Drawing tips

Zephyrias · Post by **Zephyrias** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 10:12 pm

Personally, I don't like the how-to books because every person's drawing style is unique, and therefore should teach themselves step-by-step. I really don't like relying on a single manga/anime series as a 'map' because then I don't find my style original enough.

I basically taught myself how to draw anime/manga. The 2 most important things for me to learn was:

1) Give the faces depth and porportion. Learn how the eyes look when facing at or away, and try different positions, like looking to the left, right, up, down, whatever. See how the eyes, nose, and mouth look at different viewpoints, that makes the pictures much better. (I currently have trouble drawing people facing to the right... ^_^;;)

2) Anime bodies are generally in porportion to real bodies, unlike the faces. Study how broad the shoulders are, how long the arms and legs are, where the hand ends, etc. If something doesn't look right on your picture, stand in front of a mirror and take mental notes on what you should practice on.

After you think you've got it, have a little fun. Experiment with different facial features like large/small eyes, small/big noses, etc. Soon, you'll find a style that you like best on your people's faces. Also try different bodies, like short/tall, young/old, boy/girl.

Well, that's my advice (dang, this post is hella long! ^_^;;). Just study, study, study. It may seem dumb and/or annoying at first, but if you try, you'll be surprised at the improvements!

Malificus · Post by **Malificus** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 10:18 pm

Zephyrias wrote:Personally, I don't like the how-to books because every person's drawing style is unique, and therefore should teach themselves step-by-step. I really don't like relying on a single manga/anime series as a 'map' because then I don't find my style original enough.

I mearly suggest how-to-draw as a starter. I don't care who you are, you're early works either look basic or are copies. (the few exceptions excluded) But as you practice and begin to use anime, manga, and how-to-draw references less, your own style will evole.

Zephyrias · Post by **Zephyrias** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 10:59 pm

got2maskit wrote:I mearly suggest how-to-draw as a starter. I don't care who you are, you're early works either look basic or are copies. (the few exceptions excluded) But as you practice and begin to use anime, manga, and how-to-draw references less, your own style will evole.

Thank you, I couldn't have said it better myself!

OmniStrata · Post by **OmniStrata** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 1:28 am

"The Boobs are NEVAR too big..." - OmniStrata...

Kaivy · Post by **Kaivy** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 4:58 pm

the thing i have the most trouble with is drawing hands.

Mistress_of_the_Universe · Post by **Mistress_of_the_Universe** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 3:33 pm

I got some good stuff to think of while ur drawing:

-a full grown human body is ~8 heads(hight) high (children ~5, babies~3)
-the shoulders are as wide as 3 heads(width) on a male, 2,5 on a woman
-the elbow reaches down to the waist and the hands reaches to the middle of the upper leg
-Ummm...the hand is almost as big as the face on grown-ups, but on superdeformed faces of anime i don't really know... ^^;
-the foot is as big as the forearm
-the knees is in the middle of the legs(duh!)
-the waistline is the center of the torso(from the shoulders to the groin)
-and onto the hand! It is shaped as a rectangle and the middle finger is as long as the rectangles...longest...baseline(or whatever u call it)

I have some more of dat stored up here *points at the head* but it's vacation and I seem to have gotten the vacation syndrome (never do anything unless ur life depends on it)

Malificus · Post by **Malificus** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 6:36 pm

Mistress_of_the_Universe wrote:-a full grown human body is ~8 heads(hight) high (children ~5, babies~3)

You forgot Chibi's (super deformed) about 2 1/2 heads, teens 5-6 heads, women 6 heads, men and main character(heroine) are 7-8 heads, main man(hero) are 8-9 heads tall. and really big people should have proportionally small heads (such as being really tall or muscular)

Mistress_of_the_Universe · Post by **Mistress_of_the_Universe** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 2:43 pm

Well... The ting is, what I wrote was the base for drawing a normal human being. Just some details I snapped up while going to a drawing course(of course these vary from person to person! Datte, everyone is unique).

So if you're going to draw manga...My first, and maybe only tip is to use that stuff I wrote and deform them as much as u like! Some people may prefer...let's say, longer legs or bigger heads. I got two, not toooo different (but a little! :3) examples(I was thinking about the shoulders, use their heads to measure(the way I wrote before)), Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together, here comes:

Shigure-san from "Furuba"
http://prince.furuba.com/shigure.jpg
-he has a bit smaller shoulders compared to the head than:
Kazuhiko from CLAMP's outstanding and just sooo wonderful drawn "Clover"
http://www.geocities.com/suuhappiness/i ... zuhiko.JPG
Kazuhikos shoulders are a bit bigger don't ya think?

Shame on me! How could I forget about chibis?!! So, for those who don't know about the super deformed fenomena (k-k-kawaii

), here we go:

Sanzo from "Saiyuki" as a SD
http://zielhona.free.fr/utilitaires/gif/sanzo.gif
(don't know if this is a fan pic... If it is, it's a dang good one!)

There we go! So, when u draw manga, the only thing u hafta have in mind is DEFORM (*inner Catta*

)until u got the one-and-only style 4 u! (YEAH!!! XD)
Gambatte ne!!