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Design Your Own Anime and Manga Characters: Step-by-Step Lessons for Creating and Drawing Unique Characters - Learn Anatomy, Poses, Expressions, Costumes, and More
With Design Your Own Anime and Manga Characters , you’ll learn character design for these popular entertainment genres from renowned concept artist and teacher TB Choi.
Filled with step-by-step demonstrations and expert guidance and advice , Design Your Own Anime and Manga Characters teaches you everything you need to bring unique characters to life.
Filled with step-by-step demonstrations and expert guidance and advice , Design Your Own Anime and Manga Characters teaches you everything you need to bring unique characters to life.
144 pages, Paperback
Published August 30, 2022
185 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 12, 2022
I think TB Choi is a great artist, so I had high hopes for this book.
Sadly, it is way too simple to be useful: A couple of pages for each topic that give some hints but it is simply not enough. "Creating a character's backstory", for example, is two pages long, and 'Gestures that enhance emotion and story' just one!
Sadly, it is way too simple to be useful: A couple of pages for each topic that give some hints but it is simply not enough. "Creating a character's backstory", for example, is two pages long, and 'Gestures that enhance emotion and story' just one!
August 24, 2022
Thank you so much for providing me with an ARC to review!
5 stars!
I have had my share with ‘how to draw’, ‘design characters’, how to do draw people, etc the list goes on, I have devoured and had my share of said books to try and get my brain, that can’t comprehend how to draw a person without making them look like anything BUT a human, to understand just how to do it.
I have to say I love how this book broke this down. TB Choi really did everything so simple but not too simple. There are great tips about how to make your characters look right, how to use angles to your advantage, how to make folds and creases in clothing without making your character look like they’re a mummy wrapped up, something I tend to do, either go hard on the folds or go home is how I tend to draw clothing sometimes which is awful and something I really need to work on and TB Choi showed how simple clothing design can be without using too much.
I also really appreciate the breakdown of muscles. They’re explained clearly and in different ways that made sense to me. Finally!
I can’t put much else into words as this is a book you must read if you’re into character design, drawing people and even animals which has a short section but has very helpful information and tips. Highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get into drawing!
Fantastic book and would will definitely use it’s tips and guides as I’m hoping to get into character design.
5 stars!
I have had my share with ‘how to draw’, ‘design characters’, how to do draw people, etc the list goes on, I have devoured and had my share of said books to try and get my brain, that can’t comprehend how to draw a person without making them look like anything BUT a human, to understand just how to do it.
I have to say I love how this book broke this down. TB Choi really did everything so simple but not too simple. There are great tips about how to make your characters look right, how to use angles to your advantage, how to make folds and creases in clothing without making your character look like they’re a mummy wrapped up, something I tend to do, either go hard on the folds or go home is how I tend to draw clothing sometimes which is awful and something I really need to work on and TB Choi showed how simple clothing design can be without using too much.
I also really appreciate the breakdown of muscles. They’re explained clearly and in different ways that made sense to me. Finally!
I can’t put much else into words as this is a book you must read if you’re into character design, drawing people and even animals which has a short section but has very helpful information and tips. Highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get into drawing!
Fantastic book and would will definitely use it’s tips and guides as I’m hoping to get into character design.
November 8, 2022
I've seen TBChoi's streams and followed along to some of her classes and one way to describe her drawing style is - it's almost like the running writing version of drawing. She knows exactly where and how to emphasise certain key points to show clear form and structure.
With that said, while she is a very skillful artist, this isn't really a book for beginners it's more of a "here are the key ideas of how to elevate your studies" rather than a step by step guide (which I've seen some people raise as an issue on amazon - i.e. that it's basically "and then draw the rest of the owl"). This is actually a really useful book for those that are upper intermediate and are familiar with the basics of human anatomy.
I definitely found it useful but I had to suppliment some of the chapters with content from Michael Hampton or Loomis to understand why certain things were drawn a certain way (e.g. the book glosses over facial anatomy and I had to get further information from Hamption). One way I've found this book useful is it really helps cement complex anatomical structures and how to render them in simplified ways (because unless you're an artist that is focused on realism you don't really need to know every individual muscle in the upper thigh).
