Sophie-Chan - Manga Workshop Characters: How to Draw and Color Faces and Figures

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This book is dedicated to my fans.

If you know me, you know how much I have struggled to follow my dream of becoming a manga artist. I never studied art (in fact, I have a bachelors degree in engineering), but I had enough passion to help overcome all the obstacles I faced. Ive worked as an engineer by day and a manga artist by night. Truth is, I didnt mind having a day job, as long as I could come home and draw. I grew tired of not being able to pursue art as a career, at first, but now look where I am. Regardless of how hard things get, or how busy you become, if you keep drawing, this hobby will turn into something big that you can actually earn money from and fulfill your potential.

Believe in yourself and create a heartwarming story that you can fall in love with. Dont blame yourself for not having a natural talent for making manga, because those with talent may have no passion and those with passion can become more skillful. It is not mandatory to study art, but I wouldve progressed faster if I had. If you are given the chance to pursue study in art or animation, then do it!

I wouldnt have reached this far without the support of my fans; having a fan base can boost your energy to work hard. And when you become admired, the last thing you want to do is give up. When I uploaded my first video on YouTube in 2008, I never dreamed of reaching over 20 million video views; it is one more source of inspiration. Accept opinions and criticism; they will help improve your work and open your eyes to flaws you havent seen in your art. Yet, be your own judge! Dont let negativity influence youyou know when your art is good and can tell when its not, and this ability strengthens as your artistic experience grows.

Finally, use your work as a message to spread good and peace in this world.

Regards,

Lets begin with an overview of how I create manga from start to finish. We will do this with full details in the last chapter, but for now I want you to keep these general steps in mind.

1) Come up with an idea.

Every manga starts with an idea, a story you would like to share and find worth working on. It can be a personal experience, or a vision, or a message you are trying to spread. The more time you spend writing your story, the greater the chance of completing it. Thats why short stories are not ideal for manga. Find what inspires you; for me it was the ocean, which is why I named my manga The Ocean of Secrets. Once you come up with an idea, support it by doing some research. Discover if someone has already done a similar story, and try to stay away from stories or themes that are widely used. Be unique and original.

2) Write out the story.

Write down all of your story in dialogues, even if it takes you months. Come up with characters and describe their personalities, even their blood types. When writing events, stick to the personalities you have written for each. My story changed a lot since I started it five years ago; I kept improving it with time. I continued writing five more volumes while the first one was still in progress. Im truly glad that I didnt jump ahead and publish it too soon, because as I grew older and experienced more, my judgment and understanding of my characters struggles were enhanced. Not to mention, my artwork was not that good back then.

3) Develop character profiles.

I wish someone told me how to make a character profile when I first started. I didnt pay much attention to creating a character profile and ended up with many pages where the same character looked different. The only way to eliminate this mistake is to spend plenty of time creating a detailed character profile that you can follow every time you draw your character.

4) Create the thumbnails or storyboard.

Cut 812" 11" (22cm 28cm) paper in half, and sketch the layout of each page for the entire book. It is important to read the story in order to see if it actually makes sense in terms of transition and events. You can also show it to friends to see if they think it is interesting.

5) Sketch, draw and then ink.

This is the standard work flow of every page. You make a rough sketch first, draw a cleaner version and then ink your drawing. If you are using Manga Studio, you sketch and then immediately ink, which saves you time. These steps are explained in the Manga Studio tutorial later in the book.

6) Print it out and solicit feedback.

Assuming you now have finished a chapter or two, its time to get feedback! If you draw manga purely for fun, you may not need an editor; either show it to your friends or post it online. You will get a lot of feedback, which can help you improve. But If you are taking it to the next level, and you think you can compete with other manga and possibly get published, youd better have an editor to check your work and proofread it.

7) Dont look back, unless its miserable.

One problem I became stuck in was going back to redraw the first pages, entering an endless loop of corrections and changes. I redid the first chapter three times, because I have changed my characters and improved throughout the years. Keep in mind that you will keep getting better. Its okay if chapter three is better than chapter one. You will find that the style changes in many of the top manga, and often there is a massive difference between the first and the last volumes.