Hm, that kind of goes against what Hawk said.

I hate to break some dreams here, but even today, including anime in your portfolio is a great way to get your portfolio ignored.

Times change, I know quite a few people here at SCAD who draw in an anime style and still get picked for internships and jobs and I've seen an increase in the number of manga style comics that are getting published professionally these days (and not just though Tokyopop and their contest, but through some of the major publishing houses, too). Anime and manga style doesn't always get you ignored, but most employers will be looking for some level of variety in your work, as well. If you submit a portfolio full of DBZ characters, then you ight have trouble getting people to take you seriously.

isukun
It depends on the school you go to and what program you're in. Generally, high schools want to focu on the fine arts. They may make some exceptions for art which is already pretty refined and artists who have shown an ability to draw which extends outside the stylized comic forms. Most of the peple who draw in the manga style, especially those who think they can learn to draw through the "how to draw" books, lack the artistic background to even make their cookie cutter stuff look right. They can copy images andposes, sometimes, but when it comes to creating heir own work, they get lost.

Yeah -- in my AP Studio Art class, for example, some kids will actually draw models taking very little other than the rough pose and colors from the actual model, and they fill in the details with basically manga-style features. It's...really gross. It seems that in a lot of cases, manga and anime have influenced what people consider a "quick and easy" or "natural" kind of style. I grew up drawing stick figures and weird shit, and now I see younger kids copying anime styles in their doodles.

hmm, I kind of strayed from what I meant to say, which was more with your point: my art teacher often tells these people to "stop drawing cartoons" and "you need REAL art in your portfolio." Now, I tend to resent the blanket she throws across cartooning/comicking, but I can't get entirely angry at her because in fact she does let me use class time to work on my comic sometimes, and often compliments it and praises the fact that I can work in such a variety of styles (not to brag, but I really can). She only really bothers to chide those people who -only- do "cutesy stuff" in class.

When I was doing art in my classes (all of the classes I ever did), no one ever did manga style work. No one what so ever. One guy who was a friend of mine did American style comic art, and he wasn't very good at drawing. When I was at highschool the only people who did manga were the Malaysian and Indonesian students who were there to learn English (they didn't take art class). They were ok, but the style held them back: everything they drew looked like manga... It reminds me of the medieval painters and how no matter what they painted it all looked the same. The style becomes a kind of mental vice that's impossible to break out of for some.

It's bad when that happens. It's wrong! An artist should be able to employ a style, not have the style employ them.
Most of the Japanese manga artists I've liked can do ANY style of work, that's what people need to realise.

What's sad is I've learned to draw from many of Harts books. Seriously, taught myself everything, and now looking back, especially after some college schooling, I wish I had started another way.

I don't know, I just feel like I've taught myself wrong, and thats a scary thing to come across.

-W

i remember buying those cheap $5 packets of how to draw off the comic catalog.
i think i bought an x-ray spec off that too.
to my dissapointment i did not see any panties.. =( i just looked stupid

Executives in the advertising and animation fields are slowly realizing that their target audience does like the Manga style or Manga-influenced American styles, and so Manga-influenced artists are becoming more accepted and sometimes even sought after. So there is at least a limited use to how-to books on the so-called Manga style. However it would be a VERY good idea to have a firm grasp on the principles of drawing from life and to have a wide range of styles available to you, because , for now, it is only a tiny fraction of the market that requires such a style. And there is no real danger of it becoming the standard style -advertising is very conservative in this regard.
It would also be a very clever idea to check that the "how to draw Manga" book you buy is actually written by a Japanese. One who works in the Manga industry. or who at least knows what he is talking about. There are also charlatans in Japan, you know!

i liked the wolverine story "snikt" from the mangaka who drew "blame"

I got one of the Christopher Hart books... I really didn't want it, but I was buying "how to draw manga: battle scenes!" or something on ebay and it came with it for free. (hehe the action book is actually very useful!!! any time anyone does anything remotely violent in my comic, you can bet I used that book for a reference!) But Manga Mania was a total laugh. The drawings looked like he made them in paint, and it looked like lame, watered-down stupid poopface manga rather than REAL MANGA! I scorn it.
But I don't think that anime-style stuff inhibits artistic expression! I feel like since I've begun my comic I've gotten a lot better at showing emotions on characters' faces... it's such an expressive style! I love it to bits!
it makes me way sad to see people dismiss anime completely. I think it's lovely. (I'm of the opinion that there is NO HIGHER FORM OF ART THAN ANIME!!! a bit extreme, but it's how I feel!)

No Higher Form? Well, to each one's own, I suppose.

I think what the Christopher Hart books do show, though, is that despite the admonitions of some, the manga style is not easy to do. I've heard people say before that anyone can draw in the manga style, but Hart shows us clearly that this is not the case. It's easy to pretend you're drawing in that style, just like it's easy to flail a toy nun-chuck around and pretend you know martial arts (and, to a greater extend, are a 5 foot 6 turtle who knows ninjutsu), but just because you pretend Really Hard doesn't mean your work isn't going to look like an "American" style with oddly proportioned eyes.

Inkmonkey
No Higher Form? Well, to each one's own, I suppose.

I think what the Christopher Hart books do show, though, is that despite the admonitions of some, the manga style is not easy to do. I've heard people say before that anyone can draw in the manga style, but Hart shows us clearly that this is not the case. It's easy to pretend you're drawing in that style, just like it's easy to flail a toy nun-chuck around and pretend you know martial arts (and, to a greater extend, are a 5 foot 6 turtle who knows ninjutsu), but just because you pretend Really Hard doesn't mean your work isn't going to look like an "American" style with oddly proportioned eyes.

I agree. I don't think I've pegged the anime style, by any means (even though my characters have pointy chins and noses, and large, glimmering eyes!) because it's surprisingly difficult.
There are only a handful of panels in my entire 140-page comic that I'm honestly proud of... (and all but like 2 of them have been in the past 15 pages or so.)

What is this anime style we're talking about?

There is no anime style. There is only whether or not you're skilled enough to draw the human body with expertise and artistry, using comparatively few lines, then draw a face which endorses a certain standard of beauty while also using comparatively few lines, while accentuating abstraction and space to your advantage.

I'm getting tired of people saying "there's no such thing as a 'manga' style" or "there's no such thing as 'anime', because that's just Japanese for 'animation,' so really every cartoon is an 'anime'". Look the simple fact that, when I say "manga style" you know what I'm talking about is proof that yes, there is a style. It may not be the right name for the style, but the only publication I've seen from Japan to refer to the style as a unique form of art ("Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga" ) used the term "anime style". So if you can find a correct term to refer to this specific style of art, I'll use it, but for now Manga and/or anime style is correct, as far as I'm concerned.

It may not be the right name for the style, but the only publication I've seen from Japan to refer to the style as a unique form of art ("Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga" ) used the term "anime style".

A term that was likely added in by the translators. The Japanese have about as much of a concept of "manga style" as we would have a concept of "Western style." What would really define "Western style?" Kirby, Schultz, Crumb, Ross? Technically they are all Western artists drawing or painting Western comics.

Of course, this isn't to say that in a Western context the term has no meaning. The concept of "manga style" is far more common outside of Japan, where it represents anything that borrows some of the most common artistic choices present in popular manga and anime. Outsiders are more likely to differentiate the original elements from their own work, so it makes sense that we would have a concept of "manga style" and Japan would not (really, though, the Japanese do have some concept of "manga style," but it differs from our concept of the term).

"there's no such thing as 'anime', because that's just Japanese for 'animation,' so really every cartoon is an 'anime'"

I've never heard that one before. Maybe I just don't know anyone dumb enough to make that argument. That's pretty much the same thing as "manga style." "Anime" was adopted into the English language as a term which specifically refers to animation created in Japan. When you refer to anime in English you aren't referring to the Japanese concept of the word.

I know "anime/manga style" holds contextual meaning for Americans. What I mean is, even within that subset of the Jpnese style, there are many many differences. Bleach is different from Naruto is different from DBZ, for example. All share some characteristics but it's errroneous to say "I know the anime style" when you only copied DBZ's style, for example.

In that light, even if your style resembles NO major anime/manga title, you can still say you are drawing an anime/manga style, simply because there are no set guidelines.

I use to look at a lot of the Hart books on the sleeves. I only bought one adn that's only looking into clothing. I have a friend who's totally into him and buys practically any book of his she can get. Granted, I've looked through them, tried understand them and found them utterly useless. How to draw female characters, how to draw male characters, how to do this and that with this and those and these inside of that. I couldn't quiet understand it so I stopped reading them. I haven't used a Hart book here lately at all.

I've never heard of Christopher Hart until I read this thread. Just browsed some of his books content displayed on some website and it left me speechless and slightly disappointed. Some of the DD folks here could draw many times better than he does. How many years has he been exposed to manga and anime?

Personally, I've never owned one of those teach-you-how-to-draw-in-x-style books. I don't know why I'd ever want to learn to draw in someone else's style that isn't my own. That's not to say that I don't incorporate other styles into my work, but the first style that any artist needs to learn is his or her own, and from there you branch out.

Even if I did want to completely emulate a style, the first thing I'd want to know is the context of the style. Why am I drawing this way? What sort of reaction can this style draw that doesn't come out in my own? Often such questions are completely overlooked by such books, and it seems to me that a better way of learning a style would be to simply expose oneself to the medium itself. In other words, go buy some manga. At least that way, you're able to understand the point behind certain artifacts of a style simply by your own reactions to them. Art is about expression, and you can't teach expression.

Of course, if anyone from this community could make an outstanding book about drawing manga, I think that you would be the single best candidate, Eunice P.

That's not to say that I don't incorporate other styles into my work, but the first style that any artist needs to learn is his or her own, and from there you branch out.

I can't agree with that. It is important to understand the foundations of art first. Usually that means adopting other people's styles and seeing what works for you. I don't think most of the how-to books really give people the artistic background they need, but I know most people draw from other influences before developing their own unique visual expression. At least when it comes to the fine arts, that is the way things work. You take what people have done before you and expand on it. Art evolves, it doesn't come from nowhere.

I'm with Isukun on this one. A style doesn't come from nowhere either. It comes from a mixing of knowledge of the basic foundations of art and a combination of other artist's styles. You can't magically sit down one day and draw in a totally original style, because you've obviously been influenced by someone.