, that's not my area (￣∇￣")) I find myself more tolerant to BL art than other genres, mainly because I expect the art to match the level of literary achievement and most times, when I read BL, I'm not expecting it to show more than the "fluffy or the feels". It's like a guilty pleasure, while other manga genres have to be more appealing either in narrative or visuals for me to get interested. Though... I'm sure everyone found a BL that is outstanting, as much as has read and liked a manga which is rather mediocre.
Btw, I didn't know Aoi Aki but found her art interesting. Trinity Blood illustrations are really gorgeous, and Shibamoto really put detail into things. I didn't know he was dead. Only the author of the novels. Also, I admire Minekura a lot. Truth be told, no matter how many people tell me Wild Adapter is cool (and it is), I find it boring as hell. Only read it beause her art is so amazing ╮(￣▽￣)╭
What do you mean by "the other eye"?
I can draw one eye and be happy with it - and despair, if the "other eye" is needed to complete a face, since I've got no talent whatsoever to reproduce the first form and align it ^^
I'd say my drawing skills are somewhere stuck on elementary level ╥﹏╥
It's weird how BL gets to slide a bit more in terms of the art.
Shibamoto suddenly died of a stomach infection several years ago, which created quite a panic for the license-holders of Trinity Blood.
Minekura nearly died a couple of years ago, when this benign growth suddenly took over an entire cheek requiring some very tricky surgery and a long convalescence. I never followed Wild Adaptor. I was strictly interested in the updated Saiyuki and, of that, only the manga.
Because of Shibamoto and Minekura, I have a terror of getting too "attached" to mangakas, especially since a lot of ill health seems to be precipitated by stressful working conditions.
Fortunately Aoi Aki and Ninagawa are fine, as far as I know.
Now, I'm off to google up some recc'd imaged.
Okay. Got it.
Otoyomegatari is absolutely gorgeous.
Okay, now I have to read Berserk.
LOL! I was trying to understand that expression. I'm glad Toad asked ⁄(⁄ ⁄·⁄ω⁄·⁄ ⁄)⁄ I'm also endeavoring into the wildness of drawing manga. I know what you mean, exactly. I have friends who are AWESOME artists and they're always teaching me stuff. I find reproducing, aligning and putting into proportion the hardest things after FREAKING HANDS AND FEET (whew, I let off some steam (￣∇￣")) But don't feel dejected! Everyone starts off at a low level, but practice leads to perfection. May I dare to recommend you using a ruler and drawing the eyes inside two parallel boxes? Do it just for the eyes because the boxes help with the mirroring. Practice a lot and copy a lot. It might help you get used to eyes propotion by observing. I think you'll get it fast as you got good eyes for art ;D *feeling a little invasive for the unwanted tip ╥﹏╥*
I don't think it's just BL that gets to slide with the art. I think it's us readers who let that happen. I mean, if my thing was shoujo, I'd forgive the sucky art more. It's like that with music: I love rock, so, I forgive sucky rock music more than other genres. It's just that the tolerance is higher.
Sad to know about Shibamoto. I only know about Minekura's illness, but didn't know the details. I have a friend who has the same terror as you. For example, she won't read Kyokai no Rinne because she dreads the idea of Rumiko Takahashi dying with a LONG manga still ongoing. I'm the same with Miura. He draws Berserk so fast that a single arc where the characters were travelling by boat took SEVEN YEARS to finish, and the manga is not nearly ending. ╮(￣▽￣)╭
Oh no worries, I'm always happy to learn new things, so thank you for your kindness in sharing your knowledge (⌒▽⌒)
And thank you very much for that hidden compliment ⁄(⁄ ⁄·⁄ω⁄·⁄ ⁄)⁄ though I'd rather say I've been trained to "look" (and now I can't do anything else, it's been ingrained deeply), which currently at the utmost enables me to appreciate what I see. The results of spartan training (￣∇￣")
You go do that now! òwo/ (LOL)
It's an amazing manga. The art, the plot... and don't be dejected by the first chapters. It gets better at a maximum level as you get to know the main character. He's just too likeable.
I'm always up to recruiting people to the legion of those who wait for the updates. Not that I wish people harm, but either I spread the love or talk to myself about this awesome manga (●'◡'●)ﾉ
What is the best art you have ever come across?