Sana Takeda is a comic artist and illustrator based in Japan. I find her work intricate, beautiful and atmospheric. Coworking with comic writer Marjorie Liu, they created the very commercially successful fantasy series MONSTRESS.

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Amazingly, they collaborated and completed this work entirely remotely – Liu in the US and Takeda in Japan. The pair met while working together on X-23 and Liu said in an interview later that Takeda was her first choice when she started developing Monstress.

"Working with her was always such a joy,” Liu said, “I’d write the story and hand her the script, and what would come back would be amazing. Not just amazing visually, but amazing in the ways she developed the story visually.“

Their synergy worked so effectively, that after the success of Monstress they decided to work on the follow-on series Monsters together.  

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Monstress - the process 

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How do Marjorie Lui and Sana Takeda collaborate remotely? 

 

The pair are constantly exchanging work and ideas. Marjorie Lui sends Sana a section of the novel and Sana submits a draft of the art to Marjorie. “Marjorie will comment on feedback for corrections, alterations, and send it back to me. I work on it, and send it back to her”.

 

At what point in the story development does the art begin? 

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Their process begins with Lui giving Takeda a general impression of the world the story will inhabit– and a loose idea of a storyline. In their process, the story is constantly evolving – even after much of the artwork is done. It helps that both are on the same wavelength – collaborative partnerships with great synergy like theirs are not easy to come by. This is why many successful partnerships continue beyond one project. By the time the project is complete, it is a meld of both the writer and the artist's vision. 

 

An “Inside out Process”. 

 

When drawing a scene, Sana first considers what Marjorie wants the reader to be focused on – be that the background, the character, an item etc. – and how she wants the reader to feel. “When she is producing art, as she just said, she is not thinking of herself, she is thinking of the reader, she is thinking of the story – she is artistically generous,” says Marjory of Sana’s process. 

 

Worldbuilding 

 

To lend weight to the world the story sits within, Liu believes it’s important to flesh out elements that are going on outside the main storyline. This helps the world take on a life of its own and ultimately will add to the immersion of the reader.

 

As you’re creating your main storyline she suggests that there should always be other things happening in the world beyond it. For example, in Monstress there is quite a humorous insert where Professor Tam Tam is teaching kittens – and it seems so completely removed from what’s happening that it’s almost as if they were in a different world. Not only does this add to the richness of the world it also offers the reader a momentary breather from the heavy storyline before it resumes. 

 

Art Style 

 

Monstress’ art style is both staggeringly detailed but also very easy on the eye. When asked about this Takeda said she’s pleased that this comes across as it’s something she prioritises in her work. As a comic artist, it can become lost in the details of what you’re putting on paper - "..we sometimes forget it is for someone else’s consumption”.

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What strikes me is that much of the intricacy is in the black liner  - set against a muted, limited colour pallet – and this style is very consistent throughout the series. There is a lightness of touch – like watercolour.   

 

Artistic influences 

 

Like most Japanese kids growing up in pop culture, steeped in Manga, Sana says she has been influenced somewhat by it - but there have been many other influences too. As a child she would borrow illustration books from the 1920s from the library - these were more Gekiga style. She recalls that the male and female characters were drawn very beautifully and very strikingly – which left a strong impression on her.

 

Kasho Takabatake’s work from his detective series in the 1920s was a huge influence for Sana – where “both men and women are drawn gallant and beautiful”. The colour palette for his work in this series is more vibrant than Takeda’s in Monstress – but it is also quite soft and muted. 

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Gaudin Ishiara was another strong influence – Sana particularly liked his Illustrated book of Japanese Monsters from 1972. I recognise the limited colour palette again in his works and his artworks are very calming and cohesive in their design elements.  
 

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