Attention manga and kawaii–loving tweens! Now you can learn to create your own adorable manga artwork with this fun-to-read guide by award-winning middle-grade graphic novelist Misako Rocks!
Misako is a Japanese manga comic artist who moved to the United States to pursue her dreams. With her online and in-person drawing lessons for children, and now with her Learn Manga with Misako series of books, she strives to help the next generation of young artists and readers bring their imaginations to life.
Combining drawing tutorials with motivational messages that encourage artists to draw and think freely, How to Draw Kawaii Manga Characters inspires kids ages 7 to 12 to unleash their creativity in the most entertaining way possible.
This engaging and easy-to-follow book
Young artists everywhere will find inspiration in Misako’s remarkable story as they follow her warm, accessible instructions in pursuit of their own dreams.
Find even more fun-loving manga instruction in How to Draw Kawaii Manga Fashion , also from the Learn Manga with Misako series .
The author of the Manga flavored graphic novels Bounce Back and No Such Thing as Perfect gives tips on how to draw characters similar to hers. There are chapters on how to draw eyes (including all of the starry ones), face angles, hair, bodies, and hands. There are step-by-step instructions with a lot of good information about proportion. The facial expressions, complete with explanations of how to make angry eyebrows, are especially good, although I didn't try to do any drawings. There's a discussion of the difference between teen and tween bodies, and even how the wrong proportions can make a tween face look like a toddler one. There are some pages meant to be drawn on, but these are accompanied by a QR code where young artists can access the templates to print out. Most of the chapters concentrate on drawing girl characters; drawing boys is only addressed in the last chapter. This author also has How to Draw Manga Fashion being published as well.
The pandemic led to a resurgence in interest in Manga at my school, and I have a lot of students who would love to try to replicate the drawing of the girl holding her cat. Right now, these are only available in paperback, which won't hold up well, but I'll see if Follett Content Solutions of Perma-Bound offers these in a prebind. Both volumes would make excellent gifts for young artists, accompanied by some of the kawaii drawing supplies described at the beginning of the book. And yes, I still have The Anime Companion: What's Japanese in Japanese Animation? by Gilles Poitras (November 1st 1998 by Stone Bridge Press) in my library!
I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
If you love cute, colourful animations and want to learn to draw, this book is a fun resource that you will refer to over and over again. It starts with the basics, shape and proportions, of the head. It then shows you how to give your characters emotions, and how to draw bodies and fashion. It doesn't go into depth, but it includes just enough information, and wouldn't overwhelm a beginner. It's best to have access to the internet when you are reading it because the online videos add a lot to the book, and they are convenient to locate by scanning the QR code included on the pages.
I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
This is an okay reference book for how to draw manga characters that features cute exercises for beginners. The target audience is tween and teens and the focus is mainly on how to draw characters that fall into those age groups, but personally I did not find that they were that well differentiated. I wanted to see more diversity in drawing style - maybe a focus on chibi drawing too as it was mentioned a bunch of times in the book.
Some parts of it were quite repetitive with no need and some pages felt like filler pages. But overall it's not a bad drawing book for younger kids.
This step by step guide is super easy to follow and so adorable! I didn't realize there was "how to" books on this website and as someone who always like to practice there drawing and different drawing types, it was fun to explore. Even my 9 year old daughter enjoyed looking at the instructions. She will definitely be using after me.
I asked for this manual because my 7-year-old daughter is crazy about drawing, especially those cool manga characters. The book has easy-to-understand language and colorful illustrations that make it perfect for kids. It's packed with lots of useful tips too. My little artist gives it a thumbs up!
Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.
This book is very helpful in giving advice on how to draw manga characters. I can't draw well at all, b7t this book gives me hope to be able to at least draw better faces. It gives detail on how to do expressive eyes for both female and male characters. As well as, pointers on the full body drawings and clothing. Such a fun read.
This how to draw book is very good espashly for someone at a beginner level wanting to draw in manga style. It has a lot of good information as well as some basic drawing like different months, eyes and how to draw hands. Would definitely recommend it to someone just starting out with Manga style art.
This is a great little book to have if you want to learn how to draw manga. There is just the right amount of bite-sized and easy to grasp lessons to make sure anyone can start drawing without feeling overwhelmed.
This book is incredibly helpful, inspiring, and SO cute! I definitely recommend this book for anyone who loves kawaii, chibi, or manga, or any artists who want to learn this style! Full of variety, this book incorporates instructions to draw many body types, eyes, hairstyles, and more!
I love this art style and how the book is designed. I’m going to have so much fun learning how to draw these. These books aren’t just for kids but anyone who wants inspiration and tutorials to improve their art!
I’m definitely going to try these out with my nieces and nephews, and my best friend who loves art! I know it will be such a fun and engaging activity for the kids, and for me as well! It’s definitely attention capturing, and the options are so cute and lovely!
I recommend this book to any and all young artists and old artists alike! The book is intended for ages 7-12, but I can see it being appropriate and working for all ages! It’s family friendly. I also recommend it for all those who love to watch and read manga, anime, and loves the style of kawaii and chibi art!
Overall, I rate this one:
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5. (5/5) Stars
I can’t wait to see the next installment in this series of instructional art books and tutorials!