Yusuke Fujisaki, more commonly known simply as Bossun is the leader of the Sket Dance, a school club specifically designed as a campus support group. If you have a problem, if no one else can help and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the Sket Dan. Or something like that. Bossun is enthusiastic, optimistic and always willing to give a helping hand. He’s incredibly intelligent, capable of calculating the trajectory of a slingshot in mere seconds. It’s just that he doesn’t show it.

So, when Bossun is able to produce incredible works of art effortlessly, it can come as a bit of a surprise. Sure, you’ll find many characters out there that can whip up a top notch painting when asked. But can they paint a painting, save a cat, fight off the student council and help someone get over their fear of boiled eggs all at the same time? I think not.

Unlike Bossun, it’s actually Nozaki’s job to be an incredible artist. As the author of the Shoujo Manga, “Let’s Fall in Love”, Nozaki needs to constantly come up with new situations for his characters to be in, all with the help of an eccentric cast of friends. However, this ends in some ridiculous antics that surround the rather stoic character that is Nozaki, working itself into an exemplary boiling pot of comedy.

Nozaki is a talented mangaka, but everything he draws ends up being silly in its own special way. Sure, there’s plenty of other mangaka within anime, but none with such a… creative mind as Nozaki has.

Moritaka Mashiro is another mangaka, but one that’s a bit closer to reality than the wonderful character that is Nozaki. Mashiro is one half of the mangaka duo that is Ashirogi Muto in one of my favourite series, Bakuman. Being the passive aggressive series by Death Note authors, Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, the series constantly takes shots at its own publishers, Weekly Shounen Jump.

So what comes with this, is Obata’s incredible artwork as varied and detailed as it is, evolving to represent Mashiro’s own talents as he works on new manga. Mashiro’s style is shown to be so diverse, that it rockets past the competition in so many ways. Now if only the manga he wrote existed in real life!

Taking a step back from the professional world for a moment here, GA Art Design Class features a whole cast of artistic and creative characters. Literally. The entire cast are all artists in training as members of the school’s art class. However, one character in particular stands out in this skit comedy as the character that steps forward to teach both the rest of the class and the viewer different art techniques beyond just pen and paper.

Delving into 3D, photography and even digital art, Omichi is always ready with a new handy technique. If you want to learn how to become an artist, Miyabi Omichi is the best teacher you could possibly ask for.

Unlike everyone else on this list, Toshino Kyoko is an idiot. Flamboyant, selfish and loud. Those are four words that describe Toshino Kyoko with absolute accuracy. As one of the lead characters of the popular comedy series Yuru Yuri, she’s always getting into antics within The Amusement Club.

One such antic is her unbelievable talent to quickly produce incredible works that seem strangely out of line with her usual temperament. Alternatively, it’s arguable that Chinatsu is a far more creative artist, but I dare not expose you, the reader, to such sights.

But sometimes art is not so simple. I myself am a hopeless artist whose barrier stands at stick figures, although thankfully Seishuu Handa’s prospects are a little more hopeful. As a calligrapher (Handa, not me), he travels to the remote Goto Islands to be able to get away from his by-the-book calligraphy and try to find something more personal.

Through the beauty of the island and the wonderful personalities of the people that inhabit it, Handa grows from a stubborn, grumpy guy to someone who can really appreciate the smaller things in life and it translates into his work magnificently. It’s one thing to be good at calligraphy, but it’s another to put so much heart and soul into it, which puts Handa confidently on this list.

Sometimes art can move. Although you’re probably already aware of this, as an anime fan. Shirobako was one of the best shows of the past year that invited us to dive into the anime industry and experience the reality of it all. Ema Yasuhara is an animator at Musashino Animation, working to improve her skills and gain confidence in her own work.

Over the course of the show, she develops new skills thanks to the support of her co-workers and grows as a person within the anime industry. It’s rare to see animators within anime itself and the progress Ema goes through to keep up with her colleagues is inspiring, to say the least.

The cast of Saekano are a whole bundle of talents. There’s a talented musician, a talented writer and as the title suggests, a talented artist. Seen as a refined artist and the top of her art class, Eriri is secretly a massive otaku. Drawing manga under the name “Eri Kashiwagi”, Tomoya Aki recruits her to do the artwork on the new visual novel he’s making.

Although that’s easier said than done, after a series of conflicts and a whole other circle attempting to recruit her to work with them complicate things. It’s not just that Eriri is a brilliant artist, it’s that she’s constantly sought after too. And someone like that has got to take up a place on our list!

Much like Eriri, Mio is also incredibly secretive when it comes to her manga. Although, she may have a slightly better reason. Within the world of Nichijou, anything is prone to going off the rails at any given moment and the characters are no exception. When Mio’s homoerotic drawings of her crush are discovered, she will stop at nothing to hide them.

Assaulting a police officer, her friends, running at the speed of light, nothing will stop Mio from keeping her secret hidden from the world. Admittedly, however, the drawings are actually very good.

Imagine Hogwarts. Now forget Hogwarts and imagine a high school filled with superpowers based on what club you happen to be a part of. Whether it’s monstrous plants, powerful musical instruments or a calligraphy brush that fires ink, Mikagura Academy is a weird place. Kyoma, as the president of the art club and has the power to use his paint as a weapon, with each colour having a different ability.

Whilst we don’t get many chances to see his actual art within the show, the few examples we have show that he has a somewhat impressionist style, not being interested in showing what someone looks like and rather, what they represent. If that’s not creativity, what is?