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Asking as a person who knows very little about drawing but has some experience and is interested in drawing manga. Is natural artistic talent necessary if someone wants to become a good anime and manga artist or has anyone done it based on raw effort and or determination?

Along that same note, have there been any current or past manga artists that have derived success based on only what they taught themselves without any formal training?

In a nutshell, I'm basically asking how important nature versus nurture is to art in general as it pertains to manga and looking for examples of such.

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    I don't think that this is really on topic. It's only related to anime and manga in the broadest sense of it being art, and it isn't really about anime or manga. It also isn't really answerable.
    – kuwaly
    Apr 21, 2013 at 19:13
  • @kuwaly That's fine, you should close it then. Like I said, I wasn't sure myself.
    – commando
    Apr 21, 2013 at 19:14
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    I feel like a better (more on-topic) question might be, "Have any (current) manga artists picked up their skill through schooling only?" I'm not sure it's answerable, but I think it's more open to being constructive.
    – Cattua
    Apr 21, 2013 at 19:15
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    @commando, their is no definitive answer for this. Everyone has their own 'thing' that makes them learn or want to learn something. This question in it's current state is too personal and localized and is likely to start a discussion. To keep your question alive however, It has been edited it so it can be seen more as a question pertaining mangaka in history. Also see anime.stackexchange.com/faq#dontask
    – iKlsR
    Apr 21, 2013 at 19:52

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From what I could find...

And there are many others but if you check around you can see that anyone doing anything in anime today was largely self taught. Most people only go to school to learn the theory and get a degree or certification. Having a degree makes you more likely to get a job in certain industries. (I suppose)

Truth be told, most of them went to art school but before you jump to assumptions, have you ever heard the term in college, 'you read for your degree'. If you haven't it means that simply going to school isn't enough, you have to go the extra mile and do the work. Artists like Akira Toriyama and Kishimoto were drawing years before that. Granted that might make you feel dismayed when starting but with determination anyone can do it. Like all skills, natural or not, they have to be nurtured.

..You have to be confident to draw..

As it relates to everything, not just art and anime, we as humans like to base what we want to do on the success of others but that can only get you so far when starting out. Just try something for yourself, its nice to have influences but If you plan to take it seriously you will have to be original amongst other things. I leave you with this comic.

enter image description here

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