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DRAWING MANGA ANIMALS, CHIBIS, AND OTHER ADORABLE CREATURES (ADVANCE REVIEW) |
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Reviews
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Friday, 13 November 2009 |
 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | WATSON - GUPTILL | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ARTIST: | | J.C. AMBERLYN | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | WESTERN / B&W / COLOR | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 160 | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 11/17/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 11/13/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
It is nice to see a book dedicated to one of the more irresistible and fun aspects of manga and anime – the cute animals and chibi characters. The how-to book offers a lovely array of illustrations that are as adorable as they are eye catching. It is neatly organized into a logical order for its sections. The book begins with a brief introduction to the genre before it moves into the fundamentals of how to draw heads, faces, and various expressions. It goes into more details on eyes and differentiates between the softer girl style eyes in shojo manga and the types of eyes and expression in boys’ shonen manga illustrations. The chapter on animals breaks it down between four-legged, two-legged, birds, and how to deal with paws, claws, and feet. The most appealing chapter is likely the one dealing with chibis. It offers keys to “chibifying” a figure and outlines chibi proportions. After that, the guide branches out to different types of figures, including cute mascots, breathtaking supernatural and mythological figures and then extending to manga creatures based on real Japanese animals. There is even a special section on how to use the computer to create manga art using Photoshop and Corel Painter. J. C. Amberlyn’s skill as an artist is beyond reproach. The many full color illustrations in the guide show her diversity and rich talent. The cute animals could rival Disney for their sweetness and the more supernatural and powerful creatures such as dragons and tengu are given a wonderful breath of life with her skill. However as a how-to guide the book is best suited to people who already have a good grasp at drawing. There is not enough breakdown between the steps for people who are novices to easily follow the forms to their final illustration. However for those of intermediary skills, this is a good book to see different styles based on a popular genre and try one’s hand at the various illustrations.
IN SUMMARY:
A fun book for people who already have some basics of drawing. Perhaps a bit too difficult for complete novices. |