How To Draw Expressively?

Draw manga. But confused how/where to start. (Each part, or draw looking at a drawing)?

• So like 4 years ago I tried to draw some manga, I enjoyed it pretty much but I stopped for unknown reasons. So now I want to try again. I love to watch anime and recently I've been getting into manga as well. Now, the thing I'm confused with is; Where and how should I start? Should I start by learning to draw every part of the body BEFORE actually trying to draw a whole person. Maybe start to learn different techniques for eyes, then move on to the hair, make a head, then move further down and practice every part? Or should I just start by looking at some drawings/anime pictures and draw from that? Also, if someone want to give me some tips regarding this I'll welcome them all ^^ I've searched around and found some information, but I wanted to ask on my own so the answer fits my situation. Also, the thing that kinda makes me wonder what to do is; how to start an actually drawing. Like, how to "sketch" properly. I've seen people drawing circles etc. to give a brief picture on how the drawing actually will look like. Part up the face with lines, to see where to put the eyes etc. So the body wont look wierd and unrealistic. So basically, I'm confused where I should start. That kinda makes me never get down to starting. I appreciate every answer, thanks ^^

• Answer:

  Ok, first of all, calm down. You shouldn't be getting so stressed when you are just starting out. You can worry about all of that stuff later. As for where to start, there is one trick that always seems to work: Quite simply, just draw something you like. I love the Naruto anime and manga, and one day I decided I wanted to draw one of the characters. I looked at a tutorial on Youtube, and voila! I had fun doing it and realized I had a lot of natural talent. You just make the lines in the same order as they do, or look at the finished product and chose a place to start. (I recommend drawing only a face at first, and moving onto a full body later. I find that the eyes are a good place to start since they are the centerpiece of the face. ) Drawing something you are familiar like your favorite character makes it not only easier but more fun to start out. Even if it doesn't turn out great the first time, it's sure to get better if you keep working at it. Second of all, YOUTUBE IS YOUR FRIEND! It helped me a ton in learning techniques and tricks to drawing manga. I suggest you watch Mark Crilley. He is an amazing artist who has a published manga, and he uploads videos to YouTube every week. I'm sure he'll be a ton of help to you. When drawing people, it is important to get proportions right. Study anatomy and become familiar with why the human body looks and moves the way it does. This will help you to become better at drawing something from your mind rather than always having to look at a picture of reference to draw well. Last of all, just practice. This is the most important thing to becoming a successful artist, even if it does require quite a bit of patience. You might want to check into some higher quality art supplies if you start getting serious about it, but it's not a necessity. Good luck, and I hope you're successful!