A Personal Study of Manga Comics

A PERSONAL
STUDY OF MANGA
ERIN JACKSON
A PERSONAL
STUDY OF MANGA
A Personal Study of Manga 1

Greetings, Fellow Humans!
So, you’ve decided to read this book for some reason. Hello to
you then! I wouldn’t necessarily call this book a standard tutorial, but
merely a little study of how I draw comics/manga. Perhaps, you can
learn a little something from my ramblings.
If you would like a more in-depth explanation on comic-making, I

would suggest anything made by Scott McCloud. I hear he taught one
of my old professors.
Tools of the Trade

I’ll list the tools/programs I’ve used when creating my comics.
I’m primarily a digital artist, but for certain classes, I had to go the ol’
paper-and-pencil route.
Tools/Programs
• Medibang Paint
• JUMP PAINT
• Wacom Pen and Touch Tablet
• Bamboo Ink Stylus
• 2B and HB Pencils
• Erasers
• Ink brushes
• Dip pens
• India ink
• Ruler
• Bristol paper (Tabloid size)
• Sketchbook
2 Erin Jackson
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE ANATOMY OF A PAGE......................................................................6
SECTION I - WHAT DOESN’T WORK?......................................................9
Wrath.........................................................................................10
Wrath - Redraw Results.............................................................12
The Emerald’s Heir.....................................................................14
The Emerald’s Heir - Redraw Results.........................................18
SECTION II - WHAT WORKS?.................................................................21
The Milkmaid and Her Pail........................................................22
They Who Wander.....................................................................24
The Princess’s Locket.................................................................26
LET’S GET EXPERIMENTAL.....................................................................28
SECTION III - TRY IT YOURSELF!...........................................................31
GALLERY................................................................................................41

Before We Begin...
As this is primarily going to focus on comic anatomy rather than...
character anatomy, this book is just going to assume you at least have
a basic understanding of drawing human characters.
But, just for reference, here’s I usually start drawing humans:
Pretty neat, huh? Hopefully, you can read my handwriting after my

questionable Photoshop editing.
Even so, you don’t need to have godly drawing skills to begin
making comics! Do you wanna see one of my first digital comics?
Well, here it is:
4 Erin Jackson
...Hoo boy.
Now, without further ado, let’s begin!

2
4
1
6 Erin Jackson
THE ANATOMY OF A PAGE
Or How Comic Pages Are Normally Structured
There are many distinct ways to handle how a manga is laid
out—from the comedic yonkoma with its basic four-panel structure
to deliver the joke shortly and sweetly, to the 50-page epic romance
shoujo with its flurry of splash pages, open panels, and excessive use
of roses. No matter how flowery or straight forward you may present
you story, all comics—and therefore manga—follow a basic structure
to lend the reader something interesting and easy to follow.
1. This is a panel. Within it, your characters and environments –

the center of focus. They come in all shapes and sizes.
2. This is a panel border. Think of it as a frame for a picture.
3. This is a gutter. Gutters are the spaces in between your panels.

They can indicate several things – the passage of time, the
change of the hypothetical camera, etc.
4. This is a speech bubble or word balloon. Here, your character’s

thoughts and words are expressed. Speech bubbles also come
in a variety of shapes and can help show the emotions your
characters are feeling. For example, a stereotypical round word
balloon can indicate a person is talking normally and a jagged
balloon can suggest the person is shouting.
5. These are sound effects. As the name suggests, the words

indicate what sound something is making. Typically, sound effects
are onomatopoeic.

8 Erin Jackson
SECTION I
What Doesn’t Work?

WRATH
Description of Work: A final project for the Fall 2017 semester of
Comics and Sequential Art. The theme was the seven deadly sins and a
moral (like Aesop’s Fables, if you will). This project also only allowed a
limited palette of two colors. I chose “wrath” and red and black for my
colors.
Synopsis: Demons known as “Sins” roam the Earth, cursing all

those who commit acts that fall under one of the seven deadly sins.
Wraeleth, a Sin of Wrath, is an unusual demon—falling in love with
a human girl named Rose and neglecting his duties. His superior, Ira,
decides to take matters into her own hands and punish him for his
transgressions.
Length: 4 pages

