Every time I take pen to a blank page, it makes me go, “Oh, yeah.”
And that's probably why I've been doing it all these years I think.
Each and every time,
it's a fresh experience,
and I think I enjoy doing it because of that.
When the unexpected happens, it's interesting.
I can surprise myself, like, “What!? So it can go like this?”
And creating those unexpected things is a lot of fun.
If I couldn't do that, I'd get bored.
Drawing the Un- expected
The Battle of a Rock and Roll Mangaka
Break time.
It's got my number.
You try it out like swish swish,
and when it gets interesting, then it's “alive,” right?
I'm always trying to enjoy myself.
But seriously,
I wanna be your apprentice!
This is “Manben,”
a show where we observe the workspaces of mangaka,
artists who create grand dramas from tiny pen tips.
Full Access to the Place Where Manga Is Born
“20th Century Boys”
“BILLY BAT”
The instigator of all this is this man, Urasawa Naoki-san,
a manga artist who has penned many hit series over the years.
He's coloring a page in the final chapter of “BILLY BAT,” a series he's drawn for 8 years.
A Page from the Last Chapter of “BILLY BAT”
Normally he colors digitally, but he's doing it by hand this time to put all his feelings into it.
He aims to make use of the charms of analog methods.
I go, “Whoa! It spread over there!” or, “Ah! Too much there!”
so I'm doing this going, “Man! Oh, man! Oh, man!”
But you go with it, and that sort of leads you to the finished product.
The accidents along the way breathe life into the final manuscript.
On today's episode, we have a man who doesn't fear failures,
a manga artist who uses those accidents to bring life to his work.
Takahashi Tsutomu-san,
he's brought stories to life with his intense designs which pierce into people's hearts.
He is most known for “Sky High,”
a story about the moment when someone dies.
He depicts the choices of the people placed in those extreme circumstances,
and the work was even turned into a TV drama.
The draw of his works are his realistic, and often darkly intense designs,
dealing with the psychology of committing crimes, the darkness of human beings,
fighting, and the extremes of emotion.
A former motorcycle gang member
and even an aspiring rock star, he has a very unique past.
He's attracted readers far and wide with his works, which unleash those passionate feelings from back in the days.
For this episode, we went to his studio,
Filmed Closely over a Span of 8 Days
and closely filmed his work over an 8 day period.
What we discovered were some amazing methods that he developed to work by himself
Surprising Techniques
and a determination to desperately find the best way to move reader's hearts.
Determi- nation
2 weeks later, they're meeting up to watch the footage and discuss it.
They'll Chat as They Watch the Footage
My first thoughts were, “How does he draw that?”
Because there were a lot of spots that didn't seem possible if they were just drawn by hand.
And today,
I'm stealing those tricks!
Excuse me.
Hey there!
I'm coming in.
Visiting His Studio
First, we dropped by his studio.
Oh, this is nice.
This seems like a great space to work in.
Look what we have here, some telecasters!
Guitars Lined Up
How many of them do you have in total?
I have ten or so of them.
They hit it off right away talking about their mutual love of music.
Note: This Show is About Manga
But don't forget this is a show about manga!
They Will Discuss the Footage at Takahashi's Favorite Bar
Urasawa-san is excited to learn about Takahashi Tsutomu-san's methods,
and we will soon get to see the secrets behind them.
Suginami Ward, Tokyo
Amazingly, Takahashi-san works all by himself without any assistants.
All of the Work Is Done Without Assistants
Rough Sketch
He starts with a character sketch.
The paper he is using here actually isn't the typical paper used for manga manuscripts.
Normally, a Thick, Smooth, High Quality Paper Is Used
Drawing All by Himself, a Dive into His Work Method
Copy paper? That's copy paper, isn't it?
Yes, that's copy paper,
a high quality one.
I like copy paper myself.
It catches, right? Drawing on it isn't completely smooth.
If you think about it,
you should draw on whatever paper is easiest.
Exactly.
Kent Paper or high quality paper are actually hard to draw on, right?
Yeah, they're way too smooth.
It turns out that the copy paper we all use is really easy to draw on!
Takahashi-san swiftly sketches out the design.
Drawing All by Himself, a Dive into His Work Method
Is this really how fast I draw?
It looks fast to you, doesn't it?
Yeah, it does!
Makes you wonder, “Is this on fast forward?”
You lose consciousness of it, right?
