[runeazn]

So where do I start?
Where can I learn the basics?

And what for equipment do I need, which brand is nice?
I heard fabre castle makes nice colouring pencils, but which product line XD?

And which pencil lead? HB? B? etc?
I do already have a nice pentel graphgear,

[uncle ted]

Hi there,
Any real artist will tell you the tools you use are only 10% of your art the other 90% comes from you and you alone. I personally use the cheapest mechanical pencils I can find at the “Dollar Tree”. As long as the lead is “HB”. The eraser should always be white as the colored ones leave the color behind on the paper when used “I use them a lot, I'm here to tell you”. I learned the finer points of Manga from a series of books named “How to draw Manga”. You don't need to buy the whole series just the first book will do. It will cover 99% of what you will need to know the rest is up to you and how far you wish to proceed with your endeavor into the field of Manga art. A light box will be a huge help, but is not mandatory. While I have never won a first place in any art competition I've entered, I have won a fourth, third and second place in local art shows. My secret weapon is my next door neighbor. My next door neighbor is Japanese and she has helped a lot. “Bachan” will turn 81 this year. She is VERY wise and a darned fine artist herself. I have learned much from her.

[Fireball36]

When I started out I used big pads of Strathmore paper with pencils and pens that I was comfortable with. Get familiar with different pencils and go with what you like best. You will need to ink in the pictures for a more finished look so you will need pens of varying thicknesses (0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and markers). Back in the day I would use screentones (a thin film of gray tone) that would stick to the paper and I would cut to fit using a sharp knife) but now computers make this easier. If you have the money, try out Manga Studio for the computer and buy a graphics tablet. Then you just draw digitally - no need for paper, ruler and pens! As far as reading material, I agree with what uncle ted said - "How to draw manga" is very useful. But you can get many ideas from the manga that you read too of course. Good luck!

[alenesi]

from my experience, you can start just with a mechanical pencil and a paper. any mechanical pencil will do.

practice by just copy any manga u like. i promise you this is the fastest way.

incase if u want to start coloring you character, i recommend to use paint software. (ex: adobe photoshop or paint SAI. )

maybe adobe photoshop a bit hard to use cause you need to know a lot of technical stuff so paint SAI quite staight forward and easier to use.

traditional medium is not recommended

[Khalim]

The common way:
read manga every day, try to draw the characters you like from them, taking particular notice of the artists you think are more skilled. Use the pencil you are most comfortable with on the paper you like most. Notice that if you want to write proper manga you'll need to be good with inking, aka drawing with a g pen and ink.

Start writing and drawing simple manga as soon as you get a grasp of the proportions and learn from experience by posting them online. Ignore positive criticism forever and assume you're never good enough.

The nerd way: Start from landscape sketching and portraits. Practice drawing the human figure using an anatomy book as reference. Understand why manga proportions are distorted compared to human proportions and change your own sketches accordingly.

These two ways can be done consecutively and you can(and should) do both at once, if you have the time.

Key points:
-Drawing is suffering. You won't draw something satisfactory for a while. Skilled artists are all determined and obstinate people, capable of going through a thousand bad drawings to learn how to draw a single subject.
-The more you draw the better you'll become, despite of your impressions.
-People who aren't artists more skilled than you can't give you any pointer or accurate criticism worth listening to.
-Manga is easy to draw for a good artist, however a good western artist often comes to despise manga.
-Landscape and backgrounds are also part of drawing manga.
-I don't know of any western individual drawing actual manga, so decide in advance what your goals are.

[Nafanya]

Hello, personally I prefer thin mechanical pencils. The reason is simple, you don't need to sharpen them.

When you draw something, don't try to work like a printer. It is very difficult to draw efficiently and fast, even with experience. Much easier way is to start off by working out a draft with thin lines. Just to point out where everything is gonna be placed and see how it's going to look. Do not concentrate on one detail, before the draft of the whole thing is finished. Most likely you'll have to erase it anyway.

Remember to work with thin lines that are easy to erase.

But anyway. Drawing is pretty much the display of the knowledge in your head. You have to know exactly what something looks like, in order to draw it. For example: everyone can draw a circle, because there is only one detail you need to know about it. It's round. A triangle is more complicated, but still easy enough to draw, because you know all about it as well. 3 sides, 3 corners, easy enough.

First, you need to realize, that you don't really know what things look like. You may think that you know what a BMW looks like, because you can recognize it on the street. But would you be able to depict it? This example shows, that we only remember certain key features and not everything there is to it. So, to draw a bmw, you'll have to look closer at it first. Notice all the minor details you've never paid any attention too. Lines, bumps, dents. The distance between important features.

It's the same thing with drawing humans. What's the right distance between the two eyes? where exactly should the mouth be positioned between the chin and the nose? Any detail needs your attention. The difference between the male and the female face, between a grown-up and a child. Just when you think you've learned something, even more questions are going to pop out.

I especially recommend the "Even a monkey can draw Manga" manga to you. It really helped me to get emotions right.

But even if you know how something is done. Your hand still needs to get used to the process of drawing.

No matter how much skill you've got. Good results require their while. The more time you invest in a picture, the better it will turn out. But of course, there are days, when nothing works out right. And even though your picture may look good today, tomorrow you'll start noticing it's flaws. Simply by taking your distance from it.

A good way to put your skills to a test, is to draw using a pen. Meaning: you won't be able to erase anything. I've copied many artists and developed my own style. It's based on a mix of everything that I liked.

[runeazn]

Originally Posted by uncle ted

Hi there,
Any real artist will tell you the tools you use are only 10% of your art the other 90% comes from you and you alone. I personally use the cheapest mechanical pencils I can find at the “Dollar Tree”. As long as the lead is “HB”. The eraser should always be white as the colored ones leave the color behind on the paper when used “I use them a lot, I'm here to tell you”. I learned the finer points of Manga from a series of books named “How to draw Manga”. You don't need to buy the whole series just the first book will do. It will cover 99% of what you will need to know the rest is up to you and how far you wish to proceed with your endeavor into the field of Manga art. A light box will be a huge help, but is not mandatory. While I have never won a first place in any art competition I've entered, I have won a fourth, third and second place in local art shows. My secret weapon is my next door neighbor. My next door neighbor is Japanese and she has helped a lot. “Bachan” will turn 81 this year. She is VERY wise and a darned fine artist herself. I have learned much from her.

yeah you say you use cheap mechanical pen, well the pentel has lasted me for 5 years, till i broke it yeah i was playing with it and gave it much pressure in the middle and broke >_>
the internal mechanical system works although
so im thinking of buying it again, i just like the grip and its 15$.. thats pretty expensive for one i know but yeah.. im familiar with it,
i like the manga style of sora no otoshimono if they turn chibi so funny..
I first hated it but after a while kinda started liked it

and paper to draw on, does that matter?
ill get some nice art paper then when buying my mechanical pen, its in a art store