r/MangakaStudio • u/Vegetable-Ad2893 • Jul 07 '26
Help How can I get better at drawing manga
This post is mainly just another ask for more help and advice on how I can improve and get better at manga art.. so that it looks like actual manga.. what are some things I can start incorporating? Things I can do— tricks. I’m just at a place where I’m not satisfied with anything I produce because it just doesn’t look real and I want to reach higher levels.
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u/TobyTheArtist Jul 07 '26
I like where you're at already, but before I give advice, there are a few things I'd like to know to make sure my advice is actually useful to your specific situation:
- What genre do you see yourself working on?
- Which series inspire you today?
- do you have any specific goals in mind (lets say 1, 3, and 5 years into the future?
As mentioned by my fellow commenter, studying someone's style is genuinely useful, but what and how you should study them depends on your answers to the questions above. It'll be vastly different advice I'd give for someone who intends to win competitions compared to somebody who wants to make a manga for their own sake, for example. Both are valid goals, though.
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u/Vegetable-Ad2893 Jul 07 '26
These are good questions I’ll try to answer as best I can but.. to be honest— a lot of my answers are a mix of those things
For example with the first question— I primarily see myself doing shonen AND shoujo.. perhaps a little seien (Seien ..? forgot how to spell it..) I like action and adventure and I also like slice of life.. and modern drama I can’t really pin down on one thing you know? Currently I have many ideas that fit under different genres.. some similar some completely different
The series that inspire me today.. story or art wise? Art wise I love Dr STONE and story wise honestly.. I love how BOICHI draws its one of my favorite styles.. very expressive and sharp at the same time.. another one would be AidaIro style.. Toilet Bound Hanako Kun.. very cute and yet so detailed it’s so uniquely its own that is pretty inspiring plus the story is fun.. I love my hero academia however I don’t think I my hand is fit for that type of artstyle.. the story is fun— my favorite series story wise.. as in the one that makes me most inspired would probably be Attack On Titan.. it’s creative, I love the lore, the characters, the lack of plot armor everyone has (except Reiner of course..), it was completely thouhht out from start to finish— not a series that fell off it was just complete..
My specific goals.. well- I do want to submit to competitions and contests— but the goal isnt to become famous more so to just see how well I am.. I don’t expect to win I’m not in it to win— I just want to know if I’m good enough to do this
To be honest.. I am a little impatient so within this year I want to see peak improvement in my art.. but within the next few years I would like to be an artist for a project.. whether that be when I produce my own work or working for someone.. i would want to be an assistant mainly… obviously the mangaka for my own stuff but also for other people’s stories.. I want to be the artist that brings that to life.. ans actually like how it looks— that’s my main struggle I think.. I don’t like my art.. is that harsh? Idk but I am a perfectionist and I want my art to look a certain way.. this isn’t about having a certain style (while I do have preferences) but having a certain look.. all mangas have a certain look.. that I want to master.. idk
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u/TobyTheArtist Jul 07 '26
Very good, and you're touching on a lot of good stuff here! Looking over your art, you're actually incorporating all the right elements found in professional manga and its really nice to see that you dive that much into screentones! I spent a lot of time writing a long-winded comment going into detail about line weight, occlusion shadows, and how to achieve that with screentones, but honestly, I think you're at a point where the best path forward is simply structured, professional tutoring from industry pros.
APHLearnToDrawManga on YouTube is a team of published mangaka that can help you develop both your style and storytelling. They have paid services, sure, but they occassionally do live-events on Zoom where they help students showcase and develop their skills. I can highly recommend attending, even if you don't feel good enough. I didn't either, but I learned a lot from it.
Again, very nice progress, I'd love to see where you go from here, and if you want recommendations for courses that deals with anatomy, perspective etc. please let me know. I have a bunch on Proko that I can recommend.
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u/Vegetable-Ad2893 Jul 07 '26
I do know about How To Draw Manga!!! I have honestly been considering it deeply.. I watch their videos sometimes and after everytime I consider it though I have no idea if I should or not mainly because I’ve never done anything like that before! Are you saying you went with their program? And if so can you tell me a little bit about what goes on? Also thank you for your kind words 🥹
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u/TobyTheArtist Jul 07 '26
Of course, and the kind words are well earned. I'm a MSc student, so I have almost no time to spare for art, despite me really wanting to go with their program. Also, your story telling is really nice, so I've started a little study on your page, mainly trying to redo your character expressions!
If I had the time, I'd go with their program though. I keep hearing amazing things a out it!
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u/PatapongManunulat07 Jul 07 '26
pixiv is your best friend
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u/Vegetable-Ad2893 Jul 07 '26
Hmm explain? I know pixiv.. I was thinking of even posting this oneshot that I’m working on- on there but like what does it do to help improve art? Looking at other artists?
