I promised to share updates from my previous post, “Manga Journey update: I am recommended for a job!“, about a new mini job.

First off, my first post at Digital Strips is finally up! It is a review on a webmanga, by the name of Model Behaviour, and if you are interested, do take a look at the review.

A female friend of mine commented to me about the webmanga that it is good. So do check it out if you are interested!

And there were some miscommunication, as the wrong authority rights for its website were given to me, hence my first post was pending for review for a long while.

Also, I was busy with my assignments in school, so it was really difficult to focus properly as just a few days ago, I had only 7 hours of sleep for 2 days!

So please pardon me.

Other updates…

For now, I decided not to put up manga webcomic reviews on this site for DigitalStrips.

That’s because I really want to focus more on the journeys for an aspiring webcomic artist here, and not so much on giving news on webcomics like Digital Strips.

So for that, I might just point you to for updates on webmanga reviews or other news, unless I change the direction for Manga Journey.

About my job at Digital Strips, Daku the owner, wants me to post regularly, at least twice a week for their site.

And I will earn a little monetary incentive, however I don’t think its appropriate to release such details, so I won’t be able to say anything.

For now, I will be doing a little more research on other webcomics, especially for the manga genre. Expect even interviews for webcomic authors too!

And I will post up more on my journey when my busy schedule dies down.

Stay tuned for more updates!

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series by Mizuki Kawashita

Ane Doki, a manga series that I have been following, just got axed by Shonen Jump!

It is said that the series was having bad ratings in Japan, and hence the publisher decided to axe this series.

That’s the world of manga in Japan; although you get to be very famous and your comic may never look like ending, like One Piece who has been running for more than 10 years, yet the downside of it is that your manga series can be easily axed when your comic isn’t favored by the community.

I am slightly disappointed that they didn’t continue with Ane Doki, which was getting interesting with the development.

Background of Ane Doki

Ane Doki is a harem romantic series by Mizuki Kawashita, who was the author of another romance manga series called Ichigo 100% (otherwise known as Strawberry 100%).

It revolves around a young 13 year old teenage boy, Kouta Ochiai, where suddenly he met a daring and mysterious high school freshman girl, Natsuki Hagiwara, who was 17.

Natsuki Hagiwara gatecrashed Kouta’s house, taking advantage at the fact that his father, seemingly the only kin of Kouta, was suddenly transfered to another place due to work.

She therefore stayed at Kouta’s house, apparently running away from home, but she remained mysteriously and avoided questions about her background and the reason of her running away from her.

Romance brewed between Kouta and Natsuki, as Natsuki was daring, beautiful, and always tried to maintain physical contact with Kouta.

Kouta, on the other hand, was just a 13 year old guy, and he was constantly frustrated and flustered over Natsuki’s behavior.

After which, more girls are added to the story, and the series ended at 26 chapters.

My opinions of Ane Doki

Ane Doki was fresh, but lacked realism at the start. The whole gatecrashing of a 17 year old beautiful girl at a 13 year old boy’s house really seemed unlikely.

Also, ahout a 17 years old girl, who is as beautiful as swimsuit models, would have developed feelings for a 13 year old boy just seemed too incredible.

However, I thought being manga, having some form of fantasy and ‘out of this world’ dreams can be intriguing, so I stayed with the manga series.

And I kind of liked a little as to how the story goes, and the mysteriousness around the female lead.

But since this manga series is featured in Shonen Jump, in Japan, and the community there didn’t rate it well, it was axed.

Final words for this post

Manga is a difficult industry, as it is really an unforgiving career. In Japan, they don’t really allow you to have a slow start.

And I do recommend taking a look at Ane Doki, although it is a short series. The artwork is really great, and there are some moments that are rather exciting.

That’s it for today’s post! Stay tuned for more updates on manga journey!

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from Creekside Artists

I was just offered a proposal by http://digitalstrips.com/ to be one of their Manga bloggers for their website!

And they are going to give me some money as an incentive or appreciation when I blog for them! However, nothing is decided by both parties yet so I can’t comment any more than this.

Yet I am truly overjoyed when my manga-journey blog is recognized!

What does this mean?

What is important is not the amount of money that I can get out of blogging, but what it truly important is that when you put your heart and soul onto your dreams, be in your own manga or webcomic journey, there will be others that will recognize you!

I hope this will encourage all those who are daring to do webcomics or manga as part of their vision.

