Danica Davidson - Manga Art for Beginners: How to Create Your Own Manga Drawings

Copyright 2016 by Danica Davidson and Melanie Westin All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation. Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file. Cover design by Laura Klynstra Cover illustration by Melanie Westin ISBN: 978-1-5107-0004-8 Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-0006-2 Printed in China Contents Introduction There are a lot of reasons to love mangaimpressive story arcs, loveable characters, the ability to tell any kind of story you want. And then theres mangas art. This artistic style, which is distinctly Japanese, is a beautiful and expressive way to draw characters and scenes.

Maybe you fell in love with manga after first experiencing Japanese anime, like Pokmon or Attack on Titan , and this led you to the manga version. Or maybe youve always loved comic books, or youve been a big Nipponophile (a lover of Japan and Japanese culture). However you got here, theres a good chance your love of the medium got you to want to show your appreciation by creating your own manga. So, what next? This book will show you the steps of drawing your own manga characters. It covers basics, like hands and eyes, then moves on to specific steps on how to draw common characters found in manga, such as ninjas, bishonen, and butlers. Characters are shown with different personalities and style.

The book also teaches you how to draw from different angles. You can mix and match characters here, too. For example, you can put the maids tilted head on any body, not just the maid. It is also written with simple, accessible language so its easy to understand. You dont have to take art classes and know art terms before approaching these pages. Manga is about art, and its also about having fun.

Lets experience the beauty and uniqueness of manga together! Getting Started Odds are if you picked up this book, youre a manga fan. So how about creating your own manga characters and art, or perhaps even your own manga book? The first step is to get the right tools to start drawing. Traditionally manga has been drawn on paper. Youll need a pencil to start out. Mechanical pencils are especially good for light, even lines. Later on you can ink the picture in.

You can pick pens of different thicknesses, depending on your preference, but its important that the ink dry fast. If you want to share online afterward, you can easily scan and upload it. Drawing manga has often gone more digital lately. You can draw the entirety of your manga on your tablet or computer. You can use your mouse to draw on your computer. With tablets, youd be using a stylus.

Like drawing with a real pen or pencil, you can press harder or softer on your stylus for the intended thickness and darkness you want. Working digitally also makes it easier to eraseyou dont have to worry about smudge marks from erasing pencil lines or messing up in ink. The downside is the usual downside with technology: it could break or need to be replaced. Ultimately, both ways of drawing have their strengths and weaknesses, so feel free to draw on paper or on a screen or bothwhatever works best for you! Face The shape of the face can alter depending on the character. For instance, younger characters and female characters tend to have more round or oval faces. A grown mans face is more likely to be longer as opposed to oval.

These arent hard and fast rules. Here is a basic manga face to get you started. 1. Start with a basic circle. 2. Find the center and mark the bottom half.

These will be your guidelines. 3. Put lines where you marked. This will help you know where things will go. For this face, put a dot below the circle thats the same amount of distance as the lines in the circle. Depending on how big you want to make the face, you can alter the spot of the bottom dot.

If you want someone with a bigger chin, for instance, place the bottom dot farther away. 4. Now things will get a little more interesting. Work on eyes within the lines and put brows over the line above them. 5. 6. 6.

Draw in ears. Have the tops of the ears align with your eyes. Put in a mouth just below your original circle. A nose will go between the eyes, just underneath the lower blue line. 7. Now you can start adding hair.

Begin with the top of the head. 8. Add more hair for a more full look. 9. Erase the original blue marks. You can add a few lines under the eyes as blush marks.

You now have a beautiful manga face looking back at you! Eyes Eyes in manga are known for being large and dewy, but the truth is manga eyes dont come in one form. Big eyes go with characters who are young, innocent, or female. Thinner, more realistic eyes tend to go with more mature or male characters. For instance, an adult female will probably have bigger eyes than an adult male, even though theyre both mature. But if you have two adult males and want one to look more cute and friendly and the other to look more serious and austere, youll give them bigger and smaller eyes, respectively. 1.

First, draw this simple curve. 2. Next, were going to put in a smaller curve for the bottom of the eye.