Summary
Highlights
The video introduces the distinctive art style of Tatsuki Fujimoto, the artist behind Chainsaw Man. The analysis will cover character drawing, anatomy, hatching, and a personal attempt to recreate the style.
Fujimoto's anatomy is generally simple, focusing on outlines and suggesting landmarks with hatching. Faces, however, are unique and simple, with realistic proportions except for sometimes larger eyes. The eyes feature thicker upper eyelids, thinner lower eyelids, and often an epicanthic fold. Eyelashes are depicted with single lines, sometimes with scribbling for personality. Irises often have an extra internal circle, and screen tones are also used in the eyes. Noses are rounded or sharp, often with only one nostril and sometimes a hatched nose bridge, more frequently on male characters for a masculine look. Mouths are typically manga-style with black interiors and white teeth, often with indications for upper and lower lips. Teeth are varied to emphasize characters, like Denji's sharp teeth.
Fujimoto typically draws realistic hairstyles with a focus on individual strands. Dark hair is usually solid black but can incorporate screen tones. For characters like Yoru, black silhouettes are used with individual strands breaking out to create a messy, realistic look. Bright hair uses hatching for bangs, often leaving the center empty. Bangs are not always closed off, relying on hatching for definition. Hands are often curved and round, but can also be boxy, prioritizing gesture over absolute accuracy. Feet, usually in shoes, are drawn very boxy, again focusing on gesture.
Clothing is crucial to Fujimoto's style. Dark clothes are filled with black shapes, light clothes with grayish values, and edges are accented with hatching. He often draws intricate folds in bright clothes, using hatching to suggest them. His hatching, initially appearing messy, is described as efficient storytelling, not laziness. He uses hand-drawn hatches that are not perfectly parallel, emphasizing speed over precision. A unique aspect is 'form hatching,' where lines follow the contours of a 3D form, which is more time-consuming but effective compared to standard cross-hatching or parallel hatching. Screen tones are also used frequently.
Fujimoto's line art often lacks distinct line weight and can appear loose or have chicken-scratching, which the video argues is for quick storytelling rather than a lack of refinement. The creator then attempts to emulate Fujimoto's style, starting with three panel studies of Yoru, Power, and Denji, progressively trying to be faster and messier. Subsequently, they attempt original drawings of Makima, whom they find difficult to draw, Kobeni, and Aki, finding Aki to be the most successful in terms of shading, hatching, and facial rendering.
Fujimoto's style features standard, basic anatomy with a focus on silhouettes and hatching for key landmarks. Faces use hatching on noses and messy, scribbled eyelashes. Hair is realistic, unlike other manga artists. Clothing is vital, with hatching around black shapes and intricate folds. Form hatching is a distinctive technique, alongside cross-hatching and parallel hatching. Screen tones are prevalent. Lastly, his line art is loose and less concerned with perfect refinement, prioritizing narrative delivery.