There’s a difference between “aspiring mangaka/illustrator” and “practicing mangaka/illustrator”. That difference is that aspiring mangaka and illustrators tend to give drawing a try but keep abandoning their projects because it’s never quite good enough. Practicing mangaka and illustrators in my mind are people who draw and improve on their drawings gradually over time, whether they are employed as a professional artist or not. Either way whether you’re aspiring or practicing, neither distinction should matter. The only thing that should matter is the Art, and you making it.
Tip #1: Use FaceMaker programs to design the basics of your characters.
Although these programs are often dissed for creating shockingly primitive character art, these are actually good tools to use as a starting point to see how your character’s facial expression should look before you draw it. I use FaceMaker when I illustrate, because I illustrate in colour. That’s just how I roll. But I also use it for how it helps me construct facial expressions, because those of you who know their stuff will be aware that Asperger’s people like me have difficulty reading faces, even drawing them at first is troublesome before you know what a confused face looks like. It’s not going to give you a perfect face and the options of how many sad crying faces you can make are sometimes limited, but it’s a start that will help you on your way to becoming an illustrator.
Tip #2: You can’t copyright arms and legs, or even eyes. So why not borrow some help from other illustrators?
It’s sneaky, I know. But when I say “borrow some help” I don’t mean copy the whole image. What I’m talking about is the early stages of every illustrator’s life when you can’t quite figure out how to draw Manga eyes on your own. It’s harder than it looks, it really is. But instead of sulking in a corner reading Death Note, why not take one of your favorite manga volumes, and pick out an image panel that really captures the essence of moe, or whatever you’re trying to go for in the mood of your manga series. Figure out the names of manga artists you really like and discover the way they draw other things, like tables and chairs, not just people. There are specific ways you can depict them in a black and white format which you need to learn how to draw in if you’re going to be a mangaka. Illustrators aren’t as troubled by this because they tend to draw colour illustrations. But after you’ve picked out an image of an eye or a limb, analyse the proportions of it and see how it is proportioned in comparison to the rest of the body. You’ll need to do this several times before you get it, so practice!
Tip #3: The Eraser is your friend!
Don’t destroy perfectly good paper when you make a mistake, rub it out with your eraser and draw it again. It’s even easier these days with Photoshop handy to touch up any pencil lines you may have missed. The patience to construct a single image is needed if you are ever going to make it in an artform that requires the making of many images. So instead of trying to rush things together, arrange the image with your eraser, the editor of the Artmaking world.
That’s the only tips I’ve got at the moment, excuse me while I crack out the drawing pad…
Thanks for the info. Practice makes perfect. Anime Eki