The Manga Artist's Handbook: Drawing Dynamic Manga Characters. Junka Morozumi
a polished, fi nished artwork. Instead, they create a rough sketch,
which they then go back over in pencil before adding color and refi ning the
illustration in pen. The lines used while blocking-in are faint, so they can be
easily erased, making it simple to correct the fi gure‛s positioning or to rethink
poses. Blocking-in is invaluable when drawing characters‛ signature poses or when
fi tting multiple characters into a single cell or frame.
DRAWING MANGA
IS NOT A RACE BUT
A STEADY PROGRESSION
OF PENCIL STROKES UNTIL
YOU GET THE POSE AND
EXPRESSION JUST RIGHT!
HERE‛S WHAT HAPPENED
WHEN WE TRIED DRAWING
VARIOUS SCENES…
SEE THE NEXT PAGE!
BLOCKING-IN
BLOCKING-IN +
PRELIMINARY
DRAWING
ADDING PEN + COLOR
5
HOW TO MAKE (EVEN
BETTER!) FRIENDS
WITH BLOCKING-IN
BY JUNKA MOROZUMI
BANG!
HEY, MANGA PROF,
GUESS WHAT!?
I PRACTICED
BLOCKING-IN,
AND NOW I‛VE
TRIED DRAWING A
WHOLE FIGURE!
EXPLAINING
AGAIN
REALLY?
SHOW ME!
OK!
I TRIED A FEW
DIFFERENT
EXPRESSIONS. WHAT
DO YOU THINK?
HMM…
THE ONLY
DIFFERENCE
IS IN THE
MOUTHS…
FROM THE NECK
DOWN, THE
MOVEMENTS
DON‛T MATCH THE
EMOTIONS.
BUT…
BUT I DON‛T
KNOW HOW TO
DRAW FACIAL
EXPRESSIONS!
SHOWING
EXPRESSION
IN THE
BODY…!?
EXPRESSION ISN‛T
ONLY ABOUT THE
MOUTH! IT‛S SHOWN
IN THE MOVEMENT OF
THE WHOLE BODY!
YES!
FOR EXAMPLE…
6
CLASPING THE HANDS
IN FRONT OF THE FACE
DEPICTS FALLING IN
LOVE.
ADDING CLENCHED FISTS
TO A SMILING FIGURE
MAKES FOR AN ENERGETIC,
POWERFUL LOOK!
DOWNCAST EYES AND
ARMS WRAPPED AROUND
THE BODY SHOW UNEASE
AND LONELINESS.
YOU‛RE RIGHT! I CAN
SHOW EXPRESSION
IN THE BODY, NOT
JUST THE FACE!
DEEP
BREATHS
SEE? THESE POSES HELP
TO CONVEY THE EMOTIONS
MORE FULLY THAN IF YOU‛D
JUST DRAWN THE FACE.
FIRST OF ALL,
I‛LL TRY THE
“FALLING IN
LOVE” POSE!
GETTING THE
WRONG IDEA!
SO THIS TIME,
PRACTICE USING
THE BODY AND THE
FACE TO SHOW
EXPRESSION.
OK!
DON‛T LOOK
AT ME AS YOU
SAY THAT!
7
Gallery of Expressions
This chart allows you to use facial expressions to
search for the poses you want to draw. It is roughly
color-coded into emotional genres.
POSE…P.88
POSE…P.61
POSE…P.46
POSE…P.75
POSE…P.65
FACE…P.25 POSE…