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markcrilley — What to Put in a How-To-Draw-Manga Book?
Published: 2012-02-24 13:56:07 +0000 UTC; Views: 26532; Favourites: 217; Downloads: 497
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Description
If you want a quick overview of what's in Mastering Manga so as to know what I did and didn't cover in it, watch this video, which covers the main sections pretty thoroughly:[link]
Thanks for leaving your comments-- I look forward to reading them!
If you would like to order Mastering Manga, it is available right now:
At bn.com: [link]
And Amazon: [link]
And other online stores as well, of course. It is due in actual bookstores March 8th. Thanks so much for your support!
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Comments: 534
A lot of How to Draw Manga books neglect backgrounds and detailed explanations of perspective on more than humans.
I personally have yet to read your first book. However, it would be nice to see some coverage on how gravity and wind effect the way you draw the clothing and hair of a character.
I agree with the people here who have commented on how they would like to see how to draw animals in the manga style, it would also be wonderful to see how to draw fantasy creatures (both pre-existing and tips on how to make one from your head).
A brief piece on how to draw props inside of a house would also be useful...
Effects and how to draw breaking objects are also not usually covered in most HtDM books and it would be slightly refreshing to see some of that in there...
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Ahhhh!!! Mine is being shipped to me noooow!!!! I can't wait till it gets to my house! 
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Romance, intmacy, character development, backgrounds, clothing, and basic anatomy. Oh, ad how to put together comic/manga pages. Those would be very helpful. I can't wait to read your books!
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um, I always wanted to Manga how-to book to have body types. I own a lot of how-to books and rarely do they have any kind of body type studies. it'd be nice to know how to make a tall flat chested girl, or a short chubby man.
Also, it would be nice to go over different races, and how to draw them from profile, front and 3/4.
Lastly, a reference on how to draw lots of angles of a person's head.
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It would be really cool if it had a tutorial on doing different ethnicities, like how with Naoki Urasawa you can really tell they're white or asian or black.
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I haven't really looked through your book (sorry), but being someone who DID buy how-to-draw anime books, tears ago, I can say that what was most useful to me was the book I had dedicated to designing outfits. It had a lot on Japanese style, and how to design unique outfits as well as correctly draw simple clothes, like jeans and t-shirts. I see a lot of artists who could use help on that, and I know it was helpful to me, so I vote include a section like that. There's also a great section in one of my books about drawing characters interacting with each other, and the facial expressions that should go with those interactions. There was also a section about different character types, and how they fill into the typical roles of genres (Like, basic personalities for a group of girls in a shoujo, or for a group of fantasy-style heroes).
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I meant years, not tears. But tears is kind of relevent. There's a lot of frustration in learning to draw....
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I have just bought this on amazon. I can't wait to have it! your work is great Mark.
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How about drawing couples as well as groups, like the proporting. That is one thing that I have the most issues with.
And also animals
I think that it should have a mixture of advanced as well as beginner stuff, just then you will have a wider audience to sell to.
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how to draw highly detail perspective illustrations without the ruler smudging the paper
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I'm not sure if Mastering Manga has this, but I noticed there were very few how-to-draw books, if any, that covered how to draw manga animals, pets and such (cats, dogs, bunnies, horses, dragons, ect
I really hope to get the second when it comes out and the first one...."real soon"
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I just got your book yesterday, and since you are the first art mentor (and best) I ever had, I feel I owe you a favor in anyway I can.
Let's see.... Well... I've seen a lot of art books, (Trust me, if I could I would stay in the art store until they kick me out) but I really don't see ones that focus on pure technique. We've seen many that show us characters and scenes, but not much on shading techniques and different strokes of the pens and stuff like that, so if you want something really different, that might be a good route.
OR, you can go the average route and do a series of themed books. Example: book 1 is basics. Next book can be shojo, shonen, fantasy, scifi, supernatural, ect. The one thing you have to remember is that you need to include the key elements of the theme. If you were to make one of classic fantasy, people might get upset actually, if you don't include things like wizards or fairies or dragons. I think if you stick with the same basics as the first book (The way you made it unique with your non-leaping and various style attitude, and of course the panels of you. I can't get enough of those panels.) you should still have that authentic Mark Crilley feel.
Again, the choice is yours wether you even USE my suggestion or not. Thank you for reading though.
Finally, I want to thank you for making this wonderful book. As soon as I got it I made a dA journal with links to your YouTube channel, dA page, and a link to buy your book. You're like a second father, and your lessons have helped me greatly (It can be tricky to draw with diabetes. Sometimes it becomes hard to focus, think, or even move your hand the way you want to.)
Peace always, Alexandria.
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I want to see how animals look in a manga/chibi style.
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How to draw manga-styled animals; cats, dogs.
weapons, backgrounds, special effects ;;;
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Sorry for double post, but also on how to draw high heels in front and side perspective. I'm having trouble placing the heels right.
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I'd love some extras on clothing and acessories. Especially dresses and Ribbons.
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Please demonstrate different body styles I.E. Curvy, skinny, muscular, etc.!!!
Though maybe the first one has that, I've not had the pleasure of reading it yet! ^_^
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I got my copy and I found the book to be decent. I own a ton of drawing books, a ton....
I feel like my biggest critique of your first book comes in how a lot of the anatomy is presented.
I think it's important to understand that a lot of artist get into these books, usually wanting to learn how to draw for the first time ever. They see Manga and they say, "I want to draw that!" without a lot of past drawing experience...
... And unfortunately... a lot of the manga drawing books, including yours, go into anatomy like "This is how you draw a MANGA Eye!" and just give you basic shapes to mimic. Or in your book... it tells you how to draw the head... which you states as "Draw a circle... then divide it in half.. " etc... and these can be nice for learning proportions... but just starting out by calling the starting shape a "Circle" and not a "Sphere".... sets people off in the wrong direction... in my opinion. We may be drawing on a flat surface... but it has to be thought of and understood as a full 3-dimensional form in our minds!
... And maybe this came naturally to you as an artist.... I know for me it didn't.. I went at these "How to draw manga books..." for years.. and many drawing books in general... never escaping that Flatness.... Never really understanding REAL form... etc.... Even when I drew... and that's a REAL problem.... for many, many artist in my opinion...
I go to a school for animation... and I'm surrounded by artist who have this problem..... In fact I'd say about 80-90% have the issue.... especially starting out. To make a point... I'm taking a class in character and object design right now... and 70% of the class is failing... and about half the class dropped out. The reason? Weak foundations.... And it's often a Variety of things... but the most common issue I see is just general "flatness" in many people's drawings. And I think it's a bit of a symptom of how these "how to..." cartoon drawing books present a lot of their information. They break down bodies, characters, etc... into flat-2d shapes... so that's how artist learn.
So what do I think you should do for your next book? A couple things...
First... I think you should really go into a simplified analysis of how the anatomy is broken down in terms of real 3-dimensional forms. Sphere, boxes, cylinders. Focus on the basics of these... and how they apply to drawing manga. I think you should really emphasize the importance of understanding the forms...
Secondly... while giving a bunch of examples of different styles is fine... we can really find that ourselves by just looking up different manga.
Instead.. Like for the eye... break down the anatomy and analyze it in how it compares to the real thing. Explain the logic behind how a master manga artist draws his eyes... why they shape it the way they do... why lines are where they are... yknow? What's really going on RIGHT ABOVE the eyeball? Is it really a flat surface... the way it seems to appear in manga style? Or are there complex folds of fat and muscle....
Like manga often just tells you to draw the tip of the nose.... but what's the logic behind it? and what's going on with the rest of those forms around the nose? Really help people understand these things....
I think if you can teach that well in your next book... you would have some super high-caliber stuff.... that I honestly haven't really seen covered too well in any "how to draw manga" books...
