My story: Manga artist of three years

Dec 2012: I started using my oldest sister's manga book to draw characters from the stories she'd tell me.

2013: Since her book was a little too advanced I got mastering manga by Mark Crilley along with a set of blick and prismacolor markers.

2014: I quit. I didn't do much of anything I loved this year. A shame, because in 

2015: I had to glue my butt in a chair until I could properly draw a face again. This year was the year I started using my markers, which I had been too frustrated with to use earlier.

2016: I started putting more posts on my blog, and that has really helped me keep up my passion for my art, something I now couldn't live without.

<--- I had to pull out a sheet of paper to help me remember my own timeline. :P

I really regret, and sometimes even forget, that year of doing nothing. Even if you're not good NOW, you'll be GREAT later, if you just keep at it. 

I have proof of this. It took a lot of searching in my sisters' old boxes and a trip to the cold attic, but I finally retrieved my first manga drawing. And this is it.

Without dimension or anatomy. It is a great first try, though; I remember staying up late and staring at my sister's manga book, just wishing I could get it right, and scribbling away until I thought I had.
Here are a couple of comparison pieces I did this year.

 This one on the left is from early 2015 and the 2nd one on the right is what I did this July for the county fair. I won my category *thumbs up to self.*

The one on the right is my most recent manga drawing, and I did it for a before and after challenge on deviantart. I knew the challenge was going to be fun, but I found it enlightening too! It's amazing to see the improvement( I definitely advise keeping old drawings for this purpose).

For one, there is better depth perception in the 2nd drawing, I matched up the characters with the horizon of the background so that everything lies on the same perspective. 

One of my favorite differences is the message of the art: in the first picture, she's just dragging a faceless lump to her favorite attraction, without a thought of her boyfriend( bad omen for their future relationship), and in the second one she's looking back, and just by that she's interacting with him, and he becomes more of a character.
I remember the time when I was proud of the first picture, and in a way I still am because I know that it had to come before anything greater could- and that's going to be the same for your art too.

It's been a long time( I still think: THREE WHOOPIN' YEARS??? ), but what it really takes is effort, and as long as you put those hours in, then you're sure to create something fabulous.

~Link to original deviantart post~

Art pays off for christmas

Because I spend a lot of time drawing and creating crafts, I can always incorporate my art into the gifts I make for family. :)
My little sister loves drawing and looks up to 'the big three' (my two older sisters and I) as idols. She loves coloring as well. She likes fantasy creatures and so I tried to pull out my old animal drawing skills and try a few so that I could create a coloring book for her. :)

 And then of course I drew some people as well. She's not old enough to care that everything isn't perfect, which has allowed me a break from my own perfectionism( and major procrastination).

This one on the right is really just aph England because I wanted to draw Hetalia fanart but I knew that I needed to finish my family christmas presents. I did both. ;)

Manga Markers: water based Koi Sakura

Recognize me?

One of the manga marker types I use are Koi. I have a 6-marker set from last Christmas of varying greys. When using warm and cool greys in the same picture it can make the greys clash, so I suggest using one or the other. I used several cool greys for this anime girl.

Since I usually use alcohol-based markers I jump around instead of started at one end of a shape and filling it in; that made the tone of the water-based Koi really uneven and messy because of all the overlapping strokes.

I corrected my mistake when using a lighter koi for her skin and a darker one for her shirt, and slowed down, making sure all my strokes were all in the same direction.

In these close-ups of her hair and shirt you can see the difference. The choppy look isn't too bad since it's hair and doesn't have to look too uniform. On her shirt and made deliberate, quick strokes. The brush nib of the Koi and tom bow markers actually make it easier than the stiff nibs of most alcohol-based manga markers( blick, copic, prismacolor, ect. ).

Water-based marker recap:
1) cool greys don't hang out with the warm greys(because they're cool),
2) don't overlap with water-based markers unless it's intentional,
3) and keep strokes going in the same direction for a uniform look.
Link to the first time I used Sakura Koi markers- and made a big mistake concerning mouth wash. ;P

Sketch-to-finish: Anime girl with ponytail

 I don't spend too much time on guidelines, whether it's hands, faces or fudge( long story- at least the house didn't burn down). I draw the basic outline for her head with a few quick strokes, then her face( always a challenge trying to balance the facial features). If I'm working on a harder project I'll do a complete first draft and then trace over on a new paper. Since this project was pretty simple, I didn't need that step.

I always sketch the hair after the face because first and foremost in manga, it really is the eyes that determine and define character.

 I darken some of the facial features, filling in her eyebrows and eyelashes; and of course I couldn't forget the highlights as this is an anime girl. ( If you're wondering, when I say anime, I mean the more cartoon looking manga( generally seen in animes like hetalia, vampire knight, ect.), and when I say manga I usually mean shojo manga)

And Taada! I ink most of my manga with technical pens; their fast-to-dry quality makes it so I can erase the underlining pencil without waiting. Anyway, I hope seeing my art process was interesting even though I don't have a lot to say today, lol! 

Sketch-dump( really just Nanowrimo #5 with a few extras)

The last few character requests have come through from my now *closed* commissions character manga art shop. Here are a couple of them and some extra chibi and manga doodles I did last week.

 All these sketches were done in pen bc I had no pencil- oh for shame! I had no erase-ring powers; they are doodles anyway.

Nanowrimo Requests #4

Between my own nanowrimo novel and my nanowrimo character commissions shop, I haven't had much time for anything else. But here are a couple of the character commissions I've done just to give you a heads up on the sketches I'm working on- hopefully I'll get around to something of my own soon. :3

 For the last four I used a colored paper that has a rougher texture than printer paper so I can create darker lines with just my 2 hb pencil. I like it! I'm going to experiment with it a little more in the future. :)

 Manga girls and guys and chibis in one short sketch-dump post. :P

Conversion: manga to Chibi

When you're drawing a cartoon figure, you take what makes that thing, e. g. a cat, and take the features that make that cat a cat (triangle nose, triangle ears, whiskers) and put them together to create a cat. ( I suggest watching Will Terry's drawing for kids 2 starting at 1:40, he displays this concept well)

Looking at this chibi and the picture on the right, you can tell which character he's supposed to be; why? Because they shares core similarities. 
When you're drawing a chibi OF a character, you have to make sure that they have core similarities between manga and chibi, so that your chibi isn't just another blond boy in a t shirt.

Several (!) similarities
1. Rect. glasses
2. Hairstyle. Don't copy every spike- just the prominent ones
3. eyes and eyebrows- take care to mirror the face of your manga character
4. Jacket+props
When drawing a chibi be sure NOT to copy every wrinkle- remember, it's a chibi!

Nanowrimo Requests 2016 #3

Original character designs I created in a commissions shop on the nanowrimo site.

Doing commissions for nanowrimo users is a lot like drawing fan art when you're the first one. There are no pictures, videos or other pieces of artwork on the character you're drawing, absolutely nothing you can base them off of. Though this can be difficult, it also gives you a lot of freedom, because you're in charge of the interpretation.