Manga Tutorial Books Review: Part 1

Hey guys!!! I posted on instagram and my facebook page a few days ago that I was planning to do a review on some manga tutorial books that I've never had the opportunity to go through before. I recently went on a rampage through my local library's catalog, and requested almost every book on "manga drawing" that the search turned up. Most of them, I have never read or heard of before! I've been looking for some new challenges and tutorials for upcoming art classes I'll be teaching, and I thought looking through some fresh books might help. Also, I believe you can never learn enough about what you have a real interest and passion in doing!!! =-)

Today, We'll be reviewing three books that I just finished looking through.... Actually, I have a HUGE stack of similar books on my desk, but I can only get through so many at a time... So I'm not sure how many blog posts there could end up being on this subject!!!  ^^;  


Here are the three books we'll be going over:

1: DRAWING MANGA: ANIMALS, CHIBIS, AND OTHER ADORABLE CHARACTERS

I've seen this book on the shelf at another local library I sometimes visit. I never looked through it until this time though. While it says "chibis... and other adorable creatures" on the cover, pretty much, this book focuses on drawing cute animals. It gives you the basics to draw realistic looking animals, then shows you how to turn them into chibis.  It also shows some drawings of  mythological Japanese creatures, though it doesn't really show you the basics of how to draw these animals. If you're enthusiastic about drawing cute animals, it's a good book to look into. Personally, I just didn't find it very helpful at this time, but it doesn't mean I won't look at it another time to do some referencing. =-)





2:  SHOUJO MANGA TECHNIQUES: WRITING STORIES

THIS. BOOK. I wish I'd known about it a while back!!!  This book skips over all the basics of drawing manga art, and lays out the basics of WRITING a manga story. The book is laid out like a manga comic as you read it, which is a really cute way to give a tutorial. This book is part of a two or three book series ( I could only find the first and second books, this one above, in my library's catalog) that is completely focused on how to create shoujo style manga. This book has already been helpful to me, because while I enjoy scribbling out fan fiction every once in a blue moon, I have never really been sure of how to lay out a story for a manga format... which is part of the reason I haven't even tried!! ^^;    I definitely recommend trying to find this book, whether through the library, amazon, or ebay (it's an older book, late 90's -early 2000's, and not in print anymore from the looks of it!!!).  Especially if you're like me and don't know the first thing about how to put together a story for a manga or comic!!






3:  HOW TO DRAW MANGA: PEN AND TONE TECHNIQUES

I was more excited about this book until after I sat down today and read it... eh.   -_-;

This is another series of tutorial books (I have several more sitting on my desk), and all of them talk about a different subject or genre in manga art. I think this would be a good series to update... It was published in Japan in 1996 and translated in English in 2000. The translation is HORRIBLY done. There were complete speech bubbles (it's laid out in a manga format again) that did not make any sense at all. Also, all of the drawing tools laid out in this book are drawing supplies that you can pretty much only get in Japan... or order them from Japan for ridiculous shipping rates. I feel like most of this book dealt with talking about these hard-to-get supplies rather than the techniques of using a pen. The only real techniques they show you are different ways to cross hatch when you draw. The last part of the book deals with how to use screen tones, which is something that I think is neat, but again, it's really hard to find screen tones over here... you'd have to order them. So right now, this book felt confusing and not very helpful. Like I said, I think the series needs to be updated and the translation needs a lot of fixing.





.... And so! Those are my thoughts about these three tutorial books. I'll be going through some more books (especially since I can't find my desk at the moment) and I'll post some more reviews soon!! If you've gone through any of these books, I'd love to hear your thoughts on them too!!   ^^



-Stasia-Chan '16

Happy Wednesday!

.......


Hello!!!  Hope you're having a great week so far. Things have been insanely busy lately, but I thought I'd try to do a quick post about what's going on art wise!


Last week we were just beyond crazy busy, and there was NO time for art. I was majorly bummed about it too, because art is such an outlet for me. But this week has been so much better!!! I've been feeling a little down lately, and so I've been drawing these little daily doodle sort of things to cheer myself up. It's been a long time since I've had so much fun drawing and using whatever colors and expressions I want, and it's been a BLAST!!!!   Wednesday up there is one example of these little doodles....   c-=


I've been trying to cut back on how much I use my copics, because I just haven't had the money to replace most of my colors or buy the refills. I'm currently on the fence about the refills. I liked them at first, but lately it seems like my markers are really drying up the color after they've been refilled. I can't figure it out, because I'm using quite a bit when I refill. I might just have to replace some of these problem markers and see how they work out when they're still fairly new? Anyway, I hope people won't think I'm complaining about money or something.... It's just a fact of life that copics are expensive, and I don't know many people that can consistently buy markers or refills on a constant basis!!!  -_-;   This is part of my reasoning for setting up a shop on etsy!!!

