BLANK CANVAS: MY SO-CALLED ARTIST'S JOURNEY (Kakukaku Shikajika), by Akiko Higashimura. First published in 2011 and first published in North America in 2019.
PLOT:
Akiko Higashimura might be a big-name manga artist now, but she started out as a talented but lazy kid way out in Miyazaki prefecture who was convinced she could easily make her way into art school and eventually to shojo manga stardom. Her youthful ego is punctured when she starts taking drawing lessons from a reclusive local teacher. Hidaka-sensei may be a tough-talking taskmaster, but as the reality of applying to art schools sinks in Akiko begins to truly understand the discipline he teaches her.
STORY:
Autobiographical manga are becoming more and more common, but those are usually done by amateurs starting out on the web, talking about the sorts of topics that more mainstream manga magazines might neglect. With Blank Canvas, though, Higashimura is addressing something that is less socially aware, but simultaneously more personal and more universal.
On the surface, this is Higashimura recounting how she became the artist she is today. Her approach is equal parts nostalgia and wit. She absolutely lays into her younger self with her signature sense of humor, acknowledging how much of a callow, lazy egotistical teen she was. Yet she also has a warm sense of nostalgia for this time and for her teacher in particular, the sort that comes only with time. Her nostalgia does lead her to gloss over parts of Hidaka-sensei's methods that might be seen as less tasteful. Yes, he does teach her discipline and demonstrates affection and belief in her talents, but his free and frequent use of his bamboo sword and his sometimes insulting bluntness might strike readers here as more abusive than Higashimura might believe.
Yet there are also larger, more generalized life lessons to take away from this series. To give you some idea of what I mean, let me tell you a story about myself. I'm not an artist, but like Higashimura I do know what it was like to be a big fish in a small pond. I was a gifted student basically from the moment I entered school, and in my small rural school system I was considered a star student. College was an awakening in many ways for me. I finally got to see and experience a world beyond rural western Illinois, but I was also forced to confront the fact that I wasn't necessarily as smart as I thought I was, and how much I had to struggle because I never learned proper study skills or dealt with classes that required more critical thought than I was used to.
Like Higashimura, I can look back now and simultaneous want to smack myself for being something of a sheltered, puffed-up jackass. Yet I can also look back with fondness on the events, the friends, and the teachers who helped and supported me when I needed it. The details might be different, but I found a lot to connect to in Blank Canvas as a coming-of-age tale. I could understand where Higashimura was coming from. I suspect that will likely be true for many, many others.
ART:
Much of what I've said before about Higashimura's art still applies here. I still love her dramatic expressions and her knack for visual punchlines. I love the little bits of actual art from her childhood that she sprinkles in early on. What's notable about the art of Blank Canvas is how much care she puts into the setting. The backgrounds are lovingly detailed, drawn with the care and fondness of someone who walked through these streets and fields every day and knows them like the back of her hand.
RATING:
Blank Canvas has all the beauty and humor manga fans have come to expect from its author, but what makes it truly special are the lessons and life-experience that Higashimura imparts on her audience.
This series is published by Seven Seas. This series is complete in Japan with 5 volumes available. 3 volumes have been released and are currently in print.
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