Mangapug.Com - A community for manga/anime artists.

There are a couple of manga (and general) drawing technique issues that I've been dealing with and wondering about for a long time. Google hasn't rendered much in the way of answers, probably due to terminology more than anything, so it seemed like a good idea to try to start up a discussion about them.

The first issue is the phenomenon that we perform flip-checks on our artwork to diagnose. What may look ok at first becomes unbalanced, skewed, or obliqued when we look at our artwork in the mirror or after performing "flip horizontal" on the computer.

What causes skewing? Is it an asymmetrical quality of the artist's perception, either due to the eye or the visual part of the brain? Do some artists, due to unique aspects of how each person's mind works, encounter it more than others on a regular basis? Is it possible to remedy the problem by learning to "see" differently as an artist?

The second issue has to do with proper line work. I know the general advice out there is to use single, deliberate strokes as much as possible. I've been experimenting and it seems like fast, long strokes work best until the line is supposed to change angle - then it works for me to lift the pen and start a new stroke at that point. For curves, I've been doing slow, careful strokes for about 90 degrees of a curve and then lifting the pen and starting a new stroke for the next 90 degrees.

It seems that trying to carry the stroke through too much of a curve or through changing directions causes a "yellow submarine" effect (in other words, "pillowy" looking figures and shapes in the artwork).

What are everyone's thoughts? Your advice would be greatly appreciated.