Essential Materials for Manga Illustrations

Discover all the essential materials you need to create manga-style illustrations with Giovana Serafim of creative duo EUDETENIS

Manga has very specific stylistic features, from eye size, to clothing style, to physical proportions, and exaggerated volumes, movements and expressions. To create great Manga characters, and invent elements that make your designs original and convey plenty of character, you need to observe and practice constantly.

Giovana Serafim, is one half of the award-winning creative duo EUDETENIS (@eudetenis), and she’s also a Manga specialist. In this video, she shares the materials she uses to create Manga illustrations. Don’t miss her tips!

2B Pencils

Pencils are numbered from 9H to H and down to 9B. The higher the number on the H scale, the harder the pencil. And the higher the number on the B scale, the softer it is.

2B pencils are ideal for Manga illustration because they aren’t too hard and don’t get the paper dirty. And they also allow you to create heavier and lighter lines with a single pencil, depending on the pressure you apply.

Plastic eraser

It’s best to use a plastic eraser, because this generates little ‘dust’ and needs fewer particles to absorb mistakes. This is really important when it comes to achieving a clean finish.

Brush pen

Only use this pen to go over your final pencil lines. You don’t need a fancy pen for this simple finishing technique. Any brand will do.

Colored pencils

You need a set of at least 12 colors to start with. You can buy bigger sets but you’re only going to use them as your technique gets more advanced.

Paper

Use standard paper that weighs between 75-90 grams. You can experiment with different thicknesses, but you always want the paper to be as smooth as possible.

Drawing table

A drawing table is ideal when you come to finish your designs, as it helps you to see the lines and details more clearly. You can also use it to support your paper as you draw.

Love this tutorial? If you’d like to learn how to create a complete pencil model sheet using proportion, volume and movement techniques, don’t miss Eudetenis’ online course: Drawing Manga Characters from Scratch.

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