Question:
What are all the tools i will need to draw manga?
James
2013-12-26 18:41:12 UTC
For now I plan on just improving drawing skills and this summer get all the tools and learn to use them. I plan on just doing the traditional kind of drawing.
Nine answers:
2013-12-26 20:50:20 UTC
There are a LOT of ways to approach making manga, depending on what method you think would work best for you, but overall you'll likely need some essential tools no matter what.



You need drawing tools, first and foremost, something to physically draw the manga before you do anything else with it. A pencil works best, but what kind is really dependent on your own preference. Mechanical ones with fine, easily erasable lead (perhaps a 0.5 millimeter HB, H, or 2H lead) would probably be best, but like I said, it all depends on what works best for you. The lead doesn't even have to be gray if you don't want it to be; mechanical pencil lead comes in other colors, some easier to erase than others. A good eraser is also important, and you'll probably have use for multiple ones, of various shapes and sizes for different kinds of erasing. It's best to buy one specifically for drawing, such as at an art store, than to just a random fun-shaped one you could get at a local Walmart (they tend to not erase as good and smear pencil lines more easily). Normal pink rectangular erasers are fine, though. A precision can be VERY helpful for erasing and refining details in your art before you move on to other stages of making your manga.



Good paper is also key to making good manga. You can do your sketches, brainstorming, and storyboards on whatever paper (or other surface) you want, because it usually doesn't end up in the final product, but the paper for the final draft of your manga has to be a specific kind in order to do properly. There is paper specifically made for creating manga, usually called manuscript paper or just manga paper, and it's typically a bit thicker, smoother, and of better quality than regular printer paper. It also tends to have margins, some numbers & other lines pre-printed on it, to help with the layout of the finished manga page. This type of paper is what your finished manga, from sketch to inked drawing, goes on.



Then, there are drafting tools, like rulers, triangles, protractors, and other things of that nature. Unless you feel up to the task of drawing perfectly straight lines, uniform curves, and accurate angles without any help, you'll likely need any or all of these to help. Triangles especially help when you need to make panels in your manga, because they already provide easy angles to draw at without having to measure them out. Rulers are... pretty self-explanatory; they help you draw straight lines. They will be very useful when you need to go pack over a straight line in ink, so you don't mess up. There are also "flexible curves", rulers that can be bent into different curves and twists so you can draw those uniformly. A french curve may work, too.



Most importantly are the inking tools, which is how you'll make the actual finished drawings that constitute your manga from the pencil drawings you made on the manuscript paper. It's most common for manga artists to use nib pens to ink their manga, and those come in a lot of different varieties (though a G-pen is considered the best by most). However, it's becoming increasingly commonplace to use felt-tip pens to do it instead. These may not offer as much freedom in the kinds of lines that you can make with them, but it's really a matter of preference. Sometimes, people may also ink with brushes of any sort, usually calligraphy brushes or other fine ones. The ink itself can vary as long as it's waterproof and won't smear easily (as you'll need to erase the pencil sketches under your inked drawings once you're done). Different kinds of ink have different properties, so you may want to see about different kinds to find what's best for you. Also, white ink, or sometimes white acrylic, can be good for highlights and correcting mistakes, but you have to be careful with how you use it. A white gel pen may do fine as well, but they sometimes fade, depending on what brand of pen it is.



Screen tone can be tricky, but it's very common in manga as well, so it may not be bad to look into acquiring some of it as well. Screen tone is basically a sheet of black dots that are printed to appear as shades of gray, because they're close enough together that they fool the eye into perceiving them as actual shading. The tone has adhesive on one side so you put it on top of your finished manga page, and then apply it as needed. Most shading and a lot of effects in manga are done with screen tone. There are countless kinds of tone depending on what kind of dots you want (i.e. size, and how close they are to each other), and you can also get special kinds of tone that have designs on them, for things like clothing. An exacto-knife is used to scrape the tone off of the manuscript to get the desired shading and gradients, or effects that you want. It takes some practice to get proficient at it, but once you get the hang of it, it can be fun seeing what effects you can create. Many people have taken to applying "tone" digitally to avoid some of the hassle, but that can present some difficulties of its own (it's also VERY complicated), and you want to stay traditional, as you said.



Coloring tools are really dependent on your tastes, as well, but there are a few that are fairly commonplace across the whole genre of manga. Copic brand markers, which are alcohol-based markers that almost draw like watercolor, are pretty much the default for most people who do manga in color nowadays. They can be very useful for covers, color pages and splash pages, if you want to make your manga look a bit "fancy", or more professional. Really, though, you can legitimately color with whatever you want as long as it works for you. Some manga artists use different kinds of paint, like gouache, watercolor, or acrylic, and some others use colored inks. Colored pencils can work, too, if you know how to use them well enough. Digital coloring is also becoming increasingly popular, but you want to stay traditional, so that isn't important.



