Shoujo Basics: Christopher Hart's Draw Manga Now!

$7.99 US
Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed | Watson-Guptill
On sale Jun 18, 2013 | 978-0-385-34532-3
Sales rights: World
Focusing on the most popular style of manga, Shoujo Basics teaches readers how to draw all the trademark characteristics of shoujo characters; from lessons on glimmering eyes, flowing hair, and dramatic expressions to more basic elements such as the body, face, and poses, this book covers everything readers need to go from shoujo fans to shoujo artists. After an introduction to these elements, readers will have a chance to follow along Hart's in-depth step-by-steps, and will even be invited to draw on their own, right in the book's pages.

The human body was built to move. Therefore, you’ve got to find a way to make your figures move in whatever pose they’re in. But how do you do that? You’ve probably heard of the line of action. It’s a long line sketched in at the rough stage of the drawing to emphasize the fluidity of the pose. The line of the spine serves the same purpose.
            Whichever way the spine is curving or bending is the same way the body generally moves. So use the line of the spine (indicated in red in the drawings here) to indicate this flow of action. When you sketch the line of the spine in your rough drawings, try to make it curve, and you’ll avoid making a stiff drawing.

About

Focusing on the most popular style of manga, Shoujo Basics teaches readers how to draw all the trademark characteristics of shoujo characters; from lessons on glimmering eyes, flowing hair, and dramatic expressions to more basic elements such as the body, face, and poses, this book covers everything readers need to go from shoujo fans to shoujo artists. After an introduction to these elements, readers will have a chance to follow along Hart's in-depth step-by-steps, and will even be invited to draw on their own, right in the book's pages.

Excerpt

The human body was built to move. Therefore, you’ve got to find a way to make your figures move in whatever pose they’re in. But how do you do that? You’ve probably heard of the line of action. It’s a long line sketched in at the rough stage of the drawing to emphasize the fluidity of the pose. The line of the spine serves the same purpose.
            Whichever way the spine is curving or bending is the same way the body generally moves. So use the line of the spine (indicated in red in the drawings here) to indicate this flow of action. When you sketch the line of the spine in your rough drawings, try to make it curve, and you’ll avoid making a stiff drawing.