I guess so.
Since you're focused on drawing.
Speed really works best for me.
I don't have any patience,
so I want to make it as fast as I can.
Rough Sketch Complete
The rough sketch is finished.
Inking
Next comes inking. Here he has a brush pen.
Brush Pen
He does his inking with incredible speed as well.
“Zankyou”
The main character, Satoru, is pressured by an old former criminal to kill him,
and he receives a gun and money in exchange.
Hounded by the experience of killing someone, Satoru falls on hard times.
In the midst of this, he meets the similarly isolated Daigo, a cross-dresser,
Satoru, the Protagonist
Daigo, a Cross-Dresser
Kaiya, a Young Boy
and a young boy named Kaiya.
Satoru forms desperate bonds with these two,
but the bonds end up being cruelly broken.
To get revenge, Satoru dresses as a woman, with a conviction to confront his enemy.
Deter- mined to Get Revenge
It's a work in the style of a road trip movie, depicting the struggle with one's fate.
Filmed with Fixed Cameras to Not Get in the Way
We captured Takahashi-san's work with 8 cameras, the most ever used in the series.
Here he's drawing Satoru's ruthless expression when he's facing the boss of his enemies.
Drawing the Main Character Satoru
He's using a brush pen and a ball pen. It looks like he doesn't use a nib pen.
How much have you cut back on using pen nibs and pen holders?
Well, I used to always use a G pen.
Wanting to Give Birth to Accidents
G pens bring out the strength that's behind your line, but you can't scrape using one.
I want to scrape and scratch lines. I want those accidents.
I like to draw thinking, “Who knows what imperfections will happen.”
I've been able to do that a little lately myself with a nib pen.
That's like an art in itself.
Wanting to Give Birth to Accidents
When every line comes out perfectly, then it's like...
the lines you drew with a pencil at the start are the best, right?
Yeah, that's right.
When the lines are all clean, it feels a little off.
It takes away some of the flavor.
He Varies Imper- fections by Using 3 Brush Pens
He alternates between old and new brush pens to control the imperfections.
Takahashi-san values the unpredictability of the lines.
I want to create things that have ambiguity.
I want to create things that aren't calculated.
It's a blast, you know? Way more fun than the predictable.
With this, he finishes inking for now.
Inking Finished
Only 10 minutes to get from rough draft to here!
To the Other Side of His Desk
Now he gets ready to use an even more unpredictable technique.
He puts the drawing in a clear file and lays another piece of paper on top.
He Puts the Page in a Clear File and Places Another Page on Top
After placing it on a tracing tablet, he dips a brush into diluted ink...
A Brush with Diluted Ink
and quickly begins brushing.
A Novel Way to Do Screentones by Using Diluted Ink
So this is basically like screentones.
You use the diluted ink to add tones to the drawing.
I put the clear file in between so the ink doesn't run through.
Using the clear file like that,
that's another analog approach, isn't it?
Applying tones? What do they mean?
In only 2 minutes, he added an ink touch to the drawing.
In Only 2 Minutes
This paper is also a critical part of the manuscript.
Uploading to the Computer
He uploads it to his computer
Pixelizing the Ink
and converts the ink into dot tone with image software.
Combining with the Inked Page
He then layers it with the penned drawing,
and after adjusting the position,
The Diluted Ink Has Been Turned into Screentones
you get what you see here.
Inked Art
Screentones Made With Diluted Ink
What he drew with ink has become screentones!
The Combined Image With Diluted Ink as the Screentones
A Novel Way to Do Screentones by Using Diluted Ink
Normal Screen- tone Method
He continues this technique on page after page.
It's strange to think of tone work as something like this, isn't it!?
Whenever I saw your works in print, Takahashi-san,
A Novel Way to Do Screentones by Using Diluted Ink
it always made me wonder, “What's going on here?”
It wouldn't be like that if it were just ink directly on the manuscript.
No, it wouldn't.
If Ink Is Added Directly, the Lines Become Dots.
Because the lines would also get turned into dot tone.
A Novel Way to Do Screentones by Using Diluted Ink
The idea of scanning the diluted ink and layering it over the drawing
seems so simple that a lot of people may have overlooked it.
I bet any manga artists out there watching this
are definitely going to try this out.
Should we really be showing your secrets?
This is something anyone can do.
I really think everyone might do it.
Manga art in Japan just might undergo a revolution.
