Manga for the Beginner: Everything You Need to Start Drawing Right Away! (Paperback)

~ Christopher Hart (Author) "WHEN I FIRST CAME UP WITH THE IDEA for this book, I saw nothing like it on the bookstore shelves..." (more)
Key Phrases: manga eyes, simplified skeleton, vanishing point right (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Chris Hart’s complete one-volume guide to mastering manga!

* Super size, super value!

* Complete tutorial packed with Chris Hart’s step-by-steps

* Top-selling subject, top-selling author--more than 600,000 Manga Mania copies sold!

Got manga? Christopher Hart’s got manga, and he wants to share it with all his millions of readers--especially the beginners. With Manga for the Beginner, anyone who can hold a pencil can start drawing great manga characters right away. Using his signature step-by-step style, Hart shows how to draw the basic manga head and body, eyes, bodies, fashion, and more. Then he goes way beyond most beginner titles, exploring dynamic action poses, special effects, light and shading, perspective, popular manga types such as animals, anthros, and shoujo and shounen characters. By the end of this big book, the new artist is ready to draw dramatic story sequences full of movement and life.

About the Author

Christopher Hart is the world’s best-selling author of drawing and cartooning books, with more than 2.5 million copies in print in seventeen languages. He lives in Westport, Connecticut.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823030830
• ISBN-13: 978-0823030835
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,805 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Manga for the Beginner: Everything You Need to Start Drawing Right Away!, September 6, 2009

A Kid's Review

This book really did get me started drawing manga. The directions are easy to follow with good tips for drawing. The only part I didn't understand was the vanishing points section but I pretty much got everything else. One part I wish it would've gone over was the wrinkles in clothes. Although the book was pretty good, I'm working on realistic drawings but for anyone who wants to draw manga, this is really the right book to start off at.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for beginners... who know how to draw, October 21, 2008

By	M. Harvey (Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

You gotta be already pretty functionnal at drawing before reading this book. It goes right to the point and explains specifics details about mangas and how to draw them.

In no time, I was drawing pretty fine faces. There's a lot of explanations about eyes which is usually the main point of focus about mangas.

For the body, I found the list of tricks a bit short. So... I'm still practicing that part... understanding things on my own takes a bit longer.

All in all, Quite satisfied with the book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Name Says It All!!, January 22, 2010

By	Lim Shao Cong (Singapore) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Well my title says it all as well!

This book is exactly what most people need to start drawing manga right away. Starting with the most basic of all things, character design!

The book consists of a lot of different tips and guidance on how to draw characters. starting from the front view, the profile to the 3/4 views of the characters face,body and poses. It also has the basic tips and instructions on drawing weapons and clothes.

Just when you thought you are done by mastering those basics, the book teaches something more in a form of drawing animals, anthropods, shading ,colouring and drawing backgrounds!

The tips on drawing from perspective is in fact, in my opinion, a very useful tip for any artist in particular.

Overall, the book has everything the beginner needs to learn to start drawing right away! but, advanced or even intermediate artists may find this book a bit lacking, but why buy a book for beginners when you are higher in skill level in the first place?