Sweatdrop Studios

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

JapanEX July 2007
JapanEX July 2007

Sweatdrop Studios are a collective of UK Original English-language manga creators who publish British small press comics.

Contents

[edit] Overview

The UK's first home-based independent Original English-language manga publisher and distributor, Sweatdrop Studios publish and distribute manga produced solely by creators living within the UK. Their comics are available for purchase at many UK anime conventions (in the past these have included Tomo-Dachi,[1] Amecon,[2] and Ayacon,[3]) and through their own website where payment can be made via PayPal or credit card.

The majority of works published by Sweatdrop are amateur ventures; the artists/authors do not make a living through profits, and produce and sell their works in their own time. A notable exception to this is Draw Manga (ISBN 1845374169), a professional book published under the Sweatdrop Studios name. Though not registered with Companies house, Sweatdrop Studios is unique in the UK manga industry as an art collaborative.

Sweatdrop is frequently mentioned in the UK's only anime, manga and Asian cinema magazine, Neo, in which members regularly produce tutorials. Members have also featured in other magazines, Hayden Scott-Baron was featured in Advanced Photoshop magazine.[4] Joanna Zhou & Emma Vieceli have been featured artists in ImagineFX.[5]

The group is known for running workshops and panels at numerous events[6] (see also workshops listed below).

[edit] History

The Studio was originally founded in 2001,[7] by a co-operative of four independent UK manga artists, who, until then, had been self-publishing at a small-press level individually. These artists were Hayden Scott-Baron aka. Dock, Laura Watton, Sam Brown aka. Subi and Foxy, who had met via their attendance at UK manga conventions. Fehed Said, Selina Dean and Aleister Kelman have also been members since the Studio formed, although they were not present at the conventions.

Members of the Studio participate in its activities to varying degrees, depending on their personal circumstances. These activities include: publishing comics, participating in writing manga drawing tutorials in magazines, attending conventions and events, running workshops and panels and administration of their website ( http://www.sweatdrop.com/ ) and its forum.

[edit] Notable achievements of individual Sweatdrop members

  • Sonia Leong achieved 2nd place in TOKYOPOP's inaugural Rising Stars of Manga United Kingdom & Ireland competition.[8] As well as her involvement in a recent Wacom campaign (together with 'Copyright Sweatdrop Studios') has appeared in major German magazines such as Animania which used her official art to promote the wildly successful Pimp My Character contest.[14] She is also one of the Head Contributors to Draw Manga Sweatdrop Studios from New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd[15], has participated in the conceptual art and design of the Collectable card game Herocard Cyberspace from Tablestar Games[16] worked on an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet for Self Made Hero [17], is currently the Art Director for the 'Aya. Takeo' webcomic[18] has illustrated a series of children's books for Franklin Watts Ltd. as well as 'Manga Life', a series of self help books for Infinite Ideas[19] that will be published from April 2008.
  • Joanna Zhou has been a contributor to ImagineFX magazine, covering manga related topics in the Artist Q&A section since the magazine began. Her step-by-step workshops from issues 001 & 004 were also included on the ImagineFX tutorial DVD that is available with each issue.[20] She is a featured artist for Tokyotoys,[21] her short comic Cybercrush won the Children's Storyboard Competition at The International Manga and Anime Festival in 2005,[22] she also created the mascot for Japan EX London.[23] Her 5-page comic Karma[24] won the Neo magazine manga competition 2006, she achieved a runner-up position in the 2nd Rising Stars of Manga United Kingdom & Ireland competition,[25] her satirical strip Carlos & Sakura featured in the Mammoth Book of Best New Manga. She has also worked with Momiji designing a set of six friendship Dolls[26] as well as illustrations for accompanying merchandise.
  • Subi (aka. Sam Brown) has published a graphic novel volume of his ongoing manga style comic, Revolution Baby (ISBN 1905038054).
  • Ken Hoang (aka. Cin) has published a graphic novel volume of his ongoing manga style comic, Duel Class (ISBN 1905038097).

[edit] Notable achievements of Sweatdrop Studios as a group

  • The group run a monthly manga tutorial section in Neo magazine, featuring several of their members.
  • The group has published 4 anthologies of manga style comics: 'Sugardrops' (2004),[31] 'Stardust' (2006),[32] which has been reviewed in Neo magazine[33] as well as 'Pink is for Girls' (2006), 'Blue is for Boys' (2006) and 'Cold Sweat & Tears' (2007).
  • Sweatdrop has a noticeable presence in the Artists Alley at the London MCM Expo, a Bi-annual event held at the ExCeL Centre, Royal Victoria Dock, where they run the art competition sponsored by Future Publishings ImagineFX magazine, as well as Wacom, Letraset & e-frontier.[34]
  • The group also attends UK manga/anime conventions such as Amecon[1] and Ayacon[2] on a regular basis. They run the Artist's Alley, take panel discussions on how to produce manga styled comics, and hold a table in the Dealer's Room. They have also been to numerous smaller events to take part in workshops and panels.[35][36]
  • Sweatdrop members have recently been attending promotional events run by publisher Tokyopop, in UK bookstores, to give advice on manga styled drawing.[37]
  • The group ran numerous workshops and seminars at the huge Artists and Illustrators Exhibition[39] in London in 2005,[40] and have also had a tutorial published in Artists and Illustrators Magazine.[41]

