One of three solid mech drawing books
4-1/2 stars. The more I spend time with this book, the more I like it. The big surprise for me here is the amazing attention to detail: *many* ideas & principles of robot design are analyzed & examined, with great variety in mechs. 5 stars for idea generating help(!), but 4-1/2 stars overall due to lack of transforming mech examples, which is really my main interest.
I recently bought three books on robots. A brief comparison:
1. How to Draw Manga- Giant Robots. 4-1/2 stars. Phenomenal details for all kinds of robots. It's my favorite book of the 3. It has very little on robots that transform, which is too bad, but few books can match the incredibly detailed instruction here with such a wide variety of designs. It's a visually attractive, well organized effort.
2. Let's Draw Manga- Transforming Robots. 4 stars. The best book of the 3 in dealing with actual transformations. It shows actual photos of toys, and then plenty of pictures detailing the transforming process. The drawing quality is a little rough but still professional. Better drawing quality would've made this a 5-star book.
3. How to Draw Manga- Mech Drawing. 4 stars. Great looking cover; the interior art is professional as well. Some drawings are truly excellent, but many are a bit too plain looking and lack visual interest. It covers the artistic rendering of mechanical vehicles & items of all types, and not just robots. With very little information on transforming mechs, it's still above average overall.
As you can see, each book has its strengths & weaknesses. And each is entirely black & white- no color drawings inside. I have yet to find a book on robots that I consider truly 5-star material. The day I do, I may update this review.
Decent reference, but not really How To Draw
If the title was "Reference for Mecha Drawings" I'd give it one more star. It doesn't show you How to Draw, it zooms in on different parts of a Mech, where to get inspiration, what works and what to avoid.
Nowhere in the book do they show you how to sketch a drawing of a Mech. If you know how to draw well already and want a reference book for using your talents to draw Mecha, this is a good book. If you are just starting out learning how to draw, this book is not it.
How to Draw Manga Volume 12: Giant Robots
Ok, how to start.
I can say that this book is awesome... and that it would teach you a good deal about robots and their parts and different things you could use for designs. I couls also say it teaches you a good deal about female robots and about weapons.
I could say that... yes... That all of what I said is true, BUT, it is also lacking some things you would expect from a HTDM (How To Draw Manga) books. Some things you would expect from a book about giant robots is learning how to draw the different parts of a robot, instead they show you examples and expect you to figure the rest out.
You would expect in a book about giant robots tons of examples and pictures of different guns you could make, but they decide that they will just show you a few and then show you a few gun parts that you could combine, hoping that you will make more guns out of those few pieces.
Some people cut this book down by saying "This book doesn't teach you how to draw anything near gundams or transformers." To those people I can only say one thing, "If you want a book on drawing gundams or transformers, then get one for drawing gundams and transformers."
I mean, with what I just said a few paragraphs ago you might think, "Wow, this book must suck." But I say no, that is not the case, this is not a book for gundams or transformers. This is a book for drawing your own robots, your own original robots from your imagination, your own robot that doesn't belong to gundams or the transformers universe.
I said that they only show you a few weapons for examples, but this is not a book about weapons, but robots. I give this book 4 stars because this is worth the four stars. Some might say that this book is not worth the money, but I tell you... THIS.. BOOK.. IS WORTH IT!
Sincerly to all you budding manga fans,
Frothy the Beerman
save_the_shrimp_eat_a_whale@yahoo.com
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