You see, we start small, and then end it big. Too many of us are discouraged because the road seems tough and everything looks like chaos.

Like one of my beginning stickman art to practice the art of illustration, road are full of hurdles.

So it gets really tiring fast when noone is walking alongside with you in your journey.

However as long as you continue, even in the smallest steps, you are still progressing. Just don’t stop at any point!

A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

I am also going for Japanese lesson to learn how to speak and write Japanese, while going for manga classes.

However, there was once that I nearly gave up Japanese altogether, because I had to skip Japanese class to complete my university assignments.

And I held up the whole class because I couldn’t translate some English into Japanese. It was an embarrassing situation.

A classmate came up to me, encouraged me, and asked me to start a study group for Japanese together!

That really encouraged me altogether, and after awhile, during my holidays I was able to pick up again and continue my journey!

Now I wished I have someone to walk with me in my manga journey too.

And all that is hanging on with me is my manga teacher.

So if you have like minded friends who are into manga drawing, do form a “study group” together if possible. Otherwise, it’s easy to give up, as the lack of practice will dull our abilities.

Final words for this post.

I am still not due with my next assignment with my manga teacher, and hopefully I will be able to produce some drawing first before going through my inking lesson.

And I will let you know about the progress of this manga blogging job. I’m keeping my hopes up and I hope you are encouraged too!

That’s it for this post. Stay tuned for more updates on my manga journey!

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from Futuregirl_LeahRiley

Ever wondered what are the tools and equipment needed to create your very own paperback manga comic?

In this post I will be sharing about some of the tools that were given to me by my manga teacher in my previous lesson with her, and how it will help in creating my first manga comic.

Manga tools and equipment part 1

/*Click the photo to enlarge

As you can see above, these are the tools that my manga teacher has given me thus far. She forgot to bring brushes, tracing paper, and some other items that are needed to create my first paperback manga comic.

I will just introduce a little about these tools.

From the left, the set square and the coloring palette needs no introduction, as the former is usually found in mathematical instruments for measurements and the latter is used to contain the inks that are to be used for inking.

What really caught my eyes were the following tools.

/*Click on the photo on the right to enlarge

On the right photo, these are the inks that are used for inking.

Inking is the process of coloring for traditional black and white manga or comics.

Once the manga artist draws his artwork with pencil, inking will help to define his drawing lines to make the art look real.

I was pretty amazed that these inks were the same inks used for Chinese caligraphy, however my manga teacher told me that traditionally manga artists used these very inks for their manga comics too.

/*Click on the photo on the right to enlarge

On the right, this is the pen holder and pen nibs used for inking.

To use these tools, just attach a pen nib to the pen holder, and it will be the pen for you to use inking.

These pen holders aren’t very durable; after many uses the pen holder might not be able to secure the pen nibs tightly, and once that happens it is time to change a new pen holder.

The pen nibs look like caligraphy nibs that I have used in school. It is awhile since I have used such pens.

Just like normal caligraphy pen nibs, these pen nibs are fragile; any unnecessary pressure on it might split the nibs.

Also, they rust easily, so my manga teacher suggests for me to invest a little in sewing oil, and clean them right after every use.

Final words for this post

I have not been taught on how to use these tools yet, and as homework for my next lesson I am supposed to produce a full profile manga character artwork for inking.

So till then, I will reveal on the other manga tools and equipment when my manga teacher remembers to bring them, and I will share about how to use these tools to create your first manga comic paperback.

Stay tuned for more updates on my manga journey!

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from buddy_scalera

In a webcomics forum, I asked a question to find out if there are anyone who is already earning some money from their webcomics.

It is a valid question, because to me, the future of webcomics is really dependant on whether is it profitable or not.

Webcomics and money

The result is this, almost everyone who replied were not earning money directly from their webcomics; many of them claim that because people liked their artwork, they are offered jobs instead.

What are these jobs? Some of these are as follows:

• Drawing a cartoon for an ad, a postcard or a flyer.
• Design a mascot.
• Editors of some magazines, websites or business newsletters wanted to use some webcomics from the webcomic artist’s website.
• Designing special gifts for someone special.
• Drawing an illustration for a book.

Now these are just some of the jobs that I have come across; there may be others out there. As you can see, a webcomic artist do earn some money indirectly from their webcomics.

However, it has a bad effect, because webcomic artists spend less time on their webcomics and more time making money by drawing for other people instead.

