As part of our online content offer, Japan House London is delighted to invite manga enthusiasts, illustrators and aspiring manga-ka to the first in a series of online drawing sessions led by UK-based artist Kutsuwada Chie.

In this one-hour event, participants can learn how to draw a single character under the guidance of a professional manga artist, while simultaneously following her step-by-step instructions and asking live questions.

After the demonstration, participants are most welcome to share their result on social media and tag Japan House using the hashtag #japanhouselondon, #manga and #MuseumsFromHome.

More dates will follow; this page will be updated with information as it becomes available.

*This drawing session is open to all levels and makes use of digital drawing, although participants are welcome to use any drawing equipment that they have available at home.

About the artist
Kutsuwada Chie was born and brought up in Japan. After graduating from the printmaking department of the Royal College of Art, London, she is now based in Brighton, working as a professional manga artist. Her work Moonlight (2008, collected in The Mammoth Book of Best New Manga 3 by Constable & Robinson) was shortlisted in the Manga Jiman competition organized by the Japanese Embassy in the UK. One of her latest projects is a series of illustrated columns for Mainichi Weekly (published every two months by one of the major Japanese newspaper companies) about life and culture in UK. Her books are available in most English-speaking countries and Japan, and some are translated into Turkish, French, Italian and Spanish. Besides creating manga comics, she runs manga workshops at schools, libraries, and museums, such as the British Museum, the British Library and Victoria and Albert Museum. She has also have worked on projects for Channel 4 and CNN.