The process of creating a manga takes lots of dedication, time, and artistic talent, But don’t let that stop you from making an attempt. You must start somewhere.
This video tutorial gives step-by-step tips for planning out the manga before you begin drawing. It also provides drawing techniques to use when drawing.
Step 1 – Determine the Type of Story You Will Tell
Choose the kind of story you’re looking for. Slice of Life, fantasy sci-fi, historical, etc…
Step 2 – Write Out a Quick Summary of Your Manga
Note down the basic outline of your manga which describes the key events of your manga.
Step 3 – Create Character Profiles & Design Your Characters
Create a profile of each of the main characters in your manga. Then, create their look.
To get help with creating your characters, you can refer to:
4 Important Steps to Make Your Own Manga or Anime Character
Step 4 – Determine the Settings
Decide where your story will be set. For instance, if it’s a fantasy setting, what is it called? What are the most distinctive features?. Are there the most important areas?
It’s important to keep in mind that non-fantasy or sci-fi novels can have fictional settings (countries or cities that don’t exist).
You must determine the location in the manga where the majority of events are likely to occur. place.
If you are writing an imaginary setting, you can begin by drawing the general map of the world, or the area where your story is set. It is possible to use icons to represent the various places (you can include notes on each icon)
In a non-fantasy Manga, you could leave out the world map and instead sketch the map of the town or towns of the story(you will require town maps in the fantasy manga too).
In a town map, you could draw the whereabouts of the main characters’ home, their friend’s house, and the route they follow for their commute to school or work The most important places around the town where the story will be set or take place, etc… Use simple icons to draw the map, and only for places that are pertinent to the story you are telling.
If you’re looking to make use of an actual town as the location for your manga, it’s recommended to create real maps of the area and also take pictures of actual areas.
The next step is to make sketches of the areas the locations. For instance, the street view of the main character’s home, school, etc…
In the final step, you should draw some sketches of important interior spaces in which the story will occur, like an educational setting or the main character’s room. This will help you determine the exact location of the major objects within the room (bed or desk). …).
The reason you should do this type of plan is to keep from drawing inconsistencies in your manga and also to help you organize the story. For instance, you’ll be aware that the characters have to stroll through the convenience store before they can get to the beach. This means you can let them buy snacks on their route. In the meantime, you’ll avoid the pitfalls of not knowing the address of the store, and then walking past it while walking toward the playground in a different chapter.
Drawing rooms might also like:
One Point Perspective Room Drawing Tutorial – Step by Step
Step 5 – Determine the Length of Your Manga
Decide the amount of your story’s plot that will unfold throughout each chapter.
Notes in point form of the most important events that occur in the chapter and the characters who are involved in these.
Point form example notes:
- The protagonist wakes up and prepares breakfast.
- The protagonist is at his best friend’s home and they walk together to school
- On the way to school, their Best friend and protagonist talk over…
- At the beginning of class, a uni-form student is introduced.
- etc…
Of course, you’ll need to incorporate the actual name of the characters in your notes.
Label every set of point-form notes such as “Chapter 1 or Chapter 2, etc.” ..”. If you plan be naming your chapters, make sure you include the chapter name in the middle of the number (example Chapter 1 – Chapter Title). It is important to remain organized.
Step 6 – Plan Your Pages
Create a detailed plan of each page within the given chapter by making sketchy sketches of the pages. One way to do this is by using printer paper. It’s inexpensive and you’ll be able to easily throw away sheets in the event of a mishap. Make sure you label your pages while drawing to avoid confusion later.
Accelerate the process by creating “Chibi” characters for this portion of the Manga creation (big head, with a tiny body with little or no detail).
For more details on drawing characters in chibi, read:
16 Examples of How to Draw Chibi Anime Facial Expressions
It is also important to add the dialog which will take place on every page.
The sketches you draw may be rough (a greater amount than the sample) The idea is to swiftly determine what happens within each panel in a way that is logical. You may be required to alter the size of your panels in the manga since the dimensions of the pages may differ (read the next section for details on printing and size). However, you should still utilize the same number of panels, and they must be laid out in a similar way to how you’ll sketch for the manga you will publish.
