Mangaka
Artist | Professional | Digital Art

Netherlands

I already start drawing at primary school. Like many artist I was doodling in school notebooks instead of paying attention
to the classes.I don’t recommend this, stick to school! ^_^

Most of my inspiration comes from the years when I was a kid.
I grew up with impacting anime/cartoons like Thundercats, Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Mask. Slowly I started to see the differences between Japanese and non Japanese animations and illustrations. In my teenage years my father past on hundreds of Spider-man comicbooks, I loved Spider-man!
And Jeez, I drew a lot of Spiderman pictures back then, my whole room was filled! I think making comics started from there on a unconscious level, but then the teachers on school told me that a cartoonists don’t make a lot of money so I just kept it as a hobby.

I also remember that my father arranged some drawing lessons when I was 13 years old. I would get assignments via post. They would send assignments like, "copy this house and this tree". Most of it was in ink and after I was done, I would have to send the copy back from wherever it came from. Somebody would grade it and send it back again. I never saw that person or spoke to him. Really strange system, when I think about it... But I didn’t follow it for long because I didn’t see the benefit of it. Today would be a whole different story. I like to work on my techniques and trying to improve them every day.

Over the years I found my passion; making movies as a director! I loved movies! And ever since I was a kid me and little brother were always making movies. After finishing the college in AV-Design, I builded up my own Audio-visual and Graphic Design company in 2004 to pursuit my dream as movie director. Two years later the first concept of Ipodoboy was born. The original idea was to make a movie of this character. I wanted to make movies in an Anime style. Something new, that's never been done before. But to something like that, I needed more experience, so the concept of Ipodoboy was put on the shelve. After making commercials and building company identities for years I found out 2 things; 1. Making company films and commercials was pretty creative and fun to do but I didn't get the satisfaction I was looking for. I wanted to reach peoples harts, not the pockets of companies. And 2. I found out that my passion never was about making movies at all, this was merely the surface. What my passion really was about, is telling a great story. Something that would stick, something that could reach peoples harts. So a new journey began.

The anime series Naruto, Bleach and One Piece made the biggest difference in shaping my new clearer goal. I was fascinated about the way these intriguing stories where told. So, I did my own study about the origin of anime; the manga. I always had a connection and a deep interest for the Japanese art and now I knew why. The stories and illustrations of anime are deep, rich, artistic and full expression. So, I picked up my drawing skills and this time I was determined to make a manga of my own. I decided to sell all the video equipment that the company had. Now I had savings, enough for one whole year. It's a big risk. But I'm a risky guy and sometimes a bit crazy. ^_^

I already had a great concept from 2006 on the shelves right? This is when I began developing the story of Ipodoboy. I worked on just the story for more then one whole year. It took another year to fit the story in chapters, design the characters, environments and finishing 2 chapters. Each day I struggle to find the time to work on Ipodoboy because I also have a job. But I hope the day comes I can make it my profession. So, I can spend all of my energy, time and devotion in this amazing manga. Because it's gonna be awesome!

For more information check out: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the official website.

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www.ipodoboy.com