Did Akira Toriyama draw the kanzenban covers?

[Perfect]

Yeah, that's mainly what I meant by not as evident. Even if it was auto-traced, a lot of the artwork for the covers (v-14 especialy) show that more was done than just that. Though I'm not sure if Illustrator is a tool he's used, but Photoshop is for sure. Given the way the lines look sometimes in his various mangas, I wouldn't doubt he's just tracing over it himself. It's also possible it's just a result of drawing it digitally from a tablet to begin with, as opposed to scanning the ink/pencil sketches.

Hyowtam is the only manga I know of that he drew entirely on a computer.

[kei17]

It's also possible it's just a result of drawing it digitally from a tablet to begin with, as opposed to scanning the ink/pencil sketches.

I remember reading an interview in which Toriyama says now he does literally everything on a computer. I think he should scan pencil sketches at least.

[Perfect]

It's also possible it's just a result of drawing it digitally from a tablet to begin with, as opposed to scanning the ink/pencil sketches.

I remember reading an interview in which Toriyama says now he does literally everything on a computer. I think he should scan pencil sketches at least.

Do you remember what interview it might be, or at least the year of it?

[kei17]

I remember reading an interview in which Toriyama says now he does literally everything on a computer. I think he should scan pencil sketches at least.

Do you remember what interview it might be, or at least the year of it?

Hmm, I don't remember where it's from but I guess it was around the mid/late 2000s. It also said he did know drawing digitally from the beginning looked underwhelming.

*It turned out that it's from Dragon Ball Z TV Anime Perfect Guide, published in 2003. The interview says he draws lines with a graphics tablet, but it's still unknown whether he scans pencil sketches first or not.

[son veku]

It seems like he is taking the easy way out doing it on the computer.
If he uses a graphic tablet then why would he scan pencil sketches.

[Ashura]

Working on a computer isn't any easier than working on paper. It all has its weaknesses and flaws. The thing that surprises me, though, is he doesn't have as much line variance. I'm not even an amazing artist, but, pressure is all built into the wacom and it's not hard to get line variance in vector or photoshop:




So, I'm thinking it might be interesting to gather all of the Toriyama quotes on how he does his artwork over the years. I'm wondering if we can do some quote pulls with dates, compile them together to get a sense of how his style has evolved and when?

[kei17]

If he uses a graphic tablet then why would he scan pencil sketches.

To clean up the lines of the rough sketches. Many digital artists make a rough sketch with a pencil first, then scan it and trace the lines, because it's generally easier than doing everything on a computer. I do everything on a computer though.

[Attitudefan]

Well, maybe he draws with a mouse? I mean, I can easily.

Also, it's possible that the way he colours it, he needs thicker lines?

[Son Geeko]

I honestly like his more recent art styles better IMO. That General Blue drawing looks pretty dang funky if you ask me.

[Perfect]

Uh, it's just preference, which has nothing to do with that mindset. For instance someone may like the more angular look in the Boo saga, or maybe they like the curved look in the beginning of the manga, etc. It all progressively "changed", yet we all have different preferences for which is "better".

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

It looks like he's using the pen tool. Which in my opinion is a pain in the ass, but hey it works. If he doesn't then his lines are really clean and solid. Say what you will about the new style but I think it's an improvement. At least the way he handles the hair and eyes. I love the new eye style and the hair just adds more depth. That's just me though. I will say I miss his water colors. That was always a nice touch but I like how he handles his gradients too.

In either case I think this new style is a great summation of all of his works. The softer lines we saw in Dr. Slump and in Dragonball mixed with the sharper lines we see in Z and in Sandland.

[Ashura]

I doubt an artist like Toriyama would draw with his mouse. The only way the linetool would look that bumpy is if you were using the mouse; the above sketch I linked were all done with a tablet (Wacom Intuos), and notice the tapered edges.

Either his pathway is to scan sketches and ink on the computer, or do all art on the computer in some manner.

Thing is... it looks like he's doing auto-vectors of linework to me, since it's just so bumpy. I wonder if he sketches in say Photoshop or Painter (or Open Canvas or whatever), and just auto-vectors from that? It's just absolutely weird that the digital inking looks so off.

[Hujio]

I really meant to post this a while back, but got caught up in other things. Hope I'm not too late to the party. Anyway...

In January 2000, a Toriyama one-shot entitled Hyowtam was published in an issue of e-Jump, a sub-magazine of Weekly Shōnen Jump and V-Jump. In addition to the one-shot, the magazine also published a 5-page feature showcasing how Toriyama drew the one-shot. The feature details his creative process, so hopefully this will help explain exactly why his modern manga looks the way it does. As far as I know he still utilizes the same process, although it may have been slightly altered in the past 12 years. It should also be noted that this not how Toriayam drew Dragon Ball while it was in serialization, just how he now draws his manga.



Here are the steps Toriyama follows to create his manga, as taken directly from the feature included in the magazine (I've added the notes following each step based on the magazine's pictures and captions):

1) Rough Sketch
Based on the story manuscript, Toriyama sketches out the entire manga in pencil. He also pencils in all of the dialogue, as well as the sound effects.

2) Inking With a Pen
Once all of the pencil sketching is complete, Toriyama begins permanently inking over the sketch. He first inks in all of the borders using a ruler, making sure everything is aligned and as straight as possible. He then draws in all of the scenes and sound effects using the same ink pen. The only thing he doesn't ink is the dialogue, which is added later in the computer. Once all of the inking is complete, Toriyama erases all traces of the original pencil sketch, leaving only the inked version of the manga.

3) Scanning
After all of the pencil has been erased, Toriyama scans each inked page into his computer using the scanner of a large photo copier. It isn't specifically mentioned in the feature, but based on the pictures it appears the pages are scanned at 300 dpi or higher.

4) Retouching
He then imports a scanned page into Photoshop (the software is specifically noted) to apply any touch-ups needed. All touch-ups are done using an electronic sketch pad. While editing the page Toriyama utilizes two computer monitors, one for the actual page touch-ups and the other for all of his Photoshop settings and color palettes.

5) Painting the Color - Part 1
Once the page has had all the needed touch-ups completed, Toriyama begins coloring in all of the characters and objects in the foreground, including his hand drawn sound effects.

6) Painting the Color - Part 2
Following that, he returns and colors in the backgrounds.

7) Completion
The finished version is digitally sent to the publisher.

And that's that, basically.

[kei17]

*snips*

Thanks for the info, Hujio. However, that's how he draws manga, so things are little different when he draws stand-alone artworks like the kanzenban covers. In fact, in the interview on Dragon Ball Z TV Anime Perfect Guide which I reffered to earlier, Toriyama says he still uses a real pen to ink manga, but use a computer to ink artworks.

[Ashura]

Thanks for posting that, Hujio!

It's from 2000, though, so I'm curious to check out some of his works from around that point. It's somewhat likely he's changed his processes a bit further by this point.

If he still did everything by hand I don't see why the line-tapering would be so bad, for instance.

[Jawdrahb]

Absolutely ecstatic about the content being kindly shared throughout this thread so far, thanks guys. Speaking of Toriyama's 'digital' line-art and the Kanzenban covers, here's #23 (released November 4th 2003). I'm fairly convinced from Ashura's examples specifically that Toriyama has hand inked and auto-vectored at a point. Honestly, it's the laziness we've grown to love and I'm a fan of it regardless. It's got a personal, distinct appearance which is prevalently true to Toriyama's original marksmanship that can't be replicated otherwise.

[Storm101]

Wow, Kibito and Kaioshin sure are colored differently than they are in the anime... I suppose these would be considered the canon colors for them?

[Tekkaman-James]

Maybe I'm just spreading internet hearsay, but wasn't Toriyama quoted once as saying that the great thing about a B&W comic is that you can imagine the colors to be whatever you want, hence his inconsistencies in the colors of characters in his various illustrations and cover artworks? My apologies if this has no factual information of any kind, but I know I read that somewhere on 'the intarwebz' at some point. Can anyone back this up...or refute it?

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Wow, Kibito and Kaioshin sure are colored differently than they are in the anime... I suppose these would be considered the canon colors for them?

I don't think so, there are colors in the actual manga that differ compared to the Kanzenban covers.

[Michsi]

Wow, Kibito and Kaioshin sure are colored differently than they are in the anime... I suppose these would be considered the canon colors for them?

I don't think so, there are colors in the actual manga that differ compared to the Kanzenban covers.

Yeah, I think there is a cover with Kaioshin, Goten and Trunks where Kaioshin's skin colour is similar to that he has in the anime.

Actually, aren't their colours reversed? Isn't the Kaioshin the one who is supposed to be purple and Kibito pinkish? I can't remember if we got to see a coloured Version of Kibito in the manga.