Manga Faces and Expressions: Draw-Along with Kutsuwada Chie

In this event, part of the Japan House London’s series focussing on how to draw manga, we invite manga enthusiasts and aspiring comic artists to follow the guide of UK-based manga-ka Kutsuwada Chie on the best way to draw facial features and expressions of manga characters and to improve their personal style with her advice.

Participants are encouraged to take the opportunity to ask questions directly to a professional manga artist and listen to her suggestions while following her detailed instructions.

After the one-hour session, event participants are invited to share their work on social media, tag Japan House London (@JapanHouseLDN) using the hashtags #japanhouselondon, #manga and #MuseumFromHome.

This drawing session is open to all levels and makes use of digital drawing, although participants are welcome to use any drawing equipment that they have available at home.

About the artist

Kutsuwada Chie was born and brought up in Japan. After graduating from the printmaking department of the Royal College of Art, London, she is now based in Brighton, working as a professional manga artist. Her work Moonlight (2008, collected in The Mammoth Book of Best New Manga 3 by Constable & Robinson) was shortlisted in the Manga Jiman competition organized by the Japanese Embassy in the UK. One of her latest projects is a series of illustrated columns for Mainichi Weekly (published every two months by one of the major Japanese newspaper companies) about life and culture in UK. Her books are available in most English-speaking countries and Japan, and some are translated into Turkish, French, Italian and Spanish. Besides creating manga comics, she runs manga workshops at schools, libraries, and museums, such as the British Museum, the British Library and Victoria and Albert Museum. She has also have worked on projects for Channel 4 and CNN.