How to Draw Manga - Creative Fine Arts: A Snapshot of Our Journey

Dec 16, 20224 min read

It's a wrap! After 7 weeks, our Junior Artists are done with their Manga Anime Drawing.

Manga is the defining comic book style of Japan, and it's easy to see why. Its characters are all big-eyed, expressive creatures with elaborate costumes and big hair. It's all about storytelling.

For the past 7 weeks, our Junior artists have been learning everything from how to draw manga characters' faces and bodies, to how to create your own unique outfits and costumes. They studied body shapes, facial expressions, compositions, and color palettes and learned the skills needed to bring their dream manga character to life.

Come journey with us, here's an overview of our process:

Week 1: Designing our Manga Character

In week 1, our Junior artists were introduced to the world of manga, they learned about the difference between Japanese Manga and American comic books and were introduced to the various types of manga styles.

The Junior Artists were then tasked with designing their own characters. Through a mindmap, they were asked to think about their character’s likes, dislikes, personality traits, and more. From there, they came up with their very own unique character. After developing and sharing their character with the teacher and their classmates, our Junior Artists then proceeded to do an initial sketch of their characters.

Week 2: Time for Manga Eyes and some Storyboarding

We started the Second Class with everyone’s favorite manga eyes. Manga character’s eyes are one of, if not the hardest part of the face to master. Eyes are where most of someone’s emotion is expressed and when drawn well, an artist can create several layers of depth for a character. After some practice, our Junior Artists got the hang of manga eyes - check out their work!

With the character mindmap that they developed, our Junior Artists then proceeded to map out their storyboards. A storyboard is a series of panels in which sketches are arranged to tell a story. They used their mindmaps as reference points for their storyboards so that they could make sure that everything would be clear and consistent.

Week 3 and 4: Finalizing our Storyboards and Inking

The Junior Artists were finally finished with their storyboards and it was time to move on and transfer their work to their final A3 paper.

Before getting started, they used masking tape to map out their panels to ensure clean lines for the finished work. They then began the task of transferring their work and after, they began the inking process. Drawing in pen and ink is like walking a tightrope. Each step needs to be a mindful one. Once a line is on the paper, there’s no going back. Our Junior Artists had to be mindful and stay concentrated throughout this process.

Week 5: Getting our Hands Dirty with Acrylic Ink

It's time to get colorful. For this project, our Junior Artists were introduced to acrylic ink. Acrylic Inks are essentially an extremely fluid version of acrylic paint. A Brightly colored, highly expressive, lightfast, and very flowy.

At Artistori, we make it a point for our students to try a wide range of mediums and techniques. After already dabbling with acrylic paint for our previous project, we wanted to try something new.

Our Junior Artists chose a color palette that ensures cohesiveness and continuity in the final outcome. After this process, they began painting!

Week 6: Another week to play with colors

Our Junior Artists continue the painting process this week, and they worked hard to ensure that they stuck with their chosen color palette and maintained cohesiveness in their work.

Week 7: It's Showcase Week!

It's a wrap! At the end of each project, our Junior Artists participate in showcase week where they do a short sharing on their artistic journey - they share about their challenges, and joy and learn to talk about their journey. This is a great way for our students to reflect on their work and how they feel about it.

We are so proud of all of our students for their hard work throughout the year. We hope you enjoyed being part of their journey as much as we do. Catch some of our students sharing in the video below: