Manga: - How to Draw Manga: Bishoujo, Pretty Gals

How to Draw Manga: Bishoujo, Pretty Gals Customer Review: I'm getting a new one to replace one I loaned.
I found this book clear and useful and well organized. I come from a more classical figure-drawing background, and was very impressed with how this book shows levels of realism — a development from a simplification of line thru to a full-blown manga style — from the shapes and line weights of a slightly "cartoony" eye to examples of actual line forms used by manga artists to show the eye.

So many books of this kind become mere galleries where the author shows off completed works. This one does not make that mistake. It has samples, lots of them, organized by age, realism, angle; a regular grid of noses and chins and eye forms and levels of hair detail.

I believe this is a useful book for almost anyone trying to develop a manga "style" to their drawing. I think this would be useful for someone with limited drawing experience (the eye forms in particular, are quite reproducible).

But there is my caveat. The book gives the concept of contraposta a glancing blow; it uses perspective and foreshortening without mentioning them explicitly — indeed, shows the strong figure-drawing skills of the author without mentioning that to get his results you will also need some understanding of skeletal structure, muscle forms, anatomic proportions, drapery folds, shadowing, etc.

Final word…this book belongs on the short shelve. It is not a stand-alone.
Customer Review: Awesome!
This book totally surprised me. I thought it'd be alright, but not as easy to grasp as some of the other books I'd ordered. I was wrong! This book is so much easier to understand than any other book I've looked at. It's amazing. Within glancing through it once, I already had a better idea of how to make my characters cuter. I was really impressed with the outcome, and the way it gave simple but understandable references to the drawings. When it says that the book contains some artistic nudity, it's not lying. Just a warning. However, the sections on how to draw faces (chinlines thankfully included!) were great and clear cut. I can't wait until the twin book (How to Draw Manga: Young Men, English Text) comes out. If it's as helpful as this one is, there will be no way you'll want to miss it!