Art has been around since the dawn of man, as a means of recreation or telling a message. It has been done many ways, but the most common one being on paper or canvas. Manga is, in a way, an extension of that art combined with the printed book. It's become a popular medium starting with the turn of the millennium, but fans want to learn to draw in that style because of it. In a way, it's become a passion to those fans.
In response, publishing companies have been hiring writers and artists to craft how-to books for those interested. One of those companies, Penguin Group, stepped up to the plate with their Idiot's Guides line-up of books (and no, I'm not making that name up). Published in 2008, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Drawing Manga teaches newbies and aspiring artists the ropes of the Manga style of art. The book was written by John Layman, while David Hutchinson provided the illustrations.
The book in question is pretty straightforward. It starts out with the basic shape making techniques, then evolves to piecing them together to make a figure, and goes on to making the faces of each character. Speaking of characters, the book explains how to make characters young and old; male and female; and even human or animal. Eventually, the book even teaches how to make Manga of their own via panels; props and speech bubbles.
The book is well illustrated and thought out, and is listed in a step-by-step fashion making it easy for those that want to follow along. It also details everything readers need to know about the Manga style without over complicating the process. This book even helped me with the creation of character art for my upcoming novel, Animator's Dream.
Overall, if you want to be a Manga artist yourself and are seeking a quality book then this is the one for you. With quality illustrations and simple instructions, this book will help those seeking to do art in the Manga style and craft works of their own.
Buy the book on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Drawing-Illustrated-Edition/dp/1592578233/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
There's also an updated variant of the book on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Idiots-Guides-Drawing-Manga-DK/dp/1615644156/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1HR0BZ8RYJGMTZDHCTMT
Showing posts with label manga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label manga. Show all posts
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Noel's first side story done, and thoughts on other works
I finally finished Noel's first side story after many months of delays. Now I can work on Chapter 5. *insert celebratory music and scenes here*
Though, there is more to this than celebrations. I also had some added ideas for the later Animator's Dream novels, as well as the current project at hand; even had some changes, too.
-Noel gets a new outfit to alter, based off of Noel Vermillion from BlazBlue (Noel can shapeshift her outfit to that of Noel's. Go figure)
-Devil's Mistress appears earlier in Chapter 5 rather than later
-Kirk argues with the characters in Chapter 5 to reveal his dark past further
Also, I have additions to the sequel, too.
-Addition of a character based off of Karen Strassman, and is to be the sister of the character based off of Lara Jill Miller.
-The Lara Jill Miller/Karen Strassman sisters based off of a mixture of a fan made character and Kari Kamiya from Digimon Adventure 01/02 and Sally Acorn from Sonic SatAM and the Archie Sonic comics
-Main hero and his friends now must rely on more teamwork to compensate for the now eight man band compared to Kirk's overpowered five-man band
-The Karen Strassman/Lara Jill Miller sisters to have evil twins to complicate the story
-Instead of characters speaking Japanese, now there are characters that can speak French.
Plus some other stuff I won't list yet.
Though, there is more to this than celebrations. I also had some added ideas for the later Animator's Dream novels, as well as the current project at hand; even had some changes, too.
-Noel gets a new outfit to alter, based off of Noel Vermillion from BlazBlue (Noel can shapeshift her outfit to that of Noel's. Go figure)
-Devil's Mistress appears earlier in Chapter 5 rather than later
-Kirk argues with the characters in Chapter 5 to reveal his dark past further
Also, I have additions to the sequel, too.
-Addition of a character based off of Karen Strassman, and is to be the sister of the character based off of Lara Jill Miller.
-The Lara Jill Miller/Karen Strassman sisters based off of a mixture of a fan made character and Kari Kamiya from Digimon Adventure 01/02 and Sally Acorn from Sonic SatAM and the Archie Sonic comics
-Main hero and his friends now must rely on more teamwork to compensate for the now eight man band compared to Kirk's overpowered five-man band
-The Karen Strassman/Lara Jill Miller sisters to have evil twins to complicate the story
-Instead of characters speaking Japanese, now there are characters that can speak French.
Plus some other stuff I won't list yet.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
The heroes of Animator's Dream and the roles they play
I'm almost done with Noel's first side story, so to fill in the gap of a blog post per week, I'd write about the five primary characters and the sort of roles they play.
Before I discuss this, though, I'd like to point out that I got this idea from Electronic Arts' Battlefield games, as well as Star Wars: Battlefront. The two games are known for their classes of soldiers with their own strengths and weaknesses. I wanted to create groups of heroes in the Animator's Dream novels because I didn't want a team where one size fitted all. That would be boring. So without further due, the classes of the heroes.
