Artist Mark Crilley On Mastering Manga & The Next Generation Of Creators

Mark Crilley is a busy man. The Eisner Award-nominated artist is currently preoccupied with several new projects, and he recetly celebrated the release of his latest how-to book in August. Mastering Manga 3 is the next installment of his acclaimed series, and it takes aspiring artists one step closer to become an expert manga creator.

ComicBook.com was lucky enough to interview Crilley about his new book and the inspiration behind it.

When it came to creating Mastering Manga 3, Crilley stressed that he looked to his fans when he was deciding which lessons would go into the book.

"Much of what I've done with the Mastering Manga series has been based on reader requests," he explained. "A lot of people asked for more advanced lessons, and since this was the third book, I agreed with them it was time to take things to a more challenging level."

Since Crilley's new book is the third of its kind, it seemed like it was time for him to ramp up the difficulty of his how-to guide. The first two books are geared towards absolute novices who are interested in drawing but haven't had the chance to explore the craft. Mastering Manga 3 takes those beginner lessons and shifts them more towards an intermediate level, and the change is a welcome one for artists looking to one-up their skills.

As such, Crilley explained that he created new, unique lessons for Mastering Manga 3 which better represented the various subgenres of manga.

"As the [Mastering Manga] series has progressed I've become more and more focused on representing the full variety of manga styles," he said. "By including some drawings that look dramatically different from those seen in the earlier books-- some of them more realistic, others more cartoony -- I guaranteed that Mastering Manga 3 would be something new."

The variety found within Mastering Manga 3 is certainly something that Crilley's fans will appreciate - and he's got a lot of them. The artist stands as one of the most popular on Youtube as Crilley frequently uploads art tutorials and Q&A videos to his channel. So far, Crilley has amassed over 2.5 million subscribers who look to him as their manga guru, and the artist said he relied on the feedback of those fans for his latest book.

Talking about his fans, Crilley said, "To me the best thing about the internet is the interaction and the exchange of ideas. I'm careful to read almost every comment I get on sites like YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Not only does it give me ideas for the sort of lessons people want, but it helps me understand how they've reacted to the earlier books."

"I hate the idea of putting something out into the world and then just walking away. I want to stay engaged and make sure these books are doing what they're meant to do," he continued.

To fans, Crilley's dialogue with them is an invaluable source of encouragement. The artist's resume features several acclaimed series such as Akiko and Brody's Ghost, so the aspiring artist look to him as their mentor. And, when Crilley was asked if he had advice for the next generation of would-be artists, he had plenty to say.

"The main thing is to just get something out there into the world," he said. "If you can begin delivering a graphic novel story online on a regular basis, you can begin to build an audience. You don't have to be the best artist. Just be true to who you are and readers will respond to that."

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