Main Page Fan Fiction Fan Art YKYBRTMR1/2W.... What's Ranma 1/2? My Links My Webrings Ranma 1/2 in Singapore What's New? About Me! TiPS! Persona Pairup Feedback and Vote! Voting Results    Multimedia Sign Guestbook! Contributors of the Month View Guestbook! Really Resembles Ranma     Fan Art Help! Awright, welcome to the TiPS! page for Fan Art! If you're a beginner and need some help, this is the place to come for the basics of drawing. I, Ranma Saotome, will be your guide! As mentioned before, I am not a professional, and these are merely pointers I use myself. No Flames, ya hear?  Thanks, and now.... our TiPS! (I'm not good at explaining this.) (Note : Due to image complications, I have refrained from uploading many images. Examples may be found where stated.) Go to the Main body! Email me! Gotta opinion to post? Click here.

1) The Basics

Right, let's get started. Everyone knows that there are dozens of styles of drawing, none so distinctive as Japanese Manga. (All right, I'm lying, but it's half true!)
Those big eyes, oversized attributes, and flawless complexion, I mean, who wouldn't be envious? But I'm digressing here, let's go.
Remember, Rumiko has her distinct "simple but beautiful" style.
Since I said Fan Art, I'll assume you've already read at least one or two mangas and are hooked onto them, regardless of artist.

Basics - The absolute basics for beginners

First off, what every beginner should do is to pick up their own favorite artists' art and try to copy it. (Yes, copy it. No, this isn't copyright infringement as long as you don't publicize it.) No need for shading, no need for so much detail unless you're really determined. Just a basic sketch.
What most people do is to take tracing paper and copy, but I don't mean that. What you do is to take a reference picture that you like, put it down beside you, and with your sketching apparel, try to sketch as accurate a picture as possible. Look between the pictures you are sketching and you are drawing reference from, and make corrections as you see fit. Draw until you've completed what you want. Don't bite off more than you can chew, just a simple pic should do.
Don't worry if you don't get it right the first time (I'll bet it'll turn out a little warped), try again. Practice until you can get everything right (the proportions, positioning of body parts, etc.), and then try it from memory! Repeat as necessary. It may sound tedious, but if you're really serious, it should be great fun!
Serious tip : The easiest pointers anyone will tell you is that 'point' system. Work from a basic starting point, maybe a bit of hair from a corner, and compare distances, angles, lengths, positive/negative space as you work along. This is the best way to learn, and the most deceptively difficult.

Eyes. (Eye-examples can be found in the Pencilling TiPS! segment)
Now that I've got a scanner, I can only say that you people would be better off looking at the Platinum award winner on the second Fan Arts page for facial reference. But that is of the extremely stylized sort.
Eyes on manga characters can be anywhere from 3/7ths of the entire face, and the more reasonable 1/5ths. It all depends on the series you're drawing. I'll touch on the ones in Ranma first.
Eyes here are normally rounded at the top, and flat at the bottom. Depending on whether the person is a male or female, they can also have eyelashes. Eye glint is another factor. Practice step by step. Here are the two basic steps in eyes, and a pointer.
1) Draw the top area, a rounded curve. Depending on the emotion the person is feeling, it can be slanted or raised. Use a mirror on yourself if you're not sure.
2) Then draw the rounded portion of the eye, the glint first. Make sure they're facing the same side, to give the effect of the light. (remember the light source!!!) Followed by the iris, partially cut off by the glint. The eye doesn't have to be completely round, you can draw the bottom eye-line to cut off the eye, like Ranma-chan in the background. :)
3) Remember, ALL eyes MUST have a FLAT base no matter what. If you're drawing the base of an eye, remember to make it flat if possible. For more advanced tips, go to my pencilling guide.

A basic idea of how a head should be measured and drawn. Begin with a basic oval, and bear in mind where the eyeline (the uppermost line of dots on the face that passes through the eyes), and the eye's baseline go. The 'eyeline' should be in the middle of the head, and that is where is eye is centered around. The 'baseline' is a general idea of where the base of the eyes will be if the eyes are completely open. Note : Distances from the chin to the bottom of the nose should be approximately be as long as the distance from the bottom of the nose to the brow. The ear should start from the top of the eye(balls), and terminate halfway down the nostril area.

The glint can be singular or double glint. Note the eyelashes do not have to be long, just noticable and in order of length, longest towards the nose, shortest towards the ear. Eyelashes apply only to the females. The double line at the top is nonexistent for men. You're gonna need eyebrows, thin lines across the head above the eyes, for short hair.

