Name: Jan Dreau Ganggangan Pen Name: Ashrock West Nicknames

Name: Jan Dreau Ganggangan Pen name: Ashrock West Nicknames: Jadee, Racyash Birthday: August 10, 1990 Location: Naguilian, La Union Current occupation: Software Engineer Personal Description: I am a self-proclaimed mangaka since I was 2nd year high school. I am fond of ba ttle manga since I was exposed to this genre at that time. Most of the manga titles that I handle a re into the battle manga themes. These include the on-going "Banishers", and "Rip-Off, the Mangaka Wars." My drawing style is a mix of the western action comics style and the Japanese ma nga style. I tend to mix both styles to come up with a style I am most comfortable with. I also ha ve a cartoon style that's very much similar to the usual Cartoon Network staples of the 90's (the n ew style sucks, srsly). My art preference is a mix of traditional and digital tools; but most of the tim e I do trad. (It sucks to do digital art when there is a power outage, ain't it?). I am not into colori ng since I don't know how to do colors properly; another is I am blind into color values (sorry midtones, highlights, and shadows). I got first introduced into the world of manga by my coach in an Earth Science c ompetition, Teodore A. Saclangan. I found out that we share a common interest and since then we started coming up with a story that we can turn into a fullfledged manga. And thus, Banishers was kickstarted. Another thing that we share in common is our drawing style. We use rough sketche s and sometimes ink them in that manner. We also utilize dynamic poses and "money shots" a lot of ti mes in our creations. When it comes to art influences, Blizzard Entertainment's Samwise Didier was my starting point. Along with other Sons of the Storm, I developed bulky, buffed character designs thinki ng that toughness rocks over soft, skinny build characters. In dynamic poses, Jeffrey "Chamba" Cruz, is first in the list. I like the way he utilizes the dynamic way of drawing characters. He conveys the fluid movement through spatial distortions and dynamic lines. His cel-shading style is also wit h par to the usual Disney-esque style. In the manga discipline, here's the roster of Antarctic Press' elite mangakas th at influenced me: Ben Dunn, Fred Perry, David Hutchison, and our kababayan Rod Espinosa. Ted once said that my old style resembles that of Rod Espinosa in his earlier years (oh, why you~ :3). These guys were author-instructors to Antarctic Press' How to Draw Manga (First Generation, the new one sucks, again). They provided the essentials creating interesting and catchy manga. I further improved my mangaka discipline when the manga "Bakuman" was available in the Internet. Believe me or not, this was another leap of faith in the way I make my manga. All the needed discipline, strategy, work flow, as well as tools, and scheduling of a Japanese mangaka were there. The story introduced the importance of having an editor in the work flow of an o utstanding mangaka. This was true when Ted and I developed a 20-page name (rough drafts of the main manuscript) in around 2-3 hours for Banishers. Overall, I am a work flow dependent type of artist. Once I get the proper work f low, the rest of the manga developing time is a breeze (as in super dali, organized, at mabilis). My miscellaneous skills are digital 2D Flash animation, miniature sculpting using polymer clay, advertisemen t page layouting, web design, and web programming (this brings the funds, baby!). "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard". We begin our careers as amateurs, hard work does the rest. "Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude". Attitude is another thing to keep in mind. Being arrogant with the talent you ha ve will only bring failure along the way..

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