Buzz
Anime and manga are popular Japanese comics and animations with a distinct artistic style. If you'd like to draw your favorite character or create a new face, start by sketching the head and face to establish the shape of your character. Once the head is outlined, draw basic lines and shapes as a guide for adding details. After sketching the eyes, nose, and mouth, you can erase the initial lines and sketch the hairstyle. With patience and practice, you'll be able to create anime faces in no time!
Steps
Draw the basic head shape
Draw a circle on your paper with a vertical line through the center. Use a pencil for easy erasing in case of mistakes. Lightly sketch a circle in the middle of the page to give yourself space to add details. Find the center of the circle and draw a vertical line from the top to the bottom of the circle to mark the middle point of the face.
- Start by drawing a large circle to leave enough space for the facial features. Otherwise, the lines may become crowded and harder to draw accurately.
Tip: If you find it difficult to draw a circle freehand, you can use a compass or trace around a round object to get a perfect circle.
Draw a reference line about one-third of the way up from the bottom of the circle. Measure about one-third of the way from the bottom of the circle and mark that point with a pencil. Use a ruler to draw a horizontal line that intersects both sides of the circle, marking the eye level of your character. Be gentle when drawing this line so that you can erase it later if needed.
- It's not necessary to measure precisely. If you don't have a ruler, you can approximate using the end of your pencil.
Draw a horizontal line at the bottom of the circle for the nose placement. Find the lowest point of the circle and place the ruler across that point. Lightly draw a horizontal line just below the circle, cutting through its widest part. When the drawing is complete, the character's nose will sit along this line.
Draw a line to mark the position of the chin. Measure the distance from the center of the circle to the line you just drew for the nose. Then, measure from the bottom of the circle (or the nose line) downward by the same distance and draw a small horizontal line along the vertical centerline. This will mark the character's chin.
- If you're drawing a female character, the distance from the bottom of the circle to the chin line should be about one-third of the circle's diameter, as female characters in anime and manga often have rounder faces.
Sketch the jawline of the character. Start from either the left or right side of the circle at its widest point. Draw a line diagonally from the side of the circle towards the centerline. Continue drawing until you meet the nose reference line. When the diagonal line crosses the nose reference line, keep drawing towards the chin reference line. Repeat on the other side of the circle to complete the jawline.
- Female characters typically have rounder faces and more pointed chins than male characters. If drawing a female character, use curves instead of diagonal lines for a softer jawline.
- Adult characters generally have longer and narrower faces compared to children. Use more curved lines for the jawline when drawing a child character.
Outline the neck from both sides of the head downwards. The width of the neck will depend on the character's gender. For a male character, draw the neck closer to the jaw to give a more muscular appearance. For a female character, position the neck closer to the chin to create a more slender look. Draw two vertical lines down from both sides of the jaw to form the neck.
- For younger characters, the neck will be smaller due to less muscle definition or underdeveloped muscles. When drawing a boy or girl, you should position the neck lines closer to the chin.
- Hold the drawing at a distance to check if the neck appears too long or too short, and adjust accordingly by erasing or extending it.
Draw the facial features
Draw the ears on both sides of the head, between the eye and nose guidelines. The beginning and end points of the ears should align with the previously drawn eye and nose guidelines. Sketch two curved lines in the shape of a 'C' connecting to the edges of the circle and jawline. You can keep it simple like this or add more curved lines inside the ears for additional detail.
- You can look at your own ears in the mirror or refer to pictures to understand their shape.
- Ears come in various shapes. Choose the one that best suits your character.
Draw the tip of the nose at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal lines. The nose of an anime or manga character viewed from the front is not as clearly defined as when viewed from the side. For a simpler drawing, just place a dot at the intersection of the nose guideline and the vertical line. For a slightly more complex version, draw two curves on either side of the vertical line to represent the nostrils.
- You can also draw a straight or curved line extending up to the eye guideline if you want the character to have a more defined nose.
