Manga theory?

B

benlee1083

Completely Average High School Student
Can anyone recommend any manga theory books, I need to find out a bit more about the drawing styles of manga/anime and want to look at th differences between male/female/children etc and whether there is a blurred boundary between them or if the drawing styles are completely opposed to one another?
 
I guess that depends on if you want to lump manga as a style really. For me it's not a style but an origin and although can share similar traits the actual style of the artwork can vary greatly from artist to artist. Take Monkey Punch's Lupin III for example and compare it with say Naoki Urasawa's Monster and then take a look at Azumanga Diaoh by Kiyohiko Azuma. You'll see a vast variety in styles.

I don't really know about any books where you could read up on all this but that's just my two pence worth on styles.
 
Sy said:
I guess that depends on if you want to lump manga as a style really. For me it's not a style but an origin and although can share similar traits the actual style of the artwork can vary greatly from artist to artist. Take Monkey Punch's Lupin III for example and compare it with say Naoki Urasawa's Monster and then take a look at Azumanga Diaoh by Kiyohiko Azuma. You'll see a vast variety in styles.

I don't really know about any books where you could read up on all this but that's just my two pence worth on styles.
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That summed it up.
A common misconception is that there is only one manga style, which of course couldint hbe further from the truth.

Just look at tekkonkinkreet and Kemonozume compared to more traditional styles.
 
benlee1083 said:
Can anyone recommend any manga theory books, I need to find out a bit more about the drawing styles of manga/anime and want to look at th differences between male/female/children etc and whether there is a blurred boundary between them or if the drawing styles are completely opposed to one another?
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Hmm... do you really need a specific book for this? I mean, couldn't you find this out by just reading manga? >.>
Anyways... there's usually a few books like you ask about on the shelves next to manga, but after flicking through a few and seeing some a friend of mine bought, they didn't seem especially useful.
 
You don't need a book. Get some magazines, maybe one of those Artist's figures and look at the subject and simplify the facial features. Look at their eyes and draw your interpretation. I tend to think that those books don't work, and if they do... well, it's just a copied style.
 
Rather than try to imitate the style you are much better trying to find your own and work at that. It is also worth noting that the approach to drawing manga and (western) comics does not differ greatly; the only differences are all in the artists' interpretations and styles and that is as much cultural as it is determined by what you grew up with. Draw to a style that suits you and what you want to accomplish rather than try to be something else.
 
Drawing people from life helps too, it's a handy way of learning how to draw people in perspective correctly. Or find pictures of people in different poses off the net as inspiration. If you want to buy a book though, I can recommend Jack Hamm's Drawing The Head & Figure. It's not manga but the basic principles in that book are brilliant for drawing people.
 
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