Also, there are webcomic artists that earn directly from advertisements at their websites, but usually they only earn enough to buy themselves a cup of coffee and not enough to earn a living.

This is rather sad to me actually.

Is this statement true? “If you’re doing a webcomic for the money, you’re doing it for the wrong reason.”

Personally, I don’t believe in that statement.

A webcomic or a manga artist must make enough money to support a family and enjoy life, to produce a great storyline and artwork for people to enjoy.

Imagine having a working person that can only work on their comics or manga after their work.

He or she cannot focus in their passion for webcomics, as other responsibilties such as supporting the family and maintaining a livelihood.

As a result, they are prone to commit errors, some of which are listed in “How to start a webcomic: Top 10 mistakes to avoid“, and it destroys their readership.

That is why most people, especially parents, discourage and even forbid their loved ones from indulging in creating manga or webcomics, because it is impractical for life.

And they are not far from the truth.

There are so many people who think little about artists, just because drawing isn’t a very profitable trade for many people.

Hence, so many people give up on creating their own webcomics or manga, and who can blame them?

Does money destroy creativity and originality in webcomics or manga?

That’s some of the concerns that people have, because they fear that the motivation of money can kill creativity when webcomic artists are too focused on trying to please their audience or employers for money.

In my opinion, money does not necessarily destroy creativity and originality; it is down to different individual’s beliefs.

It is as good as saying, the rich is proud because he has alot of money, and the poor is humble because he has no money. That’s a sweeping statement which may not be necessarily true.

Some webcomic or manga artists are able to stand their ground in their creativity and originality, without bending towards money, while others may not be able to do it.

However, this is surely not a reason to discourage people from making money directly from webcomics. It is just down to different individual’s belief system.

Final words for this post

As I am doing my own manga journey, I will be looking at options of how I can make money from webcomics directly.

It is not because I am just money minded; its just that a good webcomic needs alot of time and devotion for quality and recognition.

And if I do come across anything substantial, I will try to share them to you.

So what do you think? “If you’re doing a webcomic for the money, you’re doing it for the wrong reason.” Share it at the comments below.

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from City Eyes

I have yet to explain my disappearance for almost 2 weeks from the beginning of December before my previous post, and I thought I should be giving some insight of my personal struggles as an aspiring webcomic or manga artist.

I realized that I have not been giving personal details of myself concerning my manga journey, and it’s about time to let you know what are they, so that you can identify with me.

Struggles as an aspiring webcomic artist: 16 December 2009

My university exams were on the 6th and the 9th of December respectively, but that was no reason for me not to update Manga Journey.

This is because, if you noticed BoyfriendGiftIdeas.org, you will find that I have been updating that blog in the midst of my exams.

Why is that so?

Before my exams, I had major assignments due, such as a group assignment on programming a Real Time Strategy (RTS) game on tanks, and doing other individual assignments such as video and sound engineering.

It had been a really difficult period, and I have constantly stayed up all night at my friend’s place for consecutive days to finish our assignments.

And so I have not been meeting my manga teacher for lessons either, as I also do not have the time to finish my manga art homework.

Therefore in mid-November, I was a little out of practice with drawing manga, and hence lost some of my drive to update Manga Journey.

Not to mention I was also out of ideas to know what I should be updating Manga Journey about.

Disappointments led to more disappointments

This blog has been a little difficult to maintain.

I have been looking for a free Wordpress theme blog that allows readers to read easily, while allowing me to input some of my mini webcomics up.

However due to my lack of knowledge and experience on Wordpress themes, I have been moving this blog from theme to theme, and I ended up frustrated for my lack of options available.

And I have resorted to ComicPress, but it didn’t really satisfy my needs, and soon I reverted back to the original theme where I first begun.

Afterwards, my RSS feeds wouldn’t work well, and I ended up having more disappointments on trying to fix this Wordpress theme instead. (And it’s still not fixed, I will still have to get a better blog theme.)

If you get the drift, I was just so disappointed with my manga journey, that I didn’t even dare to look at my visitors statistics of my blog for weeks.

Light at the other side of the tunnel

During that time, Artpatient took hold of one of my blog posts, “How to start a webcomic: Top 10 mistakes to avoid“, and post it up in his blog.

Immediately that day I had 200 visitors!

I knew in my heart that these 200 visitors are just going to be temporal, so although I was pleasantly surprised, I wasn’t confident about the consistency with the number of visitors.

