I had a friend ask, on behalf of another friend, how they might improve their drawing skills. Specifically to draw in a manga style. I don’t really feel I’m an expert here, but I read comics and, once upon a time, was actually a semi-trained animator so… fair enough.
I’m curious to here anyone else’s thoughts on it though… What I suggested was simply doing a lot of life drawing. At least one evening a week. Comic art really comes down to excellent observation and drawing ability. I think, once you have that you can create and refine your own style. As in, it doesn’t matter so much whether you draw a hand with sharp fluid lines of manga or with the jagged peniclly lines popular in US superhero comics right now; the question is really whether or not you know what a hand looks like and can render it in a way that suggests shape and depth.
What I used to find very difficult was finding a model who did dynamism. Outside of the animation course in Ballyfermot most life drawing classes tend to be quite sedate affairs. The more energetic poses are extremely tiring for a model to pose and most simply aren’t physically fit enough to be able to do it.
I suggested a book she might consider, which was been derided and praised in equal measure, called ‘How to draw Comics the Marvel Way‘. It focusses very much on the ’60’s superhero styles and suggests that a ‘house-style’ is better than an individual approach… But… the bulk of it does focus on how to quickly sketch the basic shapes of dynamic exaggerated poses and she could possibly learn from that and disregard the final inking touches that lend style.
What does anyone else think? Any advice to pass on?
