New to drawing. Starting with anime/manga.

Question

I've never really drawn before in my life but I have a good eye. My hand doesn't always do what my eye wants it to but I know how it should look. Should I take my time and make sure every line is perfect the way I want it; or just for the sake of practice should I leave the line the way I draw it the first time and move on to the next thing? Sometimes I spend several minutes on a line and several hours on a manga/anime head. Basically should I just draw them quick and easy (but bad looking) or take my time and work hard (and it look okay)?

Answer 1

Id start with doing them fast and not as good, and just do a few of those

to get a feel for it to start up. then id start focusing more and doing

some more detail. I think that would be a good way to get into it

and try new things with it.

Answer 2

Both of the above are correct.  Bluntly, Manga and anime are part of an eastern drawing tradition which differs from the western tradition in that there is more emphasis on line and less on light and shade.  Most of the Westerners I see drawing in "Anime" put in light and shade, because that is the art they see around them, but they do it badly because they are studying a style which doesn't have much use for it.  Kimon Nikolaides's book The Natural Way to Draw, and Betty Edwards's Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain emphasize using tone to create form.  This means putting down a lot of lines, and building your forms out of masses of these lines.

I recommend getting these books.  I also recommend getting a large (say 18x24") sketchbook, and drawing from the shoulder while holding your wrist steady.  Instead of making your lines slowly, or quickly and moving on, you should make your lines quickly but lightly, and draw over them.  Practice Gesture drawing and blind contour drawing, as described in the Nikolaides book and on various websites.

Eventually, since drawing is a craft, you will find you better appreciate the basis for Anime and manga, and if you want to adopt its linear orientation, you will be better able to.

EDIT:  So put down a lot of lines and don't erase.  Try copying different drawings in different styles -- but pay more attention  to shape and light source than to individual lines.  When you've worked over them for a while, smear them more, and as you are satisfied you  have the shapes right, pick up your eraser and erase only the highlights.  And darken the darker edges.

Answer 3

Manga is not the way to learn to draw.  The best manga artists could probably go head-to-head with classically trained artists on their way to becoming anime artists.  

Spend a little time enjoying manga, but if you really would like your drawings to come more naturally, get out and draw from life!  Carry a sketchbook and draw every time you have a spare 5 minutes.  You don't expect skaters to be able to jump curbs the first try. . . why do you expect to be able to draw instantly?  Like language, it takes practice.