If you want to draw by yourself, doing things like this is fastest.
Doing the ink this way is so fast.
I can do about 10 pages in around 30 minutes.
Applying and scraping screentones is a lot of work.
Not only does he brush in the ink, he also splashes it!
Splash- ing Ink
I do this by feeling.
It's a lot of fun when I get into it.
Since it's creating something that's unpredictable.
The Tip of the Brush Is Split.
He enjoys himself while drawing, using a variety of techniques.
Even if it bleeds when I do this, it doesn't bother me.
Since that's also part of the unpredictability.
I love the spirit of rock and roll,
so it's important to me to capture that “live” feeling.
Live shows are better than recordings, you know?
It's liable to become like a recording, if you can redo things.
His techniques aren't just for saving time.
He also values things that are created in the moment.
He Finally Starts on the Manuscript Paper
Here, he's printing onto manuscript paper.
To Takahashi-san, this is where the real inking begins.
He starts with the small details.
Beta (Filling in the Blacks)
Then, he fills in the blacks.
By filling in the black, he quickly decides the tone of the image.
Normally, Screentones Are Applied After Blacks
Normally screentones are applied after the blacks,
but Takahashi-san does it in the opposite order.
If you're drawing it normally with assistants,
By Doing the Blacks After the Screen- tones, He Sets the Tone in His Own Style
then you can't leave beta as the last thing.
Normally, it's lines, blacks, and finish with screentones,
but you're doing them in opposite order.
That's a huge revelation.
When you're working by yourself, you have the finished image in your head, right?
Which means you don't have to explain anything to anyone.
I know what you mean.
So you can do things in reverse if you want.
I think that's an idea worth keeping in mind.
Honestly, I don't want to hand off the blacks to others,
because the blacks set the tone of the page.
It sets the feel of the page.
The fun starts once you have something on the page.
The expression of it is determined by where you place the blacks.
By doing both the blacks and the screentones himself, he's able to set the tone of the image in his own style.
White- Out Pen
Finally, he picks up a white-out pen.
Takahashi Style White Inking
The whites in your art are drawn in really roughly and nosily.
I think that's really cool.
But you know, when I pull out the white-out pen,
it flies around like Klak Klak Klak Klak at an angle.
I don't want it to just pour out in a straight line.
I think this is the coolest use of white since the Fujita Kazuhiro.
Fujita Kazuhiro's White Style
Finishing Touches Complete
The finishing touches only take 8 minutes.
We see the final version of Satoru's expression.
A dark, impactful image, born from a focus on speed and organic processes.
An expression oozing with Takahashi-san's style is complete.
Takahashi-san does all of this work by himself.
Since he does the backgrounds himself too, he's developed a unique technique.
Creating Backgrounds with a Unique Technique
Taking Pictures
He takes pictures with compositions that he likes,
and extracts the outlines using image editing software.
Extracting the Lines
Painting over It the Way He Likes
He then paints it over however he likes, creating two versions.
Rough Sketch
Screentones
These actually act as rough drafts and screentones.
Inked Image
First, he takes the extracted background line art and combines it with the inked character art,
Combining Extracted Lines with Drawn Art
then he adds the background he painted over
Adding the Painted Background
Convert- ing into Dot Tone
and converts it into dots, creating screentone.
Process Complete
All of this serves as the base of the background.
Finishing Touches
He prints it out, and then fills in the blacks and finishing touches by hand.
Background Creation Made for a Lone Artist
I get rid of the parts that waste the most time, the sketch and tones.
You get rid of all the parts where it's like, “I hate doing this!”
Exactly.
Which makes drawing the rest fun,
since it's mostly already done.
So you only leave the fun parts.
That does look fun.
Yeah, it's a lot of fun.
Drawing wood grain and stuff.
That really is the fun part.
Background Creation Made for a Lone Artist
When it comes to drawing, these parts really are the most fun.
Right? Hahaha!
So if you hand it off to an assistant,
you're giving away the most fun part to them.
Background Creation Made for a Lone Artist
Yet the picture still gives off an analog look.
If I couldn't get it do that, I wouldn't use this technique.
Focusing on an Analog Feel
Those little touches with the pen really bring out the analog feel.
Since these are the finishing touches,
the look of the art comes out, which is great, isn't it?
You know, adding in the blacks.
What Takahashi-san cares most about is not the precision of the digital, but rather the texture of the analog.
