sonialeong

I'm a professional comic artist and illustrator specialising in Anime/Manga. My first graphic novel was Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet (SelfMadeHero). My awards include Young Adult Library Services Association "2008 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers" and "Best Books for Young Adults 2008" for Romeo and Juliet ; Winner in Tokyopop's first UK Rising Stars of Manga competition (2005/06) and Winner in NEO Magazine's 2005 Manga Competition. I designed the Catgirl mascot for Wacom-Europe's Manga campaign which began in 2006. My artwork features prominently in the British movie, Popcorn (2007) and also on the set of Channel 4's popular sitcom The IT Crowd. I contributed Siren to Comic Book Tattoo: Tales inspired by Tori Amos (Image Comics). I illustrated the Manga Life series of self-help comic books (Infinite Ideas), Find True Love and Be Creative. My work also appears in Domo: The Manga (Tokyopop/Big Tent) and Bravest Warriors: The Search for Catbug (VIZ Media). I'm also known for my work in children's publishing, namely the illustrations for the I, Hero series (Hachettes) by Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore, Girls FC series (Walker) by Helena Pielichaty and Ninja: First Mission (Barrington Stoke) by Chris Bradford (Author of Young Samurai series).

I am the Company Secretary of Sweatdrop Studios, a leading UK comic collaborative and independent publisher of Manga. My works with Sweatdrop include Once Upon a Time, Love Stuffing and Aya Takeo, a full-colour comic originally published online.

I've contributed to numerous instructional art books and been teaching Manga workshops since 2004, where I began by giving lectures at the Artist & Illustrators Magazine Exhibition. My UK appearances include the Guardian Hay Festival, Victoria & Albert Museum and London County Hall. I frequently represent UK creators overseas, working with the British Council. I've exhibited artwork in the Kyoto International Manga Museum, London County Hall, London Cartoon Museum, Japanese Embassy, Manchester URBIS Centre and provided product demonstrations on behalf of Copic, Letraset, Wacom and Promethean.

COMMISSIONS:
Experience:
I've been a full-time freelance illustrator since 2005. Prior to that I had several years' experience of illustration and graphic design part-time and in my former role working for an educational charity in contracts/marketing. I have over eighty (and counting!) publications across magazines, comics/graphic novels, art books and film/TV projects to my credit.

Clients and associates:
Artists & Illustrators Magazine, Asahi, Authors Abroad, Axis Publishing, Barrington Stoke, Barrons' Educational, Bournemouth Russell-Cotes Museum, British Council, Channel 4, COMiCA at the ICA, Copic, Families in Business Magazine, Garage Magazine, Guardian Hay Festival, Hachette's Childrens Books, Harper-Collins, Ilex Publishing, Image Comics, Infinite Ideas, International Manga and Anime Festival (IMAF), Japan 21, Japanese Embassy (London), Letraset, London MCM Expo, Manga Entertainment, Moshi Moshi Brighton, New Holland Publishers, NEO Magazine, Peters Bookselling, Popcorn (2007, British film), Promethean, Quarto Publishing, Rockport Publishers, SelfMadeHero/MetroMedia, Seven Stories Press, Tablestar Games LLC, Tokyopop, Victoria & Albert Museum, VideoJug, Wacom, Walker Books, Wolff-Olins

Products:
Comics/graphic novels, illustration, branding/mascots, website graphics, character design, concept art, portraits, covers, how-to-draw publications/tutorials, workshops, presentations, product demonstration

Mediums/Software:
Pencils, colour pencils (Faber Castell Polychromos), pen and ink (Pilot, Pentel, Sakura, ZIG), screentone, watercolours (Windsor & Newton), colour markers (Copic, Letraset, Deleter, Chameleon, Kuretake), Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, PaintTool SAI, OpenCanvas

Fees:
They depend very much on the subject matter, size of the project, how much time it will take, materials used and final usage/rights. Please email me for a quotation. I accept payments via paypal, UK cheques, bank transfers.