How Long Does It Take To Master Book Drawing For Beginners?

Interesting question — I couldn’t find a widely recognized book with the exact title 'The Edge of U Thant' in the usual bibliographic places. I dug through how I usually hunt down obscure titles (library catalogs, Google Books, WorldCat, and a few university press lists), and nothing authoritative came up under that exact name. That doesn’t mean the phrase hasn’t been used somewhere — it might be an essay, a magazine piece, a chapter title, a small-press pamphlet, or even a misremembered or mistranscribed title. Titles about historical figures like U Thant often show up in academic articles, UN history collections, or biographies, and sometimes short pieces get picked up and retitled when they circulate online or in zines, which makes tracking them by memory tricky. If you’re trying to pin down a source, here are a few practical ways I’d follow (I love this kind of bibliographic treasure hunt). Search exact phrase matches in Google Books and put the title in quotes, try WorldCat to see library holdings worldwide, and check JSTOR or Project MUSE for any academic essays that might carry a similar name. Also try variant spellings or partial phrases—like searching just 'Edge' and 'U Thant' or swapping 'of' for 'on'—because small transcription differences can hide a title. If it’s a piece in a magazine or a collected volume, looking through the table of contents of UN history anthologies or books on postcolonial diplomacy often surfaces essays about U Thant that might have been repackaged under a snappier header. I’ve always been fascinated by figures like U Thant — the whole early UN diplomatic era is such a rich backdrop for storytelling — so if that title had a literary or dramatic angle I’d expect it to be floating around in political biography or memoir circles. In the meantime, if what you want is reading about U Thant’s life and influence, try searching for biographies and histories of the UN from the 1960s and 1970s; they tend to include solid chapters on him and often cite shorter essays and memoir pieces that could include the phrase you remember. Personally, I enjoy those deep-dives because they mix archival detail with surprising personal anecdotes — it feels like following breadcrumbs through time. Hope this helps point you toward the right trail; I’d love to stumble across that elusive title too someday and see what the author had to say.

If you're just getting into manga, I think mangabuff's suggestions hit the sweet spots: start with shonen for plot-drive and clear pacing, slice-of-life for gentle vibes, comedy for easy laughs, and a light mystery or sports series to keep things engaging. I tend to recommend shonen like 'One Piece' or 'My Hero Academia' because they teach you how long-form arcs work and usually have straightforward art and superheroes or adventure hooks. For something low-pressure, slice-of-life titles such as 'Yotsuba&!' or 'Komi Can't Communicate' show how character-driven, episodic storytelling can be delightfully addictive without heavy lore to remember. Comedy and romcoms are forgiving—jump in anywhere and you’ll get a feel for panels and timing. Practical tip I always share: try the first 3–5 volumes or watch the anime adaptions to see if the rhythm clicks. Also look for omnibus editions or official platforms like Manga Plus or the publisher apps—clean translations make beginner sessions way more pleasant. Overall, I find starting with these genres makes manga approachable and fun, and I usually end up recommending a cozy slice-of-life as my consolation pick.

If you want a straightforward path to drawing Deku, I’ve got a go-to routine I use that turns messy scribbles into something recognizable without overcomplicating things. I start with basic shapes — an oval for the head, a light cross for eye placement, and a rectangle for the torso. From there I block in the hair mass; Deku’s hair is spiky but rounded at the tips, so I sketch loose zigzags and then refine them into clumps. Next I break his face into thirds to place the big, expressive eyes typical of 'My Hero Academia', adding the signature forehead scar and freckles. For the body I think in cylinders: neck, shoulders, arms, then add his school uniform or hero costume as simplified shapes before detailing. Shading is minimal at first: flat shadows under the chin and around the hairline. For guided material I like a mix: a short YouTube step-by-step for pacing, a Pinterest step-layer image for reference, and a DeviantArt or Tumblr breakdown for pose ideas. If you want specific practice drills, I do 10-minute face studies, 5-minute hair clump sketches, and then a single full-body pose once I feel comfortable. That combo — structure, focused drills, and reference layering — is what finally turned my scribbly Deku into something I’d actually post. It’s honestly so satisfying when the eyes start to feel alive.

