Manga Art, by Mark Crilley, is not what I expected it to be. I thought it was going to be a how-to book on drawing manga, and since I've checked out one artist's take on that, I was interested in seeing how a different artist would approach it.
This is not a how to draw book. Although Mark Crilley is an art teacher, and has YouTube videos teaching drawing techniques, this book is a collection of artwork by him for him (and us), where he got to explore his art and style. I loved it! Reading this book was like going to see a special exhibit in a museum. And getting to stop and look at all the pictures, for as long as you want. And reading the little plaques next to the display. As a mother with young children, that's a pretty awesome experience. One of the rules of childhood seems to be: If you can't climb on it, it's not worthwhile. Which means I don't really do museums right now.
Except I feel like I did. I got to see this huge collection of art. Have a little "discussion" about what art means with Mr. Crilley. Take time just staring at something beautiful. It sounds neurotic, but it was totally a much needed mommy break - that and I really loved the artwork.
My favorite piece was called Glomp!
https://autodo.info/pages/c/chibi-glomp/
It looks a lot like this. Which is basically how I feel when I see my husband.
The book was divided into five different segments: Characters, Japan, Science Fiction, Conceptual Art, and Styleplay. Each picture has an explanation about why Crilley chose to do the particular piece, and how he did it, and maybe ways it challenged him as an artist. My favorite section was Styleplay, and it was fun seeing if I recognized which artist Mr. Crilley was emulating. Some were unmistakable, like an homage to the creator of Calvin and Hobbes entitled The Watterson Tree. Some were just styles in general, like "looser brushstrokes". I really enjoyed reading Manga Art and I would recommend it to people interested in that art form, even if you just checked it out from the library.
I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my review. This is my honest opinion about the book.
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