I try to make sure I don't leave any sense that it's digital,
and I do that by introducing analog elements in the end.
It's best to have imperfections.
Like with a beat, to make it groove, it needs swing.
It just feels off to have the beat go on perfectly.
Takahashi Tsutomu-san was born in Tokyo in 1965.
Born in Tokyo in 1965
Takahashi Tsutomu's Origins as a Mangaka
As a kid, he wanted to be a baseball player or a manga artist.
Takahashi Tsutomu's Origins as a Mangaka
Mizushima Shinji was doing like this traveling atelier thing,
and while smoking like a complete chimney,
he would draw Mizuhara Yuuki with crazy speed.
Mizuhara Yuuki
“Yakyuukyou no Uta”
It was like, “to be a mangaka, you've gotta draw at this speed.”
The Panel Takahashi Saw at the Traveling Atelier
I was just totally floored.
It was like magic, you know?
Takahashi Tsutomu's Origins as a Mangaka
17 Years Old
At 15, he completely veered away from manga into rock and roll,
and even joined a biker gang.
He wholeheartedly took on the image of a hot-blooded, rebellious youth.
20 Years Old
At 20, when his band wasn't going anywhere, he remembered manga.
It was then that he decided to draw his first work.
Takahashi Tsutomu's Origins as a Mangaka
For this episode, we obtained a copy of that work in secret.
You gotta be kidding me.
This is like some sorta punishment game!
So this is the first work you brought to a publisher?
That's right.
It looks like it's by someone who'd been drawing for a while.
I hadn't been. It was my first work.
But even back then you had elements of your current style.
“Actor”
Takahashi Tsutomu's Origins as a Mangaka
After that, he became an assistant to Kawaguchi Kaiji-san.
Assis- tant to Kawa- guchi Kaiji
During this training period, he came across two works that drew him even more into manga.
Takahashi Tsutomu's Origins as a Mangaka
King Gonta arrived on the scene.
Yes, it must've been astounding.
I thought, “Now this is rock and roll!”
I realized how you could bring a “rock” element into manga.
There was another work that gripped me then,
which was “Shouta no Sushi.”
“Shouta no Sushi”
Those two are pretty different!
But in that series,
they spent a whole volume on just making a tuna sushi.
It made me think, “this isn't something a normal person would do.”
You saw a potential path?
It was like, “You can do things this way.”
I thought, “Okay, I'll just do things how I want.”
Takahashi-san decided to express the desires in his heart through manga.
He debuted as a mangaka with “Jiraishin”
After that, he gained popularity with works that stabbed intensely at something, much like a rock and roll song.
In addition, he continued to develop his own unique art style to tell such stories.
Takahashi-san has devised a way to draw on his own to achieve the art style that he wants.
Finishing Touches Complete
A panel is born from years of experience and a desire to preserve an analog feel.
For this panel's background, he's not using a photo.
Drawing a Background Without Using a Photo
He swiftly begins drawing out a background despite not having done a rough sketch.
Wow, you're fast.
Won't people watching think, “He's not putting much effort into this”?
A Journey to “Become Even Better”
I don't know if I should say this to you or not,
but you're constantly getting better.
When I look at your past works,
A Journey to “Become Even Better”
“Nijigen Jumpin'”
“Tenmasou no Sanshimai Sky High”
it seems like each one is better than the last.
A Journey to “Become Even Better”
I've never personally thought that my art was good.
What's really interesting to me is...
it feels like you still aren't at a place where you're like, “This is it.”
You may be right.
That could be why I'm always trying out different techniques.
And I'll probably stay on this journey until the end I think.
A Journey to “Become Even Better”
A tree gradually comes to life from the lines that seemed like a rough sketch at first.
Finishing Up After Adding Screentones
He adds screentones and more finishing touches.
The white-out pen makes its appearance again.
A Journey to “Become Even Better”
Oh, right there!
That takes some guts.
It's like drawing the air, the feeling of it, you know?
It completely changes the feel depending on if you add it or not.
To me, it makes it layered.
Like, it's the air directly in front of everything.
Takahashi-style White-Out, Drawing Air
I feel like I'm keeping that in mind while drawing.
Work Complete
The work is finished.
The intensity of a drawing done on the spot and the allure of the white-out bring a fantastical background to life.
The deadline steadily approaches for Takahashi-san.
How is his progress going?
It's not going too well.
