Book Review: Sketch with Asia: Manga-inspired Art and Tutorials by Asia Ladowska

Here's another book from the 3dtotal illustrator series of artbooks. The other books I've featured so far are Cozy Days: The Art of Iraville and The Art of Heikala: Works and thoughts.

Asia Ladowska is a freelance illustrator born in Poland but now based in UK. She is known for her manga-style illustrations and she has a huge following on her Instagram page.

This 168-page hardcover talks about her career and also looks behind the scenes at how she creates her art. There's a lot to read in this book, mostly on how she got into illustration. She actually worked as a graphic designer before switching over to become a full-time illustrator.

In this book she shares the story of her growth, inspiration and motivation. There's this common story she recount that's one that I've heard so many times. Her art school teacher would look down on manga and comic art. I hate to be judgemental but sometimes I can't help it. If those art school teachers can't see the potential of manga, which has millions of fans worldwide, they shouldn't place their own limitations on their students. I wonder if those teachers understand that art is subjective. Some people love abstract, some love modern I-can-do-that-too art, some love Old Masters, some love sketches, some love manga.

Anyway, Ladowska managed to follow her passion, worked hard to reach her goal, and is now doing very well as a freelance illustrator. Her story gives hope to other aspiring artists. The stories behind the artists is what I like about the 3dtotal illustrator series. Artists can come from all sorts of background. It really comes down to how hard are you willing to work for what you like.

There are many inspiring stories, advice and positive takeaways in this book. She also talks about social media, the potential and the impact it has on her.

The stories are half the book. The second half of the book are filled with manga drawing tutorials. There are tips and techniques on sketching, colouring, drawing human figures, expressions and other parts of the body. If you like Ladowska's style, you can learn a lot her. Just be prepared to spend some money on getting Copic markers for the colouring section. Oh, it looks like she only draws female characters.

This is a great book put very well together with inspiring stories, good art and practical hands-on tutorial. It's worth the money. Highly recommended to those who want to learn and get inspired.

Sketch with Asia: Manga-inspired Art and Tutorials by Asia Ladowska (3dtotal Illustrator Series) is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | AU | JP | CN)

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