If you’re here to learn how to draw or improve your drawing skills – you’ve come to the right place! Almost everything you need to know will be posted here from basic shading to publishing your work. Of course, how far you get will all depend on you!
A few things you should know about this place first…
1. The tutorials here are meant to help you draw your own original work. There are no how-to’s on specific characters. No how-to-draw Sailor Moon, no Kenshin, no Dragon Ball Z, none! Don’t bother emailing me about it either – I’ll tell you the same thing, and you’ll just be wasting my time and yours.
2. All skill levels are welcome to check out the tutorials. Bashing other people for being a beginner or “can’t draw well” will not be tolerated. Funny thing is, most of the beginner’s have the guts to actually submit their work to the Gallery here than more advanced drawers. That says something there, don’t you think?
3. I do not critique art work. Sorry folks but due to all my other projects on this site, it’s pretty much keeping me busy. There is a site which does critiques only: The Art Corner. Go check them out! If you prefer, you can also visit our forum and get feedback that way. Be sure to sign up first if you haven’t already.
4. These instructions are not the only way to draw things. If you are comfortable with another way of drawing, than you should stick with it, develop your own style, and learn what you can with what I have up.
5. I do not get paid to suggest any products or other sites that sell products. They get mentioned because they a) have good products, b) shows an example of something I’m talking about, or c) have useful info.
The only sort of payment I get is orders to Amazon.com in the Shop section and ads which helps pay for running this site plus holding the contest (which I hope to hold at least once a year).
All that done and over with – here is a brief guide to some of the more popular terms and styles of Manga:
SHOUNEN — Boy’s manga, usually action/adventure, are aimed at boys 8-18 years old. It is by far the most popular style, and is usually characterized by big battle scenes. Manga such as Dragon Ball Z, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Bleach, and Naruto fall into this category.
 |
| SHOUNEN : Dragon Ball Z |
 |
| SHOUJO : Skip Beat |
 |
| SEINEN : AKIRA |
 |
| JOSEI : Nodame Cantible |
 |
| HENTAI |
 |
| JIDAIGEKI : Lone Wolf and Cub |
MECHA — Mecha manga refers to the “Giant Robot” stories such as Gundam, Voltron, and Big O. They are usually action-oriented with big fights, lots of explosions, and tend to have some kind of “save the world” angle.
 |
| MECHA : Gundam |
 |
| BISHOUJO : Hamtaro |
 |
| BISHONEN : Peach Girl |
SHOUJO-AI — Literally means “girl’s love” and covers female-female relationships, usually on a romantical level (aka Yuri).
SHONEN-AI — Literally means “boy’s love”, with story covering male-male relationships, usually on a romantical level (aka Yaoi).
KODOMO — children’s manga, aimed at 6-10 year olds, an offshoot of Bishoujo, shounen, or shoujo styles. Kodomo manga include Pokemon and Digimon.
There are a lot more subcategories under each section such as harem, sports, cooking, and magical girls but the main ones are listed above. For more terms, visit Wikipedia or read one of the many books that talk about manga such as Frederik Schodt’s Manga! Manga! and Dreamland Japan.
