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Mitsuro Fujimoto is an award-winning manga artist in Japan who has been working in the industry since 1989. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with her regarding her experience with the Intuos3. Here is what she had to say.
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Ten years ago, no one drew manga using the computer, but I was fortunate to have the opportunity to see a new Wacom tablet being used by a famous manga artist who loved new gadgets. When I tried it myself though, it felt strange to look at the monitor instead of the tip of the pen when drawing. I didn’t think I’d be able to get used to it. I could doodle with the pen tablet immediately, but it took a while before I was able to draw with professional-level ability.
*The copyrights of all artwork on this page belong to Mitsurou Fujimoto. Use without permission is strictly prohibited. |
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Storyboard sketch submitted to the publishing company for approval |
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Drafts created |
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Inking of outlines from the drafts by pen |
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Tones and shadows are applied finishing the black & white manga |
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Depending on the artwork, color is also applied using Photoshop or Painter. |
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>> See more detail |
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 When I used to use the Art Pad Pro, the tablet’s surface was very smooth, and used to place a piece of paper on top in order to bring out a more natural feel. I was very impressed when the first Intuos addressed this problem, and the Intuos3 is huge improvement over older models. When I made the switch to Intuos3, I could tell the difference in sophistication with the Intuos immediately. The better pressure sensitivity gave the new model a delicate touch that blew me away. Another improvement was in the design. I couldn’t hold the pen for long, intense periods of drawing without my hand getting sore in the past, but the Intuos3’s pen design prevents that kind of fatigue. I like the rubber grip of the pen, and its thickness is perfect as well. I also like the shininess of the surface surrounding the active area. It doesn’t dirty and is easy to clean if it does get smudged. The ergonomic design and the functions of Wacom tablets have really been progressing, haven’t they? I will definitely test out new tablets. Without the Intuos3, I would not be able to create manga at all! |
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 If you compare my non-tablet work conditions now to my work conditions in the past, 32MB of memory for the Mac cost as much as 100,000 yen, and the software for drawing manga was not very good at all. In terms of both cost and work efficiency, things were far from ideal. Before we began working on the computer, manga artists used many different types of conventional pens to do our work: a school pen, a Maru-pen and G-pen, a Kabura pen and others. If you use full capability of the Intuos device ID function though, you could buy, for example, five Intuos pens programming the pressure sensitivity, the pen’s responsiveness, and the tilt sensitivity in the Intuos control panel to function as each of these pens. Now, however, with Comic Studio 3.0’s tool palette (English version is Manga Studio 3.0), you can change the thickness and pen type easily and only one Intuos3 pen is needed.
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 The functions and specs of the Intuos tablet, Comic (Manga) Studio 3.0 software, and Apple’s Mac computers have all advanced to make life very comfortable today for us artists. The pen tablet is no longer a novelty item, but a necessity, an essential tool for artists. It is digital, but there is virtually no difference between the touch of a conventional pen. There are several manufacturers of pen tablets, but Wacom is the only one that has created a product with the ability to reproduce the feel of a conventional pen. I don’t know a single manga artist, animator, illustrator and any other professional who uses something besides a Wacom to draw. Anyone who wants to become a manga artist needs to have an Intuos to work in the contemporary manga industry. |
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Mistakes can be easily and immediately corrected. |
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After I began working with the Intuos, the inkless, paperless work environment has saved me a great deal of money because I stopped using office supplies like screen tones, ink and paper. I have also been able to keep my desk clean and neat by limiting the amount of random trash generated by using ink and paper. |
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I am able to freely adjust the settings on the convenient Touch Strip, and usually have it set to adjust brush size. |
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When I draw human figures, I can choose the size, angle and direction easiest to draw with. Afterwards, I use software features such as mirror reflection, rotation, and scaling to adjust the image. |
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If you use vector mode in Comic (Manga) Studio 3.0 to draw a line, it is easy to adjust the shape of the line later. |
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When filling in the tone, I use the pen to fill it in as if I am painting or I select the area that needs to be filled in. Filling in tone is simply faster when working digitally. |
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Finally, the Intuos3 PTZ-930 that I use has a wide active area of 9x12 inches which means I can use it for long strokes -- not a necessity, but it feels better, like drawing on actual paper but without the hassle. Drawing flowing hair, for example, becomes a lot easier with this size. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to the 6x8 inch size of the Art Pad Pro that I used before. |
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| Power Mac G5 Quad, Power Mac G4 (400), i-Book (800 for use in presenting content to publishing companies),Comic Studio EX 3.0, Adobe Photoshop CS2, Adobe Illustrator CS2, Corel Painter 6 In her 17-year career as a professional manga artist, she began using Wacom tablets starting with the Art Pad Pro 10 years ago. She upgraded to an Intuos then an Intuos3 PTZ-930 (9x12) tablet, her third Wacom tablet. |
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