Q&A for How to Draw Manga

Add shading in the iris and white patches, as if your character was looking into a light.

To draw the same character is kind of tough. Have an original image of the character for guidance, and use templates of people in different positions/angles and imitate them. Keep a sketchbook to try out different perspectives until you're happy with them.

Find a point in which you want the wind to be coming from. Then, you can estimate how long the character's hair is and make it flowing the opposite of where the wind is coming from.

Do in pencil first, then lightly shade it before drawing in the lines you want with ink/pen.

Look at where the clothing scrunches up on a figure and add lines there. If you need more help, use a reference image to give you a better idea of where the wrinkles should go.

Manga are typically done in black and white, but you can color it using things like watercolor, gouache, Copic markers, etc.

Try observing real life objects to see where the light would fall. Shadows will usually be under folds of clothes and hair, and lighter areas will be opposite to this.

Make the hand larger than the body and draw it in front of the body.

Use the 'head' rule: the body is roughly 5 heads tall and the shoulders are 2 heads outward.

Simply start with a stick figure than slowly add detail as you go on.

Start advertising your mangas and drawings to close friends and family. Then start advertising with posters and create a website to send out to publishers.

That is absolutely okay! Just don't say that you came up with the idea, and if you post your drawings on social media, be sure to give credit as to where the idea is from.

It takes time. As much time as it needs for you to get to where you want to be in your ability.

Visit your local art or craft store to purchase ink gel pens.

Draw two upside down curved lines for the closed eyes, and then a few eyelashes. Make the eyelashes longer for a girl, shorter for a boy.

You cannot mix anime and manga. Anime and manga are basically the same thing.

2-3 white spots and hearts/stars/dots will make it look happy or kawaii. Do a Google image search for "happy anime eyes" and you'll see what I mean.

Sure, as long as you can agree on an artistic vision with your friends/group members, you can absolutely work together to make manga.

There is no easy answer. Keep in mind that professional manga artists have been drawing for most of their lives. The more you draw, the better your results will look. You may also need to practice drawing from real life to really get your stylized work (like manga) to look good.

Manga hair is about the craziest you can find. Just be creative. Faces usually have the same appearance for every character, so hair defines him or her. The color of the hair also contributes. It gives the viewer an idea of what type of person the character is.

You can finish the character's body after the clothes. Draw the rough sketch, do the clothes, then finish the body. I also find that doing the facial features last is easiest.

If you're drawing a character facing toward the viewer, just make everything even. Make the eyes proportional, and make sure the torso and legs are also straight.

Drawing in different poses takes a lot of practice, but you'll soon master it. Try looking at references and even copying (but never say copied work is your own) some poses done by other artists to get a feel of what you should do. Also, study perspective. Without correct perspective, poses can be even harder to draw.

Look at your eyebrows in the mirror or pictures on the internet. Then, with the basic shape of these in mind, draw a simple polygon to serve for the eyebrows. (Boys typically have thicker brows and girls have thinner ones.) In manga, the eyebrows aren't very hairy or fluffy; they're more like a line. Depending on the character you are drawing, the eyebrow should be the correct distance away from the eye itself.

I've always had trouble with heads and measurements. I think the best way to get a good sense of measurement is to trace manga characters on a drawing app, but it has to be on an iPad or tablet, something that fits the pages of your drawings and gives your hand a sense out what it feels like to draw heads in a way that you're proud of. Also, check out manga from your library and copy the pictures that aren't cut off by speech bubbles. Pokemon manga is the best to practice with, for me anyway. The app I learned from is called Sketch Book Pro, if that's any help.

Extend the character's arm outward and make the finger (of your choice) extended also.

Well, Copics and other alcohol-based markers are great for blending and are highly recommended, but yes. I've seen amazing manga artwork colored with Crayola markers.

Try making different shapes with the eyes. Anime characters tend to have a lot of expression in their body language and eyes.

Nothing. Anime utilizes the same style that manga does.

Yes, very much so. Don't ever go straight into a manga before knowing what your characters look like in different poses and angles, and with different expressions. Experimenting is a great first step.