I'm cutting it close.
Calling His Editor
He decides to make a call to his editor.
Wore him down with persistence.
It seems he somehow got the deadline pushed back half a day.
Now he begins work on the double page that will serve as the climax for the whole story of “Zankyou.”
The Climax of the Series
I didn't have a storyboard for this, so I'm ad-libbing it.
You did this without a storyboard?
Yeah, no storyboard.
This was a tough part.
It's like, “Just think of something in the moment!”
That's right.
It's a scene where the main character, Satoru, shoots his biggest enemy, the yakuza boss.
The Boss
Satoru
The Fun in Drawing an Evil Face
So it's the evil boss again.
Almost like he's been practicing evil faces.
I really like drawing faces that are like this.
The Fun in Drawing an Evil Face
“Tetsuwan Girl”
“BILLY BAT”
It's fun, isn't it?
It is!
Like when you're drawing a pretty face,
you get so focused on your goal of it being pretty...
The Fun in Drawing an Evil Face
That they tend to turn out the same, right?
“Pretty” for a guy is especially tough.
There's an aspect to it where you can't tell what to aim for.
For “cute” with a girl,
“Tetsuwan Girl”
“MONSTER”
The Fun in Drawing an Evil Face
if you just sort of draw it so you think she's cute,
then she usually turns out pretty cute.
But it's like, what's the goal for a “pretty” man?
Satoru finally gets his chance for revenge.
Creating a Tense Moment with No Lines and Art Alone
He gets rid of dialogue and sound effects and tries to create a moment of tension with the art alone.
The rough sketch is finished.
What's this? He's erased the top-right panel.
He starts drawing Satoru again.
First Sketch
He's changed Satoru's stance.
Now he carefully tests out the angle of the body and face.
This part really bothered me. It just felt wrong.
Concerned with the Shooting Stance, Searching for the Ideal Pose
I hated this upper-right panel here.
I wanted to see if there was a better way to have him shift his weight.
Once you second-guess yourself...
Then you're screwed, right?
He tries fixing it again.
At first, I had him shooting really casually,
First Sketch
but when I started thinking about the character,
I remembered he had been dying to kill this man.
So it wouldn't be casual, it would be more determined.
There's a bit of a performance to how someone shoots, isn't there?
There are all the emotions that built up to that moment.
Concerned with the Shooting Stance, Searching for the Ideal Pose
“Maybe he'd shoot while running,”
or, “if he's really wants to kill him, he'd do it up close,”
I started thinking about different ways he'd shoot.
At this point, he has done 5 revisions.
He starts over again.
Concerned with the Shooting Stance, Searching for the Ideal Pose
I've probably drawn this kind of scene hundreds of times too!
But part of it is not wanting to make it the same as the others.
It's because I want to draw pictures that are all unique.
The character doing the shooting is different after all.
In a desperate situation, Satoru pulls out his gun, and while struggling, attempts to fulfill his revenge.
Throughout his career, Takahashi-san has drawn characters fighting their own fates.
It's like a resistance against the absurd.
Standing up to it, you know?
Maybe you could say I draw humans resisting.
Which means I believe in them. That humans aren't so stupid.
You could also call that resistance “rock and roll,” I think.
He wants this stance to convey the main character's desire to stand up to his fate.
He desperately searches for the best angle for Satoru's head.
Never- ending Trial and Error
Now you're completely lost.
You're right about that.
Once you're at this point, it's like, “figure it out already!”
Right, “Just figure it out, me!”
Like, “I'll draw it this way, so figure it out from here!”
What do I do?
It's scary, really.
Break time.
Yeah, take a break.
It's got my number.
Take your eyes off it.
12 revisions in total,
yet he still can't decide the stance.
I want to somehow make it feel more desperate.
Trying to convey something like a feeling is tough.
If he bows down like this, it's not very interesting.
I feel like I have to have him look this way or it won't be right.
Oh, this isn't bad.
I see, I shouldn't have been worrying about drawing his cheeks.
Okay, there we go.
Something finally clicked for me just now.
Probably because I drew it without trying too hard.
Amazingly, when he started explaining and drawing while taking a break, he finally found a stance that he liked!
I have a lot of fun when I'm changing things like this.
It's sorta like a live show, you know?
It is live, after all.
But now it's this problem. I've started to think that maybe the guy being shot looks too small.
He's going to redraw it again!?
