7 Best Manga Drawing Books for Beginners & Intermediate Level Manga Artists

This post contains a listing of the best manga drawing books that offer thorough coverage of Japanese manga art. Suitable for beginners and intermediate level manga artists.

If you wish to learn manga drawing then starting it all with a book is a great idea. How to Draw Anime has curated a list of the 7 best manga drawing books recommended by the community of manga artists.

Learning to draw is one of life’s great pleasures. Especially to draw manga/anime, not because of its increasing popularity but because of its great storyline. Once you start watching anime or reading manga there’s no turning back.

To create your own manga the first thing you need to learn is how to draw characters then only you can frame a manga with interesting characters and a good storyline around your characters.

To help you create your own manga characters we compile a list of the best manga drawing books.

Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a long-time artist, this list of the best manga drawing books will help you improve your knowledge, and manga drawing skills, and provide you with some great reference material, too.

There is always something new to learn, no matter your age or talent level!

Best Manga Drawing Books To Master Manga Art

If you’re someone that never learned to draw, How to Draw Anime lists some of the best manga/anime drawing books that’ll have you putting pencil to paper in no time. This is our pick of the best manga drawing books which we would like to recommend to artists, or aspiring artists, of all skill levels.

These books are the go-to source for many newbie anime manga artists who want to make their career in Japanese-style based comics manga/ anime; Recommended by many professional Mangaka.

 

1. Mastering Manga with Mark Crilley: 30 drawing lessons from the creator of Akiko

Best Manga Drawing Books for beginners

There’s more to manga than big, shiny eyes and funky hair. In these action-packed pages, graphic novelist Mark Crilley shows you step-by-step how to achieve an authentic manga style-from drawing faces and figures to laying out awesome, high-drama spreads.

You’ll learn how a few basic lines will help you place facial features in their proper locations and simple tricks for getting body proportions right. Plus, you’ll find inspiration for infusing your work with expression, attitude and action.

This book is packed with expert tips on everything from hairstyles and clothing to word bubbles and sound effects, delivered in the same friendly, easy-to-follow style.

Packed with everything you need to make your first (or your best-ever) manga stories!

  • 30 step-by-step demonstrations showing how to draw faces and figures for a variety of ages and body types
  • Inspirational galleries featuring 101 eyes, 50 ways to draw hands, 40 hairstyles, 12 common expressions, 30 classic poses and more!
  • Advanced lessons on backgrounds, inking, sequencing and layout options
  • Tutorials to create a variety of realistic settings

 

2. Manga for the Beginner: Everything you Need to Start Drawing Right Away!

best books to learn how to draw manga

Christopher Hart’s this manga is especially for 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.

 

3. The Master Guide to Drawing Anime: How to Draw Original Characters from Simple Templates

best how to draw manga guides for beginners

Nothing brings anime artists more satisfaction than creating original characters to use in a comic strip or graphic novel.

Bestselling how-to-draw author Christopher Hart helps them reach this goal by providing insight into the six most popular anime types: schoolgirls, schoolboys, preteens, vengeful bad guys, humorous personalities, and fantasy figures.

Templates for each; an extensive array of “menus” of head and body types, outfits, and accessories; and detailed, accessible, step-by-step demonstrations and drawing exercises. In addition to that author showcases some of the best anime artists in the world for this title—including Inma R., Tabby Kink, Ayame Shiroi, Euro Pinku, and Tina Francisco. It’s the guide every would-be anime artist has been looking for!

 

4. Beginner’s Guide to Creating Manga Art: Learn to Draw, Color and Design Characters

best books to learn manga art

Bursting with knowledge and brilliant artwork, this guide offers a comprehensive, practical guide to this art form and is an unmissable title for anyone wanting to learn how to capture that classic manga style.

Beginner’s Guide to Creating Manga Art explores the core aspects of this artistic style and takes you through the process of designing manga- and anime-style characters from the initial concept to full-color images.

This book covers everything from drawing features, anatomy, and expressions to designing clothing, perfecting poses, and coloring characters with a mixture of traditional and digital artistic tools.

 

5. How to Draw Manga Characters: A Beginner’s Guide

best books to learn how to draw anime characters

Best-selling author J.C. Amberlyn focuses on favorite manga archetype characters, with a fun and lively how-to-draw book aimed at beginners. She takes you through everything you need to know to create your favorite manga characters from Japanese comics or design your own.

Every genre of manga has its typical characters—plucky hero and heroine; school boys and girls; funny friend/sidekick; serious warrior; young innocent; bishounen; genki girls; chibis; chibi animals; cat girls/cat boys; magical girls; adorable animals; strong/scary animals; gothic characters; fantasy characters—and they are all here along with the step-by-step drawing instructions needed to give even beginners the direction they need to create the favorite characters they can’t get enough of.

A chapter on backgrounds, scenery, and the environment will further give readers the information they need to pull everything together and create their own manga characters and the worlds they live in. Includes 23 step-by-step demonstrations and exercises.

What is inside this book:

  • What Is a Character & Creating a Manga Character
  • Manga Character Archetypes and Story Genres, Manga Character Types & Some Common Terms and Color Associations
  • Human and Animals Heads, Faces, Noses, Ears, and Mouths, Eyes and Hair
  • Expressions: Emotions, Exaggerating Features, Using Fur, Feathers, and Scales, Perspective
  • Bodies and Gestures: Anatomy of a Chibi, Child, Woman, and Man | Gestures, Posture, Angles, and Character Appeal
  • Clothing and Accessories
  • Settings, Scenes, and Samples: Props, Character Design Examples, Silhouettes, Scenes, Character Sheets

>> Also Check: 25+ Best Manga/ Anime Coloring Books

6. How to Draw Anime Part 1


Joseph Stevenson has been teaching kids how to draw for almost ten years, and his drawing techniques really work! With this no-tears strategy, learning how to draw is fun for adults and children as young as 5 years old.

The ultimate step-by-step guide to drawing anime faces for Kids, Teens, and Beginner Artists

  • Easy-to-follow instructions: using simple shapes and guided lessons
  • Expressive and fun characters: learn how to draw eyes, hair, faces, and more for Anime girls and Anime boys
  • 8×11 size for practice space: Open pages and large format to test your creativity in the perfect drawing book

 

7. How to Draw Manga: Mastering Manga Drawings

best manga anime drawing books

Hand Held Step by Step, How to Draw Manga with Over 90+ Colorful Drawings Illustrations!

How to Draw a Manga Character will help you achieve your goals as an artist. Whether you like to simply draw one character, or even make a comic book out of it, this will definitely make drawing easier for you.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this book:

  • Materials When You’re Starting Out
  • The Fundamental Elements of Art
  • Practice Warm-ups before You Start
  • Techniques on How to Draw Facial Features
  • Drawing the Face in Different Angles
  • How to Draw Different Hair Styles
  • Using the Anatomy Model to Draw the Body–Hands, Trunk and Legs
  • Drawing your Characters in Action
  • Designing your Character Clothes, Accessories and Shoes

This book is very easy to follow and illustrates different images that will serve as your guide in making the very basic shapes to finally drawing images that you desire. With a whole lot of practice and the right tools on hand, you would be good to go!

When it comes to drawing, patience and hard work is needed. In the book: How to Draw a Manga Character everything is brought down to its simplest form so that learning is more convenient and enjoyable!

 

Before you start to draw a complete manga figure, it is good if you practice individual parts first. To learn the drawing of manga characters parts by parts (both male & female); check our best picks of manga drawing books category wise.

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