Friday Sketchbook (Patreon)

This first one is technically drawings from last month but I forgot to share them, whoops! I'm still thinking about soft, simple shapes a lot, craving that simplicity. I wonder if that will filter into Libby & Holly Ch3-- not that the style will change, but that more of those simple shapes will show up? I guess we'll see.

Speaking of other influences, I recently got ahold of this tonkubon from U-Jin, published in 1989. I adore these pink versions of the dustjacket art printed on the softcover of the book itself. So minimal and cute. I'm always surprised by how small these actually are.

I love the format of having a lot of really short stories compressed into this book. Most of them are comedic, have schoolgirls and the gross old man archetype which is not really my taste. I'm always curious how female characters are portrayed these old manga--how much agency they have, how much they are treated like real people vs objects.

I think my ability to enjoy eroticism of stories like these beyond the drawings comes down to really subtle things about the tone and execution. Usually the female character isn't the protagonist which means they're reduced to bimbo object-hood, but there's one in particular where a female character has a lot of sexual agency and it's pretty charming.

Just rambling, really, but this diet of cute 90s manga art is part of what is in the background of my mind constantly these days so I thought I'd share. Happy Friday everyone!

Winton