<p>Quite simply, <strong>you can't effectively simplify subjects and backgrounds</strong> for a comic <strong>until you have learned how to draw them properly</strong> in the first place. There is no "magic manga shortcut," with or without using technology. The reason the tutorials you've seen expect that you already know how to draw is because that is a prerequisite for drawing a comic. Just like you can't do calculus unless you understand basic math, you can't do stylized art without understanding the structure of the subject you're stylizing.</p>

<p>Creating a proper comic goes beyond simply being able to draw a face or a hand. A comic includes props, clothing designs, and backgrounds, so you'll need to learn to draw everything, not just a character. You'll need to learn multi-point perspective, lighting and shading, fabric draping, and more to be able to convey your setting effectively.</p>

<p>Beyond that, <strong>creating a proper comic goes far beyond just drawing</strong>. Where most people fail, besides thinking there's a "magic manga shortcut" and not learning their basics, is thinking that because they have read a comic or two, they now know everything there is on how to create their own. Very few people actually put the pieces together properly, resulting in a lot of very poorly constructed web comics, fan comics, and even professionally created comics! There are multiple books on how to construct a comic, for good reason. It's less intuitive than you think it is. If nothing else, you should pick up a copy of <em>Understanding Comics</em> by Scott McCloud, so you can start to understand how and why comics work. From there, I recommend <em>Making Comics</em> by the same author, and <em>Drawing Words and Writing Pictures</em> by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden. The former contains some basic guidelines and tutorials; the latter is constructed as a full comics-making class.</p>

<p>Lastly, once you've learned the fundamentals, found your style, and learned how to put together a comic, don't think you're going to create your master work on the very first try. You can't. <strong>You need to put everything together and practice.</strong> The number I've generally heard quoted is "You need to draw 200 pages before you start drawing good ones." You need to work hard to create a good comic. There are no shortcuts.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-11T14:20:22.157Z
2019-03-11T14:20:22.157Z
Allison C
<p>You are making a false assumption on what to learn to draw good manga. Learning general drawing skills will <strong>not</strong> be a waste of time because they underpin the more stylized artwork of manga. You already have an idea of what to do: start drawing lines, shapes, basic stuff to train your hand and eye. Read books on basic drawing (like <a href="http://www.drawright.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Drawing On the Right Side of Your Brain</a>) and/or take an drawing course at a continuing ed program. </p>

<p>You do not have to become a master of portraiture, but (eventually) studying how to draw a realistic face will improve the structure and form of your manga faces. Take your time, experiment, and practice.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-10T05:56:27.420Z
2019-03-10T05:56:27.420Z
rebusB
<p>I’m a complete beginner to drawing. I never do doodles, I have struggles just from drawing a hand or a fork, my hand writing is ugly as hell... I want to learn and practice drawing with the final target is to be able to draw a fine doujinshi. </p>

<p>I want to learn drawing, but don’t know where to start. Can you give me advice for this? I need step by step of what to learn from the very beginning to the end, in the right order. For example: 
1. Practice steady hand.
2. Drawing straight line.
3. Drawing cube
... 
69. Draw characters from many perspectives.</p>

<p>I want to focus on practicing things that benefits drawing manga, other skills is not needed, e.g knowing how to draw a detailed and realistic face. Also, I planned to get a drawing tablet  and go digital after I can draw decently, so maybe things that can achieved easily by software tools, like drawing manga frames, can be skipped.</p>

<p>If you wonder why I don’t just google for “drawing manga tutorial” already, here is the reason:
- If I search for “drawing manga tutorial”, mot of them assume the readers know how to draw already, so the very first lesson seems too advanced for me.
- If I search for regular “drawing tutorials” it may contains some redundant lessons that doesn’t benefit drawing manga and I don’t want to waste time for that.</p>

<p>If you can share some detailed online tutorial, it will be very welcomed, if not, please give me the steps I need and mentioned above, I’ll google tutorial for each of them myself. Any help is appreciated, thank you very much!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-10T11:06:08.017Z
First of all, this website doesn't just give tutorials on whatever subject. We expect a researched question, and specific, targeted questions. Secondly, all drawing skills will come in handy when drawing manga. There is no yellow-bricked road to professional manga drawing that circumvents 'unnecessary' info; starting off skipping things that are not directly related will cause you a lot of headache later on. Learn to draw. Draw things you see. Learn about light, shape, texture, perspective. Soak up all the info you can get your hands on.
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-20T04:37:19.613Z
check out hokusai's manual on drawing, he influenced many manga artists after his time
user6828
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-20T23:45:10.380Z
Hokusai's examples prove that it is by mastering drawing you master the chosen technique. His line quality is amazing in its variety and life, and that comes from drawing... a lot.
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-21T17:40:16.363Z
Curious @WebHead - do you downvote everyone who answers a question you don't like?
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-21T23:08:46.687Z
@WebHead - was just asking. Interesting you 'answered' with a question. I was curious if it was you because your comment and the down vote happened within a few minutes of each other, and since there is nothing really objectionable in my answer, and all the other answers were equally down voted...
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-22T13:27:51.700Z
@rebusB I have the same question, I see nothing wrong with either your or my answers, and no explanation for why either was voted down.
Allison C
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-23T14:58:36.100Z
@AllisonC - yeah.. and your answer is really nice too. Hopefully Mee got something out of it.
rebusB
<drawing>
I’m a complete beginner. What’s the shortest way to learn drawing manga?
Mee
# I’m a complete beginner. What’s the shortest way to learn drawing manga?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-03-09)

I’m a complete beginner to drawing. I never do doodles, I have struggles just from drawing a hand or a fork, my hand writing is ugly as hell... I want to learn and practice drawing with the final target is to be able to draw a fine doujinshi.