Other tools that may not be necessary for making manga but are still helpful include a light board, for tracing and copying anything that you see fit to, a dusting brush (or a makeup brush may work), to get rid of debris and shavings without harming the pictures, a good printer/scanner, for making copies of anything essential, and any references you can acquire by any means (photographs, art books, films, the internet, art or artists that you're in to, anything like that). Good references will allow you to be more diverse with what you draw, even if you don't think you need it. But of course, the greatest reference for making manga is manga, so don't forget to keep up with that, either. :)



Most of the supplies that I've listed can be found at any given art supplies store, but you may find a wider selection of things online. Amazon can have surprisingly good deals on art supplies if you look in the right place at the right time; sometimes it's much cheaper than you could ever legitimately find in stores. There's also jetpens.com, which has a pretty impressive selection of supplies, though the selection & stocks can vary. wetpaintart.com can be a good place for finding manuscript paper, depending on your preferences.



Also, make sure you can create manga in a good working environment, with plenty of light and easy access to any resources you may need. This may sound silly, but it can help you in the manga-making process SO MUCH. A nice desk with no clutter, all of your supplies close by, a sufficiently bright lamp, and a comfortable chair will do just fine.



And above all else, practice as much as possible! Practice is the key to getting good at manga, just like anything else! I hope this is helpful!
2016-12-25 07:56:31 UTC
1
?
2013-12-26 18:53:20 UTC
Manga? Well manga are basically comics from a certain culture. And you can create comics with anything you want. But if you are talking about manga specifically, there are a few things generally pertaining to it in terms of materials.



1. Get a nib pen. I have a g-pen, but any nib pen will do. It's how they create lines in manga.

2. Also get some ink. Self explanatory I think. xD

3. Get some screen tones. They're the gray colors in all manga. They are like stickers, and stick onto the paper to create gray patterns.

4. You need yourself some manga paper. It's called manga paper. Deleter makes some, but anything with this label should be fine. xD Your final pages are done on these.

5. Get yourself a xacto knife. For cutting out screen tone.

6. Get something white like paint or whiteout or something lol to cover up mistakes.



You can buy most of this stuff at jetpens.com I believe. There's also a lot of other stuff I didn't mention, but this is why it's probably better just to use informal materials like a fine liner and regular office paper if you want to create a manga for fun. This is too much money to be tossing for a test run. xD
?
2017-01-21 19:05:45 UTC
2
Kamari12365
2013-12-26 18:53:57 UTC
Cool! I'm trying to do the same thing ^^ I hear Manuscript paper is good for creating lines for manga.. but I don't really think you NEED that.

You should have plenty of references to help improve your drawing skills. Like keeping a manga book by your side while drawing. Starting out with a pencil sketch then going over it with "nib pens" or just a basic thin thin pen. Some rulers for the backgrounds .

A duster to brush off the eraser shavings so you don't smear anything, but its not really needed.

Some stores like Michael's I saw have a special pack of pens just for manga creating ^o^



good luck to you :D
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Michelle
2013-12-26 20:43:11 UTC
Micron Sakura inking pens, prismacolor inking pens, or copic inking pens are a good choise. Get several different sizes such as .005, .1, .3, .5, 1, 5, brush, etc. Some people just ink over pencil sketches while other use a light box and trace their pencil sketches.

Look online for appropriate manga paper or just doodle on regular paper.



Get a vinyl eraser, a straight edge, a t-square ruler, etc. Look on youtube for tutorials too.
2014-07-12 23:51:42 UTC
Well I just recently decided to start drawing manga with inks, markers, and pens. (wish me luck! :D) I had been practicing for 4 years, (IT MUST BE PERFECT.) xD. But anyways I was reading the manga Rave Master and the author had wrote down what he uses to draw.

(List:)

Normal G. Pen

Pilot Ink (Drafting)

Kaimei Ink

Brush Pen (Pilot)

Sigma Pens

Zebra Markers

Copic Markers

Round Pen

Mono Eraser

Doctor Martin's Whiteout

IC Screen tone (I suggest #61 and #62)



For paper I think that maybe these may be the best for ink, markers, and pens;



Bristol Board

But if your just beginning I suggest "4 Koma" or Grid Paper. (Grid paper for drafting).
2013-12-27 16:01:40 UTC
Well a manga is a comic. So allot of paper... Rulers and guidelines. Gell pens(black) Charcoal. um.. anything you can use to draw actually. Before you draw it on make a little sketch on what you want to do.


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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