BASIC

LESSON 2
Learning from the Masters

Hello again and welcome to the second lesson 2. Proportions

in the Manga University Home Study Course.
We look forward to teaching you some neat
drawing techniques this time.
This lesson will include:
1. Basic useful techniques
2.Measurements and proportion
Introduction:
The best way to begin developing your own
original style is to study other artists
drawings! In fact, that's how nearly all of us
got our start as mangaka!
Now, please don't misunderstand. I'm not
suggesting that you copy another artist's work
and then pass it off as your own. That's called
plagiarism, and it's very, very bad. However,
there is nothing wrong with studying other
artists drawings for the purpose of practice
and learning how to do it right yourself. For
example, most major fine-art schools send
their students to museums, where the students
spend days looking at art masterpieces and
trying to understand techniques, media, styles
and details.
a. They might draw very long legs, broad
shoulders or large hands, for instance.
3. Line Work and Shading
a. Some artists join all lines and some
leave lines detached. Some artists
prefer cleaner work, so they use less
shading or solid black shading with some
simple lines, while others prefer using
screen tones.
4. Details
a. Some artists put most of their emphasis
on certain aspects of the character, such
as hair or eyes, leaving the rest of the
composition less-defined, while others go
all-out with extensive details.
The more you think about what makes a
particular artists work remarkable, the more
you will be able to develop your own style.
On the next page we will take a typical manga
drawing and break it down so you can use the
same technique on any drawing, in any style!

Students of manga art can do the same thing,

and it's not even necessary to visit a museum.
Things to look out for when studying your
favorite manga artist:

1. Signature Styles
a. The style in which they draw eyes, hair,
hands, backgrounds, and so forth.

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Manga University is a registered trademark of Japanime Co. Ltd. Lessons are for personal use only
 BASIC
LESSON 2
Learning from the Masters

As we mentioned on the previous page, the

first step to learning how to create and draw
your own characters is to practice drawing
characters that you already know and enjoy
so lets begin by looking at the character
Miyuki from The Manga Cookbook.

Analyze the Character

Before you begin the drawing, you should ask
yourself, What does this characters
appearance tell us about the character?
This will give you some idea of what the artist
was thinking when he or she created it, which
will help you design your own characters later.

Analysis of Miyuki
1. She is a cook.
Carries an apron and a ladle
Wears her hair in pigtails.
Note: Chefs always puts their hair back
so it doesnt get in the way of their work,
and for a cute girl like Miyuki, high-back
pigtails are a natural choice!
2. She is a happy schoolgirl
Cheerful expression Miyuki from The Manga Cookbook
White socks and Mary Janes - commonly
worn by Japanese schoolgirls.
his or her characters. For instance, are they
Miyuki is a fairly simple character, but this is hand-drawn or digital creations?
also the stage where you want to note any
unusual or irregular details about the Does the artist use paint or markers? If so, we
character you are drawing, such as if theyve should study the thickness of the lines, the
got green skin and pointy ears, and figure out color blends, and so forth.
why that is.
Once you are done analyzing the character, its
time to grab a pencil and start drawing. At
Analyzing the Style first, simply follow how the artist draw the
character. Then, once you are familiar enough
If youre going to go all out and learn a with the character, create your own poses and
specific artists style, you can also take note of scenes for them keeping in mind what you
what media the artist uses to create already know about the character.

Copyright 2005-2016 Japanime Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Manga University is a registered trademark of Japanime Co. Ltd. Lessons are for personal use only
 BASIC
LESSON 2
Learning from the Masters: Understanding Proportions

All right, lets draw! Miyukis pose is a bit
complex, so to start off well draw for ourself
this basic schoolgirl drawn by Atsuhisa Okura.
Head Count:
Manga characters arent measured in inches
and centimeters. What you need is a way to
measure their bodies so they maintain their
proportions no matter how big or small they
are drawn. The trick is actually quite simple
measure your manga character in heads!
The knee is near the top of the fifth
circle.
The right heel should fall at the bottom
of the last circle.
You can use this technique to figure out the
positioning and proportioning of any manga
character. Print pictures of a few of your
favorites and try it yourself!

Our schoolgirl on the right, for instance, is just

over six heads tall (six times the height of her
head), which is roughly the height of standard
young-adult character.

To begin, draw the characters head. Dont

worry about how big or small you draw the
head, as long as you have enough room to fit
the entire character on the page. If you want
some pointers on drawing facial expressions,
follow this link to a tutorial on our website:
http://www.howtodrawmanga.com/pages/
tutorial_facial_expressions.html

Steps:
1. Draw the head.
2. Draw a circle around the head.
3. Draw five more circles underneath it like in
the example pictures.
4. Using the circles youve drawn as your
guide, try to figure out about where each
part of the body goes. For example:
The waistline is just below the bottom of
the second circle.

Copyright 2005-2016 Japanime Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Manga University is a registered trademark of Japanime Co. Ltd. Lessons are for personal use only
 BASIC
LESSON 2
Learning from the Masters: Basic Female Character

Measurement & Proportion:

Next, use the circles as reference points to
draw a rough sketch and make sure youve got
the proportions and pose right.
This step involves a bit of backward thinking,
but it is probably the most important of all.
Your goal is to create an underdrawing or
modeling figure like the one you see on the
left side of the illustration below. You want to
copy the characters anatomy and pose,
without paying attention to the details like
clothing and hair.
Important
A modeling figure will help you
determine the positioning of the various
parts of the body so you know exactly
where to draw them. Sketching this doll
will also allow you to refine your
characters body and pose before adding
all of the details the viewer will see.
Skipping this step might result in a
disproportioned character, and you might
have to start all over!

A modeling figure represents the human

body with simple and three-dimensional
shapes.

Figure out how to draw a solid

figure first.
Add the clothes to the figure.

You may have to do a bit of guesswork to learn

to draw the parts of the body you cant see
when they are clothed, so the more you know
about anatomy, the better.

If you have trouble the first time, dont worry

practice DOES make perfect. To give your
hands a better feeling of how the character is
drawn, go ahead and trace the modeling doll
in the original illustration once or twice before
you begin drawing it on your own.

Copyright 2005-2016 Japanime Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Manga University is a registered trademark of Japanime Co. Ltd. Lessons are for personal use only
 BASIC
LESSON 2
Learning from the Masters: Basic Male Character

Well, how did it go? Were you able to draw

the schoolgirl as Okura-sensei did? If it was
tough, dont fret, just do it again. And again.
Youll find it gets easier and easier every time
you practice!

Eventually youll be able to draw the

characters from memory, and youll be well on
your way to creating and drawing your own
characters.

But before you get ahead of yourself, why not

try a practicing with a different model. This
time weve got a young male character, also
drawn by Okura-sensei.

1.Measure the character based on the

height of their head.
2.Draw circles to plot where to draw
each body part.
3.Create a rough underdrawing to
decide on their pose and proportions.
4.Add details like the face, clothing, and
hair on top of your underdrawing.
5.Erase the reference lines you drew
earlier and redraw clean lines on top
where necessary.

By now you should know the drill: How would

you go about drawing this character? Go
ahead and give it a try!

Copyright 2005-2016 Japanime Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Manga University is a registered trademark of Japanime Co. Ltd. Lessons are for personal use only
 BASIC
LESSON 2
Lesson Wrap-up

Pop Quiz!
How would you measure this character?

Is he:

A B C D
5 foot About 7 5 heads 12 apples
7 inches heads

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See you during the next lesson! Pop Quiz Answer: About 7 heads

Copyright 2005-2016 Japanime Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Manga University is a registered trademark of Japanime Co. Ltd. Lessons are for personal use only