First Sketch
Final Revision
Comparing them, you can see the main character's desperation.
With the revisions, it took a whole 65 minutes for the rough sketch.
Inking
Finally, he begins inking.
He draws, paying careful attention to the character's stance.
After Adding the Screentones, He Begins the Finishing Work
He adds in the screentones created with ink, then he starts on the blacks and finishing touches.
Almost as if to make up for lost time, he draws with amazing speed.
Never- ending Trial and Error
Repeating the process of trial and error with all these things,
and then finally reaching something,
that process of creating something says,
“These are the things that I find important to have.”
I'd love to have people think, “mangaka are amazing!”
Well, I'd say you've done it.
But it's like that every time, isn't it?
It is, isn't it?
In the end, what we draw is completely up to us,
so finding the correct answer is really hard.
You're right.
Work Complete
Finally, the climax is finished!
An intense two-page spread has been drawn.
It depicts human resistance, an attempt to struggle against the absurd.
The desire to convey these emotions to the reader no matter how many revisions it took is summed up in the character's pose.
Day Before the Deadline
The morning of the day before the deadline is here. He has until 10:30 the next day.
Let's see,
for today's schedule...
The fatigue seems to be weighing on him.
24 Hours to Finish 15 Pages
He has 24 hours to do the finishing work on 15 pages.
Home Stretch, Aiming for the Best Art
There's a lot still left there.
But I'm not worried about what to do anymore.
Takahashi-san finishes the pages with impressive speed.
Home Stretch, Aiming for the Best Art
You're tossing the pens, huh?
Yeah, I'm tossing them.
I do toss them, don't I?
I probably toss them when I'm alone too.
The look of the screentone on the gun,
Home Stretch, Aiming for the Best Art
it looks a lot like the screentones on Kawaguchi Kaiji-san's guns.
You might be right.
It reminds me of the gun in “Hard and Loose.”
I think you're right.
To me, I think that's the best way to draw one.
It's really cool, isn't it?
Home Stretch, Aiming for the Best Art
This brush pen is the one that I use for grazed lines.
You make sure to use the same pen for those lines.
Right, to keep that look.
He even makes use of a kitchen sponge.
Kitchen Sponge
Taking advantage of all of the techniques he's cultivated so far, he attempts to create something truly great.
I really want to take everything I have at that moment
and put out something really amazing.
The people who can become professionals
are the ones who don't put off what they have to do at that moment.
Not the ones who say stuff like, “I'll do it in a year, because I'll be better then.”
Draw it now. Don't put it off.
What you can draw now is only what you're capable of.
The charm of the lines, touch, and white-out that are all created now, in the moment,
He tries to treat those things like a live concert.
You try it out like swish swish,
Fighting a Battle with Every Single Line
and when it starts feeling interesting, it's “alive,” right?
That's the approach I take.
I'm always trying to enjoy myself.
Even when I'm adding white lines around drawn words like this,
I still consider it drawing.
It's part of one's style, right?
He puts his thought into every line.
A fierce rock and roll spirit carried on since his youth,
he's infused that into his manga for 27 years.
Underlying it is a desire to stir up the reader.
It's impulse. I want to give them an urge.
When I heard the Sex Pistols for the first time,
I felt like a bolt of lightning hit me.
It was like a shock strong enough to change someone's life.
If I could give people that kind of shock too, I would be happy.
This is the end.
Work Complete
He's finally finished.
Okay!
10:30 comes. Right at the deadline, he finishes his final check.
The Final Check Finishes Right at the Deadline
Thank you.
He was able to hand over the manuscript without any issues.
It's still the middle of the day,
so I figure I'll go get some acupuncture.
Great work, Takahashi-san!
Every last part was done by himself.
Creating art that can only be made in that moment
with the desire to give a shock to the reader.
A work filled with these thoughts is finally complete.
This is truly a 100% pure Takahashi Tsutomu work.
And that's something to look up to.
Really, it's just doodling around to me.
I think that those feelings you have as a kid
when you think about how fun it is to doodle and scribble.
They're feelings that you don't want to let die.
Yeah, you're totally right.
Even these days, I have fun drawing.
Still, you've really opened up a lot of possibilities.
You feel like something is imperfect,
and that makes you want to draw something perfect,
to see whether you'll feel like, “I did it!” or not in the end.
That might come on the day before your death,
but you have to think that way, or you'll never reach it.