HOW TO CREATE A MANGA/COMIC [Complete Process] | DrawlikeaSir

[00:00] Five steps. That's all you need from

[00:02] having an idea for a manga to actually

[00:04] having a finished manga in your hands.

[00:07] This year, I'm publishing my seventh

[00:09] manga volume, and I've published them

[00:11] all without a publisher, all by myself.

[00:13] And I will show you exactly how this

[00:15] process works.

[00:20] Hi, I heard you like road maps. So, I've

[00:23] made a whole road map just for making

[00:26] your own manga. We start at making your

[00:28] own story all the way to creating a PDF

[00:31] that you could print and publish. I will

[00:34] guide you through every single step.

[00:36] Just beware, this road map can take

[00:38] several months to fulfill. A manga is

[00:41] not something that you can do in a week

[00:43] or two if it's longer than a couple of

[00:45] pages. But now, let's grab every art

[00:47] supply that you have. Leave a like cuz

[00:50] god damn, this video was a ton of work.

[00:52] My name is Marcel and I'll teach you how

[00:55] to make manga

[00:57] like a ser.

[01:04] [Music]

[01:18] So you have an idea. Let's make this

[01:20] idea into an actual story. First, before

[01:23] you create any manga pages, any story

[01:25] boards, you need to set your story.

[01:31] Now, here's what you do. You write down

[01:33] in basic terms what happens in your

[01:36] story. You make a kind of a timeline

[01:38] what happens when. So, flesh out your

[01:41] story bit by bit. You can already refer

[01:44] to characters or things in your story.

[01:46] But be careful. Beginner mistake

[01:49] incoming. Don't just write the timeline

[01:52] like you would write a manga. This

[01:55] happens at the beginning, this happens

[01:57] at chapter 2, this happens at chapter 3,

[02:01] etc. You should not only include what

[02:03] happens while the story is ongoing, but

[02:07] also what happened before. Think about

[02:10] One Piece for example.

[02:13] The timeline isn't starting where the

[02:15] main character begins his journey, but

[02:18] it starts much earlier. It needs to

[02:21] include what happens before. When was

[02:24] Roger executed? When did Shanks get the

[02:26] goonomi? When did he arrive at Fooia

[02:29] Village where Luffy lives? And so on.

[02:32] You need to really plan every important

[02:35] event that happens in your world, even

[02:37] before the main characters even existed.

[02:40] That's how stories like One Piece or

[02:42] Attack on Titan feel alive. Also, not

[02:44] sponsored, but when we were making my

[02:46] new manga, we had to plan a lot of the

[02:49] stuff. So, my story writer and I were

[02:51] using a tool for that where you can just

[02:54] drag and drop stuff in your story. I can

[02:56] highly recommend using a tool like this.

[03:01] Okay, so you have the history of your

[03:03] world. Now, let's fill it. Like,

[03:05] obviously, you would need to focus on

[03:07] your characters as well. And I'm not

[03:09] talking about character design per se.

[03:12] I'm talking about personality and

[03:15] everything else. This here is something

[03:17] really valuable. It's a character sheet

[03:19] designed by the legend himself, Hihiko

[03:22] Araki of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Fame.

[03:25] This questionnaire is what he fills out

[03:27] before he designs a character visually.

[03:30] From their names all the way to their

[03:32] habits, favorite phrases, and so on.

[03:35] It's important to design a character's

[03:37] personality first, so you can base your

[03:39] character design around that. I've

[03:41] linked it down in the info box in case

[03:43] you want to download it and fill it out

[03:45] yourself. So, fill out a character sheet

[03:47] like this for every character in your

[03:49] story. And while writing your

[03:51] characters, you might already get some

[03:54] cool ideas how they could look like. So,

[03:56] what's also really important is to use

[03:59] references while making this. Go to

[04:01] Google images or Pinterest and collect

[04:03] some of them already.

