How To Draw Yourself As A Manga

This guide is an introduction to the basics of cartoon with a focus on the anime and manga mode. It provides tips on approaching the drawing process in the right way and suggests some beginner friendly exercises to help you lot get started.

For a list of other things you tin learn that will help y'all draw anime and manga you lot tin can check:

Tips on How to Acquire How to Draw Anime & Manga

This guide covers the first part of that listing (The Basics of Cartoon).

1. Make Light Line Drawings First

Sketch to clean drawing anime eye — Sketch to make clean drawing anime middle

Draw using light lines first and and so trace over them with darker lines once you are sure that everything is in the right identify. This be particularly helpful for large or more than circuitous drawings.

Light lines are easier to erase if you lot make a mistake and easier to brand (y'all don't have to press as difficult on the pencil so your hand will be less tired).

Even if drawing digitally it's still a good idea to first brand a sketch and get over it with cleaner lines afterwards.

Tracing your own lines volition also work equally some other exercise to assist steady your hand.

Endeavor and draw with as few lines equally possible. If you make a mistake with your first line it's fine to add more lines until y'all land the right i just don't scribble or draw extra lines just for the sake of it. If you brand too many mistakes erase that part of your drawing start over.

2. Employ Guide/Construction Lines

Use guide lines to assistance yourself draw. For example if y'all desire to draw a symmetrical head/face from the forepart view you tin can first describe a horizontal line though the middle of where you desire to draw the face. This line will aid y'all make sure that both halves of the face are fifty-fifty in width. Y'all can then draw a horizontal line (or several lines) to help y'all make sure that both optics and both ears are on the same level.

For drawing dissimilar styles of anime heads see:

How to Depict Different Styles of Anime Heads & Faces

3. Programme Out Your Drawing & Depict Larger to Smaller

Anime large to small shape drawing order — Large to small shape cartoon order

Estimate your proportions before you offset drawing. You can see that in the above example the girl is 6 ane/two heads alpine (as anime characters tend to have larger heads in relations to their bodies then existent people). By comparing the size of dissimilar parts or objects in your cartoon to one another y'all volition be less likely to make a mistake.

Regardless of what you are cartoon offset with the larger shapes showtime. You don't demand to always start with the absolute largest shape merely definitely don't kickoff with the smaller details.

If you area drawing a person showtime with the caput and work your way down through the rest of the torso. Don't describe the smaller details like the facial features until you lot have the shape of the entire body.

Cartoon this way will make it a lot easier to fix mistakes. For instance if yous fully describe out the head with all of the details of the facial features you lot may then find that the body doesn't really fit on your drawing expanse. You will then have to start over and redraw the entire face over again.

Some of these mistakes can be easier to fix if cartoon digitally just that doesn't mean that y'all should not learn to draw in the right order.

For more on cartoon anime bodies you lot tin can run across:

How to Draw an Anime School Girl in six Steps
How to Draw Anime Muscular Male person Body Step by Step
How to Describe an Anime Guy Body Step By Step Tutorial
How to Depict an Anime Boy Total Body Step by Step

4. Keep Different Parts of Your Cartoon in the Same Stages of Completion

Drawing consistency example with anime eyes

Effort and keep the various objects in your cartoon in roughly the same state of completion. If for case y'all are cartoon optics than depict the outer shape of each eye and then describe the shape of each iris. By doing so you lot will be more likely to notice if the first i is out of place and you will only demand to do a footling back tracking if y'all make a mistake (like to the previous example).

For more than on cartoon anime eyes see:

How to Draw Anime Eyes and Centre Expressions
How to Draw Female Anime Eyes Tutorial
How to Draw Male Anime & Manga Eyes

five. Draw Things That Are Subconscious

Sketching out hidden parts of anime drawing — Sketch out hidden parts of a drawing

It'due south sometimes a skilful idea to describe things that are subconscious by something else.

In the above example some parts of the head and face will be subconscious past the hair in the final drawing merely y'all may notwithstanding want to depict their basic shapes and erase them after. The reason for this is to insure the correct placement of the parts that are visible. For example by doing a calorie-free drawing of the second eye yous volition exist able to cheque the spacing betwixt the eyes which will help you insure that the visible centre is correctly placed. You tin can also depict the outer shape of the ears to approximate the volume the hair needs in order comprehend them.

For drawing anime style faces see:

How to Depict an Anime Girl's Head and Confront
How to Draw Anime Characters Tutorial
How to Draw a Cute Anime Girl Pace by Footstep
eight Footstep Anime Boy's Head & Confront Drawing Tutorial
8 Stride Anime Woman'due south Head & Face Drawing Tutorial

6. Do Drawing Exercises

As a beginner artist you can actually benefit from some fairly simple exercises of drawing lines and basic geometric shapes. These exercises will assist steady your hand and train y'all to see (and avert) common mistakes.

You tin practice these for about 10-15 minutes at a fourth dimension.

Straight Lines Drawing Exercises

The most bones exercises is drawing straight lines in different directions. Describe horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines without rotating your drawing area (paper, tablet, etc…).

Curved Lines Drawing Exercises

Curved line drawing exercises — Curved line cartoon exercises

In improver to straight lines exercise drawing curved lines in different directions and try to take nice and smooth curve without jitters or sharp turns. Just like for the direct lines exercise don't rotate your cartoon area.

Basic Shapes Cartoon Exercises

Basic shape drawing exercises — Basic shape cartoon exercises

Do drawing basic shapes such as squares, circles, triangles, ovals, rectangles, etc…

Try and draw each shape with simply one stroke per side. Describe the circle and ovals with one solid line from start to stop.

Don't worry if your shapes don't come up out correct, but attempt and improve on the side by side shape.

Mixed Cartoon Exercises

You tin also combine the cartoon exercises. For instance you tin draw a square than within information technology describe lines going from ane corner to another followed by 2 more lines going through the intersection point of those lines followed by drawing a circle within the initial square. Simply unlike the previous do draw this circle a quarter at a time.

In addition to all of the previous benefits this practise is also really expert for learning to describe symmetrical shapes.

In the in a higher place example you tin can run into how an anime mode caput tin be broken down into three unproblematic shapes. The same tin can often exist done with other parts of the body and various other objects. You don't need to actually draw all of these out every time you want to draw something merely its a skilful example for why learning to draw basic shapes tin can exist so useful.

vii. Study the Anime Style

Anime girl under magnifying glass — Understanding the anime fashion

To make art that looks like anime and manga you lot have to understand their defining characteristics. Fortunately at that place are enough of tutorials here on AnimeOutline to assistance you written report these styles. But run across the Anime & Manga Drawing Tutorials section and pick any it is you are interested in drawing.

8. Cheque for Mistakes

Anime girl drawing flipped — Flipping drawing to see mistakes

If yous are having trouble spotting your mistakes turn your drawing upside down or hold it up to a mirror. This will requite you a fresh "perspective" making it easier to see them.

For mistakes beginners usually make when drawing anime (and fixes for them) see:

Common Mistakes When Drawing Anime & Manga

Conclusion

Doing the exercises and applying the tips suggested higher up volition assist yous with the nuts of cartoon anime. In one case you you have a fairly steady hand with good control of your pen or pencil you can move on to more advanced aspects of drawing. These include things such as perspective, color and shading. For some nuts on all of these encounter the following tutorials: