Meet the Artist Behind Manga Brush ✦ Audrey “Esper Star”
- audreybagley
- Dec 4, 2025
- 3 min read
Meet the Artist Behind Manga Brush ✦ Audrey “Esper Star” ✦
Every brush stroke has a story, and Manga Brush is no exception. Behind the textures, screentones, and anime skies is me, Audrey, an audio-visual director, and dreamer who has spent years bringing both blockbuster films and independent visions to life.
From Pixar Labs to Personal Projects ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡ I cut my teeth in the animation industry, working as a Technical Director and Look Development artist at Pixar, Disney, and Blue Sky Studios on films like Toy Story 3 and Frozen. Those long nights coding textures in 3D space and perfecting the smallest visual details gave me a deep appreciation for tools that are both powerful and artist-friendly. I've chased the magic of turning drawings into motion and pixels into emotion. That relentless dedication carried me into creating Manga Brush, because I knew firsthand the tools artists dream of didn’t always exist yet. Mine didn’t until I created them!
In 2007, long before Procreate was even a thing, I began building my very first Manga Brush set in Photoshop while creating my first cute lil' comic. It’s been almost two decades since I created MANGA BRUSH designing brushes for artists like me, and you! ฅ^>⩊<^ ฅ
Why Manga Brush Exists
Thousands of artists now use MANGA BRUSH! THANK YOU! <3 ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
When I started painting manga, I realized most brush packs fell short of the patterns and textures I wanted. Over two decades ago, there weren’t brush packs designed with the specific anime and manga aesthetics in mind: drifting Studio Ghibli skies, bold shōnen tones, delicate shōjo screentones...
So I built what I wanted to use myself, brush packs that capture the soul of vintage manga and anime studios. What began as a handful of textures grew into a massive library of screentones, brushes, canvas textures, and an entire MEGAPACK!
Today, thousands of artists all over the world use Manga Brush to bring their comics, webtoons, and illustrations to life. And while many artists now claim to make brush packs for manga and anime, MANGA BRUSH is the OG!
I’ve spent years sourcing inspiration in places like Japan, perusing places like the Kyoto International Manga Museum, studying textures in vintage books, and crafting brushes to fuel my own comics.
Along the way, I’ve seen people try to imitate my work (or worse, re-sell stolen brushes, and I've recently seen people sell stamps from Clip Studio Paint libraries that are free in Clip Studio!). Evil. Mediocrity can’t compete with authenticity! Beware of Pose packs. (I call them "poser packs" since they are usually stolen from Clip Studio Paint users). Preview your brushes carefully! I would say at least half of brushpacks out there claiming to have Manga or Anime in them are using stolen brushes or stamps, many from my megapack. There are more out there than you think! BUYERS BEWARE! <3
I’ve had to recently code-watermark my brushes to keep them safe and will have some more exciting announcements and blog posts soon on how to tell authentic artist brush packs apart from the stolen ones! Thinking of making more videos for my youtube channel too! Esper Star ✦
More Than Brushes
Manga Brush isn’t my only creative world. Under my music persona Esper Star, I write and release ethereal pop inspired by fantasy, fae mythology, and timeless romantasy.
For me, the brushes, the music, the art, they’re all connected and the tools and stories help artists and dreamers imagine their own worlds.
A Community of Creators
Manga Brush has never just been about me, it’s about you, the artist.
I love seeing your comics, panels, and illustrations come to life with these tools. Every brush pack is designed to save you time, amplify your style, and feel like it was built just for manga artists.
✦When you finish your creations using any of my brushpacks, even free versions, feel free to email mangabrush@gmail.com and tell your story so I can share your story and post your lovely work on my new blog! because you deserve to be seen! xx
The Manga Megapack keeps expanding with new updates: from Anime Cloud Brushes to vintage 80s screentone textures. I’m constantly creating and curating tools that fill the gaps, so whether you’re drawing a webtoon, a zine, or your next big dream project, Manga Brush is right there with you.
✦Thank you for being here! For supporting, creating, and sharing in this journey. Whether you found me through Manga Brush, my music, or my community work, you’re part of the story now. <3
Happy Drawing!
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