[04:05] Now, this is a much better guideline for

[04:08] designing a character than that. But you

[04:12] are not done yet. What also always makes

[04:14] for really cool world building in

[04:15] fictional stories are items, tools,

[04:18] flora, and fauna. Maybe your world has

[04:20] special animals in it. Or maybe they use

[04:23] some special items or tools in your

[04:25] world. Maybe your world has some special

[04:28] plants that have special effects and so

[04:30] on. Write all of that down. All of these

[04:33] things get their own little mini

[04:35] character sheet. If you have a

[04:37] collection of characters and

[04:38] worldbuilding elements, you can now

[04:40] check your timeline if everything makes

[04:42] sense, if you need to include something

[04:44] or need to change names in case you have

[04:47] some placeholders left over. And also, I

[04:49] know some people like to make characters

[04:52] first and then write the story. That's

[04:54] also totally valid. You can also do it

[04:56] the other way around. And now we come to

[04:59] the most crucial step.

[05:03] [Music]

[05:08] Now that you have all the characters and

[05:10] all the events in your timeline and

[05:12] every important item ready, this is

[05:15] where the magic happens. But before,

[05:18] make sure you're making this timeline in

[05:20] detail. Now, flesh everything out, make

[05:23] sure everything works out and the

[05:25] history of your world makes sense. What

[05:27] you're doing now, if your wealth

[05:29] building is ready and your story is

[05:31] finished, is you pick out where your

[05:33] manga actually starts. I call this the

[05:36] needle drop method because you're now

[05:39] pinpointing where exactly chapter one

[05:42] takes place. Again, think about stories

[05:44] like Jiu-Jitsu Kaisen. A lot of things

[05:48] happen in the story. Gojo and ghetto

[05:50] were friends, then they were not friends

[05:53] anymore. Gojo gets students. Yugji eats

[05:56] a finger. Yugji gets trained by Gojo.

[05:59] They fight in a tournament and so on.

[06:01] And now a Magaka's job is to pick where

[06:04] chapter one would start. And they

[06:06] decided this is a good place to start

[06:09] chapter 1. Everything else, what

[06:11] happened before, we can explain later in

[06:13] flashbacks. And now it's up to you to

[06:15] decide this in your own story. Your

[06:18] timeline is finished and you should

[06:20] decide which event in your manga is the

[06:23] most interesting to hook your reader in

[06:25] chapter 1. My favorite example of this

[06:28] is Attack on Titan. Starting the story

[06:30] where Titans tear down the walls was the

[06:34] perfect needle drop and an insane thing

[06:37] to happen in chapter 1. And if you've

[06:39] read the series, you know that a lot of

[06:42] things happened before. lots of points

[06:44] where you could have started chapter

[06:46] one, but dropping the needle right here

[06:49] was the most genius thing you could have

[06:53] done. So now, if you have dropped your

[06:55] needle in your timeline, let's go.

[06:58] That's where you write the first

[07:00] chapters of your manga. You do not need

[07:02] to write the whole story from the get-

[07:04] go, but just enough so you can make the

[07:06] first manga pages out of this. Don't

[07:08] worry, this can take weeks, sometimes

[07:10] even months. You definitely have to take

[07:12] your time here. Especially if you're a

[07:14] beginner, you should start with a very

[07:16] short story for starters. So maybe just

[07:19] take your world and timeline and limit

[07:21] it to a short time span for your very

[07:23] first manga experiment.

[07:25] Congratulations,

[07:27] you're done with the first step of

[07:29] making your own manga. All right, now

[07:31] that we have the story step completely

[07:33] finished, let's get visual with the most

[07:36] fun part.

[07:41] Okay. What makes character design good

[07:43] and what makes it bad? Well, the best

[07:46] character designs are unique, meaning

[07:49] you see the silhouette and you know what

[07:51] character you're looking at. Also, their

[07:54] outfits should definitely match their

[07:56] abilities, backgrounds, or powers. And

[07:59] also, their basic look, like hairstyles

[08:02] should match their personality,

[08:04] obviously. And that is why we've made

[08:06] those textonly character sheets before.

[08:09] If you struggle to make a character look

[08:11] unique, maybe use this as an

[08:13] inspiration. Maybe your character is

[08:15] into art and fashion and likes to draw,

[08:17] then maybe they should have stylish

[08:19] clothing and hairstyles, popping colors,

[08:22] and some sort of sketchbook with them in

[08:24] order to show this. If you want to have

[08:26] a stepbystep on how to make a good

[08:28] character design, I have made a tutorial

[08:30] about this topic showing how I've made

[08:33] my character designs. Definitely check

[08:35] that one out if you struggle in this

[08:36] step. TLDDR: If you look at a character

[08:38] and they look like they could be a

[08:40] protagonist of some random isekai anime,

[08:43] you failed.

