Programs/Online class

The number of lessons are shown as a rough guide. Depends on the students progress and request, it will be changed.

Contents

All lessons are based on "Manga Drawing Deluxe" by Nao Yazawa (the teacher) .

(You can follow all the courses without the book)

Trial lesson (one time)

Short course (1-2 months)

Pencil drawing / Inking / Tone-work　4 lessons

With manga tool (Manga pens, manga ink, manga paper and some screen tones)

or

Without manga tool (Ink with line art pens on Kent paper)

The process of manga drawing

For Beginner -  Intermediate

Drawing face basic 4  lessons.

Lean how to draw basic face, Front, side, 3/4 views 

Drawing face advanced 4 lessons

angles, sex, age

Drawing expressions 4 lessons

The student will draw character faces with 4 expressions based on the example. Joy, Angry, Sad and Pleased.

Drawing body Basic 4 lessons

Front, side and 3/4 still standing pose

Drawing body Advanced 8 lessons

Different angles / movement/cloths

Drawing “chibi” characters/cute mascots 4 lessons

Intermediate-advanced

Drawing 2 spread pages manga.

Composing 4 lessons & Drawing 4 lessons

After a  lecture about composing the storyboard, students compose 2 spread page manga name (storyboard),  based on the script which was provided by the school. Then draw a manga from the storyboard.

Students can take their own script instead of the one school provided.

Drawing characters

4  lessons

After a simple lecture and Q&A session, the student draws a character (Characters) Then, using manga tools, the work will be inked and put on finishing touches (Beta, whites, tone work).

If you don’t have any idea of the character, we offer some samples as references, or you can copy one of them. Also, you can get a line art data if you’d like.

Character designs

4 lessons

The student will create a character and draw one scene in the setting provided. Then, after a lecture about character design, the student will draw from his or her own imagination with no example supplied. I will suggest approaches and help guide the whole process, with students free to ask questions at any time.

Four-panel manga

Pencil drawing, 2 lessons

We will use a relatively easy example of four-panel manga, “Essay Manga.” After lectures using real examples to show how students how they can draw upon daily life for four-panel manga material, and how to shape that into four parts with exposition, development turn and conclusion, they will begin to draw. We will finish with inking, tone work/coloring.

Creating your own characters

For students who have manga stories or characters in their mind.

Pencil drawing 4 lessons

After a brief lecture, the student will make an original character and give him or her a background (profile, settings). Students will give their character three-dimensional depth, and, if possible, draw other characters, such as friends. They will also draw one scene to illustrate the character's personality.

Coloring

4 lessons

Basic Manga Style Watercolor or Copic painting

Long courses (more than 3 months)

 NEW 

Manga Drawing Deluxe course 12 months + graduate work (For everyone)

You can take one / some subjects you like, individually. In this course, the book is required.

Manga Drawing Deluxe course 12 months

• Face  4 lessons
• Body basic 4 lessons
• Body advanced 4 lessons
• Background 4 lessons
• Background advanced 4 lessons
• Composition 4 lessons

+ graduate work (Making one shot manga 16-24 pages)  About 3-6 months

(Traditional/digital)

• Plot 4 lessons
• Storyboard 4-8 lessons
• Character sketch 2 lessons
• Inking   2 lessons
• Background 4 lessons
• Inking background 2 lessons
• Tone-work 1-2 lessons

For Intermediate - Advanced

Drawing 4-8 pages short one-shot manga

Composing part & drawing part 6 lessons each.

Because it is difficult to draw short story manga, I suggest students draw based on their own experience, or a slice of everyday life. This is very much like an expanded version of the four-panel manga mentioned above. 

The student will learn how the frame layout should be arranged, and how artists lead reader’s eyes, etc. The students consult me with their ideas and storyboards, and I will advise them on layouts and sketches.

(If a student has a certain idea and story, of course he or she may use it.)

Composing part : Plot, story, character design, setting, storyboard

Drawing part: Pencil drawing(character) - Inking(character) - pencil drawing(background) - inking then beta, white and screen-tone.

Making one shot manga

Over 12 lessons - 24 lessons (3 -6 months)

Students will aim to complete a  8/16-page one-shot manga. The content is the same as the “Manga Production” course for Japanese student.

Course goals

Students will learn as they go through the manga production process by completing standalone manga works. They will experience the necessary elements behind manga production from beginning to end.

Composing

Plot submission:

Adapt your own plot to an exposition-development-climax-conclusion structure.

Outline the events, then separate them and reconstruct them with effectiveness in mind (bubble outlines).

Think about the characters’ lines (specifically speech mannerisms to match their personalities and ways to set apart their vocabularies).

※Write the profile of your main character.

Turn your bubble outline into a page list.

●Think based on each page spread (split up the pages while considering the layout in broad terms)

Thoroughly omit any unnecessary elements.

Cut out unneeded episodes/lines.

Think about how individual episodes and lines relate to each other. Make the artist’s intent clear when it comes to individual elements.

Rough character sketches

Make character designs based on the settings and stories you have previously completed. As you do so, keep in mind how you want to show characters’ personalities based on the drawings and how you want the readers to receive them. (Do you want them to be repulsed, to feel they can trust the character, to want to befriend the character?)

Making name (ne-i mu, manga jargon : Storyboard)

Settle on a flow of layouts and panels with awareness of how the reader will see the page.

Think of what you want to show for each page spread.

Think about opening up space for the parts you want to show, and boldly cutting other parts.

(You will often have to cut out sections during the naming step.)

Always be aware of the camera, of what you want to show and of how you want to show it while creating your compositions.

Drawing:

Rough character sketches + backgrounds

Be mindful of character expressions and poses. Are you using powerful expressions? Poses that conflict with the setting? Movement?

Inking characters + background (props)

Carefully select and arrange props. You can use objects to show characters’ personalities or elaborate on the story.

Rough sketches of backgrounds

Draw backgrounds with simple perspective. Learn what is typically omitted in manga and put the method into practice.

Inking backgrounds –Effects

Effect lines (集中線、スピード線、ベタフラ,eyc. Manga Special Effects.), psychological backgrounds, and more.

Finishing:

ベタ(beta)=painting black part(shinny effect, etc.) and ホワイト(White, correcting wrong lines & ink smudge with white ink)

Tone work

※Techniques will include perspective, tracing over photographs and tone work, as necessary for the individual student.