Shojo Fashion Manga Art School: How to Draw Cool Looks and Characters Paperback – November 20, 2009

This is an excellent book from the beginner to the advanced. I was surprised that it turned out to be as excellent as it was. While this book does assume you have some experience drawing (That you have attempted to draw people before, even if they turned out awful). It gives you pointers and things to keep in mind when attempting to draw them. Don't skimp on the practicing, as it does work!

The best section by far is the detail spent on clothing. I, myself, have a lot of problems drawing clothes and this book gave me an excellent idea of how clothing should look, lay, and work with the character.

I found that with this book and Girl to Grrrl manga by Colleen Doran, that all my other how to draw manga books make a bit more sense as well as become easier to understand. Girl to Grrl manga and Shojo Fashion break down the basics to help you understand how draw not only the basic character, but facial expressions, as well as different styles. They also focus on body structure and proportion, which nessc. for any beginning artist.

I wouldn't recommend this book to someone who is trying to move from stick figures to anime. This book is for someone that can already draw at at least a basic level.

One thing that I love about this book is that I have been looking for a how-to FOREVER on how to draw more "realistic" anime/cartoon. Every time I look around or ask threads, people tell me the same thing, that there is not such thing as realistic anime and that I just should learn how to draw real people and make them cartoony.

But this book is perfect for what -I- was looking for. The figures are well proportioned and the faces a real enough. The folds of the clothing are more more advanced than typical cartoon anime like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh. If you like the character styles of The Boondock Saints or Avatar: The Last Airbender, this book has the style you're looking for.

There are reference pages for different face angles, hands, feet, facial features such as lips, eyes and noses, proportional figures and etcetera. The clothing is all styles, from punk to dresses, modern and old fashioned.

I really enjoy it. It's a five stars for me.
Depending on what you're looking for, it could be for you too. =)

The cover of this book is very deceiving. At first glance you'd think it was a typical how-to book, but it's honestly a lot more than that. I'm an experienced artist so that should be kept in mind during my review. Without further ado, let's get started.

Before I get into the contents of the book itself, I'm going to do a small review on the art style. This isn't your "typical manga style" It's very unique and really fun to look at. While it might not be everyone's cup of tea, it doesn't affect how this book can teach you.

The first couple pages go over basic art supplies. It's a basic beginning to any how-to book, but this artist shows you that you don't really need any big fancy equipment to draw well. That's something that I wish a lot more books would tell you, beginning artists tend to be overwhelmed by supplies or are misled to think that better supplies make you a better artist (which is not true). This artist goes over general art supplies such as pencils, pens, recommended erasers and paper, as well as brush pens.

There are then two pages on line weight which despite being such a small section has lots of nice little tips that would REALLY help out a beginning artist and even remind some of us more experienced artists.

Following those two pages is yet another two pages with this particular artist's basic digital coloring process. A nice little addition, but not particularly an important part of this book. It felt a little like filler to me, but if nothing else, it's a cute pose reference.

Now we start getting into the actual meat of the book. It starts to loosely go over basic human anatomy (the differences between males and females, legs, hands, feet, a small body type comparison, a bit of posing, some perspective)
Then it moves on to how to draw faces, eyes, noses, mouths and ears. Then it goes over some basic expressions and their progressions. It then goes through adding hair (with a nice little braid tutorial) and some different hair colors. All very nice little bits to help add some more personality to your characters. However, this isn't what the book is about (as you can tell by the title).

Now at page 59 we start on what makes this book very unique, clothing. It starts out by teaching you about various fabric types including: stiff fabric, draping fabric, silks, short fur, long fur, corduroy, leather, vinyl, and rubber. While this isn't a big section, it does give useful tips on how to make fabric look different with the strokes of a pen or pencil. Something that any artist can learn from. It then goes over different styles of shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, coats, and blazers. While these aren't step-by-step, they do make for good references and the artist gives little tips along the way. There's then a small step-by-step of quilted and puffy fabric that even more experienced artists can learn from.

The book now moves onto different styles of pants, shorts, skirts, and swimwear. There aren't many step-by-steps here either, but plenty of tips and references. We then move onto frilly and formal dresses (with a thrown in guide on lace that anyone can follow). Dresses are only touched on in this book, BUT in the second book there's a lot more (I'll be reviewing that book as well.)

We now move onto accessories such as hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, socks, slippers, sandals, sneakers, heels, and boots. A really nice part is that the shoes actually have step-by-step instructions. Feet and shoes are really difficult for beginning artists, and even experienced artists such as myself can struggle with these. The little tips and tricks included are very helpful. It goes over purses, bags, jewelry, and glasses next. There's even a page on drawing umbrellas (which are seen all the time in manga.)

By now we're on page 99, and nearing the end of the book. This last section goes over a few basic "stereotypical" school kids. It's a cute little addition that teaches you how to add some differences between your characters. In this section there are also a couple step-by-step guides on drawing these characters interacting. The last few pages of the book go over some perspective with backgrounds and some nice little tips on making scenes to put your now fashionable characters in.

Final Words-
This is a really fantastic book overall with plenty of great tips and absolutely amazing references. The art style is unique, and I love it, if it puts you off though, DON'T WORRY. The style does NOT hinder your ability to learn what this book is really trying to teach you.

While I do think a beginner would benefit from this book, it will NOT teach you how to draw human bodies for the most part. Start out with something more general that will break down human anatomy for you, then move onto this book to help make your characters more unique and fashionable.

This book does have a bit more female fashion than male fashion, but overall it's nothing that should turn you away from it. If you're the kind of person that struggles with giving your characters different and unique clothing, this book will help you 100%. It does not include a section for undergarments however.

I easily recommend this book for anyone's collection.

This book has been very useful in improving my characters and what they wear!

I'm starting to practice drawing, and I love manga/anime. When I was looking up materials, this caught my interest. After visiting bookstores near me, I found that it's much cheaper to buy this on Amazon, and it's so adorable! It has detailed personalities and settings for characters you can draw. It also have some guide on human anatomy and great showings of shading. I like the use of colors in the pictures, and the expressions certainly fit with the personalities. Love it!

Good reference book if your child really wants to learn Manga. Not too detailed, but good balance of instruction, tips, descriptions, and finished products. Laid out for older girls - pre teen to teen I'd say. There are detailed instructions plus simple tips on each page that were helpful for my daughter. It has improved her drawing immensely - from faces to clothing and perspective.