[08:47] Okay, this really is the same thing

[08:49] again just for everything else in your

[08:51] story. Make references and designs for

[08:53] the tools your character use, the

[08:55] animals, plants, everything. because you

[08:58] don't want to be in the middle of

[09:00] drawing your manga and being like,

[09:01] "Wait, how does this thing look like

[09:06] from the other side? I've even made 3D

[09:08] models for my manga for certain weapons

[09:11] just so that I can check all the angles

[09:13] when drawing them. Same thing goes for

[09:15] places and environments. If you don't

[09:18] plan out everything ahead, it is going

[09:21] to bite you in your ass when you're

[09:23] drawing a manga and suddenly you forget

[09:25] how many walls there are in your

[09:27] fictional Attack on Titan City or where

[09:30] exactly the Titan forest is located.

[09:32] Make as much visual references so you

[09:35] can stay consistent. Also, make a world

[09:37] map so you can map out the journey your

[09:38] characters take and then you're good. I

[09:41] know it's a lot, but there's a reason

[09:44] why pro mangaka have folders upon

[09:47] folders of notes. Because if they work

[09:49] for years on these stories, they can't

[09:52] get anything wrong here. Believe me,

[09:54] I've been there. It's very important.

[10:01] Okay, now one last thing before we can

[10:04] draw our manga. I promise. And again,

[10:06] it's something that can really help you

[10:09] out later on.

[10:11] So um

[10:14] how will your manga even look like? Like

[10:17] this or like that or like this or like

[10:21] that or manga pages can look completely

[10:24] different depending on their styles and

[10:26] you need to decide for the exact style

[10:28] that you're going for ideally before you

[10:31] start making your manga. So, here's what

[10:34] I did when I made my new manga. I

[10:37] collected some different manga pages

[10:39] first, and then I analyzed what they all

[10:41] had in common. They all had a lot of

[10:44] grayscale shading, aka screen tones.

[10:46] Don't worry if you don't know what that

[10:48] is. We're going to tackle that later on.

[10:50] They all had really detailed

[10:52] backgrounds. Check. I also need to watch

[10:55] that. Also, the backgrounds were

[10:57] realistic, but the characters still

[11:00] stayed very stylized and anime looking.

[11:02] Not like Vagabond, for example, where

[11:04] even the characters were drawn with more

[11:06] realistic proportions in their face. So,

[11:09] anyway, I tried to fuse all of these

[11:12] things that I like about other manga and

[11:15] tried making my own manga like this.

[11:17] Now, I like to think this worked out

[11:19] pretty well. What do you think? By the

[11:21] way, if you want to learn more about my

[11:23] manga, I explained the plot and I've

[11:25] even made a whole animated trailer for

[11:28] it. I've linked the video at the top.

[11:30] Just give it a watch. Anyway, that's

[11:32] what you should do before you make a

[11:34] manga. Pick some style references and

[11:37] then you're good to go.

[11:40] Okay, steps one and two were a lot of

[11:43] preparation. This is where you start

[11:45] producing your manga. Here's one last

[11:48] challenge to test if you are really

[11:50] ready to start. Maybe just try drawing a

[11:54] manga page before you actually tackle

[11:56] this big project. A page with some

[11:57] characters from your story, different

[11:59] angles, maybe a location in your story

[12:01] just to check if you could really nail a

[12:04] finished manga page. If you struggle

[12:06] here, I've made videos about basically

[12:09] everything now, from how to draw a

[12:11] character in perspective, faces, how to

[12:14] invent your own art style, backgrounds,

[12:16] and so on. But if you really feel ready,

[12:19] then let's go.

[12:22] Okay, I'll keep this part a bit shorter

[12:25] because I literally made videos about

[12:28] all of these steps. In case you didn't

[12:30] know, mangaka don't go directly from a

[12:34] story to a finished manga page. They

[12:36] make a storyboard before that. Always.

