Comics101
Assembling 6 renowned comics artists, Man Tsang, Chow Siumou, Bigsoil, Chi-tak Li, Bonnie Pang and Tse Sai Pei in Hong Kong Arts Centre, Comics 101 digs into the development of Hong Kong comics industry through sharing and discussion.
The 6 artists all have their own background, practice and topic of focus. In the course, not only can we learn from their behind- the- scene stories and the challenges they faced, we will also have the chance to engage in in depth conversation revolving around comics.
Lesson 1 & 2: HK Comics 101
Lesson 3 & 4: Themes of comics creation
Lesson 5 & 6: The comics artists’ way of living and marketing
Lesson 1 – HK Comics 101 (Lecturer: Man Tsang)
Hong Kong comics nowadays developed a wide variety, in which each genre has their own system. We will look into the comics industry, and learn how can we produce comics as a team.
Man Tsang will share his personal experiences, especially those from the days he worked in Culturecom and collaborating with Quire Comic, bringing insight to commercial comics production, as well as how to work out a best-selling comics with team members.
Lesson 2 - HK Comics 101 (Lecturer: Chow Siumou)
Chow Siumou will explain how independent publication and Doujin creation works through her own creation and promotion experiences. This will shed light on another way of comics production and the recent trend of Doujin comics.
Lesson 3: Themes of comics creation (Lecturer: Bigsoil)
Through comics, creators are telling a story, as well as delivering a specific message to readers.
Bigsoil’s experiences shows him that comics can be an emotion management tool apart from being an entertainment. Bigsoil will unveil how his works originate from this concept, and how to channel energies to readers through his comics.
Lesson 4: Themes of comics creation (Lecturer: Chi-tak Li)
The themes in comics stories cover a huge range, from daily life, romance, fantasy to actions etc. In this lesson, artist will delve into how to tell a story through comics’s visual language.
Chi-tak Li will share his tricks when dealing with different topics and length of stories. He will also share on the connection between his diversified theme of creation and independent publication.
Lesson 5: The comics artists’ way of living and marketing (Lecturer: Bonnie Pang)
Can we make a living by creating comics only? Is giving up the only option given that printed books are less of a trend now?
Comics artists work hard to adapt to the transition from turning pages to flipping images on tablets. By maximising the use of digital technology, artists can make production smoother and better promote their personal works.
Bonnie Pang will exclusively share how she earned more than 300k followers, and how she collaborate with overseas partners through online platforms.
Lesson 6: The comics artists’ way of living and marketing (Lecturer: Tse Sai Pei)
Readers, publisher, advertising clients… Comics reader can range from 3 to 80 years old. How can comics artists find their target audiences? How can we parallel develop with other disciplines?
Tse Sai Pei’s comics and illustration are everywhere, online distribution, physical books, collaboration with famous brands, personal online shop, University lecturer….. Tse Sai Pei will share how she make her way into everyone’s daily lifes.
Target: Those who is interested in comics creation
Duration: 2hr/ lesson
Language: Cantonese
Date: 14/7(Fri), 15/7, 22/7, 5/8, 12/8, 19/8(Sat)
Time: 19:00-21:00 (Fri), 14:00-16:00 (Sat)
Facebook: ManTsang.ink | Instagram: mantsang.ink
“There is no need to differentiate alternative comics from commercial comics, for the so-called ‘alternative’ is just another side of the commercial. Comics is at the same time a form of art.”
Li began his career in the comics industry in 1982. After working for a corporate comics publisher in Hong Kong for a month, he decided to start his own venture as a freelancer. Following on from the release of The Wisely series, he self-published Tong Men Shao Nian, a prominent title which rocketed him to fame in 1987. He has since developed a distinctive art style, creating his own visual world with eerily experimental works that broke genre rules.
Black Mask, Assassins, Tien Yao Ji, Superbaby, Little Strawberry, and K are major works that he created in the early stage of his career. He has been continually created for many years. Selected publications from this decade include The Voyager, The Lover, and Folio, Little Circle, Vicious, and Solar Eclipse.
Li’s transmedia creations transcend the boundary of comics and expand into movies, experimental theatres, literature, pop music and sculptures. Recently, the poster that he created for Hong Kong local sci-fi action movie Warriors of Future has been widely praised. His idiosyncratic style has attracted the attention and commissions from local and international brands such as Nike, New Balance, IdN, Uniqlo, Starbucks, Hong Kong International Airport, TamJai SamGor Mixian, Moleskine, etc.
Li is also well-known to the international comics scene. His comics has been published in places like Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Mainland China, France, and Italy since the 1990s.
In 2016, the Hong Kong Arts Centre had jointly curated Li’s solo exhibition with the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France as one of the Festival’s thematic exhibitions. His French comics The Beast, a collaborative project with the famous Belgian writer Jean Dufaux, was released at the same time. This solo exhibition had given birth to another international cooperation opportunity. Li was invited by the Louvre Museum to create comics Moon of the Moon. In 2019, the French version was released in Europe. Chinese version and Malaysian version were released subsequently. The drawings of the book were once exhibited in The Belgian Comic Strip Center.
His recent publications include romance comics Yum Sui, comics that pay homage to Franz Kafka's literary classics Kafka, children comics A Little Strawberry Vol. 1 (2022 Reprint Edition), etc.
Bonnie PANG
Facebook: Bonniepangart | Instagram: bonniepangart
Illustrator, comics artist. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Bonnie graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor's degree in Geography and Resource Management in 2012, then obtained a Master's degree in Illustration at The Academy of Art University in 2016.
Bonnie’s work experience includes concept art for animation studios, children's book illustration, commercial illustration and public art projects. She is currently represented by the artist agency Astound and illustrates international children’s books. Bonnie also creates various comics include MindBound, Roar Street Journal and IT Guy & Art Girl.
CHOW SIUMOU
Facebook: siumou.chow | Instagram: chowsiumou
Independent comics artist, ceramic artist, and multifaceted creator devoted to all kinds of works, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts co-presented by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and the Hong Kong Art School. In 2015, she founded Yun Hyun and has been organising original comics exposition every year. She independently published serval original doujinshis, including Bone Ash, The Camellia Passed by, Colour Blind, The Void Between, etc., and commercially released Co-renting Art Studio in Factories. In 2018, she held her solo ceramic exhibition Doppelganger. Her practice explores ceramic and independent comics, which both often influence each other. Recently, she began studying combining guangcai and comic languages.
TSE SAI PEI
Facebook: tsesaipei | Instagram: tsesaipei
Hong Kong based illustrator. BA in Visual Arts from HKBU, MA in Illustration from Camberwell College of Arts London. Currently working as lecturer in HKBU.
Her work explores narrative and storytelling through digital illustration. Mostly inspired by daily observation and social issues.
BIG SOIL
Facebook: bigsoil
Da Ni graduated from the Design Department of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He worked as an art director at Commercial Radio and Metro Radio. He became a freelancer in 2001 and devoted himself to creation. Comic publications include "There Are Fairy Tales in Our City", "Da Ni Music Picture Book: Traveling Alone", "With You", "Because of Love", and co-authored with Lin Jiaxin "Kissing Children and Protecting Seedlings" picture book series, etc. .
In recent years, Da Ni has been engaged in illustration education in many colleges and universities in Hong Kong. He has also hosted the programs "Dream Flight" and "Ni Ning Talk" for Hong Kong Metro Radio.