This was one of my first “major” comics, university-wise at least.
One of the requirements (or rather, constraints) was the comic had to
be told in 4 pages (but, you could include a coverto make it 5 pages).
Because of this, I had to cram the story I wanted to tell into 4 pages.
I believe this page suffered the most.
A good rule of thumb when making manga is to have a variety of

“camera” shots—headshots, waist shots, full-body shots, establishg
shots, etc. This particular page feels tight with its limited array of shots
(barring panel 5). Close up shots are good for focusing on character
expressions or intimate shots, but shouldn’t be soley relied on. You
can also show how characters feel through their bodies! It also makes
it difficult to tell where characters are with too many close ups. For
instance: when did Wraeleth and Rose get into the forest? In the
previous page, they were in town, now they’re kissing, and then boom!
They’re in the forest!
10 Erin Jackson
Speech bubbles
are as much of
an art form as
the drawings
themselves! Ira’s
speech bubbles
are black (also
Wraeleth’s, not
shown). In a
revised version,
I’d also give Ira
speech bubbles
that aren’t as
round.
What could this

say about her
character?
Where do
you think Ira
go that bear
headdress? I bet
she wrestled
one. You know,
because she’s a
demon.
Page 3, Erin Jackson (2017)
How to Fix
• Make this two pages because this isn’t an assignment anymore.
• Put more emphasis on Ira—she’s important!
• Get rid of the kiss—it’s cute, but not necessary.
• Make Rose going to do laundry—separating her from Wraeleth—
clearer.

Erin Jackson (2021)
12 Erin Jackson
THE RESULTS
The results are in! What will they entail?
Redrawn pages will only be clean(ish) sketches to save time. If I
have anything meaningful to say, I’ll also talk about it here.
As I mentioned, the redrawn Wrath has been split up into two

pages to remedy the cramped panels. I think it works much better this
way, and things have been made much clearer.
Panel Count: On this page, we only have three panels.

This gives more breathing room for the characters and the
environment.
Speech Bubbles: I made Ira’s speech bubbles irregular. What do

you think this makes her voice sound like?
Character Placement: I specfically placed Ira above Rose

and Wraeleth. Doing show makes her more imposing—she’s
looking down on them (both literally and figuratively). They’re
insignificant, while she holds the power and importance.
Remember that if you want to play with power dynamics
between your characters without explicitly mentioning it.
Bonus: I lied; I snuck in a smooch in the second panel.

Panel Count: We have three panels once again. This isn’t to say
you can’t have more panels, I just like doing fewer panels that
are bigger. Personal preference, if you will.
Speech Bubbles: There aren’t any speech bubbles here! There is

text of Ira’s thoughts in the left side of the last panel, but since
I’ve removed the text, that’s not really relevant right now, huh?
Character Placement: Ira sneaks up behind Rose, slowly closing

in on the unsuspecting woman. To get that feeling of impending
doom, I placed a silhouette of Ira in the far back while Rose is
in the foreground. Then in the next panel, you just get a view
of Ira’s hand in the foreground whiel Rose’s back faces the
“camera”.
Bonus: The curl of Ira’s fingers leads into the last panel nicely, I
think. Poor Rose, though. She’s gonna be on the receiving end of
those claws.
My professor suggested I have Wraeleth killed off instead of Rose.

If I remember correctly, he also said Wraeleth should smile as he was
dying—grateful for the fact that his death was worth the time he spent
with Rose. I did not, however, go with that ending, so poor Rose gets
axed. I think the moral I was going for was “your past will definitely,
probably come back to bite you in the butt if you’re not careful.” Plus,
killing Rose seemed like a crueler punishment.
If I’m being honest though, I didn’t really care about telling a

moral. Whoopsie.
14 Erin Jackson
Erin Jackson (2021)

THE EMERALD’S HEIR
Description of Work: An entry for the Jump Universal Contest, hosted
by ARTstreet. It was adapted from an animatic assigntment for a Digital
Narrative class—which was based off of “The Princess and the Pea” by
Hans Christan Andersen.
Synopsis: After the death of their king, a manservant named Regan

and a noble lady named Cordelia are tasked with retrieving the
mystical gem known as “The Pea”—a gem that will determine the
true heir of the Esmeraldian throne. However, they are stalked by an
assassin sent from an enemy kingdom.
Length: 46 pages