Step 7 – Plan for Printing Before You Draw the Actual Manga
Before you draw the manga, there are a few points you must be aware of.
If you intend to have your manga professionally printed, you must conduct some research about the most common sizes for printing the materials. If you’re creating your manga to practice and printing it at home, you are able to print whatever your printer at home can manage. But it could be a good idea to try to print one with a size that is standard for the field, even in the case of simple training purposes.
It is crucial to be aware that the recommended dimensions for mangas in a country such as Japan could differ from what is typical for comics from other nations. Make sure to choose the appropriate size you can afford to print.
If you are planning to have to have your manga published, be aware of “live area”, “bleed” and “trim”.
Page Live Area
This is the section of the page where you can ensure that your drawing is protected from having any parts removed.
Page Trim
A Trim is a location where it is at which the surrounding material is removed.
Page Bleed
The bleed is the space beyond the cut-off point. The purpose behind it is to ensure that there aren’t undesirable white lines or spots along pages’ edges. If you wish to create an image with a background color or drawing that extends all up into the edge of your printed page, you’ll have to draw beyond the cut-off zone into the bleed region.
Additional Help When Printing Manga
You could conduct additional research about printing your own however the above printing tips are the most important to consider.
If you are in need of more assistance in this field, you can find a suitable person to talk with as a graphic artist. They usually handle print, and they should be less difficult to locate than a cartoon or comic artist.
Web Manga
You could also avoid the whole printing process and just create the manga online. This is likely to be the most affordable and simple way to go about it. But you must still test to determine the ideal size in case you want to print it in the future.
Step 8 – Pick a Speech Bubble Style
Different kinds of bubbles may be utilized to emphasize the message they carry. A typical speech bubble could be an oval that has an edge that is pointed towards the mouth of the person. If the character is shouting, you might want to emphasize that by creating bubbles with sharp edges.
Manga artists from different genres may employ slightly different styles that use speech bubbles. In general, you should select a specific style and keep it through your manga.
For a listing of the most commonly used manga speech bubbles along with explanations of how to use them, see:
How to Draw Manga Speech Bubbles Tutorial
Step 9 – Drawing Your Manga
Once everything is planned out, you are now able to begin sketching manga.
It is recommended to begin by making sketching with a pencil and then ink it the next step.
To ink a manga, you can use Nib Pen and ink. If you’ve never used one before, you must try drawing using it before attempting to draw your manga.
It is inevitable in the end to take a picture of your drawing which means that you can make them cleaner digitally. In this way, even if you make a tiny mistake while inking, it should not cause any major issues.
Or, If you own an electronic pen and suitable software, the manga can be drawn digitally in a single. In this scenario, you don’t need to scan or draw the manga in traditional terms, but you must still begin with a simple sketch and then cover it with darker lines later. The same principle mentioned previously will still be applicable.
If drawing tablets are something you’re interested in you should look into:
- Should You Buy a Pen Tablet for Drawing Anime and Manga?
Bonus Tip – Get Feedback
You can get some feedback by showing them your characters and giving them an idea of the plot. It is also possible to display the sketches of your plans to check if what’s going on in the comics is actually logical to others.
However, be aware that not every piece of advice or critique from anyone is legitimate. Make sure to speak to more than one person to find a consensus on your work.
If there is someone in your circle who’s an expert writer or artist, they might be a great person to seek assistance and guidance.
Conclusion
The process of creating a manga can be lengthy, however, If you’ve read this far, you’ve shown perseverance as this is an extremely long article. One of the most important things to consider when taking on a big project is to organize it carefully and not try to finish it in a hurry, as you could overwork yourself. Set a timer for a certain amount of work per day or every week and adhere to the schedule.
Although this guide is long, you may need to research further If you’re serious about creating your own manga or comic book.
If you need assistance drawing in anime or manga style, you can look up the tutorials section for drawing techniques.
4 Ways to Draw Crying Anime Eyes
