Are you ready for manga? Well then: Totemo subarashī, yo! (Japanese for ‘super, great, amazing!’) Mangas are comics that are mostly produced in black and white and originate from Japan. They tell stories with the help of images – and you read them in the Japanese way from right to left. Special features of the painted characters include their large eyes and often expressive faces.
In this text you will get a lot of background knowledge and learn more about the possibilities for drawing your own manga – and which material is suitable for it.
No worries if you’re hooked on color: Nowadays, single pictures in the Japanese style of comics and caricatures are also referred to as mangas as well as the usual picture stories. And some of these are brightly colored! Even manga books in color are no longer an exception. The possibilities of painting in manga style are unlimited. That also applies to you too from now on. Isn’t that great?
Experience the harmony of the elements with the exclusive "Kachō fūgetsu" manga sets
for the 40th anniversary of the Tombow ABT Dual Brush Pens - now with 40% discount! Each set contains 6 watercolor ABT Dual Brush Pens and a water tank brush, perfect for vivid manga drawings. The sets reflect the Japanese idiom "Kachō fūgetsu", which symbolizes the beauty and harmony of nature. Available in four color variants, inspired by Flower (花), Bird (鳥), Wind (風) & Moon (月).
Manga script: What is the plot – and which characters will appear?
Before you create the pictures for your manga, write down exactly what you want to draw. When will what happen? What characters can be seen and where is the action taking place? The script is important preparatory work for creating your manga in a structured way. In the script, you write down in detail what your readers will see in which picture, what the people are saying and what action is taking place. With mangas, it is typical to tell a story using lots of images and a little text. This narrative medium enables a fast reading flow and the reader immediately has the feeling of ‘being there’.
Create the basic structure of your manga in a storyboard
The storyboard is also part of the basic structure if you want to draw a manga. A storyboard contains panels. Panels are single images in a sequence. To draw them, a pencil with a soft lead, such as the MONO 100 with a hardness of 3B to 6B, is ideal. Its graphite lead has a high density and creates an intense contrast. Because the lead is very soft, it is very easy to draw with.
The advantage of working with pencil: With the help of a good eraser you can erase drawn lines again. Depending on whether you are erasing a larger area or a fine line, it is convenient to have erasers of different sizes ready on your drawing board. For example the MONO L for large areas and a finer variant like the MONO zero for single lines or highlights.
To draw exact lines, fineliners such as the MONO drawing pen are particularly suitable. The long metal tip on this pen is particularly practical as you can use it with a ruler if you want to draw e.g. speed lines. This graphic style element depicts strong feelings or high speeds. Don’t know what outlines are? Outlines are borders, silhouettes and contours.
To give your figures more volume, shadow and plasticity, you need a pen that is suitable for painting and coloring flat surfaces, such as the ABT Dual Brush Pen. It has two different tips. In addition to the wide brush that you can use to paint the whole surface, you’ll find a fine and firm tip on the other side, which is great for details and edges.
You can achieve more depth and dynamics with various color gradations. The ABT Dual Brush Pen is available in 13 different shades of gray. This makes it easier for you to create flowing transitions and shadows.
You can use colour to create atmosphere in your illustrations
Instead of just working with grey tones, you can of course also add color. color determines the character, mood or impression. If you want to draw mangas, you can use different color palettes comprising coordinating colors. Depending on the application – and your preferences – some very extensive manga color palettes are available. The water-based brush pens in the ABT Dual Brush Pen Manga-Set Shojo, for example, are intended more for feminine mangas. They contain delicate and light cyan and magenta tones that look like pastel shades. The water-based ABT Dual Brush Pen Manga-Set Shonen for the masculine genre, on the other hand, contains stronger shades.
An important element of your manga equipment is good, robust paper
It is best to use very smooth paper if you work with Brush Pens. After all: the nylon tip is sensitive. Rough, conventional copy paper is therefore less suitable. To protect your pens and also get very good results, paint on high opacity smooth writing and drawing paper such as the Tombow Bristol Paper.
Your manga will simply look so much better on high-quality paper. Due to its high strength, Tombow Aquarelle Paper is particularly suitable for water-based pens. Paper is an important element and on this paper, you can erase your sketches without damaging the page. You can also draw outlines using a very fine fineliner without piercing the paper – and if you use the ABT Dual Brush Pens, you can apply color without tearing the paper. With the right paper, you’ll get clean results and this makes the whole process twice as much fun!
Schritt für Schritt zum Manga – auf einen Blick
- Take a good piece of paper that is suitable for your colors. Smooth paper with high opacity for alcohol-based markers and paper with high strength for water-based pens.
- The script: Develop a story and characters and create an outline.
- The storyboard: Try to draw your story in panels - i.e. individual images - in a sensible order.
- Draw in more detail and make outlines. Erase your sketches.
- Take brush pens and color in areas. Try your hand at color gradients and shading.
- If you decide to use color, start with light shades and then go darker.
- Create effects with the Blender.
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Felt-tip pen
MONO drawing pen set of 3
Fineliner Set Light Gray: For precise lines in three different line widths.
€8.85
Felt-tip pen
MONO drawing pen set of 4
Set of 4 MONO drawing pen fineliners. Two different sets available.
Line width selectable
from
€13.20
Felt-tip pen
MONO drawing pen single
Fine lines, bold art – unleash your creativity with Tombow MONO drawing pen. 8 different line widths available.
Line width selectable
from
€3.30
Eraser
MONO dust CATCH
Eraser residues stick to eraser due to its tacky polymer mixture. The solution to prevent small eraser bits on sketches, designs or technical drawings.
€2.40
Mechanical Pencils
MONO graph 05
Mechanical pencil with eraser is available in attractive design and 10 different colors. Long metal refill ideal for drawing using a ruler or template.
Available in various colours
from
€7.50
Pencils
MONO graph 07
The popular MONO graph mechanical pencil now available with 0.7 mm lead in 6 bright neon colors
Available in various colours
from
€7.50
Mechanical Pencils
MONO graph Lite mechanical pencil
Mechanical pencil with eraser, available in 4 trendy smokey colors. Long metal lead ideal for precise drawing and writing.
Available in various colours
from
€3.50
Pencils
MONO pencil + eraser set of 6
Drawing set for beginners and the advanced. Contents: 6 pencils with high-quality graphite leads (1 x 2H, HB, B, 2B, 4B, 6B) and one eraser pen MONO zero with a round tip (2.3 mm diameter).
€18.80
Eraser
MONO plastic eraser
The truely classic eraser from Japan - launched in 1969 in the Japanese market. MONO eraser is available in the three sizes XS, M and L.
Size selectable
from
€1.30
Eraser
MONO zero classic rectangular tip
To the point: Refillable eraser pen with a fine point for very precise and neat erasing.
Available in various colours
from
€4.30