However, there are some comments that start to spring up in my blog in a language that I do not understand.

In my ignorance, I thought it was spam, and I deleted it. (I am really sorry if I deleted your comments if you wrote here in a foreign language, as I only know English and Chinese as my primary languages.)

It turned out that the language was in Hebrew, and immediately another surprise sprung up.

And I ranked for Israel, which means visitors from Israel kept coming to my blog. I really am encouraged about it.

My alexa ranking isn’t at all fantastic, but I also got page rank 1 for my blog. And I thought it was an encouragement for the effort that I put it.

So for the disapperance of my 2 weeks, and for those readers who faithfully came for updates, I really am sorry.

Final words for this post

To sum it all, this manga journey blog literally kept me going, and I am resuming my manga lessons with my teacher very soon.

I was a little rusty in drawing after being out of practice for weeks, but it will soon pass.

If you have any discouragement about starting your own manga journey, don’t worry, you are not alone.

That’s all for this post. Stay tuned for more updates on manga journey!

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from Corona Public Library

I have always wondered about a manga artist’s salary, and how does that artist earn a living. I believe that this is one big question to many people, and especially to aspiring manga “artists-to-be”.

After searching in Google and in many places, the answers provided are less than satisfactory.

However I chanced upon articles about Satou Shuuhou, the manga artist of Umizaru and Blackjack ni yoroshiku(seinen manga, which is for young adults and maybe unsuitable for teenagers), where he spoke about his distress with his publishers in his blog.

Subsequently, Satou Shuuhou reveals his income, expenses and some of his struggles as a manga artist. Now, he started to sell his manga online.

Therefore, I am going to list some facts and figures about Satou Shuuhou, and I believe any reader reading this article will have a rough idea of how does a manga artist earn a living, and how much much is he paid.

This may be old news for some people, because Satou Shuuhou posted all these information months ago within this year. However, something strange happened in the Internet, as Wikipedia and many other websites do not contain much about Satou Shuuhou and his manga works at all.

Usually, I am able to pick up information about manga artists and manga through Wikipedia and many other places, but just for Satou Shuuhou and his manga works, it seems like someone deleted much information about him.

So if you happen not to know, this is for you.

How does a manga artist get paid by a publishing company?

In Japan, when one’s manga comic gets serialized, the author is required to produce a chapter of roughly 20 pages weekly to be published in weekly manga comic magazine.

The author is paid per page by the publisher, and Satou Shuuhou revealed that newcomer artists today are paid 1,000 yen per page (~USD$11), while about 10 years ago Umizaru’s serialization paid him 10,000 yen per page(~USD$112), and his recent best-selling manga BlackJack ni Yoroshiku paid him 35,000 yen per page(~USD$391).

A weekly manga comic magazine usually publishes about 50 issues in a year.

So if we work out the math, we will see this:
Newcomer artists: 1,000 yen perpage X 20 pages in a chapter X 50 issues = 1,000,000 yen a year (~USD$11,174)

Umizaru: 10,000 yen per page X 20 pages in a chapter X 50 issues = 10,000,000 yen a year (~USD$111,767)

BlackJack ni Yoroshiku: 35,000 yen per page X 20 X 50 = 35,000,000 yen a year (~USD$391,080)

For the newcomer, it really looks sad. And we haven’t discuss about the expenses to produce the manga comic yet, and also the pay for the assistants.

In addition, if a tankoubon (trade paperback) of the manga comic is released by the publisher, the author gets a standard rate of 10%, which usually does not change even if the sales are good. Poor sales may force the royalty to drop to 8-9%.

Manga artist expenses

This is Satou Shuuhou’s expenses in a nutshell when Uzimaru was serialized.

Costs per month:
Tax: 80,000 yen (~USD$895)
Monthly pay for 3 assistants: 470,000 yen total (~USD$5,257)
Monthly food expenses for the staff: 100,000 yen (~USD$1,118)
Cost of drawing materials and reference materials every month: 100,000 yen(~USD$1,118)
Rent for the studio: 70,000 yen(~USD$782)
Utilities bill and other misc expenses: 50,000 yen(~USD$559)

Satou Shuuhou gets 800,000 yen(~USD$8,946) a month for Uzimaru, so deducting everything he has a deficit of 70,000 yen(~USD$782). He stated that he makes a loss of 200,000 yen(~USD$
2,236) a month if he includes his daily expenses and needs.

