How to Draw Original Characters from Simple Templates

It's ok, wish it had step by step instruction on how to draw. Most images are pre drawn, that doesn't really help someone who wants to learn to draw, will probably return because I don't think it will be useful

First off I have to point out how clean cut these books are in such a short shipment! Second I fell in love with this book! The drawings are so eyecatching and I got to learn a lot when I read it. It got down to character types and gone over school boys and girls, preteens, villans (and since I LOVE drawing school settings this was a BIG thumbs up!) and even outfits when you go through it! I have always been a big fan of Christopher Hart's books and the more I read from him, the better I improve! Thank you!

It doesn't have a lot of "detail" on what to do, more like he wants you to really look at the photos shown and redraw them untill you figure it all out. What upset me is there is only one page on eyes, and they all look the same. Idk. Eyes are the most important part of a face

I honestly am extremely under impressed and disappointed with the book. From the lay out, visual break downs, and step by step break downs. I want my money back. This book is not a true step by step drawing guide regardless if it is based off templates. It’s far from that.

I was at a point artistically where I was stuck, completely burnt out and severely uninspired. I was originally looking for a project book, a book that would give me homework assignments, however everything changed when I found Christopher Hart’s book “The Masters Guide to Drawing Anime”.
Looking through all the pages filled me with more and more desire to want to draw them all, and make my own variations of them. I have also used this book as reference when drawing other anime characters because it is such a great guide.

This is a must have for your collection! I am grateful for Christopher Hart and this book specifically for giving me back my spark. Thank you Christopher Hart for continuing to inspire us all!

It was in great shape, and delivered on time. I loved the faces to draw from, and most of the bodies. Not a fan drawing really thin tall guys. But I really liked the way he draws the preteens. The ones seen on the cover. (A +) It doesn't really go into great detail, but the layout is simple and very easy to understand. Very happy with it!

Ever since I was a small child, I have always owned and learned from one of Christopher Hart's drawing guides. This guide has helped me to cover some gaps in my understanding of basic Anime drawing and provided skeletons and structures that I found easier to learn from than other books that I have read in the past.

I really like the first part of the book, but towards the end, it switches to a totally different drawing style and looks like two different artists did the drawing, not just Christopher Hart. I prefer the first drawing style used.

Another great drawing book by Mr. Hart. My daughter loves this book and cannot put it down ( except when drawing one of the characters inside ). Very clean and fun subjects. Really enjoy the colored edges so you can quickly find they subject you are looking to draw.

Only wish it had a binding so it could lay flat when drawing. Otherwise and amazing book.

First off: This book is no "Master Guide" to drawing anything but different stereotyped anime schoolgirls.

I would give it three stars because the lessons were okay. Having a front, back, left/right profile, and left/right 3/4 reference of the same characters was nice, but this book reeked of overplayed anime stereotypes.

The book has a little over 140 pages, and the first 45 pages are all dedicated to teenage schoolgirls. It had SCINTILLATING character types like "cheerful girl," "the best friend," "silly & clumsy," "shy girl," "life of the party," "love-obsessed," "book worm loner," and "mystery girl loner" who is like "book worm", but "beautiful." The sad thing is that this book basically demonstrates the shallow characters you see in manga/anime too often. I don't hear people complaining about these ridiculous tropes like people do for normal books or movies. For some reason these dumb, sexist tropes are just accepted in anime culture. I can't stand it.

The schoolboys section lasts for exactly 10 pages. That's one of my biggest pet-peeves about manga/anime drawing books: they're 90% about drawing girls. Not all manga-style artists just want to draw cutesy teenage schoolgirls!

That said, the art style is nice (well, except for the jagged-lined "charming villain" section, in my opinion) and if nothing else I can use the art as reference. This book would be okay for beginning artists, but I hope anyone getting into drawing anime/manga don't use the character types presented in this book as a standard.

Christopher Hart offers a wide variety of how-to-draw books in both cartoon and anime formats. The Master Guide to Drawing Anime is one of the many anime drawing books he has released. This one focuses on steps after the basics. If you are just starting out with the art style, I suggest picking up his Manga for the Beginner books, Basic Anatomy for the Manga Artist, and/or The Manga Artist's Workbook. As the title suggests, (which I will shorten to MGDA from here on) MGDA goes into slightly more advanced drawing techniques.

