If you have ever watched any anime and been inspired to trace your favourite characters or, if you want to learn to create your own manga to impress your friends, these are the books you should own. Not all of the books on the list will be specifically for manga art as an all round knowledge of art will be far greater value and help bring your manga dreams to life far better than a specific style.
1. The Bakuman Box Set – by Tsugumi Ohba (Author), Takeshi Obata (Illustrator)
This box set contains 20 manga novels and follows a team of 2 manga creators as they try to break into the industry. The great thing about this box set is whilst they show you the stuff you don’t normally see in regular mangas. It acts more like a behind the scenes of everything from the process of drawing a manga right the way to publication. The story is a gripping one. You can learn so much from this set.
2. Figure Drawing For All It’s Worth – Andrew Loomis
This is an essential book for any artist. This book will teach you everything you need to know about how to draw the human form in any position. Great for beginners as you learn to draw from simple stick figures. Also great for intermediate artists as the book runs through application of everything you have learned in the book. I cant recommend this book highly enough
Find Out More About Figure Drawing For All It’s Worth
3. Mastering Manga Collection – Mark Crilley
If you have ever searched on youtube, how to draw manga, then you probably will have seen Mark Crilley’s videos.This series is from the man himself. When used in conjunction with his youtube channel you are sure to learn a thing or two on how to make manga art.
Find Out More About Mastering Manga & Other Mark Crilley Books
4. The Complete Book of Drawing Manga – Peter Gray
This book is filled with great tips on creating manga. The step by step method of drawing characters is really easy to follow. You’ll be creating you own characters in no time.
Find Out More About The Complete Book of Drawing Manga
5. The Art Of Drawing Manga – Ben Krefta
This was one of the first art books I personally owned. I know of several non artists who were able to follow the tutorials and produce some really good results. That’s how easy the book is to use.
