Have you always wanted to draw manga but don’t know where to start?
Maybe you love drawing anime and manga characters, but struggle with faces, anatomy, body proportions, or poses.
Or perhaps you’ve watched drawing tutorials online but still find yourself wondering:
“What should I learn first to get better at drawing manga?”
A structured manga drawing class can help you build your skills step by step instead of trying to learn everything at once.
At MANGA DOJO Online, students around the world can join live online manga classes taught by professional Japanese manga artists, with live English interpretation.
In this guide, we’ll explain what beginners should learn, what happens in a manga drawing class, and how you can start learning manga from Japan — wherever you live.
Can Beginners Learn to Draw Manga?
Absolutely.
You don’t need to be an experienced artist to start learning manga.
Many beginners believe they need to master realistic drawing or human anatomy before they can begin drawing manga.
That’s not necessary.
You can start with simple fundamentals and gradually develop your skills.
A beginner manga learning path might look like this:
Faces → Eyes → Expressions → Hair → Body Proportions → Anatomy → Poses → Clothing → Character Design
Once you become more comfortable drawing characters, you can begin exploring:
Manga Panels → Storyboarding → Dialogue → Backgrounds → Storytelling
The important thing is not to master everything immediately.
It’s to keep drawing and improve one skill at a time.
What Do You Learn in a Manga Drawing Class?
A good manga drawing class for beginners should teach more than simply how to copy an anime character.
The goal is to help you understand how manga characters are constructed so that eventually you can create your own original characters.
Here are some of the most important skills beginners can learn.
1. How to Draw Manga Faces
The face is one of the first things many manga students want to learn.
Beginners can start by understanding simple facial construction:
- Face shape
- Guidelines
- Eye placement
- Nose placement
- Mouth placement
- Proportions
Rather than memorizing one face, understanding these fundamentals helps you create different characters.
2. How to Draw Manga Eyes
Manga eyes can communicate an enormous amount of information about a character.
Their shape, size, angle, and expression can make a character appear:
- Happy
- Angry
- Sad
- Surprised
- Confident
- Shy
- Serious
- Mysterious
Instead of simply learning “how to draw anime eyes,” students should learn how to use eyes as part of character design and emotional expression.
3. Facial Expressions
A manga character shouldn’t have the same expression in every scene.
Learning expressions helps bring characters to life.
Beginners can practice drawing emotions such as:
Happiness → Sadness → Anger → Surprise → Fear → Embarrassment
Small changes to the eyebrows, eyes, and mouth can dramatically change the emotion communicated to the reader.
This becomes especially important when you eventually start creating manga stories.
4. Manga Hairstyles and Character Design
Hair is more than decoration.
In manga, a hairstyle can become an important part of a character’s identity.
Consider how changing a character’s:
- Hair length
- Silhouette
- Bangs
- Volume
- Texture
- Accessories
can completely change their impression.
When learning how to draw manga hair, it’s useful to think about the character’s personality rather than drawing every hairstyle the same way.
Is your character energetic?
Quiet?
Elegant?
Rebellious?
Mysterious?
Good character design communicates information before the character even speaks.
5. Body Proportions
Many beginners can draw faces but struggle when they try to draw the entire body.
This is completely normal.
Understanding basic body proportions helps you create characters who feel more balanced.
Students can learn how proportions change depending on:
- Age
- Character style
- Body type
- Art style
- Chibi vs. standard manga characters
You don’t need perfect realistic anatomy to draw manga.
But understanding the basic structure underneath your character makes stylization much easier.
6. Manga Anatomy
This is one of the biggest challenges for many aspiring manga artists.
You might draw a character and think:
“Something looks wrong, but I don’t know what.”
Maybe the arms are too long.
Maybe the shoulders don’t connect naturally.
Maybe the torso feels stiff.
Or perhaps the legs don’t look balanced.
Learning basic anatomy helps you understand why something looks wrong.
For manga students, anatomy doesn’t necessarily mean memorizing every muscle in the human body.
Instead, beginners can focus on practical concepts such as:
- Skeleton and basic body structure
- Shoulders and torso
- Arms and legs
- Hands and feet
- Joints
- Balance
- Movement
These fundamentals can make a major difference in your drawings.
7. How to Draw Manga Poses
Once you understand basic proportions and anatomy, the next challenge is movement.
Many beginners draw characters standing straight and facing forward.
But manga characters need to:
Run. Jump. Fight. Sit. Turn. Laugh. Cry. React.
Dynamic poses make characters feel alive.
When learning poses, students should think about:
- Line of action
- Balance
- Weight
- Gesture
- Body direction
- Silhouette
Even a simple pose can communicate personality.
8. Clothing and Costume Design
Clothing is another important part of manga character design.
Students need to understand how clothes interact with the body underneath them.
For example:
Where do folds appear?
How does clothing change when a character bends an arm?
How does fabric react to movement?
You can also use clothing to communicate information about your character’s:
- Personality
- Job
- Culture
- Age
- Lifestyle
- Story role
Eventually, costume design becomes part of the storytelling itself.
9. Creating Your Own Manga Character
After practicing individual techniques, one of the most exciting steps is combining them.
Instead of copying an existing character, you can create your own.
Think about:
Who is this character?
What is their personality?
What do they want?
How old are they?
What kind of clothes do they wear?
How do they move?
What makes their silhouette recognizable?
Character design isn’t just about making someone look cool.
It’s about creating a visual identity that supports the story.
What Comes After Character Drawing?
This is where many manga students reach an important turning point.