Remember how I said Wrath was a major work? Forget I said
that—this was the crowned jewel of works that could be considered
“major” (until I started Caliburn, of course). Since these were done
relatively in the same era (I started The Emerald’s Heir in the summer
of 2017), it has similar issues to Wrath. Characters are crammed into
the panels from the waist up with little variety.
One thing I would like to draw attention to is how it cuts from

Cordelia yelling to drawing her sword. Without context, it’s fine. But, in
the previous page, she is still on her horse. I completely skipped over
that action, and it could’ve provided an intereseting panel . Also, Regan
was also on his horse, but he isn’t either now! I think I even joked
about this in-story—Regan says something like: “When did you get off
your horse?” Silly Erin, you can’t cover up your inability to draw things
with jokes all the time!
16 Erin Jackson
Sometimes, a
page cannot
contain a panel!
It’s possible to
have your panels
“bleed off” of
your page. Don’t
use it all willy-
nilly though,
be creative!
However,
remember to not
have important
text or the focal
point of your
images to fall off
into the bleed
area of the page,
lest it be cut off
in printing!
Remember, kids:
Don’t swing
swords at people
just because you
don’t like them
(unless, you
know, they’re
from an enemy
kingdom. It’s fair
game then)!
How to Fix
• Combine the first two panels to both show Cordelia yelling and
jumping off her horse.
• Have the middle row be two panels—one of Cordelia unsheathing
her sword and another of Regan protesting.
• Last panel can remain the same!

Erin Jackson (2021)
18 Erin Jackson
THE RESULTS
The results are in! What will they entail?
Another round of clean(ish) sketches! This time, I was still able
to keep it on one page. To do this, I had to think of more interesting
angles than its predecessor. I still had to leave in a few gaps that the
reader has to fill in, but that comes with territory anyway.
In-universe, this story comes after Caliburn. But, I made this long
before Caliburn was a thought in my head. Whoops.
Panel Count: This page still has the same amount of panels as
the old one. However, for the last one, the entire page functions
like a panel instead. You can do this to emphasize specific
moments.
Speech Bubbles: Having your speech bubbles bleed over into the
next panel can help the reader figure out where to look next.
It can also can also give you more room to draw in your panel,
without the fear of covering up that drawing you slaved over.
Character Placement: I tried making it clearer where these

characters are in their environment. Not much has changed
otherwise.
Bonus: I cut out a character from this revision. In full context,

it’s not necessary to show him here, since it’s established earlier.
Also, horses are pain.

20 Erin Jackson
SECTION II
What Works?

THE MILKMAID AND
HER PAIL
Description of Work: An assignment for the Spring 2018 Comics and
Sequential Art class. Once again limited to 4 pages, the story had to be
based off of a fable—in this case, I chose “The Milkmaid and her Pail”.
Synopsis: Einin, a sprightly young maiden, concocts a plan to win the

affections of the farmhand Cadman through a complicated series of
butter churning, egg-hatchinig, and pretty dresses. Unfortunately, lost
in her daydreams, she ruins her chances through spilled milk.
Length: 4 pages
How Does This Work?

This page is successful because of character placement and text
placement (but, since the text is not shown, I’ll just be focusing on
the art). Each Einin in the first panel is placed to help lead your eye
across the page from left to right. The second panel deliberately poses
the characters in a way that also helps lead the eye. To simplify my
ramblings, you start in the top-left corner of the panel, go down in a
diagonal, and the
mysterious woman’s
arms should then
direct your eye to the
next panel.
Color is a great
way to show chang-
es in mood. Einin’s
22 Erin Jackson
How can you tell
if a character
is dreaming?
There are many
different ways
you can show
that without
telling! Here,
I switched to
a style that
resembled
stained glass!
I specifically
chose this
because the
setting was
medieval. You
can get quite
creative with
this, so have fun!
In hindsight,
balancing a pail
of milk on your
head was a poor
choice.
dream sequence is in pink, and the background in the second to last

panel is also pink. To show how her daydreaming is interrupted by
the milk pail falling off her head, I changed the background color to a
dark blue. The scene has switched from happy to gloomy in that split
second.
Your dreams are doomed, Einin.

