Manga style for the serious artist.

[tsubasa-myuu]

Okay, so I started drawing anime because of the same reasons everyone does. i was such an asian wannabe at one point. But then i kinda realized... I dont really even like anime. Like at all. Naruto pisses me off, Bleach pisses me off, inuyasha and one peice and black bulter and death note friggin piss me off. I don't like anime. Okay i like SOME anime. But i like it because of good writing, or art that looks like someone actually cares about the comic, or whatever. So anyway, I chose to stick to anime because of a few simple reasons...

I don't wanna draw realistic. Not because i'm lazy, or just bad at drawing, but because I simply don't like it. realism isn't as flexable as other kinds of art, and I'm more into animation than just still art. (and i mean animation in GENERAL not just anime. Like, how to train you dragon and classic disney and pixar and american cartoons and stuff)

On the other hand, i don't wanna draw suuper cartoony either. I know cartoonist draw a lot of realistic looking stuff and THEN simplify their style to fit. ( for the record, I do practice realism from time to time, anatomy and what-not, but nothing i want to spend a crud-load of time on) I am working of a cartoon style that i will eventually draw a full comic in, once i'm done with the one i'm working on, which is in "anime" style because thats what i'm most comfortable with.

anyway, i just stick with it because it's more realistic than cartoony cartoons, and more flexable than realism. And i'm in highschool, so i have a lot of time to develop another style, which i'm fully aware i'll have to do, and i'm working on. I don't really understand why anime is sooo looked down on. Probably because people only see the cheap stuff. You kinda have to dig for manga with real meaning and story behind them. I think on of the better ones i've read is the orginal Fullmetal Alchemist (or FMA: Brotherhood. Awesome animation there), and I've read all the extras and from what i can gather, the artist had a beginning, middle and end in mind as she drew it, instead of what most cheap anime does and splits it into unrelated arcs and it just DRAGS ON. And it wasn't perveted and actually had good humor in it. Most Mangaka's aren't really writers... or they're just really bad writers.

[Inxerene]

Manga style can actually help someone improve. Sure, it looks all cartoony, but you also figure, a lot of anime shows every angle and proportion of the human anatomy. Like Cowboy Bebop for example, that show shows more realism than anime. The manga style influences young people to try to draw like that, so they all try to do the big eye- big hair thing. As they grow, their anatomy grows, as well as their coloring, perspective, etc. Okay, anime is way too cliche on sites like these, but if you look at each and every comic, you'll see that some of them actually have some realism into them. Why should one judge about the style? That's like criticizing characters like Superman for his overly huge muscles and cowlick hair.

Manga is also a phase. Someday, all these artists you see doing manga styles will be bored of it and try to make it better. When I was little, I was doing just PowerPuff Girl stereotype characters. When I discovered anime, I immediately took a liking to the style and I changed my style from bug-looking freaks with flippers to defying-all-gravity weirdos. I'm sure that I'll grow out of the anime stage too and go for something more advanced. I guess you can say that we're like butterflies, with the whole, "caterpillar-cocoon-butterfly" thing.

Least.. that's how I see it.

[tsubasa-myuu]

Manga style can actually help someone improve. Sure, it looks all cartoony, but you also figure, a lot of anime shows every angle and proportion of the human anatomy. Like Cowboy Bebop for example, that show shows more realism than anime. The manga style influences young people to try to draw like that, so they all try to do the big eye- big hair thing. As they grow, their anatomy grows, as well as their coloring, perspective, etc. Okay, anime is way too cliche on sites like these, but if you look at each and every comic, you'll see that some of them actually have some realism into them. Why should one judge about the style? That's like criticizing characters like Superman for his overly huge muscles and cowlick hair.

Manga is also a phase. Someday, all these artists you see doing manga styles will be bored of it and try to make it better. When I was little, I was doing just PowerPuff Girl stereotype characters. When I discovered anime, I immediately took a liking to the style and I changed my style from bug-looking freaks with flippers to defying-all-gravity weirdos. I'm sure that I'll grow out of the anime stage too and go for something more advanced. I guess you can say that we're like butterflies, with the whole, "caterpillar-cocoon-butterfly" thing.

Least.. that's how I see it.

haha i used to draw powerpuff girl style stuff a lot too, and it translated into my manga stuff. It took FOREVER to shake off the big head and enourmous eyes thing, but i think i mellowed it down a lot now.

[Blueninth]

I think now a days that since what we see more so in media is CGI animation, that leaves people who watch anime to feel that they can draw what they see on tv. If you don't get what I am saying then let me explain. Did you even think about someone being interested in drawing Jimmy Neutron, or Buzzlight year no because CGI animation doesn't gives that feel for people to try and draw what they see. Im just speaking from my observation. But when people look at anime and read the manga it gives them a sense that they can draw what they are reading or seeing. The Funny thing is that anime and manga follow the same similar techniques that are used to draw realistic humans.

[Vitotamito]

I made a post in another thread, and it just reminded me of back in 10th grade why I stopped drawing Manga/Anime. It was for the very reason that I felt I wouldn't be taken seriously/I felt really juvenile drawing it. And now here I am taking a slightly opposite approach. Man, how things can change in a few years. However, I'm so happy I changed my style back then that I wouldn't trade anything to go back to it.

It took FOREVER to shake off the big head and enourmous eyes thing, but i think i mellowed it down a lot now

I'm confused, isn't that what manga is? Jay Kay! that was like, the opposite problem for me. I had to destroy all proportion and scale and go back to square 1.

I think now a days that since what we see more so in media is CGI animation, that leaves people who watch anime to feel that they can draw what they see on tv. If you don't get what I am saying then let me explain. Did you even think about someone being interested in drawing Jimmy Neutron, or Buzzlight year no because CGI animation doesn't gives that feel for people to try and draw what they see. Im just speaking from my observation. But when people look at anime and read the manga it gives them a sense that they can draw what they are reading or seeing. The Funny thing is that anime and manga follow the same similar techniques that are used to draw realistic humans.

I have no idea what you are talking about. There's tons of people who would LOVE to draw CG storyboards and character concepts, myself included. Some people have no desire to draw realistic humans and bullshit like that. You can't do CG stuff without the accompanying drawing (Well, not anything good at least). Here, let me show you something. Everything in CG is very meticulously laid out in 2D before hand by extremely talented artists. The idea that people want to draw what they see is a very left brained concept that applies to CADD artists and people who don't want to explore the potential of their own creativity.

Uhh, what am I arguing again? This seems way off topic.

[Blueninth]

I made a post in another thread, and it just reminded me of back in 10th grade why I stopped drawing Manga/Anime. It was for the very reason that I felt I wouldn't be taken seriously/I felt really juvenile drawing it. And now here I am taking a slightly opposite approach. Man, how things can change in a few years. However, I'm so happy I changed my style back then that I wouldn't trade anything to go back to it.

It took FOREVER to shake off the big head and enourmous eyes thing, but i think i mellowed it down a lot now

I'm confused, isn't that what manga is? Jay Kay! that was like, the opposite problem for me. I had to destroy all proportion and scale and go back to square 1.

I think now a days that since what we see more so in media is CGI animation, that leaves people who watch anime to feel that they can draw what they see on tv. If you don't get what I am saying then let me explain. Did you even think about someone being interested in drawing Jimmy Neutron, or Buzzlight year no because CGI animation doesn't gives that feel for people to try and draw what they see. Im just speaking from my observation. But when people look at anime and read the manga it gives them a sense that they can draw what they are reading or seeing. The Funny thing is that anime and manga follow the same similar techniques that are used to draw realistic humans.

I have no idea what you are talking about. There's tons of people who would LOVE to draw CG storyboards and character concepts, myself included. Some people have no desire to draw realistic humans and bullshit like that. You can't do CG stuff without the accompanying drawing (Well, not anything good at least). Here, let me show you something. Everything in CG is very meticulously laid out in 2D before hand by extremely talented artists. The idea that people want to draw what they see is a very left brained concept that applies to CADD artists and people who don't want to explore the potential of their own creativity.

Uhh, what am I arguing again? This seems way off topic.

I was talking about when people see the final product, not before the animation is made that people won't find interest in drawing CGI characters. Of course you need to do everything by hand before its rendered into CGI, such as story boarding and stuff, but I was just saying in a sense of people who draw manga, or anime draw it at first because they like it, in the end of that when they get serious about it, they would want to learn how to draw it more professionally. Then they would know that Anime or manga follows guide lines to draw the bodies, which is more similar to the human antomy. Also if your interested in CGI and you don't like drawing realistic human bodies, and bullshit then its going to be very hard for you to find a job because if you go to school for that that's going to be something you're gonna have to learn either way because animation is suppose to be anything from realistic to fantasy, so realistic techniques are gonna be a must if you want to enter into that world. I am going to art school in the fall, and for the first year guess what I'm gonna have to learn all that stuff.

[eishiya]

A lot of CGI films aren't "realistic" as all.

But yes, they have to know how to draw realistically even to work on the not-realistic ones. Manga-style artists need to know that too.
Having foundations in realism helps you draw better in any style, not just realism. Knowing how to draw realism doesn't mean you have to draw in a realistic style. Most of the good/pro artists out there who draw manga or other styled work do so because they know what they're stylising, and they know that by knowing how real bodies work.

The manga style has the advantages that most bodies are more or less proportional, but I still see a lot of artists struggle with that, especially facial proportions (it's one thing to distort them for stylistic reasons, it's a very different thing to distort them without knowing what you're doing). Those are the artists that never studied the foundations.


That's why you'll learn it in your first year of art school. It won't stop you from drawing manga-style (unless you choose to stop). It'll make your manga-style art better.

So the manga style alone isn't enough for a "serious artist" because there's a very low ceiling, but I don't think it's fair to refer to realism as a separate style. It's just a bunch of foundations.

