Most recent additions to my Class Drawing Reference Figures

Spotted these large PVC figures in the clearance section of a local big-box store. While I'm not terribly familiar with these Ben 10 characters, I figured they would make fine additions to the pool of reference drawing manikins used in some of my Manga cartoon sketching classes. Their design certainly reminds me of Kaiju or typical Japanese giant monsters. So remember grasshoppers, keep an eye out for suitable reference models in the clearance sections of retail stores as they gear up for the next big holiday season. Much of my class reference manikins have been acquired in this manner.

Another Source for Imagine FX magazines in Naples!

Attention local readers. I was pleasantly surprised to find the 71st issue of Imagine FX at the Naples Costco. Ever since Borders closed their doors, I had not been able to pick up my favorite British magazine on digital arts applied specifically to the creation of science fiction and fantasy subjects for movies and video games. The Artist Q&A section also offers plenty of tips and drawing advice useful to analog or traditional artists. This particular issue was dedicated to Manga and showcases the work of several international artists influenced by the wide range of the popular Japanese comics style.
So now you know grasshoppers, you might be able to find this awesome reference sci-fi digital painting magazine at your local Costco. At least for their usual 30% off newsstand discount, it's worth the walk to check out their magazine rack. Recommended for teenagers and older students.

A few Sample Warm-up Worksheets for upcoming After-school Manga Cartooning class

Ok guys if you dropped by to get a head start on the material for the After-school Manga Cartooning class, you could try using the following worksheets as a reference for your daily practice doodles which I trust you have been doing all summer. By now, I expect most of you should have used up at least half of the pages from your sketchbooks.Sample doodle sheet drawn with a graphite pencil.
Worksheet with a large selection of facial traits and head shapes that could be used to draw many distinct faces for a basic cast of characters. Let your imagination fly and create a few characters for your next manga project or short story. These last 3 pages were drawn with a 08 Prismacolor Archival marker.
Constructing assorted faces by starting with different types of head shapes. Round faces with thin necks would be suitable for younger characters while square faces with broad necks would better fit older characters with greater physical strength.
Step-by-step head construction sequence with a bit of age progression in the final step. When sketching in a typical manga cartoon style, just a few wrinkle and expression lines can add several years to the character. Youthful characters tend to sport slender necks and pointy chins. To age them to adulthood: try broadening the chin, thinning the hairline, and widening the base of the nose.

Suggested reference materials for boys

Quick tip for my local readers and past students, I spotted a few copies of "Let's Draw Manga Transforming Robots by Yasuhiro Nitta - PLEX" marked down to $3.99 at the Borders on US 41 in North Naples. Not a bad deal for budding artists that could use a couple of pointers on sketching and building their own robots in the tradition of Gundam and Power Rangers Zords.
Shonen Jump magazine is also an inexpensive source of inspiration that showcases multiple manga story lines designed for boys by different artists. This anthology format is reminiscent of the common Japanese model of manga distribution and provides a good sampling of popular manga stories. This magazine's larger format allows an easier appreciation of the panel drawings that are typically shrunk in the manga collection digests.
Tip for Parents: Remember to check your local library video and manga collections for further free inspiration for your kids, but be careful in selecting appropriate titles for the different age groups. There is a lot of manga out there, and each title was created with a specific target demographic in mind. Thus it falls to you to choose suitable anime movies and manga series according to the maturity level and interests of your kids.

Artscool Manga Cartooning at The von Liebig Art Center - Photo Journal of day 3

Quick tip for parents: To provide additional sources inspiration for children interested in Manga (Japanese comics) and Anime (Japanese cartoons), I would highly recommend the animated films by famed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki distributed in the USA through Walt Disney Home Entertainment. Many of the titles can be found at the local public library and feature positive role models and ecological themes like Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Rated PG).
Volunteers judging the students' creations for the second character creation impromptu contest.
Prize for the girls was drawn and signed by a gifted class volunteer. Runners up got other sketches drawn to their specifications by the instructor.
Brainstorming character ideas for Shojo (comics for girls) and Shonen (comics for boys) as a group.

Drawing their own designs and coloring with watercolor pencils.


Drawing several pages of sequential storytelling.
Coloring some monster designs.
Happy group of budding artists.

Ongoing Manga Cartooning Classes

I am very impressed with the talent and dedication of the students in the Manga Cartooning class.
Concentrating and working on their drawings.


Drawings done by observing action figures used as reference material.

Work produced by the youngest class member.




The Artscool volunteers judging the entries for an impromptu mini-contest.




A few samples of the imaginative talented work produced by the students!

Drawing "Secrets": a few Shonen Manga drawing tips for my bulletin board

Came up with a few tips and sketching sample sheets for my bulletin board at the Boys & Girls Club.
Tip sheet on creating Sentai rangers and Kaiju monsters.
An example of a "Super Sentai" team of 3 rangers with their animal totems hovering above them.
A few approaches to creating "Crazy Critters" (think of them as potential monster creatures for boys' stories or magical guardian creatures for girls' stories) : (I) Combine different animal traits into a single creature to form a chimera-type critter, (II) combine a human, an animal, imaginary creature with elemental forces (fire, ice, lightning, wind, lava, etc.) for more powerful critters, & (III) combine a human body with different animal parts to create fantastic critters like the ones often described in Greek and Egyptian mythologies (mermaids, centaurs, harpies, gorgons, and severeal beast-headed deities like Anubis and Horus). In fact a potential interesting creative challenge, would be to come up with your own interpretations of classical myths like technologically enhanced futuristic versions of the Twelve Olympians (Greek Pantheon).
An "S" shape is a good starting point for sketching a basic dragon body.

Just another practice sketching session

Remember kids keep on drawing as often as you can! Just some practice doodles with my 2 mm leadholders loaded with my preferred Uni leads to set an example.


Using a black gel pen to doodle some manikins as warm up exercises for sketching directly with ink pens.
Doodled these few faces with a brand new Pitt brush pen.
The main thing I was reminded on this sketching session was that of the rather short useful life of the sharp point of the brush nib of a Faber Castell Pitt Artist brush pen. After sketching just these two sheets with a light touch, the tip of the brush nib had already started to show signs of wear getting a little blunt. No need to use the nib flipping trick just yet, but I just wish the Pitt nib would held its original shape a bit longer.

A couple of reference backgrounds and panel templates for a School Manga story

Tweaked some photos of the school on Photoshop, so that they could be used as practical reference for creating the backgrounds on a Manga story taking place in an American school.
Courtyard.
School entrance.

Hallway leading into ESOL classroom.
Art Classroom reference 1.
Art Classroom reference 2.
This first template with a background establishing shot of the the bus loop could be further enhanced by pasting some characters and vehicles directly on top of it.

Blank version that can be use to draw your own wide-angle establishing shot for your story.
This last template could also be flipped over to have a wide angle establishing shot at the top and the two vertical panels on the bottom.Ditto.
The blank templates are letter size when printed on regular copy paper and can be used to quickly try out different comic story layouts and design ideas as oversize thumbnails. This preliminary stage can help you explore the structure of your story visually and plan your work flow more efficiently. If you were planning to draw a regular American size comic story, the originals typically are drawn on more expensive and heavier illustration supports (like 2-ply bristol board) that measure 10" X 15". Thus using the sketching templates to work out the early structure of the comic is both time and cost effective.