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Some really interesting suggestions here! I'd love to see if/how they can be worked into the process of your next book. I should be getting my copy tomorrow so I'm going only on the samples/examples I've seen, but maybe a slightly more advanced book next time could incorporate the above suggestions as well as cater to those who have experience (even just hobby experience but who aren't novice drawers just wanting to mimic) and are wanting to develop or refine their style using advice from a pro like yourself.
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Wow so much was in the first its hard to think of what you missed haha. However there was nothing in there about muscles and toned figures, so you could always add that, also I wouldn't mind more how to create your own Manga/comic stuff that is a real plus for me
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I like to see huge numbers of picture to reference from, particularly nudes (family friendly nudes included, with no nipples etc.). I mostly get annoyed at how to draw manga books because they don't teach me how to draw at all, they just tell me to draw certain pictures. The more good references of poses the better in my opinion, best to just fill the whole thing up. I like drawing books with little tips in free spaces, or just sketches. Sketches are encouraging to see and helpful too. ^.^
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I haven't read the first book yet, but if it's not there, can you teach us how to draw kids (not toddlers, like 10-13 year old pre-teens?)? That would be super helpful.
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I just got my copy yesterday, and it's awesome! 
I think what I and many others would like to see is more on color, light, shading, and composition. That might be fun.
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I've been seeing a lot of "I haven't read the book yet, so I don't know if this is in it"...well here's another one!
I saw in the video that you cover plenty of body types, but my big challenge right now is to draw a character who's body type resembles Sig Curtis. Very large fellow, a bit muscular, but still with a belly. And I'm not great at drawing males, let alone muscles and beer bellies. >.> The proportions for the larger characters and also how to structure their face. And muscle detail would be nice, if those are not already in there.
And I'm not gonna get too into it, but shading and having more than one person in a scene.
I'm definitely going to be getting your book, it looks a TON better than most other "How to draw" books I've seen! I can't wait to get it, and I can't wait for volume 2!
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There's been a bunch of requests over on your official board, you might look through those as well.
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i've just got your book yesterday and spent time going from the start of the book and working to the end. but from what i've seen there is could be something on how objects are angled and how they look in the hand of just normal manga and chibii characters.
P.S. Loved the book, i've never be good with how to draw books but your is so easy to understand and laern from.
thank you Mr Crilley
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I'm still having problems with perspective...so to speak.
I can't seem to get the object such as a car to line up right. And what do you do when you've got really far apart lines on point of view. Like you'd need three to four sheets to line it up correctly?
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If I'm really serious about getting the perspective right I will go so far as to tape on extra sheets of scrap paper just to add the vanishing points the ruler will lead to.
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I still mess up even after that.
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Got my copy of Mastering Manga the other day and I love it (so far... haven't had a chance to go through the whole book yet)! ^_^
But for a second one I think covering more shading, shadows, and stuff of that nature
Stay awesome ^_^
~BlackRoseWriter913
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I don't know the content but I bet there's no tutorial for making the drawing look natural.
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Dedicate a few pages to drawing detailed backgrounds/landscapes/scenery with anime characters fitted into it appropriately
Ty for ur videos
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I havent seen the entire book yet because I much prefer a paper version but I remember the video you posted on youtube giving us a sneak peek into the book and already I saw a TON of things that I loved.
~how detailed your descriptions on the side were
~you considered multiple scenarios
~The human and anime body comparisons
~all those hand examples
~actual step by step instructions
I have owned my fair share of drawing books and I think you didn't want your book to be like other drawing books its BETTER! I cannot wait till march 8th to see the book in its entirety
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i think a really detailed section on clothing creases it important, and also on hands
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I've always found it difficult to make quality backgrounds, visually appealing cities, or decent foreshortening (for people -or- for backgrounds). Drawing mechanical things has been a chore as well. If you've got some ideas for those, I'm sure it would help!
Love your work! I still haven't picked up the book, but I know it's gotta be great. I'm more one for American comics lately, myself, but I might still pick up Mastering Manga, just because I know your work is quality.
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There isn't a how to draw realistic manga book out there, I would like to see one of those
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I have not bought your book yet, not living in america. You should have a section on how to create your own style, for example finding inspiration, fusion styles (western+space) or (manga+american comics). more perspective stuff, like drawing characters in no perspective then in one, two or three.