MGDA starts off with a few pages on detailing how to draw the female head and body, followed by the same for males. They cover from preteen to teen, but no other age group. These steps are limited and do not cover exactly how to get that certain shape you might want for the eyes, for example. They instead focus on what the outcome is supposed to look like. Now, with drawing the anatomy, again, it does not cover how the bone structure and muscle tone complete a figure. It shows basic outline steps that are easy to follow, but not how the body parts are constructed. Other pages in the book cover how to draw the characters in varying poses. I found these especially helpful because drawing poses from memory is not a strong suit of mine. They make for great references when I want to draw characters in certain poses instead of just standing still. Again, the key to perfectly executing these poses is to understand how the human anatomy works (I can't stress enough how fabulous his anatomy books are). Other pages are dedicated to different clothing styles that cover school life to fantasy and some things in-between. You can copy the clothes he shows in the books or you can use them as inspiration for creative outfits of your own.

All-in-all, MGDA is another fantastic how-to-draw book by Christopher Hart. Just remember it may feel a little challenging to follow if you picked this up as a base for your first attempt at drawing the anime style as it does not cover anatomy, shading, movement of the hair, or how clothes crease or move with the body. Happy drawing!

This book is amazing its definitely different from the cartoon style books christopher hart has ones I generally pull towards but ive always wanted to try to draw anime and I must say WOW this book is just beautiful I love that it has diffrent style of anime to draw from school girl to humour preteens I love this book I like how his book is always colorful and this book shows the structure the outline and finished colored product easy to follow guide lines. This book includes drawings of both girls and boys. Diffrent type of characters this book makes me excited to start my anime journey I recommend any and all of his books such a genius artists!

Christopher Hart has another valuable book out to help the anime artist. In this book you will find male and female guides on drawing anime from young, teens and young adults. You get pointers on body proportions, views, adding details. It's all there. After reading this and then trying out the new information, you will definitely be able to create your own amazing characters.

This guide is incredibly helpful in so many ways. No matter what skill level you're at, you will learn something new from this book. I conpletely recommend it for anyone who needs help in any way (i.e. anatomy, eyes, profiles, etc.). For someone like me who specualizes in preteen characters, this helped me tons. There's also silly and funny quotes at the end of some of the finished pictures.

I have several of Christopher Hart's how-to-draw books, and each one is better than the one before. His instructions are clear and simple. He also gives great hints along the way, pointing out small details that make a big difference in the finished image. I highly recommend any of his books, and if you're specifically interested in drawing anime, then this is the book for you!

Christopher Hart is a very talented artist, and I keep his books close by for reference. This book is beautiful and his drawings are very appealing. I love his artwork and easy-to-understand instructions. His books are great for all ages.. I'm always looking for ways to improve my skills, and his books are so helpful. This book is super helpful! I especially love the 360 degree body templates! Another awesome book!

This book helps guide you to developing YOUR characters and style quickly. Mr. Hart does an excellent job of showing you how to focus on what is common and what little changes define character personas. He understands the frustrations that cause people to trail off after creating their own original character. Chris Hart explains the use of templates to help you with challenging poses and being able to draw your characters more quickly and consistently. The guidance, examples, and artwork are all vibrant and clear. If you have an original character but you are stuck drawing it the same every time and really wish you had more story for it, this book is for you!

this book is a great read and has fantastic Illustrations and step by step instruction on a variety of different character types and it is very helpful in showing you how to create your own characters! I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning how to draw Anime because it is chock full of information on how to do just that! this is a must-have for aspiring Anime artists I will get much use out of it and so will you!

It's a great how to book to help people who want to learn how to draw. The only thing I would do to make it just a little better is by adding recommendations for what sort of art supplies to purchase before you start creating. But that's just me.

Other than that it's perfect! I will totally by more guides from Christopher Hart in the future.

I just got my copy of The Master Guide to Drawing Anime and I love it. There are hundreds of black and white and color images illustrating the technique used to draw anime. You learn to draw facial features, clothes and outfits all the way to more complex emotions and styles. Great book for the beginner all the way to the professional artist. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in drawing anime. You won't be disappointed!

while I understand it is a general guide to drawing and sketching manga characters. The title seems to discredit its own material as one doesn't simply draw anime. Anime is a medium of entertainment that mainly involves Animation (Drawing, Rigging, Frames, and rendering) the title should be the master guide to drawing "manga", not anime. its one of those things where Manga can be anime. but Anime can't really be manga.

I just received this book and Christopher Hart has done it again! This book is absolutely AMAZING! He shows you how to draw from basic eye and head template to drawing villains, from preteens to clothes and hairstyles. This book is a must for any who want to learn to draw Anime! Go get your copy today!

