by Manga artists make it all look so easy. The manga art style looks effortless but most of us have asked the question, ‘how do I draw manga?’ at some point. It’s an art style that has inspired most artists in some form, be it the stylized character design, subtle coloring or sense of motion. Even if you are not a big fan of manga and anime, there are skills and approaches that every artist can learn from manga art.
Sonia Leong is one of the most famous manga artists, who has several books to her name from manga to instructional books where she reveals some of the main techniques used in her art. You can read his tutorial ‘How to create an authentic manga comic strip’ for inspiration. The artist’s latest book, The Complete Beginner’s Guide To Drawing Manga (opens in a new tab)published on 27 April (Ilex Press, £16.99).
Like many Sonias who came to manga at a young age, for her part a Japanese friend had lent her a copy of Nakayoshi Magazine and she discovered the an all-female Japanese manga artist group, CLAMP. Read Magic Knight Rayearth of that manga group and was hooked on the sharp lines and dark whimsical art. “I’ve never seen comics that looked so beautiful,” says Sonia. “The stories were epic and the art was elegant and engaging.”
Influences of manga artist Sonia Leong
Sonia’s art is influenced by everything from fashion to music and video games (she finds character customization a unique way to draw inspiration to experiment and perfect her art.
“I try to read manga from different artists,” she tells me. “I like to see the choices they make in how they present elements, or the linework techniques they use, and see if I can do the same thing but in my own style.”
As for her own books, Sonia says her favorite is the light fantasy novel series, The Chronicles Of Ciel (there are two books, the first being A Brush With Magic and the second being A Spell Of Scarlet). These are not traditional manga (comic books) but prose “with a lot of full-page splash,” she explains. Visit Sonia’s website (opens in a new tab) to see her catalog of major manga, books and commissions.
The books are published by Sweatdrop Studios, a small publishing house founded by Sonia and her friends. “It’s been created entirely by me without any outside control,” she says, adding: “I was also worried about how my prose writing would be received, but it was very popular and my fans love it! “
Here is the latest teaching book, and it expands on another of Sonia’s talents as a teacher. The Complete Beginner’s Guide To Drawing Manga covers everything from how to get started with this unique and incredibly complex art style as well as how to get more out of your tools, from traditional pens and pencils to digital art software the best. There are tips on layout, composition and lettering; as the title says, this is really a complete beginner’s guide.
So what are the common mistakes that newcomers to manga fall into? “Thinking that it is as easy as it all seems,” says the artist. Good manga artists should be good artists first and therefore have an eye for anatomy and traditional rules. Then you learn how to break the rules.
Sonia tells me: “Manga style is a set of choices, often used to strip an image down to clean, crisp, minimalist lines. We need to have a broad knowledge of how to draw everything (especially people) then We pick and choose our lines very carefully to render our images cleanly.”
Manga art tips and techniques
The Complete Beginner’s Guide To Drawing Manga is excellent at showing how to improve some of the most common manga art techniques. The book is divided into chapters and then into bite-sized chunks of learning, such as drawing water or understanding panel swing and cropping, A chapter on manga anatomy covers drawing faces, bodies, hands, legs, and then draws it all together to teach. you how to create unique characters with their own styles.
This is the technical process of ‘how’ but for Sonia more than this how you implement it all, especially if you are planning a series of many years of books (manga is notoriously long lasting for many years).
Sonia explains the most demanding and rewarding aspect of drawing manga: “Maintaining consistency on a longer running series drawn over several years! I juggle different projects and work in different styles according to different client specifications, so when I need to get back to work on the next volume of a series after a break, I need to remind myself again about the character designs, matching the style I’ve already used in the previous volumes and the formatting for the type that’s a book.”
If this sounds like hard work, and it is, manga art is also extremely rewarding. There is a dynamism and life to the manga that few ‘styles’ achieve. Sonia loves to draw “bright eyes, fluttery lashes, long flowing hair, gorgeous costumes and lots of blood” and of course blood. “I like having the time to create an action scene with beautiful characters slashing through an enemy with a big sword,” she says.
If you feel inspired you can use the best coloring pencils, watercolor pencils and artist pens to work traditionally, or use digital art software such as Procreate; Sonia recommends using Clip Studio Paint – read our ‘How to draw manga in Clip Studio Paint’ tutorial to find out how this app works.
“Clip Studio is one of the best all-in-one packages out there for the price,” confirms Sonia. “It’s great for all kinds of comic book artists, whether you shade your pages in full color, if you need to letter an entire book, if you’re drawing a fancy cover.”
There’s no better time to start experimenting with and perfecting manga style art, either. Mainstream comic labels are influenced by manga more than ever and anime has become a mainstay of most streaming services, not to mention how the Simpsons anime makeover went viral last year.
“Manga has spread around the world and is recognized as mainstream, especially with major TV streaming services that make anime so easy to access,” explains Sonia. “This also applies to webcomics. Translations of comics are done very quickly these days so that readers can enjoy them soon after the original books are published.”
It’s an art form that keeps Sonia busy. The artist has Volume 3 of The Chronicles Of Ciel, Volume 2 of Love Stuffing (a romantic comic series I’m working on), a Western-style comic book cover with comic motion capabilities, “an art book of cute food-based characters” , two different webcomic series, and of course, “Tons of school visits and comic conventions to go to! I’m always busy…”
The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Drawing Manga by Sonia Leong is published on April 27 (Ilex Press, £16.99). You can pre-order and buy the new book from Waterstones (opens in a new tab).
Read more:
