Is making your own Japanese comics or animated cartoons something you’d like to do?
These ten excellent books for anime art are a must-have!
You’ll find everything you need, from the basics to more advanced techniques, to produce stunning works of manga art!
After spending two years in Japan, I have a newfound love for anime and am overjoyed that it is finally gaining traction in the United States.
Let me be honest with you: mastering the art form isn’t for the faint of heart!
You may not have a natural flair for drawing, but with a little practice, you may create stunning pieces of anime art!
Some excellent resources can be found by following the links below.
To begin, though, it is necessary to clarify the distinction between anime and manga.
Anime vs. Manga: What’s the Difference?
Even while I refer to these as “anime drawing books,” if you’re searching for advice on how to create your own comics, you’re actually trying to produce manga.
An Anime is, as the name suggests, animated.
Anime, or manga, is a type of comic book that you read.
Because some of these books genuinely teach you how to make manga, why would I call them “greatest anime drawing books”?
It’s that simple: if you can draw one, you can draw the other. Isn’t Anime just a collection of thousands of individual drawings?
To conclude our discussion, here are my top 10 recommendations for the best books on anime drawing.
10 Best Anime Drawing Books
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1. The Master Guide to Drawing Anime
With a name like The Master Guide to Drawing Anime:How to Draw Original Characters from Simple Templates, you’d think this would be the first book you’d want to invest in if you wanted to learn how to draw manga.
If you can’t afford the pencils or already have excellent manga drawing pencils, I recommend getting the book instead.
Highlights include
Christopher Hart, author of the best-selling book How to Draw Everything, shares his knowledge and expertise.
How to sketch six of the most well-known anime figures
Templates for nearly every feature of each character are provided.
2. The Manga Artist’s Workbook
Easy-to-follow lessons for creating your own characters are provided in The Manga Artist’s Workbook: Another Chris Hart book designed to make anime drawing a little more approachable for those just starting out. I think it would be a good idea to get this book in conjunction with the first one.
This book teaches a variety of skills, such as:
master manga face and body proportions
Make those distinctively huge eyes pop out!
Make your character stand out by coming up with their own unique look, including their hair and clothing.
An example and space for your own creation can be found on each workbook page.
3. Mastering Manga with Mark Crilley
Getting to Know Mark’s Manga Akiko, the manga’s author, shares 30 of her best sketching tips and tricks with Crilley readers. There are many ways to use this book after you’ve learned the basics, and Crilley leads you beyond those big eyes and helps you create unique characters.
Highlights include
Demonstrations showing you how to draw 30 different kinds of faces and figures.
Gallery: 101 eyes, 50 hands, 40 hairstyles, 12 expressions, 30 poses classics, and many more!
Tips and tricks for creating a believable location in your novel.
4. The Manga Fashion Bible
If you want to look like a manga or anime character, you need to know how to dress like one!
In the Manga Fashion Bible, you’ll find all you need to know about drawing fashionable characters and outfits.
How to sketch fashionable attire can be learned from a number of excellent tutorials
Outfits that are both traditional and up-to-date with Tokyo’s current fashions are available.
How to depict movement in a drawing to match an outfit’s style
5. Manga Crash Course
Aside from Christopher Hart and Mark Crilley teaching you how to get a handle on the fundamentals,Manga Crash Course: Drawing Manga Characters from Start to Finishoffers some unique insights on how to go even further. In addition, it will aid you in the creation of stunning settings and narratives.
Among them are:
To assist you in creating each body part, we’ve included more than 25 video tutorials.
Anatomy, stances, fashion and hairstyles are all covered in more than 130 sessions.
instructions on how to make chibis out of your large-scale manga characters
Create unique characters and stories with the help of this entertaining character creation game!
6. Draw Manga Faces
Draw Manga Faces for Expressive Charactersis the only book that focuses solely on drawing the perfect anime face. Among them are:
Every face, from a baby’s to an elderly’s, can be drawn with these detailed instructions
Numerous ways to express yourself, from happiness to sadness, from rage to disgust, and everything in between
Characters have distinct features, such as schoolgirls and villains.
a library of more than 900 real-world instances
7. Pop Manga
Now that you’ve mastered the art of drawing people, it’s time to learn about some of anime’s other key qualities! How to Draw the Coolest, Cutest Characters, Animals, Mascots, and More provides you a decent taste of what you can expect from this book.
8. Manga for the Beginner Kawaii
Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals of manga, you can go out and experiment with a variety of various styles. Grab a copy of Manga for the Beginner Kawaii: How to Draw the Supercute Characters of Japanese Comics if you want to learn how to draw kawaii characters.
9. Manga for the Beginner Chibis
Shorter versions of classic anime characters are known as chibis. If you want to learn how to draw in this style, you should get a copy of Christopher Hart’s Manga for the Beginner. Drawing Chibis: Everything You Need To Get Started With Japanese Comics Characters. I’ve never had a title as long as this one!
10. Mastering Manga 3: Power Up with Mark Crilley
Having mastered the fundamentals, you’ll want to explore more sophisticated methods. During Mastering Manga 3: Power Up with Mark Crilley, you’ll be taught the following new skills:
sketch as many manga characters as you can think of.
use real-world settings for your characters
Finishing touches may make or break a piece of art.
From beginning to expert skills, these top ten greatest anime sketching books can help you learn the art. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
