Digital Manga Techniques: Create Superb Quality Manga Artwork on Your Computer [Paperback]

Hayden Scott-Baron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2005

Computer-oriented graphic artists will appreciate this volume as the total how-to manual for creating Japanese-inspired manga artwork. The author clearly and comprehensively breaks down manga-style components in a way that allows artists to develop their own personal styles while creating professional-looking manga illustrations. He shows how to create manga artwork with all popular software packages, including Photoshop, Painter, and ComicWorks. Step-by-step illustrations explain fundamentals of digital drawing, inking, and coloring. The author also instructs on incorporating 3D graphics and mastering computerized cel-painting techniques. The book also offers inspiration for creating casts of colorful characters from all genres of manga art—romantic bishoujo heroines, traditional samurai warriors, futuristic robots, and fantastic space pirates, among others. Filled with more than 300 how-to color illustrations, this book is the complete guide to the art of digital manga.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Well-illustrated and easy to understand, and if you're completely new to manga this is a good book to pick up.' Imagine FX (November 2007) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

[back cover]
Using the fundamental elements of manga and demonstrating the many techniques available to you, this book clearly and comprehensively breaks down the components required to develop your personal style and create professional-looking manga-styled artwork.

Create dynamic manga illustrations on your computer and discover how digital tools can bring speed, flexibility, and professionalism to your artwork. From designing dynamic characters to developing storylines, creating cover art, and getting your work published on the web or in print, this is your complete guide to the art of digital manga.

The most popular software packages, including Photoshop, Painter, and ComicWorks, are clearly explained, with advice on using scanners, drawing with a mouse or graphics tablet, and formatting your work for the web or print media.

Step-by-step illustrations reveal the fundamentals of digital drawing, inking, and coloring; create smooth line art using 3D graphics; use your computer to recreate traditional styles such as cel-painting, lineless illustrations, and screentone effects.

Create a cast of colorful characters from all genres of manga art, from romantic bishoujo heroines and traditional samurai warrors to futuristic robots and space pirates, and use digital techniques to give your artwork a truly professional finish.

Hayden Scott-Baron is a professional videogames artist, focusing on character design. He has produced artwork and scripts for several manga-styled graphic novels, an has created character illustrations for books, magazines, and advertisements. He is the co-founder of a group of U.K.-based artists producing manga-style comics. They have produced over fifty titles in recent years. An enormous fan of Japanese culture, from fashion and music to animation and videogames, Hayden draws upon this interest as a pool of creative inspiration, combining it with influences from cinema and traditional art.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764130919
• ISBN-13: 978-0764130915
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #377,576 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hayden Scott-Baron, better known as "Dock" to his fans, was always destined to create great artwork. Even before he got to high school he was selling his own comic. Back then, of course, his work was photocopied and sold for a quarter. Now he runs the flourishing manga house Sweatdrop Studios, giving his work a global reach.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beginners Guide to Manga, February 27, 2006

By 

Joel R. Voss "Javantea" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digital Manga Techniques: Create Superb Quality Manga Artwork on Your Computer (Paperback)

I like the book fairly well. The technique described works in my experience. The first half of the book is spent describing manga to an audience that doesn't not know it very well. I found myself skipping pages on Shojo, Sci-Fi and so on. To me, who has been reading and writing manga for years now, it was all review. When I got to the second half of the book which showed a few dozen techniques that I have been using in the past 6 months, I decided that it was a good book to have 6 months ago. If you haven't touched mouse to canvas, haven't scanned 20 pages of art into your computer, then this book will solve your problems before you have them. But if you're familiar with brush size, texture, layers, and opacity in the digital realm, you probably will only get a brief insight from this book. Tracing, filling with anti-aliasing, and so on are problems that digital developers face. The simple solutions that are obvious are the ones pointed to in this book. I was hoping perhaps that it would solve them better than I have already.

Overall, a warning for those who know the craft, a recommendation to those who want to.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide to creating manga on your computer!, April 10, 2006

By 

Jay "Jay" (Manchester, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digital Manga Techniques: Create Superb Quality Manga Artwork on Your Computer (Paperback)

I've bought a few different 'how to draw manga' books but most of them seem to focus too much on the basics, which is annoying because I've already got a little experience in drawing. This book explains more about different genres and how you can apply them to your artwork and what you can do to emphasise the manga style, and a lot of useful tips for character design.

The photoshop tutorials are very comprehensive! They really helped me to improve how I was making my photoshop coloured pictures so I have a lot more control over how they look now.

I also like the section the book on making comic pages and applying screentone! You can get some pretty impressive manga style looks by following the steps in the book.

My only criticism of this book is that some of the introduction was stuff I already knew, but only about 15 pages or so and the artwork was good in those bits anyway.

Highly recommended!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Above decent, February 15, 2008

By 

Aaron J. Johnson "Mpire" (Rialto, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Digital Manga Techniques: Create Superb Quality Manga Artwork on Your Computer (Paperback)

I flipped through this book at the local shop and thought it might be a good buy. What I found inside was actually pretty insightful. One thing though, this book is not an instruction on how to draw. So if you're not familiar with drawing fundamentals I'd suggest an instructional book instead.

This book contains all the basic ins and outs of creating manga utilizing digital means. From inking to coloring and including different types of color work it's pretty extensive and is a great book for beginners who don't exactly know programs like Photoshop or Illustrator but are eager to learn.

Definitely a good surprise and it even goes into the publishing side of the business which is always good for those who want to work professionally.