Bought a book. Really concerned

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Eagelswings

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Hey, I would like some advice. I bought this book on how to draw manga (Japanese comics) and the particular I bought was about drawing fights and battles.
i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae211/catholicanimeartist/mangabook.jpg

However, there is a problem… While the book explains well on how to draw certain fight poses and strikes, it also has some nudity on certain pages. You can see the girl’s breasts but not anything else (which I’m grateful for) but still it’s not what I was expecting from it and I am disappointed. I honestly had no idea this was gonna be in there. What should I do?
 
Return it to the seller and explain your reason why. You may have to take credit rather than a refund. Most on-line sellers will accept a book back if it contains material you find objectionable.
 
Arizona_Mike said:
Return it to the seller and explain your reason why. You may have to take credit rather than a refund. Most on-line sellers will accept a book back if it contains material you find objectionable.
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Alright thanks. But what if the online seller won’t take it back?
 
There is nothing inherently wrong with the human body. If the picture is not titillating, then just close one eye, so to speak, and pursue your hobby while paying no undue attention to one body part over another. If the picture is titillating and the seller won’t take the book back, then throw it away.
 
Honestly, I wouldn’t be worried. The human form’s the human form. We’ve all got one. 😛 If you’re going to draw people, learn how to draw them properly. Pay attention to shape, center of gravity and balance, how joints bend, proportion. What parts are hard? What parts are soft? What parts flow? Your intent obviously isn’t to go ogle naked cartoon women-- your intent is to learn how to draw, so be straightforward and matter-of-fact about what it involves. Do you think Michelangelo or Donatello were coy and embarrassed? And yet how much of their naked-people-art ended up in churches? You’re not likely to have anime girls ending up in churches, but art’s art, and you need to factor in intent.
 
If you don’t lust after that picture, it’s ok, since it’s purpose is not lust but rather, illustration of the human body.
 
You purchased the book as an instruction guide and that is what I would use it for. If you find the book to be an occassion of sin for you, than get rid of it. However, I don’t think you did anything wrong in ordering it nor do I believe you cannot use it for the purpose you originally intended.
 
This is a problem. I would remove the offending parts if you are unable to return it. I had the misfortune of getting a how to draw manga book that mostly included what I was looking for but included a few more explicit poses. I put it away and forgot about till just now. I want how to draw books that share my values and there are plenty that are not offensive.

I’m also tired of the pointless references to some religious art that contains nudity. It is the intention - clearly understood by all - that matters. Not some vague reference to some old paintings that had to be approved as worthy of being called religious art. Rather, I think people should be reminded of how modern art has been used to blaspheme the image of the Blessed Mother and Jesus either obviously or more subtly.

Peace,
Ed
 
edwest2 said:
This is a problem. I would remove the offending parts if you are unable to return it. I had the misfortune of getting a how to draw manga book that mostly included what I was looking for but included a few more explicit poses. I put it away and forgot about till just now. I want how to draw books that share my values and there are plenty that are not offensive.

I’m also tired of the pointless references to some religious art that contains nudity. It is the intention - clearly understood by all - that matters. Not some vague reference to some old paintings that had to be approved as worthy of being called religious art. Rather, I think people should be reminded of how modern art has been used to blaspheme the image of the Blessed Mother and Jesus either obviously or more subtly.

Peace,
Ed
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Nudity isn’t bad, lust is. If he’s not lusting at the pictures, it is not a sin. Learning how to draw a woman’s body isn’t sinful in any way.
Sexuality isn’t bad - it was created by God. He’s not doing anything disordered by reading that book. Think about doctors who have to study the human body.
 
Eagelswings said:
Hey, I would like some advice. I bought this book on how to draw manga (Japanese comics) and the particular I bought was about drawing fights and battles.
i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae211/catholicanimeartist/mangabook.jpg

However, there is a problem… While the book explains well on how to draw certain fight poses and strikes, it also has some nudity on certain pages. You can see the girl’s breasts but not anything else (which I’m grateful for) but still it’s not what I was expecting from it and I am disappointed. I honestly had no idea this was gonna be in there. What should I do?
Click to expand...
There’s plenty of nudity in art. If it’s pornographic in nature (i.e., its purpose is to evoke feelings of lust), then it’s wrong, and get rid of the particular picture. If it demonstrates the beauty of human form or is, for example, symbolic of vulnerability or innocence, it’s not wrong and don’t worry about it.
 
AJM95 said:
Nudity isn’t bad, lust is. If he’s not lusting at the pictures, it is not a sin. Learning how to draw a woman’s body isn’t sinful in any way.
Sexuality isn’t bad - it was created by God. He’s not doing anything disordered by reading that book. Think about doctors who have to study the human body.
Click to expand...
Intention is everything. And why the focus on the woman’s body? Too many of us have a distorted view of the dignity of the human body, male and female. I see way too many public photos of beautiful women that damages their dignity through immodesty and some drawings as well, including in certain comic books.

Peace,
Ed
 
How old are you?

Whether you are male or female, breasts are a perfectly natural part of the female-human body and one should not be ashamed of their presence. Breasts are not a sin.

You unknowingly bought the mag in good faith it would help you with your drawings. Try to relax but if you can’t then simpy return the magazine saying that it not what you thought. Or just simply throw the magazine out.

If you can get over that breasts are a natural part of the human body and not a sin, then just learn that technique along with others. How the breasts are portrayed… well have a good look at some of a lot more well known European Artists in the past… The sin is abusing the breast. Is art abusing the breast? Or is art about other stuff too?
 
Modesty and decency inform the concept of human dignity. That has been lost in the vast majority of realistic artistic expression, whether it’s in movies, TV shows, comic books or paintings. I am sick and tired of seeing the following:

Contains Strong Language.
Brief nudity (and certainly nothing of the artistic kind)
Sexual situations (and certainly nothing modest or inoffensive)

There’s nothing wrong with the human body, but the media has turned the female form into an indecent and immodest scandal on most fronts. A collection of body parts and not a whole, complete person worthy of respect.

As I wrote earlier, there are plenty of anatomy books out there that show the unclothed human body with respect, and in a neutral, non-sexual way.

Peace,
Ed
 
I am going to look more at the practical aspect of moral theology instead of looking at the theoretical one. Naked females (usually “young” or “really young” women) in manga cartoons are used to sexually titillate people, teaching to draw those figure usually has a predetermined target audience in mind. To me is almost like purchasing a book on how to take pictures of women from playboy magazine, it is playing with fire especially if you are a young man.
 
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