Kawaii Manga

Book excerpt: Kawaii Manga is the ultimate full-color instructional guide to drawing the kawaii (super cute) manga popular in contemporary cartoons, video games, advertising, and fashion designs around the world. The word “Kawaii” originated in 1970s with Japan schoolgirls who used the term to describe everything they considered to be cute. Common worldwide today, kawaii identifies a particular trend of visual aesthetics such as Hello Kitty, the most famous example of this style. Kawaii is also a recognizable art form practiced by artists from around the world. Produced by both painters—including the acclaimed Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara—as well as commercial artists, kawaii can be found in museums and galleries, as well as on stickers, clothing, calendars, pens, pencils, erasers, video games, and other commercial items. With this comprehensive, engaging manual, both new and experienced manga artists can master the steps for creating this colorful form—both freehand and digital—to draw a host of stunning kawaii characters. Detailed step-by-step instructions take them from initial character sketches to bright, finished designs, and show them how to master such techniques as applying digital color and 3-D vectorial drawing. Featuring graphic full-color illustrations and detailed instructions, Kawaii Manga is sure to become the definitive how-to guide and reference for artists and manga lovers.