Drawing Manga Characters Requires Studying the Human Anatomy.

By Rick Feathers

Are you still looking for that special look to improve your manga drawings? Do you constantly work on the body proportions to get it just right? The solution is simple but it requires the study of the human anatomy.

The human body is a unique piece of machinery with many moving parts by the use of muscles, tendons and a skeletal bone structure that never changes. The body is capable of being positioned in many ways but it also has a natural balance that brings stability.

A good example of this is the way your arms and legs swing while walking, they interchange to maintain a balance for the body. Even the way we hold things with our hands have a certain grasp that feels and looks natural. Knowing what muscles are flexed from holding and object is important to your manga drawings.

By knowing how the body is designed for support and strength can greatly improve the look of your manga character and how others look at you sketches. For instance when a person is drawn running, they are leaning forward to maintain a momentum. Watching sports like soccer, tennis, baseball, fencing, swimming and martial arts you will see that people position their bodies to create a certain body position for strength and stability in every movement.

Muscles are a key point that builds character to arms, legs and torso. By understanding how the muscles are attached and which parts are flexed greatly enhances a body part. Like a leg calf muscle, it bulges at the top of the leg behind the knee and forearm muscles are bigger closer to the elbow. Your local library has a great source of medical and biology books to study the human anatomy, as well the internet.

Instead of drawing the whole manga characters body, try drawing just hands holding different objects, arms flexing a muscle, feet with various shoes, head in unique angles and profiles, body twisting and bending. Watch or take pictures of people doing things like aerobics and exercise, look at all sorts of sports magazines and photographs, body building and yoga reveal good muscles development and toning condition.

The secret is to study how the body develops and moves naturally then duplicate those movements in your manga drawings.