How to Draw Manga

Video Transcript

"Alright folks, in this clip I'm going to teach you how to draw manga style, manga drawings. Definitely a very, very, very unique and interesting art form. One that is traditionally quite, quite- it takes a good deal of skill, and great deal of, I don't know, you just kind of have to understand and know exactly the style and the type of art that it is. Because it's very, very unique, it's very, very unusual, and very, very beautiful. One of the best ways to start, is to start with the eyes. Because it seems to me like the thing that really captivates me about most about manga cartoons is they're very, the eyes are very, they're almost like they have that real living breathing souls, and habiting these bodies, like there's so much going on in the eyes, and they're very, very beautiful faces usually, if you ever just study the design. So really get in there, and learn how to draw, just big, big, beautiful bright eyes, once you do that, you're well on your way to learning how to draw manga. The thing to keep in mind, is, they don't ever really call that much attention to the mouth, if there isn't any great deal of expression going on, and they very rarely call attention to the nose, because they know that in doing so, you kind of uglify your drawing. One thing they definitely do call attention to though however, and really are very precise, is there hairstyles. They are works of art in and of themselves. And one thing you're going to want to do is, really have a clearcut vision early on, if you're going to start drawing your own manga drawings, is that, what's the style you want to achieve with your drawing. And really just again, allow your imagination to kind of step outside the box a little bit, and allow yourself to kind of wonder, alright, what exactly does this character look like, where does he come from, why; I guess it's probably a bad idea to ask yourself why he looks the way he does, because there's really no good answer to that. I would say it's more about just appreciating the style and the richness of the design themselves. Like these designs are the richest most visually stimulating designs that you can possibly see anywhere, they are like works of modern art. So basically, just surrender yourself to that, and you're well on your way. So you see what I'm talking about there with the hair. And then another example would be, getting in and drawing maybe more of a big eyed, sort of more of a feminine character. And the thing about them, is they're just very, very, I mean there eyes, everything, are very, very- there's a lot of soul, there's a lot going on in there, it's kind of hard to explain really what it is, or how they do it, it's really something I would not recommend for beginners, it's difficult. I can tell you some of the general characteristics, one thing, especially with the woman, they really do not put a lot of detail into the mouth or the nose, they just really focus in a hundred percent on the eyes and the hair; eyes and hair are important, everything else, not so much. Everything is very clearly, clearly defined, very, very- I would even say it's boarder line high fashion some of these designs. If you we're just looking at different types of clothing design, they're very, very- they make use of the shapes basically, they don't draw in a lot of straight lines when they're especially designing the clothing for these characters, they really allow themselves to kind of- there's a lot of sleekness, even the straight lines themselves have a curve to them, a bend to them, makes it all that much more interesting to really study and look at, and it's a style, it's their own unique, very, very, very entertaining style. You can not help but admire it for all that it is. And if you just kind of allow yourself to step into their mindset, you'll be amazed at the type of work that you can create yourself. That is basically the way that manga drawings are done."