Mastering Manga with Mark Crilley: 30 Drawing Lessons from the Creator of Akiko

Step by step guide to all things manga. This is a great book and starts you right at the beginning and for someone like me who loves drawing but doesn't have a particularly strong talent for it, it was great. Each lesson is laid out in an easy to follow step by step fashion. It's very visual lots of pictures taking you through each stage of the drawing and colouring. It's a very friendly and fun book to work with and has you drawing real manga style characters in no time. What I also love about this book is that it's teaching is fairly generic you're not being taught how to draw a specific character so the lessons can be transferred to drawing all the manga and anime characters I know and love. My drawing has certainly improved for it and it's always a good reference point when tackling more complicated images. You also have a section on layout, perspective,expressions and panels so for the those not just looking to get into drawing but also into full manga creation this is also a good place to start. So if you're looking for a book that's great for the novice drawer and is easy to follow this is certainly well worth the money

This book is probably the best mange tutorial book i have ever read. its simple to understand. basic enough for younger people to use. and its got detailed step-by-step guides on how to draw; eyes, faces, babys, toddlers, children, teenagers, young adults, middle-aged adults and even old adults. i orded this book on the 6th of feb and im slowly working my way through all the tutorials step-by-step. what i end up doing is copying the first tutorial very closely then re-drawing it again but using my own style, different eyes, hair styles etc. so far i am very impressed with this book and is my auntie, the other day i went around to my grandma's house. packed with my sketch pad, pens, pencils etc, sat down and started drawing. then my cousins came over and wanted to have a go too, later that night i received a phone call from my auntie saying that my cousins where still sat at home drawing at about 10pm at night xD. anyway. back to the book.... what separates this book from other how-to drawing books is the fact that this is a real step-by-step book. in other books i have read, they show you how to do the face fine (eyes, ears, jaw, mouth etc) but then have a massive jump to the completed image with hair and all. what this book does it tells you to do rough guidelines for things like hair and creases, then to go over them later adding more detail and connecting lines. if you are interested in drawing manga and cartoony characters then this book is for you, if possible you should download the preview if you can but i can guaranty that you will not be disappointed and will end up buying this book anyway

I learnt of Mark Crilley from his videos on YouTube and was blown away by how good he was at illustrating characters on paper, plus the fact he was both a published author of his own manga and Mastering manga series was by far the most appealing beginner go to book for learning how to draw manga properly. It opens with a brief period on learning to draw eyes (a page is included detailing a lot of others eye illustration to emulate and develop your own take or twist on them, this is also included by similar pages on hair, hands, and feet) and followed immediately by drawing the entire face. It also details learning body proportions for all manners of possible characters and lessons on how to draw a fluent stride to create movement in the pages and the desired perspective to help make the drawing appear more lifelike. So far my drawings have benefited greatly from this book, as the basis of the face drawing facial placement can be transferred into fine art drawings, and bolstered my abilities in both art forms. I am working on integration between the two until I develop my own take or style on manga and illustration. This brilliant book is awarded 5 out of 5.

I Bought this book about 1 -2 weeks ago and i was really impressed with the time in which amazon delivered it to me, Not only was it within the promised 4 days it came a day earlier than predicted! The book itself, it has helped me learn the basics of illustrating manga art, as a novice myself, before purchasing this book i struggled with the structuring of faces and body shapes, however after following the guidelines given to me from Mastering Manga i am able to now create to my hearts content. Mark Crilley (Author/ Illustrator of Mastering Manga) gives you a very in depth outlook on where to place certain lines and also gives to you a variety of Hairstyles, Emotions, Hand Positions and Foot Positions to use for your very own Manga Character. However as great as this book is there are certain things i think that he forgets to point out for novices such as myself that are rather important. Such as when it comes to structuring the face he has left out how to draw the chin of the character, i personally find this one of the most challenging things when creating manga characters and im pretty sure im not the only one, Also he doesn't have a section for noses, it may be small, but as a amateur i would like to see a variety so i can input them into my charecters. Overall im very pleased with my purchase and would recommend this to anybody who is interested in creating manga art who is new to it as i feel that it has increased my skills dramatically.

I've recently got back into drawing and wanted to try and learn the anime / manga art style. This book is perfect for explaining step by step and I'm thoroughly enjoying following it. I'm not even a quarter way through the book yet and I'm excited to see how my drawing skills will grow considering there is already an improvement!

I liked the way the book gives a simple overview of each area and then a couple of well thought out examples for beginners and up. Can be re-read again and again. I would recommend it to anyone starting out, and who needs something that they can come back to for inspiration and quick a refresher.

Lots of very useful and pertinent tips that are rare or not in other books. Better than most of my other books about manga style it includes tips about full figured people, older ages, perspective, classic poses, hand poses, feet poses, facial expressions,walking poses, eyes, body types, and some of the best chibi tips including main expressions. I had trouble with chibis and now after only one day I find it easy to draw the chibi style which I have been struggling with for years! It also has kissing and fight scene tips, and more. It's presented in a kind, reasonable and easy to understand manner that has tips for the true beginner all the way up to more experienced artists. A fantastic book in my opinion.

Genial libro de un gran autoor. Muy bien estructurado y con muchos temas en muy poco espacio. el que esta serie tenga 3 libros habla por si misma

O livro aborda diversos aspectos do desenho de mangá. Para maiores aprofundamentos, talvez seja conveniente adquirir os volumes seguintes do mesmo autor, mas este já oferece um ótimo começo para quem quer se iniciar na técnica.

I bought mastering manga 1 and 2, both came in good condition, about the book, it's for basic to intermediate, easy to understand, I would suggests for those who want to learn manga this is the best . Worth the money.