i cant say whether it's good or not. probably he'll need to draw an original character. if he's learning, then referencing is a good idea, but NEVER trace. never. then after he's built up enough confidence, he should try drawing/designing his own manga/anime characters.

agreed.

there are commonly two ways to learn to draw:

i. copying/referencing

usually this is the fastest of the two, where u'll quickly learn how other people do it. i do this all the time, and there's nothing wrong with it. lets say u like naruto so much, and u cant stop dwg them. that's fine. but u must make a point that once u're too good copying naruto, try drawing him WITHOUT referencing. purely by imagination/memory.

that's where the actual learning takes place.

ii. imagination

this is slower, but u'll build more original visual vocabulary. if u're talented, u'll develop this skill pretty fast. combine this with the referencing technique, u'll build a massive vocabulary on ur fingertips, just like that.




i started off with copying thundercats, transformers, gijoe and the likes. not forgetting american comics like superman, xmen and batman. not many mangas at the time except probably akira. once the hongkong comic flood started, i started to shift, in my techniques start to merge. then the anime/manga flood. influences me even alot more.

these influences might make u original, or might make u the biggest copy-cat of all. it's up to u.