THEY WHO WANDER 水
Description of Work: A project for the Fall 2018 Japanese Art and
Culture class. It takes inspiration from the Heian period of Japanese
history, mostly in the character design.
Synopsis: After drowning in a river, a girl named Mizushima no Ame

(Ame Mizushima) wakes up in the spirit world. A trail of chōchinbi
leads her to a strange amulet marked with the kanji for water.
Length: 18 pages
How Does This Work?

I placed the sound effects, figures, and speech bubbles so the
reader’s eye would move through the page properly. The idea is that
you start up at the top right corner, follow the “pop” to Ame and then
to the chōchinbi. Next, you go to the speech bubble crossing over from
the adjacent panel, and you should then follow Ame’s line of sight
thorugh another “pop” to finally get to the amulet on the ground.
Planning things out like this can help your readers not get confused
when reading your comic. Certain panel layouts are more complex,
so it’s important to let the reader know what they need to read first.
Experimental comics will often do this. In fact, I had to do several
experimental layouts for another Comics class. We’ll look at those
later.
So, remember to place your elements strategically!
24 Erin Jackson
Sometimes, less
is more! This
page only has
two panels to its
name. Cluttering
it up with too
many shots
focusing on the
chochinbi and
Ame following
them would be
detirmental.
If a panel is
unnecessary,
don’t be afraid
to cut it out.
Follow the flame

lit road?
Now, a little bit of trivia for you! Originally, I had the sound effects
for They Who Wander written in Japanese. I changed them to English
later when I uploaded the manga online. I wasn’t too confident in
showing my Japanese writing skills online yet.

THE PRINCESS’S LOCKET
Description of Work: An entry for the 2020 100th Tezuka Manga
contest hosted by ARTstreet.
Synopsis: In the distant kingdom of Dragonia, dragon-riders known

as “Guardians” protect the kingdom from outside threats. But, each
Guardian must prove themselves worthy by completing various tests.
Some can be rather unusual. Luna and her friends are dropped off
at the abandoned village of Selinmura, known colloquially as “The
Petrified Village”, and they must spend the night. Unfortunately for
them, the house they stake their camp in is apparently haunted.
Length: 37 pages
How Does This Work?

Here’s another good example for laying out your subjects. Look at
the first panel. Since this is oriented like traditional manga, I placed the
speech bubbles and characters accordingly. Firstly, we have Trinity’s
speech bubble and then her. Your eye should follow her line of sight to
the next speech bubble, and finally, you get to the last two characters
in the panel. It’s a simple structure, but extremely effective. You can
also use screentones to narrow the focus. The second panel has Trinity
grayed out so that you focus on Luna. This could also show that Luna is
so focused on the locket in her hand, everyone else is fading out.
As a side note, you might notice something about the sound effects
in this page of The Princess’s Locket. That’s right—they’re not English,
but Japanese! There’s no limitation for how you want to do your sound
effects. I felt like doing Japanese sound effects for this particular manga
because, 1) I wanted to practice writing Japanese characters (hiragana
26 Erin Jackson
Backgrounds
are important
for establishing
where the
characters
are in their
environment.
But, remember,
sometimes
you can get
away with
having a blank
background.
If you want
to show a
character tuning
out everyone
else, that’s one
application!
There were
many jokes
about charms/
wards in this.
and katakana) and 2) I wanted to really sell that manga feel. Usually,
manga translated into other languages will leave the sound effects
alone, only adding little translations nearby. A publishing company like
VIZ Media, however, translates and edits the sound effects.
Unlike They Who Wander, I didn’t translate the sound effects into
English. Hopefully, they were readable to the Japanese judges...