Picking up a pencil and trying to copy Deku's poses is honestly one of the most fun ways kids can learn how bodies move. I started by breaking his silhouette into simple shapes — a circle for the head, ovals for the torso and hips, and thin lines for the limbs — and that alone made a huge difference. For small hands, focusing on the gesture first (the big action line) helps capture the energy before worrying about costume details from 'My Hero Academia'. After the gesture, I like to add joint marks at the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees so kids can see where bending happens. Encouraging them to exaggerate a little — stretch a pose or tilt a torso — makes copying easier and gives a cartoony, confident look. Using light lines, erasing, and redrawing is part of the process, and tracing is okay as a stepping stone if it's paired with attempts to redraw freehand. Give them short timed exercises: 30 seconds for quick gestures, 2 minutes to clean up, and one longer 10-minute pose to refine. Pairing this with fun references like action figures or freeze-framing a 'My Hero Academia' scene makes practice feel like play. I still get a rush when a sketch finally looks alive, and kids will too.

Let me walk you through my favorite setup for drawing Deku if you want something simple but effective. I start with a couple of pencils: an HB or B for construction lines and a 2B or 4B for darker linework and quick shading. A small, soft kneaded eraser and a clean vinyl eraser are lifesavers — kneaded for gentle highlights and vinyl for stubborn marks. For paper, a smooth sketchbook or a sheet of Bristol (smooth surface) keeps lines crisp and works well if you decide to ink. For inking I like thin-felt pens (0.1–0.5) and a brush pen for hair strands and dynamic line weight. If you want color later, cheap alcohol markers or a handful of colored pencils (greens, skin tones, and a few neutrals) cover Deku’s palette. For easy tutorials, pick ones that break Deku down into simple shapes: circle for the skull, cross-line for facial direction, rectangles for the torso. Tracing paper or a window tracing method is perfect for early practice, and a lightbox is a nice upgrade. Practice expression sheets, three-quarter head rotations, and quick gesture poses to capture his energy from 'My Hero Academia'. I find this combo keeps the process fun and not intimidating, and I usually end up smiling at the results.

I get a real kick out of digging up references, and for 'Deku' there's a goldmine if you know where to look. Start with anime frames: queue up scenes from 'My Hero Academia' on YouTube, slow them to 0.25x and use the comma and period keys to step frame-by-frame. I make a small folder of screenshots — run, punch, breath, expression — and they become my go-to animation references. Besides screenshots, I lean on pose apps like Easy Poser or DesignDoll to recreate tricky foreshortening; you can tweak limb lengths until the silhouette reads like the anime. For facial and costume details, Pixiv and Instagram hashtags like #dekudrawing or #izukumidoriya are full of stylistic studies and expression sheets. I also use GIF extractors (ezgif.com) to pull a handful of keyframes from fight sequences; then I trace loosely to learn motion flow before drawing freehand. Pro tip: import the keyframes into Krita or Procreate, turn down the opacity and onion-skin the next frame — your in-betweens will feel way more natural. This workflow keeps things simple yet accurate, and I always end up smiling at how much more confident my sketches look.

I find that practice is the single most useful thing you can do to get better at drawing Deku in simple comic panels. When I break it down, what really changed my work was doing tiny, focused drills: quick gesture sketches for 60 seconds, three-frame expressions, and practicing the same punch pose from different angles. Those little repetitions build muscle memory so you stop overthinking every line and let the character feel alive. I also mixed study with play: I’d pull frames from the 'My Hero Academia' manga and anime to see how the artist handles speed lines, head tilts, and panel layout, then I’d redraw them as simplified thumbnails. Thumbnailing helped me decide what to show and what to cut away. Over weeks you’ll notice your storytelling improves — pacing, camera choices, and facial clarity. It’s satisfying to watch a page go from messy sketches to readable, punchy panels, and I still get a kick out of tiny wins like cleaner expressions or better motion.

Picking up a book labeled for younger readers often feels like trading in a complicated map for a compass — there's still direction and depth, but the route is clearer. I notice YA tends to center protagonists in their teens or early twenties, which naturally focuses the story on identity, first loves, rebellion, friendship and the messy business of figuring out who you are. Language is generally more direct; sentences move quicker to keep tempo high, and emotional beats are fired off in a way that makes you feel things immediately. That doesn't mean YA is shallow. Plenty of titles grapple with grief, grief, abuse, mental health, and social justice with brutal honesty — think of books like 'Eleanor & Park' or 'The Hunger Games'. What shifts is the narrative stance: YA often scaffolds complexity so readers can grow with the character, whereas adult fiction will sometimes immerse you in ambiguity, unreliable narrators, or long, looping introspection. From my perspective, I choose YA when I want an electric read that still tackles big ideas without burying them in stylistic density; I reach for adult novels when I want to be challenged by form or moral nuance. Both keep me reading, just for different kinds of hunger.