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~