Check Out NMA    Learn More About our Partnership
Close and Enjoy Drawabox Ad-free
View Full Submission View Parent Comment
7:31 PM, Thursday August 13th 2020
edited at 7:35 PM, Aug 13th 2020

Welcome to the difference between art and science.

I have an IT background but I always hated it ( long story ) and found it unrewarding except in a financial and world travel sense.

Anything to do with art I always really enjoyed but was coerced into a sensible career.

They are different animals, virtually opposites. Art is ill defined, IT is utterly predictable.

If you don't enjoy it, it's always going to be hard work. Perhaps a re-assessment is needed of how you actually want to spend your time on the planet.

FWIW There is a current obsession with anime art style which I think is unhealthy from an artistic perspective. It is a very limited style that can paint you into a corner. It is several abstractions from nature.

edited at 7:35 PM, Aug 13th 2020
6:28 AM, Sunday August 16th 2020

In my case, it's the opposite; I actually found most of my IT background pretty rewarding emotionally, but unrewarding in a financial sense. It was art that caused me immense pain, hence me making this topic.

Indeed, they are different animals; because art is ill-defined, it's a lot more intution-reliant than IT, which is instead more reliant on procedural logic (which is much easier to develop in the modern age).

As for the obsession with the anime art style, you won't have to worry about me on that front; I'm well-aware that I need to know the basics before I can pull it off well, hence me following Drawabox as I am.

8:49 AM, Sunday August 16th 2020
edited at 8:50 AM, Aug 16th 2020

It does seem like we have opposite experiences.

My point about manga/anime is that you don't really need to know the basics of art to get started. It is its own style and has its own rules to a large extent which have little to do with real life drawing. I have done some anime stuff. I found it easy to get going with but I found it rather uninspiring over the longer term.

I would recommend Mark Crilley's books as good manga starter books. I have worked my way through them and they are nicely paced. They start off pretty basic but add more details and polish over the course.

Check out his youtube channel if you haven't already.

https://www.youtube.com/user/markcrilley

edited at 8:50 AM, Aug 16th 2020
1:08 PM, Sunday August 16th 2020

Given my experience, it seems I in particular will need to know the basics; I've actually spent ~7 years learning to draw (much of that on manga), and I... did not get very good. Several real skilled manga artists I know insist you need to know the basics, so yeah

View more comments in this thread
The recommendation below is an advertisement. Most of the links here are part of Amazon's affiliate program (unless otherwise stated), which helps support this website. It's also more than that - it's a hand-picked recommendation of something I've used myself. If you're interested, here is a full list.
Faber Castell PITT Artist Pens

Faber Castell PITT Artist Pens

Like the Staedtlers, these also come in a set of multiple weights - the ones we use are F. One useful thing in these sets however (if you can't find the pens individually) is that some of the sets come with a brush pen (the B size). These can be helpful in filling out big black areas.

Still, I'd recommend buying these in person if you can, at a proper art supply store. They'll generally let you buy them individually, and also test them out beforehand to weed out any duds.

This website uses cookies. You can read more about what we do with them, read our privacy policy.