[edit] List of current Sweatdrop members

Pen name Real name Profile
Dock Hayden Scott-Baron [1]
Laura Watton [2]
Subi Sam Brown [3]
Foxy K. Charlesworth [4]
Emma Vieceli [5]
Sonia Leong [6]
Keds Aleister Kelman [7]
Selina Dean [8]
Carrie Dean [9]
Fehed Said [10]
Bex Rebecca Burgess [11]
Sun Kitten Morag Lewis [12]
Stephanie Drewett [13]
Marbles Jacqueline Kwong [14]
Joanna Zhou [15]
Cin Ken Hoang [16]
Wyldflowa Chloe Citrine [17]
Faye Yong [18]

As a collaboration, members of Sweatdrop participate in active discussion on their forum ( http://www.sweatdrop.com/forum/ ). Emoticons are unique on this forum, instead of yellow smileys, blue sweatdrops are used in keeping with the namesake.

[edit] List of books published by Sweatdrop Studios

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Tomo-Dachi
  2. ^ a b AmeCon
  3. ^ AyaCon
  4. ^ Advanced Photoshop - For Adobe Photoshop Professionals
  5. ^ (February 2008) ImagineFX (in English). Future Publishing, p4, p36, p38. 
  6. ^ Anime Invasion in UK. UniOrb. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  7. ^ Sweatdrop Studios forum. Sweatdrop Studios. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  8. ^ a b Past Winners Rising Stars of Manga UK & Ireland. Tokyopop. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  9. ^ http://www.selfmadehero.com/manga_shakespeare/manga_shakespeare.html
  10. ^ http://www.tablestargames.com/artists.html
  11. ^ New Holland Publishers: Draw Manga
  12. ^ (September 2006) Neo Manga Competition 2006, issue 23 (in English), Uncooked Media, p62. 
  13. ^ Anime Network Expands into UK with Two Weekly Hours - Anime News Network
  14. ^ (German) Animania which featured Sonia Leong
  15. ^ New Holland Publishers: Draw Manga
  16. ^ http://www.tablestargames.com/artists.html
  17. ^ Shakespeare manga. Self Made Hero. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  18. ^ About Aya.Takeo
  19. ^ Infinite Ideas and Sweatdrop Studios Pioneer Self-help Manga! | ComiPress
  20. ^ (January 2006) ImagineFX, issue 001 (in English), Future Publishing. 
  21. ^ Tokyotoys Featured Artists. Tokyotoys. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  22. ^ IMAF Winners 2005. IMAF. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  23. ^ Japan EX London site
  24. ^ (January 2007) Neo Manga Competition 2006, issue 27 (in English), Uncooked Media, p63. 
  25. ^ a b c Rising Stars of Manga UK & Ireland. Tokyopop. Retrieved on 2006-12-18.
  26. ^ News in Pictures. Design Week. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
  27. ^ a b Rising Stars of Manga UK & Ireland. Tokyopop. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  28. ^ (June 2006) Fanzine of the month, issue 144 (in English), p10. 
  29. ^ IMAF Winners 2006. IMAF. Retrieved on 2006-11-13.
  30. ^ (October 2006) Neo Manga Competition 2006, issue 24 (in English), Uncooked Media, p62. 
  31. ^ Sugardrops. Amazon UK. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  32. ^ Stardust. Amazon UK. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  33. ^ (August 2006) Neo magazine, issue 22 (in English), Uncooked Media, page 73. Retrieved on 2006-10-15. 
  34. ^ Manga Alley. London MCM Expo. Retrieved on 2006-10-14.
  35. ^ LGC Manga Day. London Graphics Centre. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  36. ^ Manga not made in Japan. Institute of Contemporary Arts. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  37. ^ Talks and Workshops. Russell Cotes Art Gallery and Museum. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  38. ^ Tablestar Games - artists. Tablestar Games. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  39. ^ Artists and Illustrators Exhibition. Exploring.co.uk. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  40. ^ The Show. Quarto Magazines. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
  41. ^ (November 2006) Artists and Illustrators Magazine, issue 242 (in English), Quarto Publishing. 

[edit] External links

Events external links

Other Sites Links