10 pro tips

Description

You know how to draw, but your manga pages just don't look as professional as you'd want them to be? Fear not!

Let's begin our course on how to draw professional-looking manga with 10 tips that will give that extra polish to your work!



10 pro tips
Chapter Cover
1
1

So you want to draw manga like a pro... but don't know how? Then take a seat, because you're about to get schooled B] If you thought that it requires endless amounts of...

Introduction
Tip1
Tip1
Shapes 1
Shapes 1

Beginners know how to draw squares, circles and rectangles. Pros know how to draw boxes, spheres and cylinders. "Wait, what's the difference?", you ask. Simple: the...

Master drawing basic forms in perspective!

Perspective applies to all objects in the same way, whether they're simple or complex. So mastering perspective for primitives will help you tremendously when drawing more...

Back to the basics
Shapes 2
Shapes 2
Shapes 3
Shapes 3

Simply drawing a lot of boxes and spheres is great and all, but it's even better to try and understand the principles that rule the world of perspective. One such...

Distance dependent distortion

It's very much possible to represent all complex forms through a combination of primitives. In fact, this is also how our brains are able to remember what a particular...

Everything consists of primitives
Shapes 4
Shapes 4
Shapes 5
Shapes 5

One of the most common beginner mistakes is to restrict your viewing angles to only the front or the profile, which leads to a very "flat" looking drawing style. This is...

Primitives make drawing complex forms simple
Tip2
Tip2

So you have an action-packed manga with a lot of stuff going on. That's cool. You can play around with your page layout, sound words and speech bubbles, but here's one thing...

Keep the reading flow linear!
Reading Flow
Reading Flow

When the reading flow allows for multiple visual paths, it becomes difficult to follow the action. As a result, the reader gets tired and has a tough time immersing themself...

Stick to the plan
Tip3
Tip3

It's common not to draw backgrounds in manga panels and instead use effects to convey a particular emotion or atmosphere. That's perfectly legitimate, in fact it's...

Backgrounds exist for a reason
Location
Location

Remind your readers regularly about where your characters are by adding a background to your panels.

PRO TIP 3:
Tip4
Tip4

The beginner uses the same camera angles over and over again. The pro tames perspective like a wild beast to crush their enemies. Recycling the same viewing angles gets...

Use perspective in your favor
Perspective 1
Perspective 1

Let's take this drawing for example. It's not bad. But the camera focuses on him as a whole. It's looking quite balanced, but also very "normal". Where's the suspense?

Regular angle
Perspective 2
Perspective 2

Now we're getting somewhere! By using a low perspective with more distortion, we make the character look "larger" and more awesome. Furthermore, the weapon looks as if...

Epic angle

Use interesting angles to show your characters and scenes from their best side. Focus on what you want the reader to notice most.

PRO TIP 4:
Tip5
Tip5

The beginner will start drawing without first thinking about how big everything should be compared to everything else. As a result, a house or a tree might end up looking...

Everything is relative
Proportions
Proportions

*A pro doesn't start by drawing the characters head only to find that they won't fit inside the panel, and then change the proportions to "make it fit". No, a pro will...

PRO TIP 5:
Tip6
Tip6

Every now and then, you will need to draw some (literally) dark scenes. A beginner will be tempted to simply put a dark screen tone over the drawing, but this will make it...

Use rim light to add depth to your characters in dark scenes!
Rim Light
Rim Light

Use rim light to prevent your characters from looking flat and dull in dark environments.

PRO TIP 6:
Tip7
Tip7

The beginner artist is impatient. They will start drawing a page without fully considering how all elements interact with each other, thus creating a page that looks...

Start with thumb sketches!
Thumb Sketches
Thumb Sketches

*Always plan your pages from big to small. Don't lose yourself in tiny details before you haven't established the overall layout. Thumb sketches can help to ensure that a page...

PRO TIP 7:
Tip8
Tip8

The beginner artist assumes they know how to draw everything right. The pro assumes that they don't and checks to make sure. Assumptions are those things that are...

Most things aren't really the way they seem!
Assumptions
Assumptions

Don't assume you know. Make sure you know.

PRO TIP 8:
Tip9
Tip9

Quite often, the only thing that seperates an amateur from a pro is the fact that the latter uses references. No one knows how to draw every single thing. *And that's...

Use references!
Refs
Refs

Being able and willing to use reference images is a fundamental skill of every manga artist. Acquire it. Just remember: Using references is not the same as copying or...

PRO TIP 9:
Tip10
Tip10

The beginner keeps re-inventing the wheel with every drawing. The pro takes some extra time to create a refined wheel that doesn't need re-inventing. ...and by "wheel" I...

It's only "style" when it's consistent!
Consistency
Consistency

*Even though it takes extra time and effort: Make sure to create reference sheets for all the important designs of your manga, and keep them close. Consistent drawings is...

PRO TIP 10:

Hopefully, these 10 tips have given you some inspiration as to what you should focus on the next time you draw a manga page, in order to make it more professional. *What was...

Outro

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