How To Start Drawing Manga: Learning The Right Way!

There are many types of manga, all with their own styles and techniques. However, anyone can pick up manga drawing to emulate their favorite style and start creating beautiful manga / anime art.

It’s important to start off the right way, though, so that you don’t waste months or even years picking up bad habits and moving further from your goals.

To draw manga, of course you’re going to need the right supplies. Technically speaking, there are a ton of manga drawing supplies that you could add to your art-space.

Just to get started, though, we can pick out the essentials!

What Do You Need To Draw Manga

To draw manga, you will need:

• Mechanical Pencil
• Drawing Nibs
• Fine-point Pen
• Brush Pen
• Ruler

More supplies can be added to the list for more professional-grade manga comics, but these are the basics that can be used to create full manga pages.

The most important things on this list are the drawing nibs and the paper. In order to stop the ink from bleeding through, you will want something like Deleter Comic Manga Paper that is trusted by many manga artists around the world.

Also feel free to take a look at thelong list of manga supplies, if you want a better idea of why each of these items are essential for creating manga.

Is It Better To Draw Manga Digitally Or Traditionally

The first thing you’ll want to do is decide whether you want to draw manga physically, digitally, or both.

It’s better to draw manga digitally because drawing digitally is a lot more forgiving thanks to the added tools available in drawing software. It is also much easier to add shading, create cleaner more prominent lines, and publish finished manga work when it has been drawn digitally instead of traditionally.

With that being said, I am much better at drawing with a pencil and paper than I am at drawing with a tablet. Still, drawing digitally means you won’t need to shell out the cash for all the extra supplies needed (G-Pens, Ink, Paper, etc.)

I recommend giving each media a try and figuring out which you’re more comfortable with. I will say, though, digital drawing will likely give more potential for sharing your art and gaining potential readers.

Do You Need A Drawing Tablet To Draw Manga

You do not need a drawing tablet to draw manga. Manga can be drawn completely with traditional tools like mechanical pencils, fine-point pens, nibs, ink, brush pens, and thick paper that can handle the ink and marker. A drawing tablet does make creating manga easier, but it is not necessary.

When I say a tablet makes it easier, I’m not ragging on tablets because drawing manga with them is still a lot of work. However, there’s no denying that having the power of a computer at your fingertips makes everything from drawing the panel lines to shading and coloring much easier than doing so traditionally.

So a drawing tablet is not necessary for making manga, but I would recommend picking one up at some point if it’s in your budget. There are very affordable drawing tablets available on the internet and many used tablets still work perfectly (I’m currently using a used Huion Inspiroy myself!)

I will say, there is something so awesome about creating your own full-fledged manga page traditionally, though. They also make the best presents!

If you read manga or watch anime, then you know that there are many different styles to choose from. There are realistic manga, more cartoony manga, chibi manga, and everything in between.

Realistic

Realistic manga will require more in-depth knowledge of anatomy than other styles. Vagabond and Junji Ito’s works are good examples of realistic styles (even if Junji Ito is more surrealist.)

Semi Realistic

A semi realistic manga is going to be what most people think of when they think of manga. Think about Saitama from One Punch Man. He has realistic body proportions but the artists still aren’t going for 100% realism. Dragon Ball, Studio Ghibli anime, etc all fall into this category on some kind of range and this is the style I’d recommend most new manga artists aim for.

It allows you to practice manga without getting hung up on trying to make things so realistic that you have to study anatomy for a year instead of drawing some manga!

Cartoony

Panty and Stocking is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about this style of art in manga. Most manga will incorporate cartoony or chibi characters somewhere into their panels, so I’m sure you’ve seen them around.

However, there are a few manga that lean completely into the cartoon style with their characters and backgrounds. If this style speaks to you more than the typical manga style, then I say roll with it! The stories you can tell are not limited at all by what style you decide on.

How To Choose A Manga Style

To choose a style for your manga comics, think about what kind of story you want to tell and pick an art style that will compliment that story. Serious, dramatic stories benefit from realistic art, while action-packed or less realistic stories will benefit from less realistic and more playful art styles.

I recommend taking a look at your favorite manga and anime and thinking about the art styles that were chosen for each one. If you want people to relate to your characters, then drawing them in a way that people can relate to (aka making them realistic) will really help your readers gain empathy for your characters.

Imagine if a manga like Attack on Titan had really abstract, goofy looking characters. The story would not be as impactful. Or if a manga or anime like Spy Family or Sakamoto Days went with hyper realistic characters instead of half-realistic, stylized characters. The comedy may not hit as hard and we may not fall in love with the characters as easily.

Keep in mind, you can always subvert expectations, but if you’re just starting out it may be better to stick to an easy style for the story you’re telling.

How To Start Drawing Manga As A Beginner

To start drawing manga, as a beginner, try redrawing your favorite manga panels and scenes. This will help you learn to layout scenes, practice drawing real characters, and make learning to draw very engaging. Once you are comfortable, move onto practicing drawing specific aspects (faces, anatomy, etc.)

This method of learning to draw manga was actually suggested by the author of The Shonen Jump Guide To Making Manga. It’s a method I highly recommend because it improved my actual manga drawing skills much faster than drawing the same sphere 500 times in a row (this is still important to practice, though.)

Instead of focusing on nailing down every drawing technique, and learning anatomy like the back of your hand, start by drawing real manga! Find your favorite page of your favorite manga and redraw it. Draw every panel and every detail you can. Afterward, compare to the original and figure out what you did differently, what you missed, and think about why you missed it.

Once you’ve spent a few weeks or however long you want doing this, you can start working in fundamentals. How to draw manga heads, faces, expressions, bodies, etc. All of these things can be learned in order to improve your manga.

Why You Shouldn’t Start With Anatomy And Drawing Fundamentals

There are so many talented artists that can draw beautiful anime and manga characters that have still never drawn a manga page! That’s why the author of The Shonen Jump Guide To Making Manga recommends starting off with drawing manga, and then moving onto improving your technique with the help of the countless books, videos, and resources available!

After all, if you’re just learning to play Baseball, you’re not going to study the perfect grip and stance for holding a baseball bat. You’re going to grab the bat and swing for the fences, then learn the best way to do it once you’re comfortable swinging!

I hope I was able to answer your questions and I hope this short guide has given you the confidence necessary to start your manga drawing journey! Whether you go digital or stick with traditional methods, we all have a creative side and I can’t wait to see your shine through!

Feel free to email me any manga you create! I’d love to show them off in the Checkinmanga newsletter!