Make sure there is a lot of the use of "indication" and "this is not the way" as that would be awesome, you could have mentions of your youtube channel as like a way of extra lessons on how to draw manga and other styles of drawing. On that note your youtube videos are awesome.
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Well I have trouble figuring out what kind of clothes a character would wear because it's very hard to think up ideas for the clothing.
I would love to see how you do that in a how to draw book!
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i didn't buy the book yet, i'm planning to buy it soon i hope :3
but what i would really want in how-to-draw book is:
how to draw hands, a big part on how to draw hands, and another big part on human body, because when i try to draw a human, i always end up with a short man/girl :/
and a part for walk-throughs, i mean a part that you give some ideas for things to draw, and you draw them, so we can practice on them
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i ordered the book except i have to wait a month since I'm overseas T_T
(I haven't read it yet but below is what I would like.)
Generally for me it would be:
- Fight scenes, and speed lines. (These are difficult and such.)
- Backgrounds for me (not really from reference, but it's extremely hard to create a fantasy background.)
- screentones (i don't know how to work with them.)
- Line variation. I see in manga, they have this line variation thing, thin to thick lines, how do you do it?
- What it is like in the manga industry, personal insight maybe....
- Doing 'exaggerated' facial expressions. I don't mean the comical ones, the realistic ones. Like in death note, they really scared me and I liked that.
-Working process? Well what do you do first, write the whole story script then draw or something else?
-Dialogue? What things would you usually do in order to emphasize the character.
-The shiny black and white thing on hair in manga, usually in shoujo but sometimes in shonen. I would like to see that...
(And sry for the long list...)
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I just order the book i will get it soon I am so looking forward to it <3 <3 i have watched many of your "preview to mastering manga" videos on youtube and the book seems pretty easy i think you should take it more advance in your mastering manga 2
btw sorry for my bad english I'm just a 13 old girl from norway
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Well, I haven't had the fortune to get my hands on a copy of Masting Manga yet, but be rest assured that I shall someday. I'm still going to throw in my two cents worth on this, though. :3
There are a lot of books out there that teach the "basics". You know, like some of the stuff you've covered in your YouTube videos, and probably in Mastering Manga as well. Guidelines, front view/three-quarter view/side view, etc. They seem to be a drawing book staple. It might be really nice to have a sort of intermediate-to-advanced book, or maybe a beginner-to-intermediate. A lot of books I've seen (and even own) take the reader from SUPER beginner to intermediate-ish. So uh. Yeah. Just a thought or two.
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Accesory. Details are the hardest when finally the general proportions are less of a problem.
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I haven't read the book yet, but something what always irritates me when I look around for artbooks is that it's always primarily for beginners. Sure, that's the biggest part of the market, but it's just really hard to find proper advanced books.
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Hi! ~~~
I haven't personally been able to get Mastering Manga (yet), but I'll try!
So I was thinking:
If you covered the basics in Mastering Manga, the easy stuff, why not go up a level and get into detail? You could get into the details of clothes, hair, and possibly the way everything would be shaded. Also, maybe you could get into all the details about making good comics and how to do so.
I surely hope this helps! Thank you!
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I think there's enough books on the basics. You should do it about something complicated, maybe a specific topic, or just continueing your previous book but then for more experienced artists..?
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I personally have a thing for perspectives that I really want to improve. Like what to think about when you draw someone seen from above or below. And I think that others feel the same way
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I don't know if you've already covered this, but maybe angled views. For instance, when you're looking down at someone the head would be bigger and the feet would be smaller. The shoulders might be shown near the ears but some people might not know exactly how to go about placing and sizing them. Backgrounds. Especially: tall city buildings, trees, and houses. Different types of weather could also be good. Rain, blizzards, snow, etc. These are just ideas that pop into my head, I don't know what you've put in the first book yet. I hope this helps though. Also I love your work, keep it up! ^^
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positions and points of view...but imma wait to make more suggestions until after i see the book
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