JATOON 2024

Hello, this is Nishino Ryuhei of Ryuheidou.

I started the illustration collection “JATOON 2024” in 2022 and finished it in 2024. It was born from the idea that blending the feel of Japanese anime with that of American cartoons might be interesting.

While making this, I wondered how to combine the two into something fun, so I searched online and bought everything from commercial American comics to French comics to self-published overseas indie books, over and over and over again. It was a real struggle, but I'm very happy with my growing collection.

After a lot of thought, I ended up with the art style you see above.

In terms of details, I made the head big: with the head width at 8/8, the torso width is 6/8, and the standard design is four heads tall.
For the face, I placed the features at a ratio of 1/2 the head size from the central axis of a circular guide. The hands are also 1/2 the size of the head.
Since overseas styles often use a lot of exaggeration, I balanced things by enlarging some parts and slimming others down.

At first I was drawing with great enthusiasm, but after about five pieces,

“Ugh, there are still over ten more to go. Well, I'll just take my time.”

I took it easy, and before I knew it two years had passed.
Realizing that was a bit too leisurely, I pushed on with the remaining illustrations and finally finished it!

Making this collection taught me something important.

I Have Zero Motivational Stamina

Wow, what a surprise!
I came to understand that the moment something shifts from a “hobby” to a “quota,” my motivation drops to zero all at once.
Is anyone out there also bad at keeping up that “I have to do this!” feeling?

My advice is this:

Forget all that and play games instead.