Guide Note: Manga is generally thought of as both a visual style of drawing and Japanese printed comics. For a deeper definition of Manga, check out the How to Draw Manga page here on Mahalo. The style of drawing is shared with Anime, the Japanese animated film genre. The video sharing sites are overrun with videos showing you examples of people drawing Manga characters with both traditional paper and pencil, and high tech tools like Photoshop and Gimp. This guide includes a few of these videos, but focuses on actual instruction on how to draw in this style.
Fast Facts:
Manga/Anime style of drawing characters usually have large eyes, a small mouth and unnatural hair color.
Large eyes are used in Manga to help better show emotion.
Manga is read by all age groups and normally written for adults.
Manga can be created with traditional pens and paper, or using digital tools like Photoshop or Gimp.
There are many genres of Manga, including action-adventure, romance, sports and games, historical drama, comedy, science fiction and fantasy, mystery, horror, sexuality, and business and commerce.
Manga was a 481 billion yen market in Japan in 2006 (approximately $4.4 billion dollars).
In 2005 the North American Manga market was $155 and $180 million at retail.
