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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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anime-production manga-production
Have any successful manga artists picked up their skill without schooling?


From what I could find...

  * [Tite Kubo](http://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/Tite_Kubo), creator of Bleach only went to high school and he only started to take art seriously around [age 17](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tite_Kubo).
  * [Hiro Mashima](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiro_Mashima), creator of Fairy Tail also didn't have any formal art training.
  * [Nobuhiro Watsuki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobuhiro_Watsuki), creator of Kenshin.
  * [Osamu Tezuka](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osamu_Tezuka), creator of Astro Boy.
  * [Eiichiro Oda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiichiro_Oda), creator of One Piece _(who was also a college dropout)_.

And there are many [others](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki) but
if you [check](http://omu.kuiki.net/faculty.shtml)
[around](http://www.myanimediary.com/#!about1/c6fl) you can see that anyone
doing anything in anime today was largely self taught. Most people only
[go](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_education_and_training_is_required_to_become_a_mangaka_artist)
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..](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_education_and_training_is_required_to_become_a_mangaka_artist)

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](http://zenpencils.com/comic/90-ira-glass-advice-for-beginners/).

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q9rML.jpg)


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