Speaking of etsy, it's coming along! I still haven't opened a store, but I hope to next week!! I've been working on things to list here and there the last few days, and I have a notebook with the inventory I have to list so far! Exciting!

Today, I caught up FINALLY on a couple Miyazaki Monday pieces! I colored both of these with colored pencil. I think I had the most fun with the "Spiller" piece, because I just sort of kept scribbling brown and green tones to keep it earthy.  ^^    I entered a watercolor of Totoro based off a Miyazaki concept piece in our local fair, and I won second place, which is very exciting for me!!!  ^^

Until next time.... Have a nice day!!  ^^

-Stasia-Chan '16

Social Media Hiatus and the Future!

Hello, and happy labor day!!  We enjoyed a day here at home. Since my husband didn't work today, I had a list of some chores that needed a man's touch here at home, and we ran a few errands around town that we didn't get to on Saturday. I thought I would grab a few minutes to write about my month without social media!!

I logged out of everything on the last day of July... Instagram, Facebook, even Pinterest. And to be honest, I didn't miss any of it like I thought it would. Being completely social media free was easier than I thought it would be. The only times I ever really wanted to post was when I was busily sketching and coming out with some stuff that I really liked, I missed sharing those things. Other than that, I enjoyed my month without the drama and depressing posts. Because, yes, while we can filter some of what we are seeing on these networks, you're never going to be able to block it all out completely. And, it's all too easy to fall into the trap yourself of playing the victim on social media. I know, because I'm guilty of it at times. If you've had a bad day, what's your first thought? Post about it and maybe someone will comfort you. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it plays into the circle of drama and depressing posts that float around continuously. I found out that I sincerely enjoyed my time off of it. I have discovered this year that I seem to have a real problem with social anxiety, and social media has not helped the problem. I also enjoyed the time to get back to other things that I enjoy!! It's so easy to fall into the habit of when you have a few minutes, picking up your phone or tablet to check your notifications, and then you find yourself scrolling, and next thing you know, you've been sitting there way longer that you should have, and then you're complaining about the things that you didn't get done when it's your own fault!!  

Now, having said all that... and maybe it sounds like I'm being very candid.. I'm the kind of person that is horrible at face to face conversing, but when you put me behind a piece of paper or a computer, words just seem to pour out.. I do not disapprove of social media. I think there is a lot of good that is accomplished with it. But social media isn't right for everyone, and some people need to keep a tighter rein on how much they're using it. I've discovered that I am one of those people. Now, don't panic, I plan on keeping my social media accounts! But, I plan to cut back on how much I'm using those outlets. If I don't post much, that's why... Because I don't want it to be the first thing I run to all the time just to get some likes or favorites. I will still be posting, they may just be sporadic posts split up between a few days or a weeks time. I think this is going to be what's best for me in the long run, and I think it's going to help my art too. Less time on social media will (hopefully... between homeschooling and theater and other things!) mean more time to focus on art!!

I went into the month with TONS of plans... as usual, I set way too many goals for myself. I'm the kind of person that puts too much personal pressure on myself, and then when I don't get all those goals accomplished, I feel frustrated with myself!!  xD   So, I had a lot of good intentions... they just didn't all see the light....  xD    I kept up with the daily drawing challenge for a good part of the month, but it was hard. The month was also crazy busy! And I had several that I sketched, didn't feel crazy about, filed them on my desk to go back to later, and never got back to them... But!  I got a few really nice Clintasha pieces out of the deal, and I'm happier about putting in the time and passion into those, because they were ones that I really wanted to do and wanted to see them through! I may be selling a few of those originals... But I'll talk more about all that in a few weeks once I have everything ironed out on the selling end and go through what I have to get rid of! 

I did manage to keep up with the Miyazaki Mondays!! With the exception of the one due today, I have them all inked. As usual, my problem always seems to be in FINISHING a project from sketch to colors... It's hard to find the time to complete a project. I need to start working on things in bits and pieces. I think they would get colored faster that way!!

I managed to work on quite a bit of watercoloring, but it takes so. much. time. I feel like I've learned a lot about the technique of watercoloring this year, and it's especially been handy as I'm working to replace copic markers, but it takes more time than I usually have to work with them!!  

Probably my favorite thing I worked on for the month of August were these various poses and clothing sketches from the 1950's. It was just FUN to sit down and sketch whatever came to mind!! This is the only page that got colored, but I have three more pages of more of these sketches. Probably going to color those with pencils. My copics and I are not getting along at the moment.... xD 

Anyway, that was mostly my month being free from social media! I also did a lot of crocheting this month and learned a few new stitches, and I've been crocheting things to sell for American Girl dolls. All in all, I enjoyed my hiatus, and I'll still continue to post, though not as frequently. The good news is, this blog will never know the difference, as it never seems to be updated on a frequent basis!!! xD  


-Stasia-Chan '16