Drawing.

[Silver]

I've recently decided to draw my own manga for a long time I was just doing story but I've recently wanted to draw my creations as well do you guys have any tips so I can increase my drawing ability? Ive heard people say they do real life drawings before attempting manga but any pointers would be helpful.

[Vio]

Hey, Silver!

I'm always happy to see another Raider join the A&W side (Artist and writer0) . The reason people say draw from real life is to practice from the basics in both autonomy and environments. There are classical examples of autonomy/environment issues in manga that some have nicknames, like "yaoi hands".

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My first suggestion is to test you current knowledge and artist skills at its current stage. Try to draw the same character three times in different angles to the best of your ability. And when I mean draw, I mean you sit there and are willing to put 30+ minutes into it and correcting yourself.

Once you are done that, take your three characters and stash them somewhere safe. I like to look back at my previous works and see some improvements I've made, both minor and major. For example, I keep mine in envelopes with dates on them.

After that, you just start to learn the very basics of human anatomy and build up from there. I would first start improving the head shape and facial arrangements and make your way down the body.

As you start to get comfortable with the human body, start to look into an artist that you wish reach at the same talent level. For me, I would love to be at the same level as the artist who draws the, "Kakegurui" manga. Once you've found an artist you like, try to see if you can find any of their past works and/or drawings and try to see how they improved from then to now.

After that, it's all about effort, practice, experimenting, and time.

[Forlorn Serpent]

Follow Vio’s advice.

However, drawing is just one of many challenges you will face.

Here is the line up.

Idea - script - paneling - line art - dialogue bubbles - screentoning -  next page - next chapter

Each has like dozens of things you have to do.

As a little ego boost, copy a manga page, try to draw it exactly without tracing. Once you do that, you know your hands can do something great if given the opportunity.

[Suuper-san]

@Vio first time even seeing yaoi hands, i didnt even know that was a thing :P
but i agree with learning from real life. manga is basically a simplification/abstract version of real life so you need to understand real human proportions and stuff before you go about "messing" it up in your own style.

[KeanFox]

I've heard people say they do real-life drawings before attempting manga but any pointers would be helpful.

I think people mean that you need to learn drawing by studying real life. Most mangaka/artist learned drawing by studying real life.

The best way to increase your drawing ability is by staring with the fundamentals. Drawing lines exercises to improve your hand-eye coordination. Then basic shapes, spheres, cones, boxes to better understand 3d space. Then shading and light, because like is what makes us see 3d shapes.

After you get the fundamentals down. Time to start studying the human anatomy.


I recently decided to write my own stories myself. And its much harder for me than drawing. But I really love the storytelling.

 I'll talk about the drawing side.
You decided to start drawing your own manga?
A good way to start is by drawing 5 to 20 pages just to see if drawing pages is something you going to be interested in for the long run. Getting your hands wet, see how it feel.
Your first work is not going to look great, don't let that discourage you. No one just picks up the pen for the first time and start drawing masterpieces. It takes time.
I hope I'm not sounding harsh. I wish someone told me this stuff back then.

Drawing it digitally or traditionally or a mix of the two?
Digitally is drawing with a graphics tablet and drawing software.
Traditionally is the good old fashion way with a pen and papers.

Because you just starting I don't recommend digital, it need adjust and getting used to the tablet. You should consider buying a tablet later if you want to keep doing art. Tablets are great for editing and cleaning your artwork digitally. Let's stick to traditionally for now.

Drawing pages traditionally.
All you need is pencils and copy papers really.
If you want the full experience of drawing pages and have extra money to spend. Let's go on a shopping spree, shall we?


Copy paper $9
Use for scribbling and doodling, even for you storyboard planning.
Deleter Paper $11
Use for the finished pages. You can use the copy paper but it can't withstand inking, and the more you work on it it will get crumbled.
Sketchbooks $5 to $10
Not important. Just fun to have.
Pens
Pencils $3 to $6
You can go with the pen/Nib Set $7 to $10
This is the type you dip in ink.
Ink pens $2 for one, $20 for a set.
Black/white ink for $14
Ruler $1 to $5

Digitally. Even if we are not doing it digitally. I just want to cover it and talk about it a little.
For digital art you need
Wacom Intuos $75
It's good for beginning digital artists. But, some people have a hard time using it because they are not used to drawing on it while looking at the monitor.

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There are tablets that you can draw on directly. Prices range from $400, $800 to $3000.

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Drawing programs like CLIP STUDIO PAINT, Manga Studio, Photoshop.
There are free programs, I'm not sure if Sai Tool is free. Also, some tablets come with drawing program so watch out for that.
Again we are doing it traditionally so you don't need the digital stuff right away.
You don't have to buy everything. It's just the what you might need for drawing pages traditionally.
The prices may vary, so look around for good deals

I recommend getting some books like
Making Comics by Scott McCloud of the clan McCloud $20
How To Draw Manga Getting Started
It will teach you the basics of how to use the tools. But it's not about how to draw faces, bodies and such. for that maybe check more books of the series like, How to draw manga. Vol. II. Compiling Techniques.
 Five volumes of  Sketching Manga-Style are good but expensive.
 Don't forget there is much good info on the net,
For now, don't worry about having correct anatomy. Just enjoy making your first manga.

[Lazzie_Puca]

Your probly doing this already but draw from an art style you love (Manga). I can tell you as a life drawing student who's spent way too much time in the classroom, drawing from RL to Manga is kind of frustrating at times. All the simplification, proportions and (sigh) eyes are too foreign for me to draw reasonably well without having some sort of clip from pintrest to guide me. If your a beginner I'd recommend you drawing "fast and loose", most beginner's take 5 mins to draw a simple outline rather than making definitive representational marks. (Axial lines, simple construction, proportional guide marks, etc etc)

Anyway, there's a lot of good advice here. Get out the war paint and make some hell.

(Edit: This a link to a deviant art page explaining line quality and such, it's not something that a complete beginner should worry about per say, but it doesn't hurt to mention it. It's something that I myself, am trying to think about while I draw. https://nsio.deviantart.com/art/Nsio-explains-Line-Dynamics-411098876 )

(Edit: I'll add one more thing. It's generally hard to get dynamic perspective, for me at least. So using the 'Transformation' tool is a nice way to make it easy on myself. Drawing the big basic shapes of the human form and than using the transformation tool to 'fit it in' the desired perspective/volume is a useful trick. Worth mentioning.)

[Silver]

I wasn't expecting so many replies just wanted to say thank you to all of the people that took time out of there busy day to help me. All of this is appreciated!

[Suuper-san]

If you make a gallery thread and post your drawings we can give you more specific advice as well!
You could try getting involved in the workshops on the forum as well, for practice and focusing on different areas