Ben Dunn How To Draw Manga

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Jan 16, 2015 Logan rated it it was ok

The problem with many of the books titled "How to Draw Manga" is that they don't really teach you how to draw true manga style illustrations, unless they were originally written in Japan. Sadly, most of the original Japanese manga illustration books have gone out of print and have disappeared from the shelves. In their wake, dozens of western artists who imitate an "anime style" have published hoards of these books. I use quotes because the term animesque would be more appropriate. Back during t The problem with many of the books titled "How to Draw Manga" is that they don't really teach you how to draw true manga style illustrations, unless they were originally written in Japan. Sadly, most of the original Japanese manga illustration books have gone out of print and have disappeared from the shelves. In their wake, dozens of western artists who imitate an "anime style" have published hoards of these books. I use quotes because the term animesque would be more appropriate. Back during the anime boom around the year 2000, a bunch of artists like Joe Madureira copied what they saw as anime's "look," thus giving birth to this bizarre look of dumbed down manga inspired artwork. The fact is, there isn't a single "look" that defines all Japanese animated and illustrated media, though there are certain visual motifs that dominate Japanese visual design. To see the difference, just look up Ghost in the Shell: SAC, and then look up Madoka Magica. The difference is almost night and day. So when you have these westerners doing their animesque drawings, they're just using dumbed down versions of those motifs I mentioned. And while Joe Madureira's style has evolved beyond his animesque beginnings, Ben Dunn isn't somebody I would recommend learning art from. If you want to draw art with an anime look to it, I suggest actually finding some favorite artists from Japan, and learning how they illustrate. ...more

Ben Dunn is an American comic book artist. Although born in Taiwan, he grew up in Kentucky, Taiwan and San Antonio, Texas. It was in Taiwan that he was first exposed to Japanese manga. In 1984 he founded Antarctic Press, an American comic book company specializing in Manga-style titles. In 2003, he sold Antarctic to start his own development company, Sentai Studios.

Dunn was also one of the primary

Dunn was also one of the primary artists involved in the short-lived Marvel Mangaverse project.

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Ellen Oh is an award-winning author of middle grade and young adult novels such as Spirit Hunters, The Dragon Egg Princess, and A Thousand...

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