Author Archives: Lars Martinson

Still Clueless (2/2)

Posted on by — 6 Comments ↓


Pssssssst… (I like you.)

In last week’s blog entry, I wrote about the first of two cultural surprises I encountered during my current stay in Japan to study calligraphy at Shikoku University. The subject of this entry is the second surprise, which involved…

Attitudes towards Dating
A while back I was talking with a friend/classmate, and during the course of our conversation he offhandedly mentioned that two people in our class that were dating. He saw I was surprised to hear this, and inquired “Well at least you know that So-and-so & So-and-so have hooked up, right?” This piece of what was apparently common knowledge was also news to me.

I wasn’t so much surprised that I was out of the loop; my Japanese comprehension isn’t exactly perfect so I miss a lot, and my classmates have several other classes together that I’m not in. What really surprised me is that I can’t remember ever seeing the respective boyfriends & girlfriends so much as even talk to each other. Like, ever. Continue reading Still Clueless (2/2)→

Still Clueless (1/2)

Posted on by — 6 Comments ↓

 

Prior to coming to Tokushima to study calligraphy earlier this year, I had lived in Japan on four separate occasions. With more than three years of experience under my belt, I figured my grasp of Japanese culture was pretty solid, and didn’t expect any real surprises this time around. Having been here for just four months now, I’ve already seen this assumption get proven wrong twice (and counting).

It was pure arrogance to assume that my knowledge of Japanese culture was somehow comprehensive (or even could be), but especially considering the narrow scope of my previous experience. I was unable to communicate beyond caveman grunts for most of it, and my contact with Japanese people my own age was all but nonexistent. Working as an assistant English teacher, most of the people I met were either students or teachers, so everyone was either ten years old, or in their fifties.

This time around I’m in a university setting, so I’m surrounded by people my own age (actually most of them are five or ten years younger than me, but as I’m a cartoonist & blogger, it’s probably safe to assume we’re at about the same maturity level). And my Japanese is just starting to approach the level where I can actually make friends with people who don’t know any English. So I’m getting a glimpse of Japan I didn’t have access to before, leading to the two before-mentioned instances of mini-culture shock.

The first one being… Continue reading Still Clueless (1/2)→

Tonoharu: Part Two–Progress Report #1

Posted on by — 2 Comments ↓

 

For some time now I’ve been meaning to write about my progress on Tonoharu: Part Two. Just this week I finished the artwork for the first quarter of the book, so I figured now would be a good time to devote a blog entry to how things are going.

Out of Tonoharu‘s four parts, Part Two is looking to be the longest of the bunch. It’s a good 40% longer than Part One, and is filled t0 the brim with hard-to-draw crowd & city scenes. *Sob*…

Just to clarify, when I say the artwork is 25% done, I mean that I’m 1/4 of the way through the drawing, inking, and computer stuff for the actual comic itself. I have not yet so much as even started any of the final edits/tweaks, nor have I started the dust jacket artwork, nor any of the incidental design work. And even once the book is 100% finished, I’ll still need to deal with production and promotion issues, which will tack on another couple-few months on to Tonoharu: Part Two‘s release date.

So the million dollar question is: when will Tonoharu: Part Two be done, printed, and available for sale? The honest (but unhelpful) answer is: I don’t know. It’s still too early to say with any confidence. I’m shooting for a release in the second half of 2009 , and if I’m able to stay on schedule, that could/should be possible. But an accident I suffered earlier this year reminded me in no uncertain terms that things don’t always go according to plan, so for the time being, I’m not going to commit to anything more concrete than maybe 2009.

My apologies to those who would prefer for the book to come out sooner, or to have a firmer release date. Trust me when I say that no one wants to see Tonoharu: Part Two come out in a timely manner more than myself, as my dream of making a living as a cartoonist is contingent on me, y’know, actually having comics available for sale. Rest assured that I work on this comic seven days a week, and make a little progress everyday…

I should hopefully have a slightly clearer sense of the release date with the next progress report, which I’ll write when the artwork is half done. If I’m able to stay on schedule, that update should occur in three to four months. We’ll see…