28 Erin Jackson
LET’S GET EXPERIMENTAL
Or Wow, How Am I Supposed to Read This?
Like all art forms, comics can be wacky. Wacky how, you may ask?
I’m not necessarily talking about the art style, but how the pages
and panels are laid out. If you recall the They Who Wander example,
that’s pretty vanilla in terms of experimental layouts. Comic artists
will deliberately break the “rules” of comic making to produce both
interesting, and often confusing, presentations. But, it’s no good if the
reader can’t...read your comic, right?
Well, there are ways to help your reader read, my friend! Carefully
placing elements of the scene in such a way that helps guide their eye.
Panel Count: Do you see how many panels are here?! 11 in total!
Speech Bubbles: As you’ve probably guessed, having speech

bubbles cross over into panels is an easy way to guide they eye. I
do it twice here.
Character Placement: Now, here’s where the wackiness comes

in. All the panels have unusual shapes and don’t really follow
the standard grid layout. The top row of panels are probably the
easiest to read out of the bunch. So, what to do with this? This
would be the perfect time to make characters cross over the
panels or have their limbs point toward the next!
Evelyn crosses over into the panel where she’s twirling around.
Her left arm should then lead you to the top-most panel of the
section. Cadeyrn’s elbow invades the next panel’s space, leaving
the last panel in the botton-right corner.

30 Erin Jackson
SECTION III
Try It Yourself!

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE!
Can You Fix These Comic Pages?
This is a section I’d like to call: “You Do My Work For Me” a.k.a
“See If You Can Fix My Old Trash” a.k.a. ...Okay that’s enough.
Basically, I scoured through my old comics (and there are

numerous because all I ever do is draw) to find more mistakes that
could be fixed. But, instead of showing you how’d I’d fix them, it’s up
to you! I’ll give you a few hints on what to fix though. It’s also your
choice on how you want to approach fixing it. You can either write
notes or redraw the whole thing yourself. If you’re so inclined, you can
even show it to me. Or keep it for your personal use.
I would also like to formally apologize for the gross art.
A Few Hints...
• How are the speech bubbles placed?

• How are the characters placed?
• Is the environment clear?
• Do you know which person is talking?
• Are the emotions/movements clear?
Note: This reads left-to-right!
I started this for a 24-Hour Comic Event way back in 2016. I did not
finish it. Nor did I last 24 hours. I probably could now though. Sleep is a
fickle mistress.
32 Erin Jackson

34 Erin Jackson
I should’ve warned you that there was gonna be a fan-manga
for an example because, you know, Dragon Ball consumed my every
waking moment in grade school. Fun fact about this though: I’ve
redrawn this particular page 3 times in total, with this being the 2nd
iteration. I’ve been cursed to redraw the same 7 pages forever because
I will never be satisfied.
This fan-manga is currently in limbo, however, since I’ve been

focusing more on my original stuff. I’m a little bummed because I’ve
gotten the furthest in terms of pages for the third iteration. I also think
my Dragon Ball style peaked with the third iteration, and if I do go back
to work on it, I wonder how different my style will be? Oh well.
A Few Hints...
• Can you actually follow the panels?

• Are the actions clear?
Note: This reads right-to-left!
Do not sue me, Shueisha, k thanks.

Unfortunately, I never finished this manga. I know, a cardinal sin.
But, this is also a good look at how I do my sketches. When you’re
sketching, you can ignore the panels if needed. I actually don’t mind
this layout too much, but some things can be fixed still. I left the text in
this time so you can see where the speech bubbles would be. It’s a bit
hard to find it in the sketch.
A Few Hints...
• Can some panels be condensed?

• Is the panel overflow (off the page) necessary?
• Different “camera” angles?
Note: This reads right-to-left!
One thing I would like to note, however, is that you can add
pauses for comedic or dramatic effect. I do that a lot. Maybe more
than I need to, but eh. Also, notice how her head’s cut off in the third
panel? The intent was to focus on her body movements rather than
her expressions, but if you’re not careful, it will just look like your
character’s headless.
Oh, that reminds me! Avoid cutting off your characters at specific
joints (necks, knees, elbows, wrists, etc.)! It looks weird and like you
literally cut off a characters’s limbs.
36 Erin Jackson

CHALLENGE TIME!
De-Experimentify This Page!
Sound strange? Let me explain. See if you can make this comic
page follow the standard grid layout (see page 6 for reference). Feel
free to draw it out over multiple pages if needed.
I won’t tell you exactly how to lay this out, but I’ll number the
panels to help you. Although, if I laid everything out correctly, you
should be able to read it without the numbers, huh?
A Word From Our Artist...

