The Art of Drawing Manga [Paperback]

Ben Krefta (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2003

Japanese manga is simply the coolest form of comic book drawing out there. It’s also the basis of anime cartoons. With this comprehensive manual on mastering the art, you can join the fun and create fabulous images and stories. Capture poses, action, and fighting; depict clothing and accessories; give pages a good flow; divide panels up well; use computer enhancement; and more. Not a step is missed!

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760746931
• ISBN-13: 978-0760746936
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,411,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Why do copiers make money?, December 6, 2004

By 

Rebecca Lynn (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Drawing Manga (Paperback)

This book is terrible. Not just for the art, but for the fact that all of the artwork--including the cover--is copied. The main cover image is from a pinup poster from the Anime series, Noir. The only thing the artist changed were the colors and the hand, which was holding a gun in the original poster.

I don't see why anybody should support artists who rip off other people's hard work and dedication. When I saw this book on the shelves at the bookstore, I immediately recognized the design having seen the poster a week previously and pulling it back out to double check when I got home.

And why is this called "The Art of Drawing Manga," when this is drawn from Anime, and the 'teaching' in the book is all "How to Draw Anime," not manga? If the artists doesn't even know what 'manga' really is (how to draw sequential art, panel layout, build story, toning, speed line techniques, etc) then this book is far from informative. Take a life drawing class at a local community college. It's cheaper and more worth your time.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for beginners and intermediate artists!, October 29, 2003

By 

Blayne C. Leonard "BlayneL" (Lathrup Village, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of Drawing Manga (Paperback)

I've been drawing for almost 40 years and my style has changed over the years, but I had always leaned toward a Jack Kirby style of drawing. I am currently working on illustrating my first comic book; but I wanted to develop a faster method of drawing, so I started looking closely at Manga. I have read many drawing books, but "The Art of Drawing Manga" is one that I really like. One of my biggest trouble points was hands. This book showed me how do draw hands easily and quickly without having to burn eraser holes in my drawing pad trying to get them right. Now, I can draw hands that look great and with a lot more confidence thanks to this book!

My cousin's daughter who just started drawing for the first time in her life 2 years ago, now has become a fantastic artist thanks to this book! Her stuff looks just as good as any I've seen in any comic book!

The thing that I like about this book is that it instructs you on how to draw like a pro by illustrating the basics without all of the boring, detailed blah-blah about anatomy (although it is important to understand it). Although I understand the basics pretty well, it's always good to bone up on them from time to time. I think that this book has helped me to sharpen up my style a great deal. There are a lot of pros in the comic book business today who could probably use a little refresher course.

The book is divided into sections on differents points of drawing, inking and coloring. The illustration in this book is stunning!

I would highly recommend this book to any beginner seriously thinking of becoming an illustrator. I would also recommend this book to intermediate and even professional artists interested in improving their skills.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book really accelerated my progress!, February 26, 2004

By 

John (CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Drawing Manga (Paperback)

The book starts out with explanations of materials, stating advantages and disadvantages- Extremely useful for beginners to understand what to use (and WHY to use them) to create professional looking manga artwork.
Following on are informative and easy to understand methods to constructing anime heads and faces- probably the most important part of anime characters. Details such as eyes and mouths are explained to allow the reader to quickly get stuck into producing quality manga character faces, just like professionals!
I learned about simple ways to create full head-to-toe bodies later advancing onto character in action and finishing with a step by step process to how Ben created a finished comic page. Toward the end there are some fantastic examples of finished CG character designs.

This book is well presented and unlike similar How-To-Manga books, it TEACHES how to draw instead of SHOWING how it's drawn, plus this one's in full glossy color. Well worth the money.