With that said, while she is a very skillful artist, this isn't really a book for beginners it's more of a "here are the key ideas of how to elevate your studies" rather than a step by step guide (which I've seen some people raise as an issue on amazon - i.e. that it's basically "and then draw the rest of the owl"). This is actually a really useful book for those that are upper intermediate and are familiar with the basics of human anatomy.
I definitely found it useful but I had to suppliment some of the chapters with content from Michael Hampton or Loomis to understand why certain things were drawn a certain way (e.g. the book glosses over facial anatomy and I had to get further information from Hamption). One way I've found this book useful is it really helps cement complex anatomical structures and how to render them in simplified ways (because unless you're an artist that is focused on realism you don't really need to know every individual muscle in the upper thigh).
October 5, 2022
I think the title is misleading, there is no tutorial or guide on how to construct characters, the book contains very little text and many images. Actually in my opiniion it is an advantage, it is a very useful kind of visual summary of the know-how that helps to do the job. Various body types, body parts seen from different angles, muscles and key points highlighted, basic poses, etc. It's not complete, but it's a handy reminder, it supposes the artist puts together the pieces and completes the work. Only for experienced artists.
May 27, 2023
Ill keep the review short:
The book doesn't go in depth on anything, it's mainly a collection of the authors experience or combination of knowledge from other books. I suppose this book would be useful if you already have some drawing experience as it explains well stuff like bony landmarks which are important for anatomy, and puts emphasis on important drawing concepts like form and perspective.
However, I'd say this is more an introduction to everything, however this is done really well, short and right to the point.
I may be a bit biased as I love the artist but yeah. Here you go.
The book doesn't go in depth on anything, it's mainly a collection of the authors experience or combination of knowledge from other books. I suppose this book would be useful if you already have some drawing experience as it explains well stuff like bony landmarks which are important for anatomy, and puts emphasis on important drawing concepts like form and perspective.
However, I'd say this is more an introduction to everything, however this is done really well, short and right to the point.
I may be a bit biased as I love the artist but yeah. Here you go.
July 25, 2023
Absolutely love this book to use as a reference on the side when i’m drawing! I’ve been obsessed with TBChoi’s art for a while so this book was a godsent and the price point makes it really accessible. Besides the great visual value, theres not much depth to the information but definitely enough to get a beginner going, and the great stylization references will keep the higher level artists satisfied. Personally, this book is a holy grail in my process.
March 16, 2023
Finally a *good* book for anyone who wants to start drawing and likes manga. Much better than what you normally associate with the "How to draw manga" genre of books. TB Choi is an excellent, famous concept artist and in this she has created very clear and easy to follow tutorials.
I've been recommending this to both my friends who want to draw, and to those who's kids want to draw manga.
I've been recommending this to both my friends who want to draw, and to those who's kids want to draw manga.
February 2, 2023
Good basic drawing explaination
Absolutely love TB Choi style of drawing. I can say it between manga and disney style, it so balanced.
The basic explaination is so clear, it is practice-able.
Absolutely love TB Choi style of drawing. I can say it between manga and disney style, it so balanced.
The basic explaination is so clear, it is practice-able.
July 29, 2023
Great Drawings but I found the explanations a little too "draw the circle; draw the owl". I think it could have been either tailored to complete beginners, or assumed some knowledge and given a bit more detail.
February 8, 2024
This book is probably not good for beginners, since drawing at TB Choi's level and understanding her figures requires you to be at least intermediate. The better your fundamentals are, the more useful this book will be. Would recommend to any artist who likes character design 5/5.
May 25, 2023
Excellent for beginner artists
The title is deceptive in a great way, in my opinion, this books includes way more than you’d expect super helpful with great demonstrations- the only thing that would make it better would be more in-depth exercises to practice but just from drawing along iteratively I can see improvements in my art work! :)
The title is deceptive in a great way, in my opinion, this books includes way more than you’d expect super helpful with great demonstrations- the only thing that would make it better would be more in-depth exercises to practice but just from drawing along iteratively I can see improvements in my art work! :)
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews