Review by Rio
[i]Manga Techniques: Robot Design Techniques for Beginners[/i] is the third volume of seven. As the title says, this book focuses on robots and robot design and boy, does it do it well!
Just like the other books in the [i]Manga Techniques[/i] series, volume 3 has 80 pages of tutorials and images. The last four pages are free sample manga manuscript paper which you have to cut out using a utility knife. It’s really glued to the spine and it’s not perforated so be careful if you want to take it out for use. Speaking of which, it’s too bad the blue lines do not photocopy or scan well or else this would’ve been a really neat addition that will keep on giving but oh well, you can either use it or keep it in the book.
The book is divided into 6 chapters, the first of which introduces you to drawing robots then focuses on each body part and then wraps it all up by showing different robot designs. Each page is clearly laid out with a heading usually up top telling you what they are covering right at that moment, illustrations and short sentences giving step-by-step instructions or details. This book has more text than the previous volume but it’s not too much of an addition so it’ll take you about the same time as volume 2 to read through it; about an hour or less depending on your reading speed.
Since this book covers drawing robots, there is no nudity at all unless you count the one male torso figure in the entire book. Anyone, young and old, can pick up this book with it’s PC (politically correct) images and easy to read text. The text in this book is thankfully free of any spelling errors though at times, the sentence structure could’ve been written better or perhaps switching out a word for a more appropriate one. There was also one Japanese character that was mistakenly left in a sentence in lieu of an apostrophe but that is not a big deal in my opinion.
This book will not hand-hold you to drawing everything they have in the book. They give you instructions in the beginning and then will give you a lot of examples and some text. For this, it’s not something for the really young or the ones who want everything laid out for them (i.e. a step-by-step instruction for each drawing or character). If you’re the type that likes looking at samples as an inspiration or don’t mind copy-drawing, then this book will have a lot of mileage.
Overall, this book is worth the $12.99 price tag if you a) want to draw robots b) don’t mind drawing and experimenting on your own and c) can find a copy! It’s been awhile since this book has been printed so you may have to dig a bit to find a copy. What I like about this book is that once you learn all you can from it, you can still keep it for references. There are a lot of examples of robot body parts in each of the chapters. You can also use it as a quick refresher if you haven’t drawn robots in awhile and need a quick review. Not bad for a $13 book!
Manga Techniques Vol. 3: Robot Design Techniques for Beginners
by Deleter
ISBN#4889960996
b&w
88 pages
MSRP $12.99
Chapter 1 Before You Begin Drawing
Boy-shaped Robot
Girl-shaped Robot
How to Create Three Dimensional Drawing with Perspectives
Silhouette Determines the Feeling of the Robot
Basics for Drawing Parts for Human-shaped Robot
Chapter 2 The Head
Basics for Drawing the Head with Perspectives
Different Ways to Draw the Eyes (Camera)
Different Ways to Draw the Nose, Mouth, etc.
Different Ways to Draw the Neck
Different Ways to Draw the Head/with Perspectives
Samples of Frames Using the Head
Chapter 3 The Body
Basics for Drawing the Body with Perspectives
Different Ways to Draw the Chest (Straight Lines)
Different Ways to Draw the Chest (Curved Lines)
Different Wats to Draw the Hip
Optional Equipments for the Back/How to Attach Them
Differnt Ways to Draw the Body with Perspectives
Samples of Frames Using the Body
Chapter 4 The Arms
Basics for Drawing the Arms
Different Ways to Draw the Elbow Joints/Human-shaped Arms
Different Ways to Draw the Hands/Palms
Different Ways to Draw Nonhuman-like Arms
Different Ways to Draw Handheld Weapons
Different Ways to Draw the Arms with Perspectives
Samples of Frames Using the Arms
Chapter 5 The Legs
Basics for Drawing the Legs
Different Ways to Draw Human-shaped Legs and Knees
Different Ways to Draw Nonhuman-like Legs
Different Ways to Draw Parts Below the Ankles
Different Ways to Draw the Legs with Perspectives
Samples of Frames Using the Legs
Chapter 6 Variety of Robot Design
Variety of Robot Design
Hero Mechanical Robot (Slender Type)
Massive Robot
Monster Robot
Female Robot (Adult)
Female Robot (Young)
Multi-Legged Robot