Moreover, Satou Shuuhou works 20 hours a day usually.

Satou Shuuhou’s editor told him that once his tankoubon is released, Satou Shuuhou will start to earn back what he lost. However it was revealed that no promises of releasing a tankoubon is made at anytime.

A 500 yen(~USD$5.60) tankoubon will give the author 50 yen(~USD$0.55) in royalties.

Final Words for this post

Well, this is a little research on a manga artist salary, based on Satou Shuuhou. There are many other things that Satou Shuuhou revealed, such as his challenges of being a manga artist and such, but I will leave it to another day.

Please await for future posts!

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News: Flame of Recca episode 1

However, let me not leave you empty handed. I have updated my Anime Review blog where I had put up a episode recap for the anime series flame of recca. There will be video streaming links at the bottom of the page, and if you are interested in it, go take a look and enjoy yourself!

I really enjoyed rewatching Flame of Recca anime series again. You might enjoy it too!

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Pencil sketching examples 2: how to draw manga tutorials

This will not be a step-by-step of “how to draw manga easily” tutorials, as I haven’t figured the dynamics of making it simple yet. However any reader may pick up some tips on drawing

Did anyone notice that the face of the doodle look surprisingly familiar? It was taken from my previous post here, where I was trying to let everyone see that the step-by-step method of drawing manga eyes worked well for me.

I had only completed the head of my doodle.

And then I was thinking to myself that the head looks good for me to continue on, so I completed a near full body (I wanted it to be a full body but somehow I drew on a corner of an A4 size paper, and I couldn’t continue the legs), and this is how it looked in the end.

So readers, if someone who isn’t talented to draw like me could draw a doodle, you can do it too. We just need to find out some of the basic systematic drawing of professional manga artists or comic artists, we could at least begin to doodle.

I will continue to explore on techniques to make it simple, so that everyone can learn.

How did I manage to draw such a doodle?

In the post about my first doodle art (where my manga teacher gave me her accessment of my doodle), my manga teacher was telling me that the usage of references is very important; every professional Japanese manga comic artist uses references to draw their characters.

And the source of these references can be anything you want to draw from: a picture, photo, magazines and so on etc.

Picture on the left from caught in a turtleneck

This is an example of a reference to draw from. I didn’t use this exact picture, but another picture of a lady shopping in a turtleneck with denim outfit.

So looking at the reference, while maintaining the pre-drawn head before, I used guidelines to sketch out the anatomy I want, then put in the details that is needed to produce the exact turtleneck with denims outfit.

The thing to look out for is details. The picture has many details, such as the crests and folds of the cloth, how the shadows of the crests and the folds give the picture volume.

Especially for a girls’ or ladies’ chest, how to allow the shadow and the fold of the cloth be drawn accurately, so that the chest doesn’t look flat, droppy or just out of shape.

First pencil sketching example try

My first pencil sketching example of the above doodle didn’t look so well because I didn’t draw the chest of my character properly. I overtly tried to display the chests of my character, which made it look unrealistic.

Picture on my right is my first try

After submitting for a critical review in a forum, many commented of the following things:

1. The chests just looks awkward. That’s because even in a tight-fitting turtleneck a girls’ chest would not be so defined on the cloth. Need to take out the shading in the middle and the defining lines, while replacing it with a better sketch.
2. The hands are abit too small.
3. Overall, it still looks good.

So it gave me abit of confidence, and I changed the chest, and now the doodle that sits on top of the page is the final product!

Anyway, I haven’t change the hands, because I am still exploring how to make the hands look better. And I will allow my manga teacher to give me a critique about this doodle very soon.

Final words for this post

There are a few key things to note.

1. Use a reference to draw. Drawing it out of pure imagination may not do the trick because our ideas and imagination tend to flunctuate and change while we are drawing. (Advice from my manga teacher)
2. Always take note of details; while drawing from your reference. Every detail you can spot will make the picture look better and realistic.
3. Be not afraid to make mistakes; its not embarrassing to want to learn.
4. Get opinions from others to improve your work.

That will sum up today’s post. Thanks for reading manga journey! There will be future posts ahead.

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from Carlcphoto

Inspiration quotes for a manga journey (part 3)

Yup, another inspiration quotes for a manga journey.

Sorry, I still have exams to deal with on the 16 Sept 2009 (Wed), and my current course of study isn’t drawing, but Digital Security Systems, so I can’t be drawing in the midst of preparing my exams. Will post more about drawing when I can get to draw soon.

