In the gray with my graphite.

[joshabplanalp]

I am a lifetime art student that has been actively consuming everything i can to evolve my skills in the direction that I am most successful and i have had a semester of colege for game design. I am currently working on getting back into school to continue my education but for now i am utilizing everything the internet has to offer to advance my talents on my own. My problem is that I am increasingly growing my graphite art but it seems that there isnt as many artists out there that are into graphite as there should be. My thought is that in order to develope true skills that will be remembered in illustration and the art of this day in age just as Davinci is in his artistic genre instead of falling into the sea of artists who are content with just runing with the crowd, then you must crawl then walk then run and then sprint till your finish line. My question is is there any one who can help me out of the rut that im in with my art i can draw abstract fantasy art and most everything else but right now i am trying to master magna. What is most popular manga images to learn and what is the most difficult aspect of manga that people tend to stay away from due to its difficulty? Any advise would be vary helpful.

[joshabplanalp]

now im just wondering how I can have 117 people view this thread and none of them have anything helpful to offer me, if we were in an art school and i asked some of the upper classmen for advise would i get the same results.......

[Spirit]

I'm afraid I don't know much about Manga at all, so I can't offer any helpful advice in regards to what's more difficult or popular. However I know that you'd need to study anatomy and the figure before you could effectively stylise the body, like in Manga. I need to study the figure myself, but I've seen many people come to this website drawing Manga asking for help with drawing, who didn't learn how to draw the body first and were drawings symbols of what they thought made up the body - such as symbols for the eyes, nose etc. Studying the body for a bit beforehand could really help you avoid that trap!

Also, don't focus so much on trying to be an artist that'll be remembered, that puts so much pressure on yourself! Try to get good at what you want to do first, it's like jumping into a lake before learning how to swim. Post some of your work on here as well, it'll give us a better idea of where you're coming from! Sorry I couldn't offer any more help, my knowledge is limited. I'm sure others will be able to give you more in depth advice, but I hoped I helped in any way!

[Ryan Provenzano]

Most amateur manga artists I know tend to stay away from perspective and drawing from life, as well as tone(value); three pretty crucial subjects. They also often heavily rely on others' symbols to draw objects or whatever. Anyways, I recommend you get rid of this idea of 'manga.' Manga is the japanese word for comics. If you want to be truly REMARKABLE, then stop limiting yourself to the way comics are drawn in one country. There is an incredibly large saturation of manga; both professional and amateur. You need to really market yourself well in order to get yourself out there. Don't be like those people that publish their manga online on a little small island that no one even knows exists. I see this way too often; don't make the same mistake. You need to get your presence out there. People need to KNOW that you exist. So, grind over improving your skills; learn what you need to learn and just do it. You need to be good to get noticed, and to get a big presence you need to go above and beyond, becoming a part of the community. I wanted to become a manga artist before; but I realized it's not for me, and moved on to something else.

But, that doesn't mean you can't read manga or be influenced by it. I see a lot of people really influenced by Kubo Tite and Masashi Kishimoto. Don't choose influences for your style because they are popular. However, choose influences because you like them. And because of this principle, just this principle, is why you should not just take influences from only manga. That is a mistake that will harm your creativity.

[Lost My Marbles]

Hi!

I think if you truly are serious about selling your art, you should develop this idea of yours more. It's quite unique and I could see it becoming pretty amazing if you work at it. It's too bad that graphite isn't that highly regarded in the arts. You can't really sell graphite drawings for much. If you want to sell for more I suggest You learn to translate your work to paint. Paintings sell better. If you want to do illustration, graphite is fine, but I think the picture you made would be more at home in a gallery than an illustration book or something like that. It's more its own thing and it doesn't really lend itself to illustration (though maybe it could. It depends on how you develop that idea). Really. I think you could make some really cool abstract paintings if you work at it.

The Manga stuff is almost impossible to sell so I wouldn't really go there. You have your own style and you should embrace it.


I hope you do art just because you like it. One should not become an artist just because they want to be famous like Da Vinci. Not saying you are (you sound very motivated) The fact is that an artist's life actually isn't romantic and glamorous. it's just normal and sometimes even a bit depressing. Artists do art because they just can't help themselves. They have to do it, it is in their nature. If you luck out and become successful that's great, but it should only be a bonus. The art is the main reward. Artists even work multiple jobs just so they can do art because they just love doing it. :-)

[Toriknew]

I don’t think you’re approaching art with the correct method. Sure, stylistic influences are helpful, however you don’t “master” manga by copying just manga. You go to the source material of manga, which is namely, realism. If you want to do well with manga you have to understand WHAT they’re stylizing and WHY. The only way to accomplish this is to compare realistic proportions to the stylized image and observe what changes were made to substitute for what anatomical feature, and what kinds of line strokes and methods were used to achieve this.

Manga is also an extremely general term. It can just mean general stylization because there is no one true “manga” style. It’s just like trying to pinpoint the style of all comics or graphic novels. But if you’re thinking about the stereotypical manga styles, I suggest you master the base foundations of art before extensively exploring newer areas because you will understand the stylization of the figure more.

Going by your art right now, I don’t think you should really be worrying about mastering certain styles more than beefing up your foundations. If you don’t get your basic knowledge of values, comparing sizes of things and how far they’re spaced apart, and how to have uniform lighting with graphite, chances are you won’t go very far if you dive in with color right away. This doesn't mean you shouldn't keep exploring new mediums or styles, just don’t make it a priority.

IN SUMMARY I think you should check this out. It’s very helpful in understanding stylization


If you're still looking for good mangakas I highly recommend checking out Takehiko Inoue, or the author of "Vagabond"'s stuff. (and even in the video he has references everywhere in his studio despite drawing "manga")

[bo14994]

Try visit this website, it might help. Click here.

[joshabplanalp]

I understand what you are trying to say and I do agree that my work does have its week points and I have since finishing those pics refined my shade values as well as lighting placement. I do apretiate hearing that bit of advise, as for the manga I really believe the term is an all inclusive referance to a particular genre of art that really is overdone now and would not benefit me any so I have decided to finish the pic I'm working on now and move back to my original focus which is illustative art but there I always have sort of gotten lost in the abundance of possibilities of drawings. 8 have always had the most trouble with rendering people which has caused me to revert back to fantasy art. Thank you for you much needed advise and direction.