I want to learn drawing, but don’t know where to start. Can you give me advice for this? I need step by step of what to learn from the very beginning to the end, in the right order. For example:
1. Practice steady hand.
2. Drawing straight line.
3. Drawing cube
...
69. Draw characters from many perspectives.

I want to focus on practicing things that benefits drawing manga, other skills is not needed, e.g knowing how to draw a detailed and realistic face. Also, I planned to get a drawing tablet and go digital after I can draw decently, so maybe things that can achieved easily by software tools, like drawing manga frames, can be skipped.

If you wonder why I don’t just google for “drawing manga tutorial” already, here is the reason:
- If I search for “drawing manga tutorial”, mot of them assume the readers know how to draw already, so the very first lesson seems too advanced for me.
- If I search for regular “drawing tutorials” it may contains some redundant lessons that doesn’t benefit drawing manga and I don’t want to waste time for that.

If you can share some detailed online tutorial, it will be very welcomed, if not, please give me the steps I need and mentioned above, I’ll google tutorial for each of them myself. Any help is appreciated, thank you very much!

**Tags:** drawing

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: First of all, this website doesn't just give tutorials on whatever subject. We expect a researched question, and specific, targeted questions. Secondly, all drawing skills will come in handy when drawing manga. There is no yellow-bricked road to professional manga drawing that circumvents 'unnecessary' info; starting off skipping things that are not directly related will cause you a lot of headache later on. Learn to draw. Draw things you see. Learn about light, shape, texture, perspective. Soak up all the info you can get your hands on.  
> **username_2**: check out hokusai's manual on drawing, he influenced many manga artists after his time  
> **username_3**: Hokusai's examples prove that it is by mastering drawing you master the chosen technique. His line quality is amazing in its variety and life, and that comes from drawing... a lot.  
> **username_3**: Curious @WebHead - do you downvote everyone who answers a question you don't like?  
> **username_3**: @WebHead - was just asking. Interesting you 'answered' with a question. I was curious if it was you because your comment and the down vote happened within a few minutes of each other, and since there is nothing really objectionable in my answer, and all the other answers were equally down voted...  
> **username_4**: @username_3 I have the same question, I see nothing wrong with either your or my answers, and no explanation for why either was voted down.  
> **username_3**: @AllisonC - yeah.. and your answer is really nice too. Hopefully username_0 got something out of it.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-03-11. Score: 1

Quite simply, **you can't effectively simplify subjects and backgrounds** for a comic **until you have learned how to draw them properly** in the first place. There is no "magic manga shortcut," with or without using technology. The reason the tutorials you've seen expect that you already know how to draw is because that is a prerequisite for drawing a comic. Just like you can't do calculus unless you understand basic math, you can't do stylized art without understanding the structure of the subject you're stylizing.

Creating a proper comic goes beyond simply being able to draw a face or a hand. A comic includes props, clothing designs, and backgrounds, so you'll need to learn to draw everything, not just a character. You'll need to learn multi-point perspective, lighting and shading, fabric draping, and more to be able to convey your setting effectively.

Beyond that, **creating a proper comic goes far beyond just drawing**. Where most people fail, besides thinking there's a "magic manga shortcut" and not learning their basics, is thinking that because they have read a comic or two, they now know everything there is on how to create their own. Very few people actually put the pieces together properly, resulting in a lot of very poorly constructed web comics, fan comics, and even professionally created comics! There are multiple books on how to construct a comic, for good reason. It's less intuitive than you think it is. If nothing else, you should pick up a copy of *Understanding Comics* by Scott McCloud, so you can start to understand how and why comics work. From there, I recommend *Making Comics* by the same author, and *Drawing Words and Writing Pictures* by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden. The former contains some basic guidelines and tutorials; the latter is constructed as a full comics-making class.

Lastly, once you've learned the fundamentals, found your style, and learned how to put together a comic, don't think you're going to create your master work on the very first try. You can't. **You need to put everything together and practice.** The number I've generally heard quoted is "You need to draw 200 pages before you start drawing good ones." You need to work hard to create a good comic. There are no shortcuts.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-03-10. Score: 0

You are making a false assumption on what to learn to draw good manga. Learning general drawing skills will **not** be a waste of time because they underpin the more stylized artwork of manga. You already have an idea of what to do: start drawing lines, shapes, basic stuff to train your hand and eye. Read books on basic drawing (like [Drawing On the Right Side of Your Brain](http://www.drawright.com/)) and/or take an drawing course at a continuing ed program.

You do not have to become a master of portraiture, but (eventually) studying how to draw a realistic face will improve the structure and form of your manga faces. Take your time, experiment, and practice.


---

