Manga vs. real life.

Sorry guys I have had literally no time over the weekend so this one is going to be short. It's all well and good learning to draw your characters in manga style but what if you want a more realistic look for a sci-fi art? Perhaps you want to convert a real person into manga form? They are worlds apart, or are they? Take a look (my apologies for the awful scan, I had to use pencil).

Manga is essentially an accurate, but simplified, portrayal of human anatomy. Everything you already know still applies. The eyes and eyebrows are still in the same place (but may be a little smaller in real life depending on how big your character's eyes were in the first place), the mouth is the same lines (honest) just with more detail around the lips and the face is even a very similar shape although in the more lifelike style the lines are more curved and organic looking rather than 'pointy'.In fact, the biggest difference is the hair. Manga hair, although wonderfully gravity defying, would not look quite the same in life. The trick to anime hair in a more realistic style is draw the hairs flowing in the same way as the manga image, but in a smooth way with less exaggeration. If you get stuck you can style your own hair or look on the internet to find out how hair flows when pushed back etc. The hardest part is the nose. All I can say is loko at pictures of real people to get a feel for it. The nostrils are in the same place, it's just the flesh around them that gets difficult to shade.

If you are going the other way, a real model (perhaps yourself) in anime form, try squinting. Can you see from your blurred form whether you have a relatively pointed or square jaw shape? Take a close look at your eyes (you can stop squinting now) to determine which shape of anime eye fits you best and that should be all you need to get started. The hair is the hardest part as this is where you have to tactfully exaggerate a little bit. Anime hair flows in defined spikes and tresses. Look at the image on the right first and study the distinguishing characteristics of the hair (general shape, where it is pushed back slightly at the forehead to part it from the face) and the look how they have been represented on the left. The nose is obviously simplified to a few lines, but it can be tricky to pick which ones. In fact manga is harder to draw well than a lifelike portrait because any error is easily seen due to the simplicity.

I suggest you go off and manga up your favourite actors and family for practice! At the same time try drawing a more realistic version of your favourite manga characters to see what they would look like (Timothy here looks oddly familiar in the lifelike drawing... scary). See you next week!