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[merylsilverburg]

This may be pretty pointless, but here I go: A month ago (December), I went to the bookstore to look for some pop art/Lichtenstein books for my final art assignment. When I got there, I noticed there were many of those "How to Draw Manga" tutorial books just lined up on the shelf. And, at the front desk, they had a gift set collection of "HtDM" in a carrying case. I didn't want to look at the books for one reason:
I felt pretty pissed just looking at the cover. Why? Because now that anime/manga has become more recognized and more popular, there are these books just sprouting out left and right. Which makes me furious because when I was younger and actually wanted to learn how to draw manga, there were no tutorials, no books, nothing to help me. And if I were to ask anyone about stuff like that, they would respond with "What's that?" or "Oh, you mean cartoons?". If I were to draw them an example, they'd say "What is that?" or "Why do they have such big eyes? They look weird!" etc. So, I ended up learning it all by myself. So now looking at those books makes me feel like I would be shattering my pride and all the hard work I did over the years (yes, I'm arrogant).

However, the problem is I want to learn more and also improve the skills I learned by myself. So I just wanted to ask: Do these books work? And for those of you who have used these books, do you feel your skills have improved using these books? I know you guys are thinking "Why don't you just go pick it up and look through it? Screw your stupid arrogance!" but I just can't do it. So, if anyone can give me an answer, thanks in advance.

[Pu the Owl]

"How to draw manga" books are not that useful IMO. They can give you some useful tips, but they can't teach you how to draw. If you only want to get them to improve a bit, it's ok, but don't expect them to be very useful. As any other "how to" books, they can only give you very general directions. Some people who buy them to learn how to draw will end copying what's in the book but then having to draw anything by themselves, they won't be able to do it. To draw you need exercise and patience to look at others' works, which is something I guess you do very often. Books are only a way to know how to make the process a little less complicated since as I said they can give you tips. But you need to do all the work by yourself or you'll stick only to what the book says and won't improve at all. Try to go to the bookstore and ask if you can look at the pages to see if the book is really what you need. Sometimes you get something, then go home, open it and discover it's not what you wanted. If you don't know how these books work, try asking to take a look at it

[merylsilverburg]

Originally posted by Panuru

Some people who buy them to learn how to draw will end copying what's in the book but then having to draw anything by themselves, they won't be able to do it.

Yeah see...I thought about that too. I mean, since the books are created with drawings of only one or two types of styles, like you said, people do end up copying off the books. Which isn't really creating one's own style and it seems like cheating, IMO.

Thanks for your reply, Fortune. I was just a bit curious since these books are really popular (especially online sales!) and I thought if they work, I'd get them to help me out a little. But, I see that I'll just have to keep looking through manga to help me achieve what I want. Thanks again.

[Reid]

Meryl, i'd say you'd be better off finding someone who can give you lessons in style or else try to figure it out yourself.

How-to-Draw books are usually only useful for copying the exact image they want you to as opposed to actually learning how to draw in a certain style which is what you'd probably want more.

It might be a good idea to look at the implied movement that is so important in manga - look at the line use on and around the characters. Focusing on that may be just as useful as trying to draw in the same way as many mangaka.