Amazing artist who can teach! Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you can teach BUT Christopher Hart can do both. My grandkids (ages4-14) are using his book too with great success! Wonderful illustration

Christopher Hart is at it again with another roundhouse kick on a magnificent hack for drawing anime. With the "Master Guide," so adeptly named, anyone who is wanting to try at the style of anime can achieve outstanding results by following the easy step by step process that Mr. Hart has developed for this book. As with many other 'How to' books Christopher Hart has put out this is just another one that any aspiring, novice and professional should have in their library.

If anyone is in doubt about this book here is my word of advise for you. Just give it a try. The easy to follow steps are all laid out for you to follow and I would personally guarantee that if you try some of the very helpful hints and tricks that are found throughout this book your level of drawing abilities will double. Again if you have your doubts just try and find out. There is going to be only one true way to find out if any of my claims and many other claims for this book are true.

Christopher Hart is a self-aggrandizing hack, peddling simple, specious solutions to drawing. He blocks people online for criticizing his work and tells them their opinion is invalid if they aren't published like him. (Which is ironic, because he commissions other artists to produce the artwork for these books. I repeat: HE DOES NOT PRODUCE THE ART FOR HIS OWN BOOKS.)

This book is certainly not a "Master Guide." It is anything but.

Learning how to illustrate is NEVER as simple as it is presented in this book and books like it. Becoming a good illustrator is a long and arduous process. If you are an aspiring artist or wish to learn how to properly draw, please do not be fooled by books offering quick and easy solutions. There is no easy solution to drawing: It is a long and tedious craft to master.

But it's damn worth it in the end. With focus, your hard work WILL pay off.

If you are serious about learning how to draw, there are plenty cheap or free ways to learn how to draw. Go to a site such as Draw A Box art fundamentals. Try out gesture drawing tools, such as Artists @ Pixelovely. Remember, you must start simple. You will need to nail the fundamentals before your manga art takes shape. Very few people are able to skip straight to stylized artwork.

A couple of books I would personally recommend are "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" (ignoring the pseudo-scientific title) and "Figure Drawing For All It's Worth".

Draw every day. Practice, practice, PRACTICE!

Hope this helps!

Bought for 13 year old. She has learned so much already from this drawing guide. She draws quite well for a beginner but was struggling with drawing hands, feet, shoes, etc. and this helped her immensely. Would highly recommend for beginners or intermediate drawing enthusiasts.

Book was great, still love it! Delivery was Absolutely Awful! Package (bag was 3 times bigger than the book) came literally torn in pieces, had holes in various locations, the book half falling out of the bag/package. Book was bent through the cover - it ment to be Christmas gift - how awful!
I don't have time to deal with returns, book will be given as casual gift. Dissapointed with this kind of delivery!

I have just started drawing again after many years, I knew that Anime would be the way to go, I didn't know how to get started, I found Christopher Hart collection of drawing books, (which I own about 7) and now I cant stop, it help me to understand all I need to kick start my career. Can not wait for more books.

It's ok, but first off Anime is the Japanese animation, not manga style. So this is really a manga book. I didn't really like it because it does show you how to create characters, but like a lot of how to draw books only for a bit and then it goes into full-fledged page art and such. It just shows you stereotypical ways to make characters which may or may not help with actually creating them. There are a few pages with multiple items that a character could be wearing, but overall I was not very impressed with it.

This one looks interesting next to Mark Crilley's book. I think I'll put this one on my wishlist and order it when ever I can. Finally a new how to draw anime/manga book came out. This one might look promising with actual detail. I cant wait to make some fan art of my favorite anime/video game characters.

The Master guide is a great book by Christopher Hart, who is known as the how-to-draw Sherpa. It has templates for you to use to draw your own original characters. It's very informative, and it shows you how to draw characters like villains, fantasy characters, and more. I've enjoyed reading this book, and it's got me interested in drawing anime. If you're interested in drawing anime, I recommend buying this book.

I just received my copy of this book and if you want to learn how to draw Anime, quick and easy, this book is for you!!! Christopher Hart puts it out there plan and simple. If you have even a small amount of drawing talent, you can draw like a pro with this book or any of his how to draw books. From the characters to their clothing, he shows you how!!! I LOVE this book and highly recommend it!! Can't wait for the next one!!

Christopher Hart is a horrible artist, and he knows nothing about real art. That is why he just draws art instruction books. Do not buy this book please. He sucks and so does this book! The instructions are mediocre and the artwork is typically as good as a ten year olds. Buying one of his books was one of the biggest mistakes i have ever made. For real art instruction on manga try Mark Crilley