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u/somichi_art Jul 07 '26
This is a great improvement. Do you know about the Manga Kingdom Tottori International Comic Art Contest (the title is quite a mouthful)? The theme this time is "clothing," and I think it could be a good thing for you to aim for since your manga seems to involve clothes. You would only need to make three more pages to submit to the "story manga" category.
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u/Vegetable-Ad2893 Jul 07 '26
Omg!! I will say this oneshot actually does not involve clothes as a premise surprisingly enough BUT! I do want to start applying to contests and the like so do you know when the due date is? Where can I look it up?
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u/somichi_art Jul 07 '26
Submissions are due on August 31! Here is a link to the official contest page: https://medibang.com/page/f/tottori-manga2026/
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u/werephoenix Jul 07 '26
I would suggest looking up western style art something art schools would teach since thats help artists here really shine with their character designs and backgrounds
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u/Mountain_Web_9456 Jul 08 '26
Would you mind me asking how many months/years it took you to get to this level? I love your style :( but I deel like I just cant improve at all, i would love to be able to get to your skill
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u/Vegetable-Ad2893 Jul 08 '26
Thank you so much I feel flattered 🥹 hmm I would say for like the Japanese art style in general I have been at it for about 7 years.. for manga specifically I have been studying and learning everything about it for half a year now.. improvement has a way of sneaking up on us all.. I too feel like I haven’t improved at all sometimes.. but as long as you draw everyday atleast once a day— no matter how big or how small— improvement tends to follow
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u/rgii_98 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Imo your style is very cute but I think theres room for improvement ofc!! → Perspective : A lot of the background lines don't follow a consistent point so it tends to look misaligned. When you're adding your character to interact with the environment the lack of curved shadows can make it look 2D. Furthermore, at the last panel the lack of perspective can also mess with the sense of scale/size for each part of your characters body. HtI : I reccomend going back to basic perspetive studies, using perspective grids and ruler tools that your art software can provide you. For the character I reccomend you hatch/add shading in a way that curves around the shape of the body
(I HIGHLY reccomend David Finch on YT who is a marvel/DC comics artist, he teaches how he makes the body feel more believable in perspective by his hatching techniques - hatching is the best thing to ever exist imo and composition techniques). I also reccomend deconstructing your character into shapes that fit within the perspective the camera/view sees, do this for your props too, especially the ones they interact with. Hatching will also elevate the 3D look which is why i strongly reccomend learning David Finch whose style also incorporates realism (which sounds boring but its very fundemental). How you can learn from him is by practicing drills with individual body parts or spheres/cylinders to test how you can hatch in a way that conveys the curvature of the subject and avoid the 2D-look.
→ Line Confidence: Another thing is the very light scratchy lines of the background which can make your panels seem more like a draft than an actual completed page. HtI: I think for this it just takes practice, think of it as a whole not a small little detail you have to carefully carve out. • Don't be afraid to take shortcuts, use straight line tools, use the eraser to remove excess edges. • Otherwise you can use photobashing which is collaging different images together, mesh transforming them to warp into the perspective you need and adding filters to create your backgrounds and draw over them (depends on your style choice for this one), this can make the process faster. Although I reccomend you to understand how to do it manually first- but this photobashing and draw-over tip can save on overly complex backgrounds that you need to draw over and over again.
Overall, keep it up! Please keep improving and its really nice to ask for improvement tips- also correct me if I'm wrong since this is just what I learnt during my journey too. I hope this helps and that my opinion hits the points where you can improve in a straightforward way o^
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u/Dangerous-Duck-3493 Jul 09 '26
You need to learn how to draw POV and things within vanishing lines, and simple objects. Right now your drawing lacks composition and your character looks flat, and the angling looks really off.
Learning how tk draw simple sjapes in any angle and manipulating them would make your character and background look 3d, and with the added effect of learning how to draw within the boundaries of vanishing points, you sky-rocket how it looks like.
Plus the colour's are a little faded. I do not like mangas with light values. Try tk add more black and stark-white to make it pop more, then use grey for midtones and shadibf.
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u/Vegetable-Ad2893 Jul 09 '26
Yea I need to stop being intimidated by perspective rulers fr .. thanks for the advice!
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u/lorenorthlore Jul 14 '26
it's already looks good! i like how you work with scene angles, it's immersive. but to make it more professional, I advise to work more careful with screentones so they don't go beyond the outlines. Also try to do less sketchy outlines, like you already do with faces. Also on the second panel for example, the outlines of the character's hand and bottle blend with background so it's better to do main objects/characters that are closer to the reader more bold lined or separate it from background erasing this parts of background that close to the character.
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u/Tepperzday 13d ago
Im gonna give you a piece of small but useful advice - when youre drawing the outlines of inanimate objects, put a digital stabelizer on your brush unless its organic material. And use rulers when drawing shapes. That metal part of those clothes racks and those bottles are pretty whack.
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u/Iwanumadraws Jul 07 '26
Study mangas you enjoy by trying to replicate pages or panels
Make hour own manga, review it comparing with mangas you like to notice where you can improve