Let’s carry on…

A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy? – Albert Einstein

I also feel the very same way like Einstein, many times.

I wonder am I crazy to always follow my dreams.

However I am unapologetic. I do not desire to merely exist to breathe. I rather not live if that happens. All I ask for is a fulfilling life. Fame and fortune may come as a bonus or not.

Therefore, understand that when anyone desires to follow that dream, that very person might have the chance to be called “crazy”.  If you don’t want to follow your dreams, you are normal.

Why am I writing all these for?

Mentality is one of the things I am going to write about today. This mental preparation will for any aspiring manga artists or comic artist, or for anyone who wants to follow their dreams.

You see, being a manga artist or a comic artist today is nearly the same as trail blazing a road for others to follow. Like I have said previously in my other posts, in many countries, manga artist or comic artist isn’t a well established profession yet. Many have tried and failed.

As previously said in other posts, this is a test of courage and spirit, and not only a test of talents. Hence, it is necessary for me to know and be sure of how I walk this road with no regrets, lest I become so discouraged with life that I won’t want to live.

Moreover, people who chose this road sets their sights on a fulfilling life, and not about just earning enough bread for mere existence. I have never heard of anyone who wants to be a manga artist or a comic artist because he or she wants to work. Rather, they have a passion to do what they really enjoy, so that work becomes play and fun for them.

“I never did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun.” – Thomas Edison

That’s the way how it should be.

What should you be mentally prepared for if you are trail blazing a road that noone else is walking?

Firstly, expect little to no favours from other people.
I have experienced countless of times of disappointments when people are not for you in your dream. They may say like, “Do you understand you still need to earn your bread for a living?”

It’s not good to fault them for not being able to comprehend your dream; they are not wrong. We need to be practical and realistic while we journey to our destiny. There will be more posts on being practical and realistic while following your dreams.

However, they are not going to live your life. It’s really up to your own belief on what you want to have for life.

Hence, understand that others around you aren’t going to comprehend the same dreams you really desire. Expect little or no help from them in your journey because you will be disappointed if they refuse you their help.

It’s also not a good testimony to play the “victimised” victim, and pull support from them. It’s really ugly to do that.

Instead, face your situations and know that you are not the only one who had walked this road of trail blazing before. Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison are clear examples, and they confessed in their quotes that sometimes it is just plain impossible.

“Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then he gets discouraged. That’s not the place to become discouraged.” -Thomas Edison

Secondly, have like-minded people around you for the marathon.
While being wise and apply the “Know thy self, know thy enemy…” quote from Sun Tzu is important, having a discouraged spirit to apply any strategies or plans are useless; you already lost the fight.

Having like-minded people around you helps to motivate and press on in your journey. Countless times when I was about to give up, somehow knowing that there are like-minded people with me just spurs me on to give another shot.

Therefore, I get involve in comic artist forums or manga artist forums like http://manga-tutorials.com/ , for the sake of finding like-minded people around me to go on my journey.

They are the likely ones who are able and willing to help us if they have travelled a further distance than us. They won’t help us because they pity us; but rather as friends on a similar journey.

Lastly, do not ignore your critics. Weigh them carefully and discard the useless advices, while retain the gems.

Like I said, those who do not comprehend us does not mean they are against us; rather they want us not to end up failing in our endeavors.

They are sometimes also the best ones to have a word of advice for us, because they may have a wider perception of what’s going on in our lives as by-standers, while we may be too absorbed or infatuated in our pursuit of our dreams to notice an iceberg ahead.

For instance, if anyone has a family to support, and yet quits his job to be a manga artist. That guy commits a serious error. Our responsibilities to our family still outweighs our pursuit of our dreams, and we will not be happy when we get what we want at the expense of other people’s happiness.

How then can he pursuit his dreams while maintaining his current job? For him, understand that many professional manga artists or comic artists starts off being an amateur. They practice as amateurs and slowly build their way to become a manga artist or comic artist.

Even for novelists, not many could just sustain their living just by writing; many start off being amateurs and as a hobby. As they build up their hobby, training and building in influence, they only become professionals at the point of success.

Likewise, let us not be too hungry for success and forget our responsibilities. It is real ugly when that happens.

Just remember these 3 points of mental preparations for your own journey to your dreams, and for future posts we will share more in-depth.

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