Overview

Manga characters can be large and menacing, or cute and cuddly. The basic techniques to master in order to create convincing manga characters and backgrounds are not difficult to learn. In this handy little book, the essentials of drawing manga robots and machines are highlighted and explained, and scores of examples are shown so that anyone can practise and easily create great manga works of art. After a round-up of the tools and materials readers are likely to find most useful, the book highlights mecha as one of the features that must be mastered to draw convincing manga. Through a mix of step-by-step photographs and finished examples, the book provides readers with a complete visual reference to working in this art form, using a mix of pencil, inked, and coloured illustrations.

Full Product Details

9781844485215

Table of Contents

Reviews

Regular readers of ABR will know of my allergy to pocket-size books. This is art, fer goodness sake, make it big so we can see it, will you! Small is NOT beautiful, it's hard to see and you have to force the pages back till your hands hurt in order to see them. The pages, not your hands, don't get smart with me when I'm having a rant, it makes me angry. However, just once in a while something comes along that doesn't just float my boat, it launches a whole navy, kersplash, all at once. And these little books are one of those things. No, they shouldn't work and, yes, at a fiver a pop, they are expensive, but what they do, really rather neatly, is offer you a single idea on a spread. Nothing so very unusual in that, I'll grant you, but this is minimalism taken to its absolute limit and it really is just one thing, not even a whole concept. I like that. I like that you can have just Men's Jeans or The Female Mouth just on their own. In fact, I'd recommend Manga Tips to anyone who wants to draw the human figure because it's full of basic ideas (like the more comprehensive and better value Mega Manga). The other one that comes at the same time is Mecha Manga, which is more specialised, concentrating on that I take to be robot figures you can't do without. Both books are arranged by category, so finding things is very easy, though flicking through and trusting to serendipity is a good approach too. Like I said, a fiver's a lot for a tiny book, but it's not a fiver wasted, I'd also say. And I don't say it often.-Artbookreview.net Originating in Japan, manga has become a growing art genre across the world. The word manga means Comic and these figures are very much in the traditional comic book style. These really handy sized little pocket books will be great as presents, and so useful to just take out with you to practice techniques when you're at a loose end. This book covers the art of mecha manga - for those of us not in the know this is manga robots and machines. My 10 year old grandson has had great fun browsing the books and looking at the different robots - typical boy, and I think not only will these books help with artwork but with story writing too as they transport one into a different world. The essentials of drawing manga are highlighted and explained, and many examples are shown making it easy to recreate your own manga robots, whether animal or military in type. The beauty of these books is that whatever you want to create is only limited by your imagination. In the same way as fantasy artists let their mind range free, so you can when creating these mecha manga. Mecha Manga is the ideal pocket book to this exciting artform, and is an excellent accompaniment to Manga Tips to give a fantastic reference into a world created from your imagination.-JeannieZelos.com

Author Information

Keith Sparrow has read and collected comics since he was a child. He has created hundreds of storyboards, including one for the animation movie Space Jam and illustrated several children's educational books for Channel 4 and the BBC. He became a fan of manga and anime after reading Akira. Among his current projects is a cartoon strip about a pug called Dave. Keith prefers to draw and ink by hand, but colours on computer. He is the author and illustrator of four previous how to books on manga.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available