Kirk - Assault - Kirk is the front lines specialist of the bunch. His job is to clear out the baddies in the middle of a fight. Advantages include being good against most infantry types and at least light vehicles, but weaknesses include not being able to take on heavy vehicles without the right weapons.
Tigercat - Special Assault - Like Kirk, Tigercat is a front lines specialist, but she is unique in that she uses different weapons, such as suppressed weapons. This means that she gets the jump on enemy infantry when she can. Again, advantages are infantry types, but her disadvantage is not taking on vehicles as well as Kirk or B.W.
Miyu Kusanagi - Close-Quarters/Missile Spam hybrid - Miyu Kusanagi is a different basket of eggs altogether. She is good at all ranges both close and beyond. This means she can not only deal with swarms of infantry, but also take on vehicles and things that can fly. Her only weakness is that she can only take on one group of enemies at a time, and her missiles were really meant to overwhelm defenses.
B.W. - Heavy Weapons Specialist - If there's a target to break, B.W. will break it. His heavy weapons like grenade launchers, rail guns, heavy laser rifles, large missiles and rockets smash foes like no other. Advantages include being a threat to vehicles and infantry, and even some aircraft, too, but weaknesses are a crippling specialization due to the nature of his specialty.
Noel - Unique - If you thought Miyu was different, wait until you see Noel. Noel is even more different than Miyu in that she is the niche role in the Animator's Dream Five Man Band. She specializes in being able to do what the others can't. She has no notable weaknesses as a result.
So there, that's the Five Man Band of Animator's Dream in a nutshell. Quite a cast, I say.
Before I discuss this, though, I'd like to point out that I got this idea from Electronic Arts' Battlefield games, as well as Star Wars: Battlefront. The two games are known for their classes of soldiers with their own strengths and weaknesses. I wanted to create groups of heroes in the Animator's Dream novels because I didn't want a team where one size fitted all. That would be boring. So without further due, the classes of the heroes.
Kirk - Assault - Kirk is the front lines specialist of the bunch. His job is to clear out the baddies in the middle of a fight. Advantages include being good against most infantry types and at least light vehicles, but weaknesses include not being able to take on heavy vehicles without the right weapons.
Tigercat - Special Assault - Like Kirk, Tigercat is a front lines specialist, but she is unique in that she uses different weapons, such as suppressed weapons. This means that she gets the jump on enemy infantry when she can. Again, advantages are infantry types, but her disadvantage is not taking on vehicles as well as Kirk or B.W.
Miyu Kusanagi - Close-Quarters/Missile Spam hybrid - Miyu Kusanagi is a different basket of eggs altogether. She is good at all ranges both close and beyond. This means she can not only deal with swarms of infantry, but also take on vehicles and things that can fly. Her only weakness is that she can only take on one group of enemies at a time, and her missiles were really meant to overwhelm defenses.
B.W. - Heavy Weapons Specialist - If there's a target to break, B.W. will break it. His heavy weapons like grenade launchers, rail guns, heavy laser rifles, large missiles and rockets smash foes like no other. Advantages include being a threat to vehicles and infantry, and even some aircraft, too, but weaknesses are a crippling specialization due to the nature of his specialty.
Noel - Unique - If you thought Miyu was different, wait until you see Noel. Noel is even more different than Miyu in that she is the niche role in the Animator's Dream Five Man Band. She specializes in being able to do what the others can't. She has no notable weaknesses as a result.
So there, that's the Five Man Band of Animator's Dream in a nutshell. Quite a cast, I say.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Chapter 5 delay
So, I haven't been able to get Chapter 5 up and running yet. I've been a little busy with school and whatnot, and I've also been having too much fun to the point that I've been ignoring my novel. I'm going to get back to work on it once I start balancing out my schedule and work, since I don't want it to be like Duke Nukem Forever in which it has been in the works for over two years, or in that game's case fourteen. Until then, I'll get Noel's first side-story finished.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
The Archetypal: How my characters represent anime archetypes
For long time viewers, it's been a while since I wrote anything. Newbies, on the other hand, welcome to the club. This is my blog for my novel and other stuff.
Anyways, I've been taking a while at finishing Noel's sidestory. Stuff unrelated to the novel's progress had impeded me some. So, to compensate, I'll make a post about the characters that represent the many archetypes of anime. Throughout my novel, the main characters--not the characters in the chapters that are based off of existing anime and manga or characters that only last a short while--were designed to represent anime's many archetypes. In no specific order:
Kirk - the hero; he's just a normal who gets caught in the middle of everything, and is forced to take part in a war that's been going on for ages. Usually adept in whatever skills he starts out with, getting more experience with time.
