How to Draw: Manga Chibis

About Yishan Li

Yishan Li is a professional Manga artist who lives in Shanghai. Yishan has been drawing Manga since 1998 when she was in high school and she has subsequently been published internationally including China, North America, France and the UK. Visit her website www.liyishan.com

Derek Wilson

I received 'How To Draw: Manga Chibis' last month and it really is a great way of showing you how to get started when it comes to drawing manga characters. The book is made up almost exclusively of step-by-step figures which, in my opinion, is the best way to teach someone how to draw. I mean, who can learn to draw from superfluous paragraphs of text?!

Each stage of the drawing process is clearly outlined, you simply start off with lines and circles as a guide, and you add a little more with each step. You'll be surprised at how quickly your character develops and you'll soon be able to draw without the aid of the book at all.

With the run-up to Christmas, this would make an ideal gift for both kids and adults alike. Yishan Li really has provided a truly great resource for learning how to draw manga figures. Recommended.

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Jenny Cooper

So easy to understand with step by step instructions. This came in handy for my daughter who is studying art at school. She loved the book and took bits from it and made her own characters too. For anyone who loves to draw anime this book will show the basics and you will hunger to learn more

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Sallyanne Rose

spent a fun afternoon with my son drawing these little characters, the book makes it so easy to draw, step by step - a great place to start for budding manga artists, i think we will be moving on to some more advanced characters soon. A4 sized paperback book.

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Lisa Mayles

I got this book with my 11 year old in mind. He loves to draw and is always practising. This book shows lots of different manga figures to draw broken down into simple easy to follow steps. My son loves it and has expanded his drawing skills.

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Susie Wilkinson

My stepson is a big Manga fan, and was trying to start drawing his own characters, this book, with its step-by-step illustrations has really helped him to improve.
The book itself, with the eight-stage technique, is really easy to follow, even for beginners (I had a go myself!), and I'd recommend it for anyone wanting to have a go at Manga.

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Jo Udall

Great book. Easy to understand and a great fun way to start drawing.

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Kaiserin Maggs

'How To Draw Manga Chibis' is a simple, yet very effective book which can help start you on your way to drawing brilliant manga figures. The book features very little text (apart from the first page) which makes it a very easy to understand book. There are plenty of figures (28) to practise drawing and these can be adapted to create your own manga chibis. Each page shows roughly seven or eight drawings, right from the basic circles and lines to start with, each picture then adding more detail next time. I haven't really tried drawing before I had this book and have practised using the figures in the book. I am very pleased with how simply it is set out and none of the pictures seems overwhelming. It is an A4 sized book of 32 pages. It is informative and well worth a try.

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Kelly Biss

This book was given to me to review and I found it to be very pleasing. I've tried drawing manga before now, and own several "How to books" by various authors, so was very pleased to receive this one to review. The book starts off with a short introduction about what Chiblis are and an explanation on how to understand the drawing stages that has been used in the book, to aid you in drawing them, followed by some recommendations on what to use to draw and colour each character.

This book contains 28 cute little Chibis to draw, in several "how to draw" stages. These include a cute Cat Maid, a Sorceress, a delightfully fluffy, Polar Bear Mascot and a fun Footballer, besides many other wonderfully drawn, fun, cute and creative characters, to draw and colour yourself. The designs in this book, are suitable for any ability in drawing, as there are a few "easier" ones to draw and a few other more "challenging" ones to enjoy.

Yishian uses several stages to show how to draw each Chibis, starting from the basic outline to get the sizing right, on limbs, heads etc. All the way up to the final finished stage - a complete Chibis. The stages are very easy to follow, with her using different coloured outlines to highlight the different stages of drawing, making it easy to follow and see how each layer goes on top of each prior layer, to build up to the final picture. This also gives you a wonderful insight on how to, maybe go on, and draw your own styled Chibis, using the same ideas as you get used to copying, throughout the book.

I would personally recommend this book to anyone who enjoys drawing manga or anyone thinking about trying to learn how to draw it, as its gives you plenty of guidance and clear stages on how to draw these cute little characters.