I’m a frequenter of anime and manga conventions. In fact, I’m planning to go to two this year and completely geek out for a couple of days.

One of the highlights of anime conventions for me are the cosplayers. A particularly notorious cosplayer is Man-Faye:

Faye is a female character from the excellent anime Cowboy Bebop who used to be quite the fanboy favorite back in the day - and this cosplayer has decided to cosplay her, male gender, hairy legs and protruding gut be damned. Man-Faye even makes sexy poses accentuating his butt in some of his pictures.

And you know what? More power to him!

Because, folks - this is one confident dude. This is a man who, in the face of derision from fellow anime fans and despite his less-than-perfect body shape, has decided to go out and have fun. And because of that, Man-Faye has become a minor celebrity among con-goers, to the point that he even has his own website: man-faye.com

I think Man-Faye is a great example of how to be a confident, fun-loving geek - he’s not scared of what other people think of him, and he just wants to have fun. Good job, Man-Faye!

Oh, and by the way, if you haven’t seen Cowboy Bebop.. you NEED to watch it. One of the best action animes ever, IMO, with a soundtrack for the ages.

Buy the Cowboy Bebop Remix: Anime Legends DVDs at Amazon.com

Image by Tigrikorn, used under a Creative Commons License.

One of my beliefs is that learning a new skill is a great way to boost your confidence. Not only does it increase your self-esteem by showing you that you’re capable of drawing something great, it also allows you to make more friends in the artist community.

I know this from experience, since I used to draw manga-style art. This allowed me to join communities, both offline and online, that had plenty of people who drew in a style similar to mine. I was able to make new friends, and also, this was how I met my girlfriend - we first connected over manga and art.

Now, if you’re a complete beginner, there’re a couple of things that you should keep in mind:

• Practice is key: If you want to get good at drawing, you absolutely have to practice drawing. Do it for a few hours every week. Find artists you admire, and try to emulate them.

   

• Get the fundamentals correct at the start: Although getting technical details such as perspective and anatomical proportion isn’t the sexiest part of drawing, if you get it right from the start,you don’t have to correct mistakes in your drawing style later on.

   

• Learn from a variety of artists and sources: To develop your own style, don’t just emulate one artist! Take the good things from many different artists, learn from many different sources, and you’ll find your art developing more quickly.

   

• Join an art community: Joining an art community will connect you to different artists. This will expose you to different styles and ideas, as well as give you motivation to keep drawing.

   

Now, drawing tutorials is a huge topic by itself, which I plan to address in a future post. However, here are some online art galleries where you can upload and display your art for free, and also check out what other artists are drawing.

• Deviantart: One of the most famous online art galleries. Great for getting exposure for your art.

   

• Elfwood Fantasy and Science-Fiction Art Galleries: This was the first art site I ever joined, and while it’s not as lively as Deviantart is, it’s still a great way to meet people who are interested in fantasy art. Be aware, however, that they have very strict rules for what’s acceptable in their galleries (must be fantasy/sci-fi), and that all incoming artwork in checked by human moderators.

   

Future posts will go into drawing for confidence in more detail. In the meantime, have fun drawing, and have a Merry Christmas!