[12:40] You need to plan out which pages start

[12:42] out right and which pages start out

[12:44] left, how the panels in these pages are

[12:47] flowing, and so on. If you do not plan

[12:50] this out before, you will regret it a

[12:54] lot. So, yeah, go ahead and draw a

[12:56] storyboard of your manga pages first.

[12:58] Maybe sketch out your first chapter like

[13:00] this. If you have never made a

[13:01] storyboard before, I did make a tutorial

[13:03] on that where you can see how I turn a

[13:06] story into a story board. But if you

[13:08] already know how story boards work, then

[13:10] you know what to do. So, let's move on

[13:12] to the main part.

[13:17] Ah, yes. Drawing the actual manga page.

[13:21] Just a quick heads up, I don't care if

[13:23] you draw this digitally or traditionally

[13:25] with pen and paper. The same things

[13:26] apply for both, namely the different

[13:29] zones. Here's a quick explanation what

[13:31] this means. The outer zones of the manga

[13:34] page will be cut off. That's like 3 to 5

[13:37] mm. If you want to see exactly how that

[13:39] looks like, here's a PDF from my manga

[13:42] that has these marks. That's where it

[13:44] gets cut off while printing. Then you

[13:46] have these borders. That's depending on

[13:48] if you're drawing a left or right manga

[13:51] page. For example, if you're drawing a

[13:53] left manga page, then don't put anything

[13:55] important here because in your finished

[13:58] manga, this part of the page probably

[14:01] won't be visible anymore. So, yeah,

[14:03] while drawing, don't put any speech

[14:05] bubbles or important things here. But

[14:07] that's why you've made a storyboard, so

[14:10] you won't have to worry about where to

[14:12] place things anymore. You've already

[14:14] planned that ahead. And oh yeah, the

[14:16] part in the middle is the safe zone. It

[14:18] doesn't matter what page you're drawing,

[14:20] this part is always safe. Usually, manga

[14:23] cars have this special manuscript paper

[14:25] that includes all of these markings. And

[14:27] that's also what I've used for my

[14:29] traditional manga pages. I can only

[14:31] recommend it. And if you want to know

[14:33] where I got my paper, my ink, my pens,

[14:36] and so on, they are all linked on my art

[14:38] supply list. By the way, that's what I

[14:40] have a website for, so you can check it

[14:41] out. There's also lots of other

[14:43] important stuff like paneling, timing,

[14:46] especially when you're drawing fight

[14:47] scenes, effects, like sound effects. But

[14:50] all of this depends on which kind of

[14:52] manga you're drawing. But if you need

[14:54] any help, like I said, I have a whole

[14:57] playlist with all of this stuff in

[14:59] detail, from paneling to sound effects.

[15:01] This manga paper is also really

[15:03] important for the next step because if

[15:06] you want to ink traditionally with a pen

[15:08] and nib like pros do, regular printer

[15:11] paper will probably bleed. Manuscript

[15:14] paper won't. Now, speaking of inking,

[15:18] [Music]

[15:22] again, you probably know the drill. You

[15:24] sketch out a manga page and then you ink

[15:27] it. You can totally ink with liners, but

[15:29] the problem here is that liners fade

[15:32] when you erase over them. That's why you

[15:34] see pro manga always use special pen nib

[15:37] and ink for manga pages. Now, I will

[15:39] warn you, handling these is not easy.

[15:43] The learning curve is steep. It is

[15:45] expensive and tedious, but it's also an

[15:48] incredible amount of fun. There are

[15:50] different nibs with special abilities,

[15:52] and I use them for basically all of my

[15:55] artworks. Now, again, if you are new and

[15:57] you want to learn about every detail

[15:59] when it comes to inking, especially with

[16:01] pen nibs, again, I've made a video on

[16:04] how to handle them and how to ink in

[16:06] general.

[16:10] Okay, in case you did not know, manga

[16:12] isn't just shaded gray like it looks at

[16:16] first glance. These are actually not

[16:18] just flat gray areas, but they are tiny

[16:21] dots. And this effect is called screen

[16:24] tone or toning for short. To me, that's

[16:26] kind of what makes the difference

[16:28] between a black and white comic and an

[16:30] actual manga. At least when it comes to

[16:32] the finishing touches. However, if

[16:34] you're a traditional artist, don't do

[16:36] it. Traditionally, you're doing it with

[16:39] screen tone foil that you need to stick

[16:41] onto your paper and then cut into place.

