The artist Ponto is a graduate
of the Japanese Style
Painting Department of
Tama University of Arts.
His work amazes the reader
because of its versatility and
its cross-cultural blend. He’s
the owner of the Japanese
illustration company As-
Amid Inc. Ponta has worked
with advertising agencies and
done illustrations for Warner
Brothers Japan. His artwork
has been exhibited every
year since 2005 in a group
exhibition in New York, USA.
His hope is for you to enjoy
and personally connect with
the characters he creates. He
works also as a painter and is
member of the International
ukiyo-e Society.
Ponto Ponta
www.as-amid.com
Ponto Ponta 215
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216 1,000 Tips by 100 Manga Artists
655 What differentiates you from manga’s other illustrators?
My dress-up doll characters are unique and have versatility.
The innocence in my art represents a cross-cultural blend.
651 Where do the ideas for your draWings come
from? hoW do you do your research? I get ideas
from the scent of flowers, by listening to nature,
by the feeling of the wind across my skin and by
prayers drawn up to the moon. I research things
from nonchalant daily life.
652 W
hat is the first thing you do before
sitting doWn to draW? First I clear my mind so I
can concentrate on an image, feeling and idea
that I want to create before I draw.
653 W
hat are your favorite tools or draWing
programs, and Why? My favorite program is Adobe
Illustrator 8.0 because the pen-style tool gives
me a realistic sense when I paint or draw. It also
has a large palette of colors, which is useful for
the artwork I do.
654 d
o you prefer the classic guidelines from
m
anga or experimenting With neW channels? I have
a deep appreciation of classic guidelines from
manga and enjoy them. But I think it is important
to aim one step ahead.
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Ponto Ponta 217
656 What advice Would you give to a novice
illustrator trying to make a name for himself? It’s
important to believe in your art, to work hard, to
share with others and draw, draw, draw.
657 W
hat has changed about your style of
draWing since you began? Maybe I have not
changed greatly in my style but the growing of
my characters shows my steady growth as an
artist.
658 m
anga: is it art? Yes, it’s art! Manga may
not be for everyone’s liking. However, for those
who love manga, it can be better than Picasso’s
works.
659 W
hat good habits should a comic
illustrator have? A flexible mind. A good habit is
to have a delicate sense that allows you to laugh,
cry and get enjoyment out of even the smallest
events in life so they inspire you to draw.
660 W
hat is the greatest acknoWledgement you
could hope to achieve for your Work? To receive love
from other people. To keep love and faith in my art
and in the characters I make. I wish they had an
everlasting appeal.
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661 Where do the ideas for your draWings come
from? hoW do you do your research? I get my ideas
from ordinary everyday things. For example, a
co-worker used to bring odd little trinkets to work.
I later found out she worked at a two-dollar store,
so that gave me an idea for a short story called
The Two-Dollar Deal
.
662 W
ho are your favorite illustrators? are
you trying to folloW in their footsteps? I have many
favorite artists, and I sometimes follow them in
art-style; other times in writing and story-telling.
Takeshi Obata of
Death Note
and Kentarou Miura
of
Berserk
are two artists I’ve tried to emulate.
You can see a few influences in my designs.
663 W
hat does your Work desk look like? What
can We come across? My working area is very small,
it’s really two desks (one a computer desk) with
a propped up drawing board. My laptop, with a
second monitor, attached is more important since
I surf the net a lot while I draw. You can see how
small the area is in this picture (right).
664 d
o you alWays use the same tools or do you
change depending on the piece you’re Working on? I
usually use the same tools, and change the way
I lay pen strokes to create a different look. I’ve
always used the G-pen, the nikko pen and Sakura
microns. I alternate between the three of them,
though I sometimes also use brush pens.
665 W
hat are your favorite tools or draWing
programs, and Why? I think the nikko pen is still my
favorite. I don’t use it much these days because
my current work requires a different style of art,
but no other tool can create such thin, fine lines.
It can create a very unique kind of look, like this
picture (right).
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Queenie Chan 219
670 What is the greatest acknoWledgement you could hope to achieve
for your Work? Having people buy and enjoy my work is enough. I do
mostly longer stories, but I think it would be a great compliment if
people would purchase my short story collections. Since these short
stories are free, you must be a real fan if you buy it!
666 do you prefer the classic guidelines from
m
anga or experimenting With neW channels? I
always jump at the chance to experiment, but I
rarely ever get these opportunities. I’ve mixed
prose with comics, and in this picture (above), I
drew a short fan-comic with a half-page format
instead of a full-page one. It was fun, and the
results were great.
667 W
hat do you like about manga? What does
m
anga have that european or american comics don’t?
The iconic character designs, which emphasize
the expressiveness of the character. I also love
the cinematic style of storytelling. I’m a big fan of
cinema, and often apply movie techniques to my
manga storytelling.
668 h
oW important is promotion to you? hoW
do you promote your Work? I think promotion is
extremely important, but I rarely find the time
to do it. I have a blog, and a website with lots of
short manga for readers to browse. However, I
think drawing more stories is still the best way to
promote yourself.
669 W
hat has changed about your style of
draWing since you began? I’ve gotten better
at drawing people. I always like drawing
backgrounds, but in the past few years, I’ve
gotten better at character designs. I used to draw
very plain faces, but my faces now have a lot
more variation.
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