Are you curious on how I pulled off this project? Well, here’s
an explanation thinly veiled as a way to fill up white space!
The process was broken up into several parts. I had to

thumbnail different layout ideas for the three pages. Then I had
to duplicate the layouts I picked on seperate sketchbook pages.
However, the redrawing process wasn’t finished there! I then had
to translate the layouts onto 11” x 17” paper (tabloid size). I had
to calculate the measurements of panels and panel gutters, and
the exact angles of each! I moved onto to final pencils—as shown
here.
Final inks followed, starting with blackspotting and then the

lines. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to scan the inks, but I adore my
pencils, so I’m not mad.
38 Erin Jackson
1 2
3 4
6
5
8 9
10

40 Erin Jackson
THE GALLERY

Erin Jackson (2021)
42 Erin Jackson
Erin Jackson (2019, 2020)

44 Erin Jackson

Erin Jackson (2020)
46 Erin Jackson
Erin Jackson (2019)

Erin Jackson (2019)
48 Erin Jackson
Erin Jackson (2018)

THANKS FOR READING!
Instagram: rainstar.123
Twitter: 123Rainstar123
ARTstreet: Rainstar-123
ArtStation: Erin Jackson
50 Erin Jackson

A Personal Study of Manga Comics

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

A Personal Study of Manga Comics

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

A PERSONAL

A Personal Study of Manga 1

If you would like a more in-depth explanation on comic-making, I

Tools of the Trade

A Personal Study of Manga 3

But, just for reference, here’s I usually start drawing humans:

Pretty neat, huh? Hopefully, you can read my handwriting after my

Well, here it is:

Now, without further ado, let’s begin!

A Personal Study of Manga 5

1. This is a panel. Within it, your characters and environments –

2. This is a panel border. Think of it as a frame for a picture.

3. This is a gutter. Gutters are the spaces in between your panels.

4. This is a speech bubble or word balloon. Here, your character’s

5. These are sound effects. As the name suggests, the words

A Personal Study of Manga 7

A Personal Study of Manga 9

Synopsis: Demons known as “Sins” roam the Earth, cursing all

What Doesn’t Work?

A good rule of thumb when making manga is to have a variety of

What could this

Page 3, Erin Jackson (2017)

A Personal Study of Manga 11

As I mentioned, the redrawn Wrath has been split up into two

Panel Count: On this page, we only have three panels.

Speech Bubbles: I made Ira’s speech bubbles irregular. What do

Character Placement: I specfically placed Ira above Rose

Bonus: I lied; I snuck in a smooch in the second panel.

A Personal Study of Manga 13

Speech Bubbles: There aren’t any speech bubbles here! There is

Character Placement: Ira sneaks up behind Rose, slowly closing

My professor suggested I have Wraeleth killed off instead of Rose.

If I’m being honest though, I didn’t really care about telling a

A Personal Study of Manga 15

Synopsis: After the death of their king, a manservant named Regan

What Doesn’t Work?

One thing I would like to draw attention to is how it cuts from

Page 30, Erin Jackson (2017)

A Personal Study of Manga 17

Character Placement: I tried making it clearer where these

Bonus: I cut out a character from this revision. In full context,

A Personal Study of Manga 19

A Personal Study of Manga 21

Synopsis: Einin, a sprightly young maiden, concocts a plan to win the

How Does This Work?

Page 2, Erin Jackson (2018)

dream sequence is in pink, and the background in the second to last

Your dreams are doomed, Einin.

A Personal Study of Manga 23

Synopsis: After drowning in a river, a girl named Mizushima no Ame

How Does This Work?

So, remember to place your elements strategically!

Follow the flame

Page 9, Erin Jackson (2018)

A Personal Study of Manga 25

Synopsis: In the distant kingdom of Dragonia, dragon-riders known

How Does This Work?

Page 33, Erin Jackson (2020)

A Personal Study of Manga 27

Speech Bubbles: As you’ve probably guessed, having speech

Character Placement: Now, here’s where the wackiness comes

A Personal Study of Manga 29