Tigercat - the sidekick; younger in age, but is friends with the hero. Sticks with him no matter what happens.
Miyu Kusanagi - the sexy tough gal; wears skin (or in Miyu's case, fur) revealing outfits akin to that of Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell, Yoko Littner from Gurren Lagen or Jura Basil Elden from Vandread, and is also very brave and willing to fight no matter what.
B.W. - the wise man; he knows a lot about the world around him, as well as how things work or why things happen the way they do.
Noel - the love interest and unique; she serves as the character the hero falls in love with--and vice versa--but is also special in that she comes with special powers that none of the other characters possess. Tragically, she's also the character with the troubled past.
Devil's Mistress - the classic villain/big bad; is the center of the hero's troubles as well as the world he gets caught in. She does anything in her power to defeat Kirk and his friends, even manipulating the world around them.
Mother Angel - the leader of an ancient group of beings; she is compassionate towards her people, but is also serious. Also willing to fight when she needs be.
Venus - the demigoddess warrior; her beauty is second to none, but is also very deadly in combat. Her heat-based attacks and the Room of Angel are the ultimate in her prowess; she also stands out as being immune to normal weapons.
Mars - the demigod warrior; like Venus, he is very powerful, but wields immense strength as opposed to heat attacks. Is also immune to normal weapons.
So there, those are the archetypes of the characters in my first novel.
Anyways, I've been taking a while at finishing Noel's sidestory. Stuff unrelated to the novel's progress had impeded me some. So, to compensate, I'll make a post about the characters that represent the many archetypes of anime. Throughout my novel, the main characters--not the characters in the chapters that are based off of existing anime and manga or characters that only last a short while--were designed to represent anime's many archetypes. In no specific order:
Kirk - the hero; he's just a normal who gets caught in the middle of everything, and is forced to take part in a war that's been going on for ages. Usually adept in whatever skills he starts out with, getting more experience with time.
Tigercat - the sidekick; younger in age, but is friends with the hero. Sticks with him no matter what happens.
Miyu Kusanagi - the sexy tough gal; wears skin (or in Miyu's case, fur) revealing outfits akin to that of Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell, Yoko Littner from Gurren Lagen or Jura Basil Elden from Vandread, and is also very brave and willing to fight no matter what.
B.W. - the wise man; he knows a lot about the world around him, as well as how things work or why things happen the way they do.
Noel - the love interest and unique; she serves as the character the hero falls in love with--and vice versa--but is also special in that she comes with special powers that none of the other characters possess. Tragically, she's also the character with the troubled past.
Devil's Mistress - the classic villain/big bad; is the center of the hero's troubles as well as the world he gets caught in. She does anything in her power to defeat Kirk and his friends, even manipulating the world around them.
Mother Angel - the leader of an ancient group of beings; she is compassionate towards her people, but is also serious. Also willing to fight when she needs be.
Venus - the demigoddess warrior; her beauty is second to none, but is also very deadly in combat. Her heat-based attacks and the Room of Angel are the ultimate in her prowess; she also stands out as being immune to normal weapons.
Mars - the demigod warrior; like Venus, he is very powerful, but wields immense strength as opposed to heat attacks. Is also immune to normal weapons.
So there, those are the archetypes of the characters in my first novel.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Books for potential manga/anime artists
Have you ever wanted to draw in a style similar to your favorite anime or manga works? Do you want to create a show or manga series of your own? Perhaps these books would help on your path to success.
Manga for Dummies:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Drawing Manga Illustrated, 2nd Edition:
Manga for the Beginner Shoujo:
http://www.amazon.com/Manga-Beginner-Shoujo-Everything-Japanese/dp/0823033295/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344715047&sr=1-1&keywords=manga+for+the+beginner+shoujo
While these are three common books, they're done by expert artists who know their topics well. Highly recommend these books if you can find them in stores, on Amazon.com or eBay, or even your local library. I'm using these books as a resource to learn how to create my characters for my novel, so people will have an idea of what the characters will look like. Oh, and sorry if I haven't done anything in a while.
While these are three common books, they're done by expert artists who know their topics well. Highly recommend these books if you can find them in stores, on Amazon.com or eBay, or even your local library. I'm using these books as a resource to learn how to create my characters for my novel, so people will have an idea of what the characters will look like. Oh, and sorry if I haven't done anything in a while.
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