Speaking of ears, noses and hair, this is the second order. Noses in ALL manga are generally just a cuving line down the face ending in a small mountain, sharp at the tip, or just the tip part.
The lines are generally made up when the nose terminates at the bottom of the eye. This generally occurs when the face is very flat to one side, just enough to see the other eye. (Give or take a bit.) But the proper proportions would be : the nose curve starts from the eyebrow, comes down and ends about 1½ to 2 eyelengths down the face, or 3/5ths of the way down.
Most characters have either long or no sideburns in comics, and if the sideburn is short, it's just a shading ofcolour besidesthe ear. Some people have hair long enough to cover their ears, so ears become a moot point. Ears are generally one curve inside the other, and then the rest is pretty simple. If you need more advanced tips, please refer to the Pencilling TiPS! page.

ON TO THE HAIR! (Again, references may be made at the Pencilling TiPS! page.)

Hair is what makes or breaks a person's facial features. Good drawing of hair will make it worth your while. Bad hair.... well..... everyone has bad hair days, right? ^_^U
If you look at pictures and use them as reference points, most of you might notice that sometimes, the outlines of the eyes and eyebrows can be seen underneath. This is up to you. I generally draw the eyes first, then the hair. The hair can come in one big clump (a la some posters) or as multiple layers, (a la everything else.)
It's better to draw hair segment by segment,rather than one big lump then segmenting it off. Again, the order is shorter at the top, longer in the middle, and shorter (dependent) at the face itself, above or over the eyes.
You'll want to put a tapering effect on people with long hair only if there is a "wind" effect. If you wish for the hair to simply stay down, depending on the hair style, you should always draw it slightly jagged or segmented.

Using the basics of drawing a head (an ovoid, with the line defining the basic shape and structure of the face), you should consider the shape of the face itself. The face curves in at the eyes (because of the eye socket), while the chin is noticably sharp (on manga characters). The mouth is one more thing I'll cover on the basics.
The mouth is, as you can see by the background, also sometimes quite oddly shaped, but one of the more important aspects to the face. There is a fine line between an angry open mouth and a shouting open mouth. I can't explain it to you here, I can only let you look at the examples around the page, and you should have enough references at home to help.
Note on lips : For women, there is the issue of lipstick or double lips. Sorry, but you'll have to figure these out yourself.
Well, you've got the basics out, now it's time for the advanced course. The body and the advanced methods on earlier topics.

2) Advanced Help.

As you draw people's bodies, you'll notice a trend among the men and women. Alright, outside of the oversized chests of women, you'll notice that even in real life, they normally wear their skirts/pants/jeans/etc. at their abdomens, just a small distance under their chests, while the men wear their pants just over the waistline. This is for a reason. To look good. (imagine a woman who, if she had a choice, wouldn't want to look like she had longer legs. Besides, in my opinion, wearing them at the waist makes for bad fashion sense)  For both men and women, the body follows a general shape (unless you're out of shape, in which I'll cover later.), chest wider, slimming at the abdomen, then filling out again at the waist. For men, this is more of just a straight line going down then out again. For women, theirs are genuine curves, and before any of you start thinking hentai, let me assure you that if you decide to draw things out of proportion (hint, hint), people'll rather puke at the picture than admire it. (No, Mai Shiranui borders at this line between oversized and plain large. Of course, no one's perfect.)

Chest, abdomen, Arms, Legs.

Women's bodies.

The sides of a woman's chest from the front view should never go beyond 3/5ths of the arm in any drawing, this is to keep proportionality. (At this level, the breasts are about as big as some of those in Bastard! or some others.) At the sides, it should curve slowly downwards and  then curve gently around the tip. (Remember, breasts are about 80-90% fat, which is soft. The 'underswell' is an effect of the fats sagging over the chest.) On the way down, it should be, depending on what she's wearing, straight down towards the abdomen for a tucked in shirt, a small deviation for a loose shirt, or for those bikinis, a curve in proportion to the top.
You should use shading on the shirt. This is to reflect the creases in it. It shouldn't go beyond 2.5/5ths of the arm even at the side, unless it's to a more extreme extent, or else chest is LARGE. The abdomen should be slanting inwards as well, but remember, proportion's the word. Fill out the waist just above theabdomen, and this is where the legs start. Belts also begin at the abdomen.Shapely legs on a woman are a problem.
Considering that clothing most of the time is pulled up a little higher than men's, pants should always have allowance for a longer "waist-down" ratio. Thighs should start out thick at the top, and only slant in A LITTLE to the knee. Below the knee, the leg curves out three-quarters of the way, then slants inwards to the ankle.
You should notice that the lower leg curves out (calves), then in at the ankle. The thigh curves in at the back of the knee. The average shape from top of body to bottom should be that the body itself seems to stick out a little at the front, the calves and buttocks at the back, the shoulder-blades just a little further in.
Arms are generally a simple affair, slightly rounded to reflect the muscle, slanting in at the elbow, then following the lower leg portion at the lower arm. Short of giving you a muscle chart, plain observation is the key.
 
 

Fig 1.1

Typical manga lady's proportions. Note that for ladies, Hips to Shoulder ratio is roughly 1-1, or 1.5-1. In Fig 1.1, I've eliminated the breasts to give you a general idea of the shape of the woman's body. In Fig. 1.2, note that the shoulder and arm forms most of the shape of the back of the body. Note underswell.

Fig 1.2

Men's Bodies :

Men are generally referred to as "flat chested". Not so. They do have flat chests, but that doesn't mean just a straight line on the shirt. A slanted line out to just above elbow height, then back towards the abdomen is the order. Men's abdomens always curve inwards much less than their female counterparts, therefore the waist isn't very hard to draw from there. Men's legs are generally thicker, less shapely. But, remember, men have muscle tone on their arms (most of the time), this is important. Men wear their pants and belts at waist level, so there is a lower "waist-down" ratio. Just remember to leave space for the buttocks.
 
 

Fig 2.1

I've decided to go ahead and give you a rough idea about the human anatomy on the male. Note : These are extremely rough, and are only meant to give you a general idea of how the body and muscles work. (Also, my memory's a little fuzzy without my lost anatomy notes) The muscles on the inner side of the arm (armpit area) wraps around from the inside out toward the biceps (that part you flex). The muscle on the other side of the bicep wraps around from the outside. Men's Hip to Shoulder ratio is about 1:1.3, because men generally have less hip than women and their arms are more bulky. The leg-body ratio is 1:1 for men. Also, note that manga males have two distinct variations of back-curve. One : The person is ridiculously muscular, resulting in a body that resembles an oversized woman's (sans breasts!). Two : The person is more conventional and follows Fig. 2.2's general shape.

Fig 2.2

Hands, Feet, Legs and Arms.
Hands : The thumb does consist of three bones like the other fingers, but one of it is part of the palm (or nearly so), so draw the thumb with two segments. Fingers should start about half the thumb's length away from the point where it originates. Also, on an outstretched arm, the middle finger should be no longer than 3 thumbs' length away from the knee.

Feet : Arched and flat feet can only be discerned from the inner sides. Draw a sharp curve from the ankle to the foot, and the heel sticks out a little from the back, from the ankle. Remember, big toe on the inside, small toe on the outside.

Legs : Depending on a body ratio, you'll be looking at leg lengths of ratio 1:1 (upper torso from the waist up to the legs from the waist down) for most people. For females (young ones, of course!), the optimum should be 1:1.2 - 1.5. (It's easy to estimate the ratio, just halve the body in your mind and see if it's more leg than body.) Naoko Takeuchi's Sailormoon series has her Sailor Senshi blessed with figure ratios of 1:2! While this isn't bad, it's extremely unusual to those not used to such proportions. Better to stick with more realistic manga. (Yeah, if there're any!)

Arms : Now this is important. Angle of view notwithstanding, all arms come in this measurement - The elbow ALWAYS terminates just above the midriff. Any longer or shorter would result in a person who looks like a gorilla or praying mantis. And as above, the arm and fingers, when completely outstretched, ends above the knee.

Well, that's more or less the advanced course. What about clothing now?

3) Clothes and Miscellaneous Items.

For examples of clothes, just look around you, in the mirrors. Unless you're tucking those abs in, the shirt is creased at the places where is should be. Inwards at the belt, at the large sleeves, at any point of movement where the limbs and body are not straight. It is difficult for me to explain where and how to crease shirts and pants, but you should have the general idea here. Joints and areas where the shirt might be loosened by a protrusion. Again, look in the mirror for reference. (But real life creases are tons more plentiful than manga, so stick to the major creasing to be safe.)
Pants or skirts, for the other part, are something else.

Skirts :
As usual, usually found a small distance under the chest area at the abdomen, skirts are not completely shapeless. Unless the skirt is a tight one, draw a small fringe at the sides by the legs. Large, frilly dresses always follow a definite shape. Pleated skirts as well.

Pants :
Depending on whether it's a tight or loose pair, pants on a man and woman are different.
(Refer to topic above)
For men, as mentioned, pants should be at the waist level. The crotch area is usually a little more prominent, unless it's a pair of loose pants. (I mean loose!)
For women, as mentioned above, pants are around the abdomen area. The crotch is less pronounced, and generally pants are tight enough to show off leg and butt shape. Common practice is, of course, to emphasize the shapeliness of buttocks (in jeans, at any rate), but in doing so emphasize the crotch area.

Apparel :

Rings, bracers, belts, necklaces, etc.. These count as apparel on a character. Remember, these are not completely flat and part of the person's body, leave a small spacing between the outermost line and the point of contact on the skin.

Now go and try your hand at art! (And let me look at them
when you're done.)
And remember, my page displays only Ranma fan art.
Or......