This is a very handy guide to drawing Manga characters and artefacts and it has quite a lot that carries over into general art - some nicely simplified ways of drawing figures, animals and clothing that will answer a lot of questions without going into greater detail than necessary. As a basic guide to the main elements of Manga drawing, the book is nicely comprehensive and excellent value.-Artbookreview.net Manga art is one of the most popular art styles around. It is also one of the easiest art forms to create. This book is a good introduction explaining all the techniques that are necessary to create suitable characters. It teaches how to draw bodies, faces, eyes, hair, hands, feet and the all important expressions that characterize a manga drawing. And it is not just humans - there are plenty of cute animals, monsters and fantasy creatures within the collection. There are lots of step by step drawings showing how to create a specific character or a specific style such as a crying boy, messy hair or an evil expression. Extra help is provided by the provision of pages of clothing, accessories, weapons and vehicles with suggestions how they can be tailored to your own requirements. There is even a useful introduction to the history and development of manga art.A good, solid basic book which will be an essential for all prospective manga artists.-Monstersandcritics.com If you are a regular visitor to this site you might remember my reviews last year of Yishan Li's six-book Mini Manga series. If small is not your idea of beautiful, or you would prefer a larger, single volume work on becoming a mangaka then here is a book that fits the bill. User friendly and pretty exhaustive, this book gives a crash course in getting to grips with the manga style. After a brief outline of what manga is, there is a quick description of the basic items you need and it is with the lessons. First up is heads and faces so you can start by getting those trademark eyes just right. This sets out the pattern all the chapters follow, with lots of staged examples to work through, which give the artist a hands-on approach to getting the style right which is worth any amount of words. Other chapters deal with other body parts as well as hair, then clothing, weapons, vehicles, animals, equipment and mecha by which time you ought to be quite proficient. Learning how to draw strips and put a story together is dealt with in other books in more detail - here it is not part of the course- but if it is the drawing part you want to study then this is an excellent book to buy. I like the spine with its colored page edges so you can find the right section as long as you know what color to look for, and the wonderfully direct way of teaching by examples. A good book for any wannabe mangaka's shelf.-Myshelf.com
