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Secrecy

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Hello people. I am a beginner manga artist and I have gotten decent at some parts of drawing manga but it is slow and sometimes hard to find what I want to know and shows how to do it. If there are any experienced manga artist that would be willing to give me pointers and tips on drawing manga, please reply. I know this is a wierd request but I striving to get better with everything I've got and wouldn't mind some help. Thanks if you read this!
 

DoctorApollo

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There's lots of people here that would be more than willing to give you advice and pointers on what to focus on. Show us some of your work, and I personally will be glad to help.
 

Secrecy

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I have a deviant page. Some off the work is far from good but if you want to check it out it's: learntomakeart.deviantart.com
 

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Well, you have a lot to improve... first of all, how old are you? How long have you been drawing for?

The biggest priority for you is to understand the shape of the human body. First of all, draw ears. Ears exist, you cant just ignore them. Even drawing simplistic ears is fine for manga, just find a style of ear that you like, and start making sure you no longer have silly drawings where the characters don't have ears.

Next, learn human body proportions. Your arms/legs are off, and in general your bodies are too 2d. You need to give them a better sense of depth. All of this can be helped by making figures of your character before drawing. Make the whole figure with the correct measurements, and then draw over it.

You're pretty good with hair, so no need to work on that for now. Your characters' eyes are generic and do not have a style yet, but it's fine, they're not necessarily "wrong," just boring. If you're interested in making more interesting looking eyes, look up guides for manga eyes online.

If you haven't been drawing for a long time (or if you're young) then this level is okay and you're going at a good rate. However, if you have some experience under your belt, then you really ought to hurry up and improve, because you're making some very silly mistakes. I mean, not drawing ears is just laziness, it's not even skill.

If you have any specific questions, I'll be glad to answer them.
 

Secrecy

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I prefer not to mention my age for personal reasons but on how long have I been drawing...hmm...about three weeks. Thanks for the tips....I really should have thought of the ears....that is really a stupid mistake. Thanks I am finding the hardest part is the feet hands and most off all body preportions. I just recently post another picture where I think I did better so if you could see if I was more accurate that would be nice. I know the arm is a bit long and it is a picture from behind so you can't see ears. I will post a picture using those tips next time. Oh do you have any advice for when drawing the figures of charactures as you mentioned and any advice on better ways with clothing? Should you think of any other advice please let me know, one day I plan to go somewhere with my drawings.

P.S. The reason I am decent at hair is because when I first started hair seemed the most deifficult part so I focused more on learning it.
 

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Well, for three weeks it's definitely great. Just keep practicing more and more, at this rate you should be good even in just a year, but who knows how you'll grow from this point. You just really have to study bodies a lot.

What I recommend for proportions is just literally googling it and checking. You should know simple things, like hands. The hands you draw are way too small. Mostly what you have to do is pay attention.

Okay, here's what I want you to do: find pictures by manga artists you like, and copy the whole picture. And actually pay attention. Really pay attention to every detail. Notice how he draws mouths. How he draws eyes. How he draws eyes. How he draws things from this angle, how he draws things from that angle. You can pay attention and learn this just by looking, but actually copying it for yourself is very helpful. It's important. It's great training for your eyes. When you copy his character, look at the arm and think, "okay, how big is the arm compared to the body?" or "where does his stomach end and legs start?" Usually manga characters are divided into heads, like this picture, and usually the chest/stomach is two heads, and the rest of the heads are crotch/legs/feet/whatever. But I can't type out every single thing, like fingers should be this long, hands this long, etc. Some of it you will either have to google for yourself, or to learn by observing. I think learning by observing and copying is the best, it's the most dynamic, and most involved. Try even copying whole pages. There was a while I copied a full chapter from Bleach, down to inking and screentones. I learned a whole fucking lot about how to draw action, and also things I didn't even think about -- like the precise way Kubo draws mouths and noses and eyes, things I didn't even notice before.

Now next thing, if you want to actually draw manga one day, you will need to learn how to use a nib pen with ink. Get a g-pen. If you don't know what a g-pen is, then read Bakuman. Reading Bakuman is the first thing you should do if you want to draw real manga, it will motivate you and teach you a lot of things. But anyway, yeah, nib pens and ink are a priority. The earlier you start, the better.

so those are my tips for you:
1. In order to learn and understand proportions, look up and read tutorials, and also copy lots and lots of pictures by your favorite artists. Notice everything. Understand why they draw things the way they draw them. Really think while you're copying.
2. Learn about proper manga tools like nib pens and ink. Get some for yourself.
3. Practice. A lot. You have a long long long way to go.
 

Secrecy

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Thanks that some really good advice. In fact I had recently finished watching the anime of bakuman and even from that I learned a few tips.I will do as you suggest and copy and notice every detail. I have also been reading more manga and studying how they have done it. You seem quite knowledgeable, do you have or have you made a manga before. Also I have a pocket brush pen that I have been learning how to use it. It allows me to make any size line I want to.....well once I get better at using it it will. I will get a g pen in the future. Thanks for what you've told me and should you think of any critical advice to give please do. I hope that in the future you will continue to help me get better though I know you eventually will get busy and I'll have to learn on my own but thanks for any time you do give advice and the advice you have given.

P.S. On the topic of bakuman, bakuman is the manga/anime that originally got me interested and motivated in drawing manga. I think I'd probably still be sitting on my computer playing video games and not trying to work to a goal at all.
 

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I'm working on a one-shot right now but it isn't done so I can't show it, but here's a drawing I did yesterday so you can see my style. it has its flaws (like the character is diagonal.. what?) but it shows my style well enough I guess.
 

Secrecy

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Wow, that's really good! Looks like it'll be an interesting manga. I am amazed at how much detail you put into the backround/area. I think that has helped quite a bit. Oh, and about him being diagonal...well with all the debrios he could be on uneven ground or object.....just saying. Could I'll practice more and I will be able to make a manga one day.....one day. Well practice makes perfect and thank you so far for the advice. Should you ever have any more I'm all ears and I wish you luck on your one shot. It's a bit saddening that nobody else has seen this thread ...I would have liked different advice from different view points but oh well I've gotten some great advice as it is from you. Good Luck!
 

DoctorApollo

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Nah dude, it doesn't matter what he's standing on. He can't physically stand like that without falling over. If his head is that far behind the body, then the legs need to go back, too, in order to compensate. It's a matter of the center of gravity of his body being off. Regardless of what's going on down there, his body can't be angled with his legs like that, or he would fall.

Anyway, as you said, practice makes perfect. There's not much advice better than "keep practicing," that's the most important thing. Instead of wasting time wondering how to get better, just draw, and you will get better!
 

Secrecy

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Sounds good and I will do. Well gonna post a picture now. How far along with your one shot are you and do you have a name for it? It looks interesting so I might want to find and read it when it when it's out.
 
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