Limeball's two sense for newbs to manga

Limeball - Heavens Tear

Yes, sense was a pun. Because sense is what I have on offer.

Manga has to be one of the most popular art forms out there in the world of cartooning,
and there's so many books out there trying to tell you they can teach you how to draw it.
I'm not going to to tell you how to become pro overnight, because you can't. Anyone who dosen't like what I have to say, put down your pencil and never pick it up again because i'm going to tell you like it is.

Anyone or any book that's trying to sell you the idea that you can become a professional manga artist overnight has probably never used a pencil in their entire life. There's no special trick or tips that magically make you awesome. I'm not a pro myself, i've still got a long way to go before I can dream of it, but I've got enough experience to tell you what's real.

I've had so many people come up to me who've seen my work and say "Oh cool! How do you draw like that?!" My response: " Like anyone else. I pick up a pencil and use it."
The difference between me and beginners is that i've spent almost 15 years drawing, practicing and improving. When they hear the "P" word, they always run screaming back to their How-Not-To-Draw-Manga books.

The reason I call How-To-Draw-Manga books that, is because that's what they are. They're written by people who have very little experience in the feild and their work is riddled with bad advice and mistakes. It seems like companies will just publish these books because they're popular, not because they actually have credible advice.

If you're dead serious about wanting to draw manga professionally/ or well enough to impress people; don't buy those books. I think i've only ever seen one book that was written by a lady who had actually written comics for about 20 years, but her book had the one common flaw they all seem to have. All the examples are female.

Don't let yourself fall into this trap. You MUST practice with a wide range of subjects otherwise your drawing ability on animals/ humans and genders will have a large skill gap. I've fallen prey to this aswell. My males are about a good few months in skill behind my females.

If you want a proper professional reference for your subjects, pick up your favourite comic book and learn straight from the pros. The panels will have perspective, males, females, animals, special effects, scenery ect.

I once read a How-To-Draw-Manga book by a guy who had only been drawing for about 5 years. In one exmaple, he showed two male arms, with and without muscle tone. The muscle tone was a very basic watered down exmaple, but he went on to say "But I find it's easier to just draw straight arms, so don't worry about muscle tone."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You'll end up drawing stick figures at best if you listen to those books. But I digress, if you're really serious about getting good at this, all it takes is practice and the willingness to take up challenges. Even the professionals don't get it right on their first peice. They erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase, erase,
until it's perfect.

Tackling challenges such as perspective will advance your skill in leaps and bounds. Have a keen eye, observe your reference carefully, all the curves, all the muscle, all the textures, all the movement ect. Practice, practice, practice.

I was dragged along by a friend to a manga workshop not too long ago. I decided to stay and check it out.
The guy there basically said the same thing as I mentioned above. I was impressed he was preaching the practice instead of the 10 magical tips to make you pro, so I talked to him after the workshop. Although he
hadn't published any work of his own, he had been to japan and knew the industry well enough.

One of the things he said struck me, every artist's style is the style combined of every artists he/she has admired or studied, plus a percent of his/her own. That's pretty much true. I took that home and looked at my own stuff and analyzed it. This is a half finished peice I did of Limeball a while ago.

It has elements of Naruto, (Nose, rounded face shape , eye influence) DeathNote (Rounded face shape, hair influence.) and Suikoden 3 (Eyelash influence.)





One thing I always like to keep in mind:

"No matter how good I am, someone will always be better than me."

It's not an attack at myself, but knowing that, it gives me the motivation to keep improving so I can become just as skilled as that someone.

Enjoy and get drawing.

This wuz a semi rant cus I had just been asked what secret tips there are to drawing manga.

Deceptistar - Sanctuary

nice advice :O I do have to agree with this quote too

You MUST practice with a wide range of subjects otherwise your drawing ability on animals/ humans and genders will have a large skill gap.

Its very noticeable in shojo manga. You see them have ultra BEAUTIFUL faces..........but their bodies and hands look like sticks. uh oh. I compared these 'gapped filled' drawings back in my gradeschool days. Needless to say mine looked not far off >.> cutey face and chicken hands. Ouch. Yeah the curvey female body is easier to draw >< Since that time, i put alot of focus on drawing more hands and more male bodies than the female. (since the female is pretty much a lean rounded version of males with 2 basketballs on their chest)

I find that one of the best muscles come from Olympic athletes. (google 'olympic nude', books such as The Sydney Dream is nice too)

Kephras - Heavens Tear

Lime, I'd quote ya for truth, but that's a big wall of text to quote. Very true, though.

Also, when it comes to figure drawing, this is an amazing resource for studying anatomy & perspective.
Posemaniacs has a vast library of male & female poses, and you can rotate the figures to fit your particular need. Probably not for the squeemish though - the examples have no skin. (To show how the muscles are arranged, I would assume, more realistic muscle tone if you can see the muscles)

Limeball - Heavens Tear

What you said Kephras reminded me of another thing. Never draw your figure clothed first, or try to hide badly drawn parts with clothing, you don't get away with it, trust me.

If the hand sucks, try make the pose you want with your own and copy it. I usually just snap it with my webcam so it's easier. If the foot or shoe sucks, google some pics. You've got to draw your anatomy first before you try to give it clothes, otherwise it looks whack.

Deceptistar - Sanctuary

Kephras - Heavens Tear wrote: »

Lime, I'd quote ya for truth, but that's a big wall of text to quote. Very true, though.

Also, when it comes to figure drawing, this is an amazing resource for studying anatomy & perspective.
Posemaniacs has a vast library of male & female poses, and you can rotate the figures to fit your particular need. Probably not for the squeemish though - the examples have no skin. (To show how the muscles are arranged, I would assume, more realistic muscle tone if you can see the muscles)

that site ..............looks super creepy. But i have to admit it looks great for muscle study.
*bookmarks*

Limeball - Heavens Tear

I went there and drew at least 5 poses from it straight away. They were just what I needed for that comic. That site is freakin' awesome. 8D

Kephras - Heavens Tear

Happy to be of help!
I suppose I owe you thanks too, since you got me thinking about my old, long-abandoned comic.

Esnemyl - Dreamweaver

Kephras - Heavens Tear wrote: »

Happy to be of help!
I suppose I owe you thanks too, since you got me thinking about my old, long-abandoned comic.

you had a comic, Keph? o.o i never seen it before