[16:43] And don't get me wrong, manga pages like

[16:45] this can look incredible, like the ones

[16:48] in My Hero Academia. These are drawn

[16:50] traditionally and also toned

[16:52] traditionally, but these things are way

[16:55] too expensive. Instead, just scan in

[16:58] your manga pages using a scanner and

[17:00] some free software like MS Paint. If you

[17:03] need my settings, I showed them on

[17:05] screen. Then crank up the contrast and

[17:07] then just shade it digitally. Don't

[17:09] worry, you can also convert it into

[17:11] screen tones. Believe me, this way it's

[17:13] much less of a headache. And I could

[17:15] also scanner.

[17:16] >> What app is that? Which software are you

[17:18] using? Oh. Oh, yeah. Right.

[17:21] >> So, yeah, you're done producing your

[17:23] manga pages. Congratulations.

[17:26] This is taking months to get done, but

[17:28] it's worth it. Okay, after all this

[17:30] time, let's make a manga out of these

[17:33] manga pages.

[17:36] [Music]

[17:38] [Applause]

[17:39] [Music]

[17:42] Okay, so obviously you don't add the

[17:44] text by hand. You add the text digitally

[17:46] after scanning your manga pages. And

[17:48] here is a quick crash course on that.

[17:50] You want to download a font called Anime

[17:53] Ace. A download link is down in the info

[17:55] box. You can literally use any free

[17:58] software to add text, but there are a

[18:00] couple of things to look out for. First,

[18:02] leave some space in your speech bubble.

[18:04] Ideally, your text should have equally

[18:07] as much space to breathe on each side.

[18:09] Now, next, I personally like it when

[18:12] your text has a similar shape to the

[18:14] bubble itself. So, instead of this look

[18:18] right here, try formatting it more like

[18:20] that. It has a nicer shape to it. Again,

[18:22] that's how pros do it. And I think it's

[18:25] overall a lot more pleasing to look at.

[18:28] And now, these are your finished manga

[18:31] pages with text and all. You could

[18:33] actually print them like this, but most

[18:36] printing companies actually want a

[18:38] full-on PDF. In that case, you need one

[18:42] more step.

[18:47] There are special layouting softwares

[18:49] for making an actual PDF. I'm using

[18:52] Adobe Inesign for this. It's pretty

[18:54] self-explanatory. Opening a new document

[18:56] in your desired size, placing the pages,

[19:00] and boom, you're done. I actually prefer

[19:02] placing my text in this layouting

[19:04] software rather than on the pages

[19:06] themselves. But this is just a matter of

[19:08] preference. Placing it in in design is

[19:10] the more professional workflow though.

[19:12] And then from here on out, you can

[19:14] export it as a PDF. And boom, you're

[19:16] done. Here's your finished PDF ready to

[19:19] be printed. Oh, and what's still missing

[19:22] is your cover. And it's as simple as

[19:24] that. You make your illustration either

[19:26] digitally or traditionally. You scan it,

[19:29] you add some font as your title, and

[19:31] that's it. Your printing files are

[19:34] ready. Okay. Now, what's next?

[19:41] Ready

[19:44] for the final step? Let's publish your

[19:46] manga. Now that you have a finished PDF,

[19:49] you could either go to a publisher

[19:52] because they could print it and sell

[19:53] your manga in bookstores and online. But

[19:56] the problem is that they might change

[19:58] your story or let you redo it from

[20:00] scratch. Or instead, you could print it

[20:03] on your own, sell it in your own online

[20:06] shop, and maybe publish it that way.

[20:08] There are a lot of things to know about

[20:10] this. Lots of downsides, lots of

[20:13] upsides. And if you want to know

[20:15] everything in detail, again, I've made a

[20:18] video on how to publish your own book. I

[20:21] would just copy and paste everything

[20:23] from that video here. So again, just

[20:25] watch that video if you want to know the

[20:27] details. Before you leave and watch that

[20:29] though, this video absolutely broke me

[20:31] and it would be nice if you subscribe to

[20:33] the channel. I'm making a lot more

[20:35] videos like these very soon. All right,

[20:38] it was a pleasure helping you guys out.