With his usual cool and concise approach Crilley once again reaches for his pencils to this time take on the ‘manga’ head shape and facial features. By beginning with basic geometric shapes like the circle he is able to form all the key features of a manga/anime cartoon character. Essential skills for your sketch pad! So grab your pencils and sketchbook and learn the manga techniques to improve your style and technique in drawing cartoons.
How To Draw The Hand In A Pointing Uncle Sam Gesture
In this video a simple step by step guide has been provided to enable you to draw a hand in the famous “Uncle Sam’s Pose”
The video has been put together in a simple way and there are also three resources that have been provided to aid you with this along the way.
1. Demonstrating the process
2. Is a link to step by step directions on the artists own website
3. A printable PDF file with big pictures and text
If at any time you need to refer to your references on your PDF file, just pause the video at the end of each step.
Now we move on to the drawing itself and how to draw it
Step 1: Make three ovals that get slightly smaller (from top to bottom)
Step 2: Put in the three connected shapes that I just added. Notice the angle that the top and bottom lines create as they slope inward towards each other.
Step 3: Observe the picture (above) and put in the four lines. Notice the direction of each of their curves.
Step 4: Put in the shape for the pointer finger. The small banana shape that you see to the left is the fingernail. Do not close the top!
Step 5: Close the shape to create the knuckles.
Step 6: Put in the triangle shape above the pointer finger.
Step 7: Close the shape at the top by connecting the top of the banana shape with the top of the triangle. Notice the creases of skin on the foreshortened finger.
Step 8: Put in the shape that sort of looks like a birds head from the side.
Step 9: Make a kite shape below the beak of the bird head shape.
Step 10: Close the shape
Now its time to shade. You will need a q-tip or blending stump for this part. The pencils that have been used are 2B and 4B and for the shading an erasure has been used.
A Live Portrait Drawing In Charcoals
This video shows artist Da Rong Dong sketching in charcoals a young girl in a live scenario. The video is time lapsed but it is easy to see how he navigates around the page and gathers all his correct proportions by working on the key features like the eyes, nose and mouth to then eventually form the head shape around them.
Charcoal is an extremely versatile medium use especially in portraiture as it has a soft feel on application and is extremely easy to blend to get all those tonal qualities and shadowing which skin naturally casts.
Evan Burse: How To Draw ‘Naruto’ Anime/Manga In Pencil
Cartoon Block artist Evan Burse takes to a pencil drawing of one of the most popular characters in manga, Naruto. He uses a HB pencil and anime drawing paper to replicate the heroic character from start to finish in a step by step easy to follow style.
He begins by drawing a circle for the basic head shape and follows this with a vertical central line and uses this as a guide to draw a symmetrical jawline to form the basis for his character Naruto.
The key features like the eyes, ears and mouth are all in line next to be drawn and this is the point where Burse uses an eraser to rub out some of his rough guidelines and pencils in bold dark lines to really start establishing his character’s detail. This cartoon tutorial really is easy to follow and a nice foundation from which to draw anime/manga at your own pace and level.
How To Draw The Female Face
Using the tablet and pen which most digital artists are familiar with, this particular artist demonstrates how to draw the correct proportions of the adult female face. There is a very basic first few minutes where the artist draws the standard proportions if the face, ie, the eyes, ears, mouth and general head shape. This is then advanced onto a more detailed drawing to the right of it. The classic crosshatching technique is used to achieve the shading on areas of the face where tone is expected from hypothetical directional light. Have a watch and have a go, digital or just standard pencils. You might just be surprised with your own result.
