Alex Itsios's Blog, page 3

How To Draw Chibies

 Chibies are quite cute things, but remember there are a variety of ways to draw them. Don't confine yourself to a specific type.

How to Draw Manga Clothes

 Dress for Success

When dressing your characters, don't skip out on the details. Think about the details that will make them more convincing such as:

Seam linksFoldsButtonsThe Little Things

Also avoid dressing characters in plain shirts and pants. If possible try experimenting with actual fashions of the day.

Drawing Folds

Folds are something you learn to do by observation, adn the amount of folds usually depends on style. However you should draw an ppropriate amount of fold lines to convey tension in clothes and cloth. Any place where the body bends there should be a fold line such as under the arms, knees and hips.

How to Use Folds

Fold in clothes are important so don't forget about them. You can use them to convey motion and make a pose appear more dynamic. Look at clothes people wear around you and observe the different lines you can make.

What to Draw?

 

All artist have this period where they can't find anything to draw, which is crazy because there is an infinite number of things out there waiting to be created. Don't let the artist block get the best of you for too long. Here are some things artists can do to find that insipration to create somethng and practice.

Keywords to Jumpstart Ideas

Even if you have the inspiration, but you still don't know where to start, here is a list of keywords to think about when coming up with a scene. In fact just close your eyes, point to something at random and do it.

Manga Characters in a Scene

Drawing Characters Together

I encourage you to draw characters in the same scene. It make a drawing more interesting. When you do remember to check a few things to make sure they look good.

Horizon Line

If you are a daring artist and actually bother to do group scenes with a crowd in the background or just characters milling about, you need to know this trick. The horizon line, is the where the camera/eye is leveled with the scene, be it up near the head or near the feet. Observe the differences in these scenes. If you draw this line, no matter how far or close the characters are the line should cut through the same part of the body for all of them. Observe the differences in the example.

Babies with Adults

A very rare scene in manga art, but some artists like drawing adult characters with children or babies. Make sure not to under exaggerate the size of the baby. Too often i've seen proportions where teh baby's head is so tiny it looks like a still-born. Try avoid this and consider the age of the baby to make it more convincing. Also remember babies have large foreheads with their eyes low to the chin.

Character Creation for Manga

 Brainstorming OCs (Original Characters)

OCs are quite fun to brainstorm from your stories or just for fun. Here are some things to think about whilst making up your character.

Age

Not everyone should be the same age. Consider drawing older characters and children.

Ethnicity/Culture

There just isn't enought genuine diversity portrayed in manga, so consider that.

Height

Not all characters are the same height

Fashion

What do they like to wear.

Flaws 

A genuine flaw that holds them back. Avoid fake flaws that are insignifican.

Backstory

Really think out something special. Dont add fake dept such as killing off their parents. Everyone does this, it's a lazy way to force someone to have sympathy for your character.

Personality

Avoid the character stereotypes you want to mimick in your favorite manga or anime.

Influences 

Get into your character's head and consider why they are the way they are. Environment, friends, hobbies, etc.

Character Stereotypes

Character creation is a very tricky process. Don't follow any particular character guidelines, because you want to make your characters unique and there are a lot anime stereotypes that we tend to copy without realizing it. Stay away from these types of characters, we've seen them a million times and they are becoming cliched and boring

How to Draw Manga Feet

Feet are something not many artists think about or even draw especially in manga since everyone loves drawing characters from the bust up. Well sometimes you need to draw a character full body, including the feet. Start with a basic sock shape and draw the toes in afterwards.

How to draw Manga Hands

Hands the mitten technique 

Hands can be pretty challenging, especially when you try to move the fingers around. There are many techniques to draw hands, but my favorite is the mitten technique. Start with a basic shape and the thumb, and then draw the fingers in. 

Here are some common mistakes you should look out for when drawing manga hands

How to Draw Manga Bodies

Body Proportion Check

When drawing the body, circles are your friends! It helps make your character look round and more realistic. There are many proportions to manga, from drawing long legs to large heads; however, everything needs to be within reason. Here are some quick tips to check your proportions, no matter what your style is.

Make Your Characters Move!

Too often we tend to draw characters in the same pose over and over again It's boring! Stop it! No seriously right now STOP! In action posing there is this principle called the line of action. It conveys the movement of the spine. It should never be S shaped. It's just one curved line. If your line of action is straight then your character's pose is BORING. Draw stick figures before you draw to make sure the line of action is at least curved.

Avoid Stiff Poses

Even if you were to draw a character just standing around, you can still make them look interesting. Even when character stands it should say something about their personality. Do they slouch? How is their chin angled? Where are their hands? how far apart are their feed?

How to Draw Manga Hair

The way you understand how to draw manga hair can easily make or break your drawing. Hair can be tricky because it is very erratic and random, but here are some hints.

Drawing Strands of hair

The more details you put into the hair the more complex your drawing will look. Depending on the style you want try to balance out the details. DO NOT draw these strands slowly, they are supposed to be quick fluid lines you do in one motion. When you do one line don't stop, do the next line immediately and the next so that you build up muscle memory to draw them closely together without having them cross into each other.

Know Where the Hairline is

Drawing bangs is a 'cop out' because artists don't like figuring out where the hairline is and manga has conditioned us to see characters without bangs as unattractive. you can be like everyone else or you can be aware of this and practice drawing characters without bangs.

Hair Variety

There are so many types of hair you can draw. Don't keep drawing the clicked straight hair, with bangs every manga character has. Look around you and do something different, it'll make your character unique.

Hair Mistakes

Hair is a very stylized aspect of manga, but there are some things you can and should avoid.

How to draw manga hair

The way you understand how to draw manga hair can easily make or break your drawing. Hair can be tricky because it is very erratic and random, but here are some hints.

Drawing Strands of hair

The more details you put into the hair the more complex your drawing will look. Depending on the style you want try to balance out the details. DO NOT draw these strands slowly, they are supposed to be quick fluid lines you do in one motion. When you do one line don't stop, do the next line immediately and the next so that you build up muscle memory to draw them closely together without having them cross into each other.

Know Where the Hairline is

Drawing bangs is a 'cop out' because artists don't like figuring out where the hairline is and manga has conditioned us to see characters without bangs as unattractive. you can be like everyone else or you can be aware of this and practice drawing characters without bangs.

Hair Variety

There are so many types of hair you can draw. Don't keep drawing the clicked straight hair, with bangs every manga character has. Look around you and do something different, it'll make your character unique.

Hair Mistakes

Hair is a very stylized aspect of manga, but there are some things you can and should avoid.