[stupidarghs]

well i wouldnt know or maybe never will
(i dont plan on pursueing an art career xD, but i do hold art seriouslys, good hobbie)

but its true i used to be ashamed of "my manga style" etc etc
im not sure if it was because back when i first started posting my art on the internet, i didnt want to be like...an "anime-freak"
(no offense..to..those that are..)
or it was because how my brother shrugged off my drawings as "eh, she just draws anime stuff"

so i started going after more cartoony styles a year or two ago
but now i ended up just not caring what anyone thinks and using a style that seems to be a mix of anime and..cartoon? (not sure what to classify as xD)

but nonetheless, i dont think it matters what style you use, but the skill and quality
cause you can tell if something is "good art" by looking at it.

[Abrahamian]

Drawing real-world objects, environments and vehicles from prints I got off of Google is helping me become a better overall artist, considering almost all manga contain cartoony characters in realistic looking worlds. Everything else besides the stories and characters are almost universally the same, in my opinion. Scratch that, all character archetypes are universal anyways.

[forgotten_cake]

Art is subjective and about expressing yourself, so you should just do what you enjoy doing/what looks good to you. It shouldn't be this big war on what is and what isn't "art". :/

I wonder how they've avoided this big annoyance in Japan.

[Tohru-of-Marshmello]

Art is subjective and about expressing yourself, so you should just do what you enjoy doing/what looks good to you. It shouldn't be this big war on what is and what isn't "art". :/

I wonder how they've avoided this big annoyance in Japan.

Agreed, people should draw what they like and not worry about others. I have unconsciously lost some of the typical "manga" elements in my art because it simply morphed to be that way. I still don't fancy the stereotypical "comic" art. I'm an adult and, to me, There is NOTHING ADULT about it. It just doesn't fit my tastes. There were things I chose for my own style because I felt like it, manga doesn't have a rule book. I've never tried to draw what others draw because, quite simply, I suck at that anyway! I can copy life fairly well though... which is weird. lol Anyway, you can look at my comic art and see where my roots are, what I was inspired by but not any particular artist because I have been drawing for a very long time and I have a lot of random experiences to inspire me.

It's nice to have your own style no matter where you get your influences. You will tweak this and that that you don't like about your art until it becomes all you. But while you are learning the fundamentals you don't know any better. Art starts with copying. That's all realistic art is, copying the world around you because you like it. And when you abstract it to fit the fantasy in your head, you pick up tips and tricks from memory and tutorials and all these other things.

Anyone who limits themselves to simply copying another ARTIST isn't truly an artist. Sooner or later your own creativity kicks in. You should force it to test yourself but never force it to avoid being made fun of or whatever. Manga, western art, it's all the same. We just put labels on things because that is how our brains work. We group things. And when something doesn't fit, we make another group. (I won't get into psychology stuff..) Unfortunately, that brings some unwanted criticism that should be ignored. We just don't do a good job of it when it comes to open debate.

[Randumbz]

if it weren't for manga i wouldn't be the (almost) good artist i am today. in 6th grade, one of my friends got me interested in reading naruto. after that i started reading a whole bunch of manga and tried to draw all the characters. then i started coming up with my own. i decided that i wanted to be a mangaka when i grew up. so i worked really hard for a year to try and improve my art. but people were saying all the time that manga sucks, manga looks weird. then when i finally started to get good, i decided to read an american comic and see what the difference was. I now want to be an american comic book artist ( tragic) But i still read manga and from time to time, i try to draw some manga stuff. so the moral of this post is...um....draw whatever you feel comfortable with and have fun? Ok, let's go with that lol

[Nigz]

I think it all comes down to practicing drawing a lot of different styles, and applying it to the medium you work with some of the most useful things I've learned about drawing manga have come from learning what people who draw american comics do =s
I have bought over 1000$ in how to draw things books...and to be honest all the manga ones were the most useless and had 0 depth to them =/ I've actually gotten a lot better at drawing manga from just studying what the limits and benifits of each drawing tool I'm using is. I think the better you understand how people work and interact the better you'll be able to show that in your manga~!

[Grotesque]

Hmm... first of all, should we define what "Manga Style" is.

I hate the fact that most westerners see anime/manga as "misproportioned, big-eyed, unrealistic" stereotype impressions. Really.
Because first of all, manga is not bound by being unrealistic or inferior compared to other "Style as others define them".

Manga style as most say it here, is not just what can be only seen over the Western areas, so the thread starter should firsthand change his way of thinking about defining manga style from other styles. If you've seen more enough of what a "manga" is over the Orient, and to be more precise, Japan, you won't define manga style away from 'realistic'.


How the Japanese do art, is not limited on stereotype Sailor Moon/Dragonball impressions. It's just that westerners are usually too much "secluding" themselves that Marvel/DC styles are the orthodox styles of comic art. (I'm not saying everyone, but mostly do.)

If you only knew, that many pencil artists of those superhero comics are Asians, and they most probably have experienced at least doing a japanese-styled art.

[Fyrebrand]

Anyone who thinks manga is a cheap, easy-to-produce style can promptly go and complete Kouyu Shurei's unfinished manga Alichino for her. Until they can accomplish that feat, they can screw right off.