You may eventually realize:
“I can draw characters… but I don’t know how to make a manga.”
That’s because character illustration and manga creation require overlapping but different skills.
To create manga, you also need to learn:
- Manga paneling
- Page composition
- Reading flow
- Storyboarding
- Speech balloons
- Sound effects
- Backgrounds
- Character interaction
- Pacing
- Storytelling
At MANGA DOJO Online, students who are ready to move beyond character drawing can study these skills in our Manga Creation classes.
Can I Learn Manga Drawing by Myself?
Yes.
There are many ways to study manga independently.
You can learn from:
- Books
- YouTube
- Drawing tutorials
- Online videos
- Reference images
- Daily sketching
All of these can be useful.
But there is one challenge with self-study:
It’s difficult to see your own mistakes.
You might spend hours trying to fix a drawing without understanding why it doesn’t look right.
This is where professional feedback can be valuable.
A manga artist might notice that your character’s pose lacks weight, the shoulders are unbalanced, or the face construction changes between angles.
Instead of simply hearing:
“Keep practicing!”
useful feedback helps you understand:
what you should practice next.
Online Manga Classes vs. YouTube Tutorials
YouTube can be an excellent resource for learning individual techniques.
But structured online manga classes offer a different learning experience.
| YouTube / Self-Study | Live Manga Classes |
|---|---|
| Learn whenever you want | Regular learning schedule |
| Choose your own topics | Structured curriculum |
| Mostly one-way learning | Live interaction |
| No personal guidance | Ask questions |
| You identify your own mistakes | Professional feedback |
| Easy to stop practicing | Consistent learning routine |
You don’t necessarily need to choose only one.
Many students use free tutorials alongside structured classes.
The important question is:
What learning environment helps you keep drawing and improving?
What Is the Best Manga Class for a Beginner?
At MANGA DOJO Online, we recommend our Character Illustration – Beginner course for students who are new to manga drawing or want to strengthen their fundamentals.
Students learn techniques related to:
- Faces
- Expressions
- Hairstyles
- Body proportions
- Anatomy
- Poses
- Clothing
- Character design
Our classes are taught live online by professional Japanese manga artists.
Live English interpretation is provided in every class, so you do not need to speak Japanese.
The course is available for students ages 6 and up.
What If I Can Already Draw Manga Characters?
Then our Manga Creation – Intermediate course may be a better fit.
This course is designed for students who want to move from:
“I can draw manga characters.”
to:
“I can create my own manga.”
Students explore areas such as manga paneling, storyboarding, backgrounds, inking, character relationships, pacing, and storytelling.
You don’t have to be a professional artist.
If you’re comfortable drawing characters and want to start learning how manga pages and stories are created, this may be your next step.
Do I Need to Speak Japanese to Learn from a Japanese Manga Artist?
No.
One of the goals of MANGA DOJO Online is to make professional manga education from Japan accessible to students around the world.
Classes are taught by professional Japanese manga artists, and live English interpretation is provided in every class.
Students can therefore ask questions and learn manga techniques without needing to speak Japanese.
Our head instructor, Kazuo Maekawa, has more than 30 years of professional manga experience and is known for his work on the manga adaptation of Ace Attorney (Gyakuten Saiban).
How MANGA DOJO Online Helps You Improve
Learning doesn’t end when the live class finishes.
Students enrolled in our 12-Lesson Course follow a learning cycle throughout each semester:
Live Class → Practice → Assignment → Submit → Professional Feedback → Improve
After learning a technique during class, students work on an assignment.
The assignment can then be submitted through Google Classroom, where students can receive feedback from a professional manga artist.
This process repeats throughout the semester.
Instead of simply collecting drawing tips, the goal is to practice what you learn and gradually improve your own artwork.
A Step-by-Step Manga Learning Journey
MANGA DOJO Online is designed as a structured learning program that students can continue throughout the year.
The full program is divided into four 3-month semesters.
Each semester includes:
12 Live Manga Lessons
＋
Assignments
＋
Professional Feedback
＋
PDF Certificate of Completion
Students who complete the semester can continue to the next level and gradually develop more advanced manga skills.
The idea is simple:
Learn → Practice → Get Feedback → Improve → Level Up
Can Kids Take Online Manga Drawing Classes?
Yes.
Manga drawing can be a fun way for children and teenagers to develop both artistic and creative storytelling skills.
Our Character Illustration course is available for students ages 6 and up.
Younger students can begin with character drawing fundamentals before gradually exploring more advanced manga creation techniques.
For parents looking for an online manga drawing class for kids, we recommend trying a class first to see whether the learning style and difficulty level are appropriate for your child.
Start Learning Manga from Japan 🇯🇵
You don’t need to live in Tokyo to start learning manga from Japan.
Today, students around the world can connect online with professional Japanese manga artists and develop their skills from home.
Whether your goal is to:
Draw better manga characters
Improve your anatomy
Create more dynamic poses
Learn manga paneling
Make your own manga
or even someday…
Become a manga artist
the most important thing is to start drawing.
Try a FREE Manga Drawing Class
Not sure which manga class is right for you?
Start with a FREE Online Trial Lesson at MANGA DOJO Online.
You’ll have the opportunity to experience a live manga lesson from Japan before deciding whether you want to continue.
FREE Online Manga Trial
✓ Professional Japanese Manga Artist
✓ Live Online
✓ Live English Interpretation
✓ Beginner Friendly
✓ Join from Anywhere
★Register Free Online Manga lesson trial:
https://mangadojo-online.com/
Learn Manga from Japan, Wherever You Are.
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