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Manga for the Beginner
Series · 5 books · 2008-2013

Books in series

Manga for the Beginner book cover
#1

Manga for the Beginner

Everything you Need to Start Drawing Right Away!

2008

Got manga? Christopher Hart’s got manga, and he wants to share it with all his millions of readers—especially the beginners. With Manga for the Beginner, anyone who can hold a pencil can start drawing great manga characters right away. Using his signature step-by-step style, Hart shows how to draw the basic manga head and body, eyes, bodies, fashion, and more. Then he goes way beyond most beginner titles, exploring dynamic action poses, special effects, light and shading, perspective, popular manga types such as animals, anthros, and shoujo and shounen characters. By the end of this big book, the new artist is ready to draw dramatic story sequences full of movement and life.
Manga for the Beginner book cover
#2

Manga for the Beginner

Chibis

2010

The ultimate guide to creating chibis! They populate manga with chunky bodies, oversized heads, and huge expressive eyes. They're schoolgirls and schoolboys, magical girls and mad scientists, fairies and fighter princesses, cyborgs and sci-fi secret agents, bikers and bad samurais, robots and rebel leaders. They've even got chubby pets and zany monster sidekicks! They're chibis! Excruciatingly cute, highly stylized, and beloved in all manga genres (fantasy, magical girls, shounen, anthro, sci-fi-, and more), without them, manga would barely exist. And now you can learn, step by step, how to draw virtually every chibi out there, how to "chibify" ordinary manga characters—and how to invent your very own designs! Covering facial expressions, those iconic manga eyes, costumes, character interaction, and story settings, Manga for the Beginner Chibis has it all.
Manga for the Beginner book cover
#3

Manga for the Beginner

Shoujo

2010

Manga for the Beginner Shoujo: Everything You Need to Start Drawing the Most Popular Style of Japanese Comics The ultimate guide to creating the most popular form of manga—shoujo! If you’re reading this, you already love shoujo. But now you’ll be able to take the next step and actually write and draw your very own. The teen characters that populate the genre are outrageously cool, including magical girls, demon gals, cat girls, J-rockers, handsome teen boys, Goth boys, and the increasingly popular elegant older young men that shoujo fans adore. No one can top Christopher Hart in helping you learn some fundamental art techniques that will bring shoujo characters, which are more realistic and less cartoon-like than other styles of manga, to life. His drawings in this book reflect the coolest and latest style Tokyo has to offer, and the easy-to-follow steps are designed for the beginner. From coloring to character development, Manga for The Beginner Shoujo has your back on every detail as you learn to create the most beloved of all manga. You may start off as an otaku (a manga fan), but you’ll end up a mangaka (a manga artist)!
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#4

Manga for the Beginner

Kawaii

2012

Manga for the Beginner Kawaii: How to Draw the Supercute Characters of Japanese Comics Kawaii—so cute it hurts! You probably know this already, but the superpopular manga genre of Kawaii is everywhere! From Hello Kitty to Pokémon, these supercute Kawaii creatures are taking over. These characters are intensely cute, simple to draw, and colorfully graphic. The Kawaii genre puts its supercute stamp on a variety of well-known manga staples from adorable anthros to lovable monsters and animals to dark-but-still-cute Goths. Even the breathtaking and beautiful ladies of the Kawaii subgenre moe get their turn in the spotlight. The undisputed master of manga, Christopher Hart provides you with all the tools and techniques you will need to bring these beloved Kawaii characters to life. The supercute drawings and step-by-step directions provide you with everything you need to draw with Kawaii-style charm and personality. From color contrasts to simplifying designs, Manga for the Beginner Kawaii provides the complete inside scoop on what it takes to make it as a Kawaii artist. This is the ultimate guide to bringing supercute characters from manga’s most adorable genre to life.
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#5

Manga for the Beginner

Midnight Monsters

2013

Manga for the Beginner Midnight Monsters: How to Draw Zombies, Vampires, and Other Delightfully Devious Characters of Japanese Comics Using step-by-step instruction on how to draw Japanese manga and anime zombies, vampires, and monsters, best-selling author Christopher Hart teaches artists how they can create their own spooky manga characters. With the occult running rampant in today's television, movies, and other media, it's no wonder that the scary, monstrous, and dark characters of manga have become so popular. From drawing monster eyes to goth boys, Manga for the Beginner Midnight Monsters teaches artists how to draw these creepy and mysterious characters that they just can't get enough of. Packed with expert tips on · Zombies · Vampires · Werewolves · Goths · Witches · Sorcerers · And so much more!

Author

Christopher Hart
Christopher Hart
Author · 72 books

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. I started drawing character designs and storyboards for a small animation studio in while in High School. Cartooning and animation was a magical experience to me. I try to bring that experience, as well as art tips, to my readers. Their enthusiasm also motivates me. Early in my career, my cartoon work got noticed by Watson-Guptill, a premier publisher of art books. They asked me to do a book for them on drawing cartoons. It sold 200,000 copies, which is a healthy number. So we kept going. I discovered that I enjoyed the art of creating books, which has its own special requirements. I also worked as an author for Random House, Quarto and Soho Publishing. In total, I have had 8 million books sold, and have been translated into 20 languages. My book, "The Master Guide to Drawing Anime: How to Draw Original Characters from Simple Templates" has sold over half a million copies to date and is still very actively in print. An earlier book of mine, "Manga Mania: How to Draw Japanese Comics:" reached the number one art book in the country, according to Bookscan. I've also been a cover story on the industry trade magazine, "Publisher's Weekly." And if you've read this far into my Bio, then I'm more impressed with you than you are with me! Thank you so very much for letting me offer some inspiration to you in your art adventures. Christopher Hart

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