Are You Struggling to Draw Anime? I Have an Answer.

By Rick Feathers

I don’t know how to draw. I can’t draw manga. I am doing my best but I can not get it right. Why is it that I can not draw anime even though I try very hard?

Does this sound like you, then listen carefully because I have an answer to help you get started on the right path to good art work.

First of all I want to congratulate you on being determined to continue and not wanting to quit. You already have one great quality that will make you successful as an artist and that’s passion. You like anime, how it looks and you want to be a part of its’ growing industry.

I am pleased to introduce you to a new friend, say hello to tracing paper. That’s right paper you can see images through.

Go to your local department or office supply store and buy a packet of tracing paper and let’s get started on drawing anime. You probably have a few manga books around as well some trading cards of your favorite anime. Select one out of your collection that you would like to draw and I will guide you step by step.

Step 1, take a piece of tracing paper and place it over you drawing. If the paper is a problem because of a book use a pair of scissors to cut it to size that it will be manageable.

Step 2, with small pieces of tape or paper clips you want to secure the tracing paper over the image because you do not want it to move while tracing. A word of caution, Be careful with some tape because you do not want to damage your original pictures when you remove it. Masking tape works pretty good but if you think it’s to sticky put it on your fingers a few times or a piece of clothing to reduce how much it sticks.

Step 3, begin tracing the anime character. You will want to start at the top of the picture so your hand does not smear the work you done. Start by tracing something small like just their head and then later move on to the whole figure as you get comfortable with the steps.

Step 4, after you have finished tracing, remove the paper. Take you’re newly created drawing and place it over a white piece of paper in order to see it better. Now here is the cool part. Flip the tracing paper over and you will quickly see that the picture is facing the opposite direction. This is called a mirror image. That’s right you have just made two pictures of the same face.

I trust this has motivated you in some way. So practice your tracing and experiment by combining them together. You will be amazed by all the fun things you can do with tracing paper and most of all you are now drawing anime. Till next time, let the creativity flow and watch as the artist in you comes out.