👉 If you're a beginner mangaka, aspiring to FINALLY create your first manga after YEARS of struggling and feeling stuck, then we would love to see if we can help! Book a consultation call with us to see if you qualify for our Oneshot Manga Drawing Program. You'll get to work with PRO mangakas and a community of awesome mangakas. Book a call with us here: bit.ly/oneshot-manga-drawing-program ------- 👉 Sign up to your FREE Basic Manga Character Design Masterclass! bit.ly/free-manga-character-design-training

The thing about having this mentality (for me) was that I grew up with this mindset because back when I was younger at around 10-15 years old, the art trend back then was using references = bad, because it was said to be "lazy" or a shortcut method, all the more when we were referencing artworks from actual pro artists, it was very much criticized back then because copying or tracing someone else's work was considered a crime in the art community, and you'll be accused of "stealing" or "trying to steal someone else's artstyle" not artwork, but artSTYLE. Hence around that time, tutorial videos especially on how to draw Manga and anime styled characters drastically dropped because I was one of those youngsters who were told that "if you want to be good, you have to find your own way to be good, because it'd be unfair to those that came before you if you just use shortcuts or reference their art". The stealing part was somewhat prevalent too, there were people who took the lineart of another arstist and all the did was color it and post it on social media claiming it was theirs. All in all, the scrutiny and the prevalence of art thieving had made me stop referencing art altogether because it struck fear into the mind of my kid brain. In general, I'm just glad we're past that mindset so that the newer artists would actually start with references and watching tutorials to guide them, and not with the intent to steal.

I love how it isn’t clickbait and actually gives useful info

My art improved tremendously once I started to hoard references in my PureRef file and having it open for any drawing, instantly implementing them into ideas I was really motivated to get out of my system. A study and fun in one. After months of this practise the vision for what I'd like to draw also got much clearer and more complex in terms of angles and light. Still the anxiety of "refs are cheating" remains, and often I feel like I NEED to use a crazy angle, otherwise my work is not original enough and people will condemn me for too much similarity with references.

I remember drawing 4 characters from imagination working my (berserk main character name) on it, and it looked good, but when i look back at it, it looks bad, but i kept drawing the same character again and again (it has an reason, calm down) and it began looking better and bettter, and each time i finished an character, i felt so nice i did it again and again, feeling more proud of myself as i would see lots of storywriting, writing advice and art tips and stuff and seeing the evolution i had since then, and now i can say that i am not there yet, but i feel an burning passion, something that shouldn't even exist, but its there (it was an story on my mind and i'm refining it on mind) and it dosent matter how much i try, it dosen't eave me, so well, ill embrace it (along that i began building an love for it) and now i can say that, art is hard, making an good story is hard, having motivation is hard, but i cant stop holding on, and ill embrace it, and i can say that i just need to work on it, and it came right on clutch, its hard to draw, but i can't help myself from not giving up. its hard, it's gonna make me go insane probably, but im gonna try to hold on and get better at this! (i wrote this with an huge amount determination)

I'm glad I'm not the only person guy who uses reference, I used references a lot and some people think it's isn't good to use. But I'm glad I'm not the only person, thank you I feel much better

One way to get around the issue of feeling like youre copying something, is taking your own photos. Learning how to compose a photograph can also teach you a lot about how you can draw your own imagery. Once you start to pick up consistencies taking pictures, you start to learn where things should sit in a well composed shot

Another tip: If you're too lazy to actually use references, just study works you admire intently and remember what you learned from them. I haven't actually used references for years (out of laziness), but I'm pretty satisfied with my art and the progress I have made.

I'm actually glad I watched this. I've always been insecure about my ability to draw, especially when it comes from your imagination, having such high expectations. The pros and even my biggest inspiration, Hayao Miyazaki, has left me feeling unbalanced. Like he is a literal story genius and true artist, always thinking he had ripped all of those creations, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Totoro, all from his mind. I guess it was my doing of putting him up on that mental pedestal. I wish to create a story just like him one day, but finally, in the way I want it to be my own.

As someone super new to drawing and who decided to take it up as an adult... I went to referencing too quickly. I've learned a fair bit about the process from a variety of sources and I 'study' when I copy. It has been helping me learn quick. By study I do mean copy but in doing so I spend time analyzing the image I'm copying. I'm not just mirroring it. I'm working out why they have done what they have done, looking for techniques. But mainly so I can put the hours in learning basics. You have to train the eye to be able to see the important information when you do start to use images as references. Really what is a reference if not just copying from a variety of sources? But yeah I think my point is that its important to know what level you are at and to get inputs (tutorials, references, etc etc) that push you just the right amount. Like a lot of beginners I spent too much time going into detailed tutorials and trying to do way too advanced images. Just got discouraged for months before I started again far simpler. It is interesting that as I learn suddenly the things I learned that were too advanced suddenly come to mind. So perhaps my time wasn't wasted as I'm reaching a point where that professional art course I bought and watched is starting to be relevant.

Bold of you to assume I could even draw a headshot right now. :') I've known about the whole "tracing" thing for a while; but my issue is less of the fact that tracing is somehow morally wrong (although the fact that I've seen a few artists as of late be cancelled for tracing might have that starting to flare up, but that's a different story) but rather because tracing and referencing is... easy? Like: you said that you have your students trace poses to start with: I've done that before, and it's easy. In fact it's so easy that I don't even have to think about what I'm doing. It's mindless enough that I end up only half paying attention and still doing it correctly; but because I don't think, the moment I move to anything else it becomes impossible again because I don't ever feel like I've learned anything.

8:13 - YES, THAT IS ME! I'n producing my art, I have made custom models for each character, reflecting their unique body structure and character design, ensuring that even from hard angles, they still look consistent with what their body is supposed to look like, yet I find it impossible to shake the feeling of cheating when using it and then tracing the construction based on the model, and then drawing on top of the construction, even if the model is handmade by me to fit the character, and each pose is intentionally made with the amount of perspective distortion i want, to capture the exact image i need - Yet, I still feel like gettign a mental breakdown from the sense of "cheating" every single panel I make, both because it feels "too easy" compared to doing it from imagination, but also due to the fear of harming my own growth from relying too much on having those custom references on hand. I even dislike sharing art in process using this method, including during the live critique sessions, exactly because it feels like it's not "real" art. - But on the other hand, not using them means producing art that isn't at the level it could, and should be, so I still feel forced to use them, leading to a pretty bad vicious circle mentally.

I can't get over blue period but cats!

Copying is a great way to build muscle memory .

The editing on this is so good 🤣🤣

I've just found dark reflection is brilliant for manga 😅😅😅😅 I make my tablet screen dark and point it at something external ie my face , a picture etc than it's so smooth drawing without all the distraction of normal reflection 😊😊😊😊😊

It was a stubborn habit that has made me fall time and time again. I still have a few bad habits holding me back, but this one was definitely a big one. Because art was a climb, I always thought the frustrations and everything looking off would just come from experience, since the vague notion of practice was always the driving factor. Cut to YEARS later, and I realize the stuff I have been constantly practising such as lines, basic shapes and 3D form are definitely a lot higher than they used to be... but only now have I realized how VAGUELY my art represents my thoughts, and that's because my thoughts were equally vague. The truth is, because I chose to focus on the path of theory, the path of creation was only really diving into the vague notions of what theory is. The theory isn't in a terrible state and has improved a lot of things... but because I didn't let myself copy the stuff I like or apply it in ways that I could visually see the progress of... my art became vague to ME, which is not something I want. The truth is, that stubbornness came from something that's hard to admit. Fear. It's easy to come from a vague mind and get close enough to what you want... but there is a pain in copying and seeing all the flaws almost 1:1, especially when your mind is literal and has a hard time seeing the details from the forms. It's something I'm going to have to face again, and I know it's going to be hard. I'm going to be facing this fear a lot more now... and I'm scared it's going to hurt me again like it has in the past. I hope however, my modern self will be able to fight through it, and if anyone else has had this fear... I hope you'll be able to fight it to on the path of improvement as well.

This channel helped me so much you guys are a blessing 🙏😭

even though i'm an intermediate artist this is still fun to watch as it gives me nostalgia from when i was learning in my older days of art

In the Mangaka draw with me videos i watched almost all of them used references. Even the really famous ones. There's a particular art book most of them seem to favor with a lot of classic paintings and sculpture in it.

Copying actually kinda traumatizes me lol 😅 When I was in school, I used to draw magical girls A LOT, cuz that's what made me love anime and manga. One day, I had this idea of a magical girl in gold armor. You know, the medieval iron suit that knights used to wear to the battlefield? I had never drawn something like that before cuz I only drew flowy and flowery dresses for my characters, so I started looking for references and found this amazing illustration from Deviant Art. So I copy it, NOT tracing it, but redrawing it by looking at it from my phone and drawing it with a pencil onto the paper. From the suit, the poses, and all the details like how the light hits, how the shading made it look shiny, etc., and attach my character's face at the head. I learned a lot from drawing it tbh, and I also love the results. I was so proud of the sketches that I proceeded to ink them with a ballpoint pen in class while we had self-studying sessions. When I almost finished, this stupid classmate of mine, who has the same hobby of drawing anime/manga, went to my desk and looked at my drawing. At first, she looked in awe, but then she looked at my phone and saw my reference, and I kid u not she started to scoff at me and said “Did u copy this picture? lol I thought u came up with it urself, I was almost impressed...” Right then and there, I felt so ashamed I closed my sketchbook immediately and never looked at that drawing ever again 😂😂 It took me years after graduating, and no longer in school with her, to realize how stupid of me for taking her passing comments too seriously like that lol. (anyway, sorry for trauma dumping on you in the comments, just need to get this out of my chest 😂)

This helps a lot I’ve been struggling trying to find an art style and the story to my own manga

I kinda disagree, what helped me the most at becoming better at drawing is understanding the construction of the things I want to draw and then play around with it making my own drawings from imagination. So I am not saying copying is inherently bad, but the focus should be more on understanding than just copying. I also see currently the opposite happening with some younger children. I know a girl who first would just draw mostly from imagination, but now literary copies poses (literary cut and paste in a drawing program) and draws on top of that without any understanding. She does not draw from her imagination anymore, because it just does not look as good, I think she has actually become more insecure.

Something i find incredible is that im one of the very few lucky people who can draw what they want and make it a pleasing result straight from my head (for only OCs), but not everyone knows that, and thats ok. For example, i was doing a custom drawing of Omori, Spirit Mari, and SOMETHING for a Figure&Ground project at my career center program, and it came out just as i wanted it to, however, i wouldve never been able to do it without the (probably) dozens of other short sketches that i did struggle with to get to the point of being able to draw characters in dynamic positions

one of the biggest of problem, is not doing it like yourself. i always thought that i need to finish a page by doing the line art with a light board. but it not 100 necessary, you can also do it by inking the sketch and a skip the light board, like shuzu oshimi, and the work come out good.

When I was a kid, I was always put down for copying. Sometimes, I would be accused of tracing, which I wasn't. I just started drawing again, and I have a long way to go, but I am way better when copying than I am when drawing from my mind. I hope to turn that around.

it took me 3 - 5 months to create my first one shot and the one panel was just one entire page, and i narrated over it. I would love what ever help you guys can give

It's a bit amusing on my case. I believed I didn't have this misconception and even thought of it as "childish", as in "Hah, as if I'd commit such beginner's mistake, I'm trash but I'm not this trashy." What's amusing is how I actually did not notice I subconsciously believed in it, despite proclaiming I didn't. I always detested drawing with references because I could never get it right most of the time, not to mention it felt like a "shortcut" that'd make my progress slower and overall "contaminate" my quality, turning it into a bad-habit that'd force me to only be capable of drawing WITH references, which was an undesireable result. As silly as it sounds, I'm still subjected to it to this day, and I'm always complaining about "sucking" because my "drawing without reference" results in failures most of the time.

Me I'm not a professional mangaka but I draw what is in my memory and I'm strong enough to do my one shot thanks for the advice I'll keep referencing and about copying it's not my stuff but thanks to references I draw manga characters

In order to learn, there must be a flow of new information. Your imagination is not a source of new information. It's a source of old information. You do not learn anything new by re-hashing what is already in your mind. At BEST, you'll re-enforce the information, and if you work really hard, you might come to some sort of a revelation that optimizes that knowledge in your head. But at WORST, you'll misremember something, and solidify bad habits and mistakes. As such, you should never, ever, stop using references and study materials when looking to improve. It's fine to rely on your imagination in certain aspects of the creative process, as well as optimizing your workflow on topics you think you've mastered, but you should always come back to references eventually to double and triple check your work and to continue progressing again.

I think the biggest problem with my art journey was 1. Not taking risks that might make my art look worse but help me in the long run, and 2. Not understanding that there isn’t just ONE way to draw what I want to draw. Listening to people teach you and show you how they draw is good, but don’t get confused with how THEY draw, and how YOU WANT to draw. It’s soemthing as simple as a gesture drawing that can be done how YOU want by taking the methods taught to you, or maybe you use a little bit of something from one method to the next. It’s your art. That’s what I have learned so far.

This video has made me realize a lot on how I usually mess up

I LOVE HOW THEY SHOWED LUFFY 5:31

Bc of this vid many manga artist were born practically

sometimes I draw from my imagination and it turns out better than my imagination I know theres a difference between what I imagine and what I do and I work around it in strange ways

Here is a secret. Just how did “references are lazy” become such a pervasive misunderstanding? In large part from people who felt they could have been illustrators or painters but were denied the opportunity for an expensive formal education at an art university. They believe that is the only way artists can be created. So they seek to tear down anything they associate with “fancy art school”. Such as access to daily life drawing classes. Or libraries of reference material. The internet age has massively increased access to instruction and materials so these old attitudes have been fading. But plenty of people still unconsciously parrot those ideas without even realizing where they came from.

Hi, I got that weird feel of drawing everyday! but i just draw randomly bodies to environment i feel lost. What is a better thing to practice?

ah, yes "We learn by copying" we've always been:)

Hey, can you make a tutorial on how to make a neat Manga Panel?

Is there a website where one can find the original work of manga artists?

true

May i ask a tutorial on how to "balance each characters show time in each time, scene in each episode or chapter,"?

Can this stuff be applied to human chatacters that arent anime or Manga?

Yusuke Murata’s visual library is enormous!

I think observation is most important thing

Artist Jeff Cavaliere: "Is it killing your gains?"

Well I have a doubt I liked some mangaka Artwork if I drew them I AM Doing right or wrong there should be how you can do the same thing

Actully,I have a problem with drawing hairs 😢😢

1:15 what's that anime name

4:05 so AI is the ultimate artist 🤣

So if i want to make a manga or artwork and monetize it, i can't use references?

Why do ppl keep thinking Imagination is original?

reference*

It's STANDO POWAH

I don't have my own phone yet Is there like a telegram channel

Creating a visual library is one thing, COPYING is another, copying when used for the purpose of learning, especially for bloody begginers is VALID. BUT, copying to produce something you call your „art“ IS WRONG! I don‘t care who does it. Copying means you have little or no PERSONAL creative input in the results, your goal was NOT TO CREATE, BUT TO PRODUCE, that can also be valid, when for example you want to MAKE MONEY and want to produce as fast and economical as possible and you buy reference images you can use in whichever way you like, then yes, that is also valid, BUT THAT IS NOT ART!!! NEVER CONFUSE ART WITH A PRODUCT. Yes, many can be fooled, it can lokk fantastic, but at the end of the day, copying, tracing, etc. is shows HUGE LACK, lack of talent, lack of practice, lack of ability, lack of quality, lack of experience, lack of time, lack of money, lack of morals or lack of interest, etc and etc. When you REFERENCE, that is also valid and it‘s WAY DIFFERENT THAN COPYING. Referencing is key, bc nobody was born knowing it all, everything we know, we do, etc. we learn and everything we CREATE, it‘s BUILT on top of what our ANCESTORS WORLD WIDE CREATED, in every sense, also in the ART FIELD. When you reference correctly, your ART PIECE WILL NOT BE A COPY. So, please don‘Ät confuse referencing with copying. I like what the great master that created AKIRA said about people, magakas, who used printed ready to use shadows to paste on their manga scenes, he said, that that is a SHAME and that no artists manga should ever do such thing, that you should DRAW IT and not just paste it, if you cannot draw it, you should not be a mangaka. It may sound extrem for this days, bc these days, everybody does it, well, that‘s the reason why the QUALITY IS SO MUCH INFERIOR, bc everybody is is following the easy ways and calling that art, when that is called: laziness, lack of talent, lack of interest, lack of a good education in art making, lack if skills, lack of practice, etc. Lack of time is also in the game, bc other powerful people want PRODUCTS they can sell and „art“ that they can pay for DIRT CHEAP. If people had to do things they way they are supposed to do, then the quality will be awesome, it will be mantained, but it‘s the opposite. It‘s gone soooo far down, that many many many so called „artists“ have no abilty to recognize what is quality and what is not, they even put as example art works that are of low quality but great impact to the eyes, as awesome „art work“, so it goes further and further down. Some rats even think stealing from an artists artworks is valid and that is even the process of art, WOW; those sorrs bastards, they will never in their life know what TRUE ART IS and they WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO MAKE TRUE ART, bc again TRUE ART IS NOT COPYING. Copying is good for bloody begginers, REFERENCING IS VALID AND GOOD, but referencing IS NOT COPYNG.

I tried all the methods in scripting and didn’t really make it as better as what goes on in my head and acting out like other characters.

Lezgo

I'm feeling 😕 inconception and ashamed

So that's why my art skill was devolving

You don't need to add the 's' to Mangaka to make it plural. Just leave it mangaka.

but doncha think learning to draw from references is boring af ?

I can say that I'm in the middle not pro not beginner 😂😂😂

Mangaka

Haters be hating but my friend id a master at drawing but he has never got any training

What kills artists the most is drawing Manga and Anime in general. Artists need to STOP copying Maga and other comic styles and create their own. I mean let's be serious; you cannot go onto any art or social website and do a search without the first 20-30 images being "manga". the whole BESM thing is old and needs to be put to rest. The whole Sailor Moon, Spikey hair, Avatar and Chibi thing is so over done. And if all you ever draw is Manga and Anime characters, you will never know your fullest potential.

this woman is wrong dont draw just sculpt your drawing like i do and you will get what you want

Lol, this is literally what people are shaming AI generated images for 😂