Sonia Leong (born May 7, 1982) is a freelance comic artist, illustrator and member of Sweatdrop Studios, who took 2nd place in the first Rising Stars of Manga United Kingdom & Ireland Competition.
Biography[]
Leong was born in Malaysia and lived in Thailand between 1989 till 2000 . She then attended University of Warwick, Economics and Politics BSc (Hons) from 2000 to 2003, and currently resides in Cambridge, UK, regularly attending UK anime conventions, representing Sweatdrop Studios.
Her works with Sweatdrop include 'Once Upon a Time...'; 'Cyborg Butterfly'; 'Satan's Amazon'; 'Murder on the Dancefloor' for the 'Sugardrops' anthology; 'Return to Chenezzar' for 'Pink is for Girls'; 'Model Behaviour' for 'Drop Dead Monstrous' and 'Love Stuffing'.
Her other competition achievements include Winner in NEO Magazine's 2005 Manga Competition and being Joint Judge for the Character Design category of the International Manga and Anime Festival (IMAF).[1]
She illustrated an adaptation of William Shakespeare's 'Romeo & Juliet' for Self Made Hero[2] which has since been listed in the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) '2008 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers' and 'Best Books for Young Adults 2008'.
Leong collaborated on Wacom's Manga campaign which appeared in major German magazines using her art to promote the wildly successful 'Pimp My Character' contest featured in the German publication Animania[3]; her work also featured on the Wacom website[4] in an article promoting the use of Wacom in the creation of manga.
She was the Head Contributor to 'Draw Manga' by Sweatdrop Studios from New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd[5] and headed the conceptual art and design of the Collectable card game 'Herocard Cyberspace' from Tablestar Games.[6] Her work appears in several instructional art books such as '500 Manga Characters' by Sweatdrop Studios from Ilex [7]; 'Drawing Manga'[8] by Selina Dean; 'Manga Clip Art'[9] by Hayden Scott-Baron and '50 Manga Babes to Draw and Paint' by Chi Hang Li.[10] She contributed a chapter towards 'Tori Amos' Comic Book Tattoo' a 480 page anthology published by Image Comics. She also illustrated a chapter for Tokyopop's 'DOMO: The Manga', an anthology starring the popular Japanese television mascot Domo (NHK).
Her work has appeared in 'Popcorn', a British movie directed by Darren Paul Fisher, starring Jack Ryder (EastEnders) and Jodie Albert (Hollyoaks). Her illustrations were also used on the set of Channel 4's award-winning British sitcom 'The IT Crowd' in series 3.
Leong is currently the Art Director for the 'Aya.Takeo' webcomic[11]; is illustrating the 'I, Hero' series of children's books for Franklin Watts Ltd. as well as 'Manga Life', a series of self help books for Infinite Ideas.[12]
Bibliography[]
- Talking to Strangers (Fehed Said and multiple artists; Sweatdrop Studios, October 2009, ISBN 978-1-905038-26-8)
- DOMO: The Manga (Clint Bickham and multiple artists; Tokyopop, October 2009, ISBN 978-1427815972)
- Love Stuffing volume 1 (with Stereoblind; Sweatdrop Studios, May 2009, ISBN 978-1-905038-25-1)
- Aya Takeo volume 1 (with Lloyd Prentice; Sweatdrop Studios, May 2009, ISBN 978-1-905038-21-3)
- Drop Dead Monstrous (multiple artists; Sweatdrop Studios, November 2008, ISBN 978-1-905038-17-6)
- Once Upon A Time (Sweatdrop Studios, October 2008, ISBN 978-1-905038-15-2)
- Comic Book Tattoo (multiple artists; Image Comics, ISBN 978-1-582409-64-1)
- Be Creative (Infinite Ideas Manga Life, April 2008, ISBN 978-1-905940-77-6)
- Find True Love (Infinite Ideas Manga Life, April 2008, ISBN 978-1-905940-78-3)
- Death or Glory (I Hero, October 2007, ISBN 0-74967-664-7)
- Viking Blood (I Hero, October 2007, ISBN 0-74967-665-5)
- Gorgon's Cave (I Hero, October 2007, ISBN 0-74967-666-3)
- Code Mission (I Hero, October 2007, ISBN 0-74967-667-1)
- 500 Manga Characters by Sweatdrop Studios (Ilex, June 2007, ISBN 978-1905814039)
- Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet (Self Made Hero, January 2007, ISBN 0-9552856-0-7)
- Pink is for Girls (multiple artists; October 2006, ISBN 978-1-905038-07-7)
- Cyborg Butterfly (in MangaQuake #2, 2006)[13]
- Tokyopop Rising Stars of Manga: UK & Ireland volume 1 (multiple artists; June 2008, ISBN 978-1598164640)
- Draw Manga by Sweatdrop Studios (New Holland, October 2006, ISBN 1-84537-416-9)
- Sugardrops (multiple artists; Sweatdrop Studios, July 2004, ISBN 1-905038-00-3)
References[]
- ↑ IMAF Homepage
- ↑ http://www.selfmadehero.com/manga_shakespeare/manga_shakespeare.html
- ↑ AnimaniA - Anime und Manga
- ↑ Wacom Manga
- ↑ New Holland Publishers: Draw Manga
- ↑ http://www.tablestargames.com/artists.html
- ↑ 500 Manga Characters
- ↑ Drawing Manga by Selina Dean
- ↑ Manga Clip Art
- ↑ 50 Manga Babes
- ↑ About Aya.Takeo
- ↑ Manga Life from Infinite Ideas
- ↑ Cyborg Butterfly
External links[]
- Fyredrake.net anime/manga style comics & illustrations.
- Sonia Leong's Livejournal page
- Aya.Takeo
- Sonia Leong's page on AuthorsAbroad.com School Author Visits