How to Improve Anime and Manga Drawing Skills

You've decided to draw in the style of your favorite Japanese media. While simplistic enough to get the basics down without years of training, manga and anime are also subtle enough to offer challenges long after you've managed a good start. You can improve your technique through a few simple steps.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Practice daily. You'll find that your drawings become more fluid and beautiful with each passing day. Your learning curve changes so that the dramatic changes happen less often, but don't let that discourage you.

2. Pay attention to items around you and draw life in the right style. Don't worry about what it looks like when other people draw it, but it should feel right within your own drawings.

3. Study real people and movements. This gives you a firm foundation from which to expand your artistic endeavors.

4. Draw something different. If you can't draw it right, figure out how to draw it. There are several art books on the market to help you get it right, but the best reference is still going to be real life.

5. Study manga and still frames of anime for technique. Particularly look at shading and coloring in anime, since coloring isn't frequently found in manga.

6. Trace a few pieces. When you do this, focus on the technique and how the lines feel to you. It may translate into better manga.

Tips & Warnings

• Step away from the computer and do a few renderings without any technological assistance. Even after you come back to it, you'll have learned some tricks that will translate well.

Resources

• Manga tutorials.