Markers
DRAW COLOURFUL MANGA ARTWORK
CHIHIRO HOWE guides us through the process of creating a manga-style character using alcohol-based markers
Alcohol-based markers are a medium that shuns both hassle and mess, and is fairly easy to use once you get the hang of it. The colour choices are abundant, the colours are vibrant, and they’re extremely fast to dry, so there’s no worrying about making any accidental ink smudges or waiting for them to dry.
Because they’re alcohol rather than water-based, they rarely damage the paper. However, unlike paints, the ink will bleed through the paper unless you’re using coated sheets. The techniques I use here won’t work well with coated paper, so I’d suggest placing a bit of scrap paper under the drawing to prevent the ink from bleeding through to the next surface.
MATERIALS
PAPER X-Press It blending card Standard paper
PENS OLO alcohol markers Brown liner pen, size 003 and 005
PENCIL
General’s white charcoal pencil
Faber-Castell coloured pencils
Because the colours are dyes, they don’t do well with sunlight either, so make sure you don’t expose your drawing to the sunlight after you’re done to prevent it from fading.
I started using alcohol markers about 20 years ago, as I found the vibrant colours and smooth look I could achieve with them matched well with my style. A lot of Japanese manga artists have used them too, because they’re often pressed for time and alcohol markers are quick.
My art is stylised, so the colouring will be fairly simplified compared to more realistic styles. I don’t add too many details such as shadows when I don’t have to either. My aim isn’t to be realistic, but to keep my image believable enough that the artwork is still enjoyable to look at.