Draw the eyes below the previously drawn guideline. For a male character, draw a straight line below the guideline, ending near the side of the head. For a female character, draw a curved line beneath the guideline, extending towards the side of the head. The lower eyelid will be positioned just above the tip of the nose. Draw the opposite eye in the same manner to ensure symmetry.
- Anime and manga characters have various eye shapes, so refer to your favorite characters for inspiration when drawing the eyes of your character.
- Practice drawing eyes with different expressions if you want to show particular emotions. For example, an angry character may have narrowed eyes, while a surprised character might have wide-open eyes.
Draw the eyebrows above the eye's reference line. Begin drawing the character's eyebrow above the corner of the eye, slightly higher than the previously drawn reference line. Draw a slightly curved or angled line, following the shape of the upper eyelid. You can either draw the eyebrow with a simple line or add extra strokes above to create a rectangular shape. After finishing one eyebrow, draw the second one above the other eye.
- Anime or manga characters' eyebrows can come in various shapes, such as triangular or even round.
- If you want the character to have a more expressive look, draw more angled eyebrows. For example, eyebrows sloping downward toward the nose can make the character appear angry, while eyebrows pointing toward the ears give a sad or fearful expression.
Place the mouth between the nose and chin. Find the midpoint between the nose and chin to position the mouth. For a simple mouth, draw a slightly curved horizontal line to represent a subtle smile or pouting lips. Draw a shorter line below the first one to define the lower lip.
- Look up various mouth styles and character expressions in anime for inspiration on how to depict different emotions.
- If you want to show a character smiling with an open mouth, there's no need to draw individual teeth. Simply draw a line between the upper and lower teeth to separate them.
Tip: The size of the mouth depends on the character's expression. If you want the character to look a bit goofy, make the mouth wider. Draw a smaller mouth to convey a serious or calm demeanor.
Erase excess lines and finish the drawing
Erase the construction lines from the drawing. Use an eraser attached to the end of a pencil or a separate eraser to remove any guidelines that are not part of the character's face or head. Be careful when erasing around the facial features you’ve drawn to avoid smudging them. Continue erasing the remaining construction lines so that only the face remains visible.
- Guidelines that are drawn too dark may not erase completely.
- Use a thin eraser for areas with more details, such as the eyes or ears.
Create an impressive hairstyle for your character. Anime and manga characters come with various hairstyles, and you can choose one that fits your character best. Avoid drawing each individual strand of hair; instead, sketch out the basic shape of the hairstyle. Use a light pencil so you can erase and adjust it if needed. Once you have roughly sketched the hairstyle, you can erase the areas where the hair covers the head.
- The hair of anime or manga characters is typically separated into clumps with sharp ends. Take inspiration from different character hairstyles to help design the hair of the character you are drawing.
Tip: Try drawing different hairstyles on tracing paper placed over your character's drawing, so you don’t have to erase the whole character if you don’t like the hairstyle you just drew.
Add small details like freckles or wrinkles to the character's face. After you finish the hair and erase unnecessary lines, you can add small touches to give your character a unique appearance. You can draw freckles on the cheeks, moles, or wrinkles to make your character more interesting. Sketch jewelry or accessories lightly with a pencil so you can erase them if you decide you don’t like them later.
- You don’t have to add any details to the character if you don’t want to.
Use a pencil to shade and add depth to the face. Hold the pencil at an angle to lightly shade under the chin, lower lip, and the character's hair. Be sure to move the pencil in the same direction for each shaded area to maintain consistency. Press a bit harder if you want the shaded areas to appear darker.
- Be careful not to over-shade, as it may make your drawing look heavy and difficult to erase.
Tip
- Watch anime cartoons or read manga comics to see how other characters are designed, and practice drawing so you can create various styles yourself.
- You'll improve more if you practice a little each day.
- Try drawing a regular face to practice anatomy and enhance your drawing skills.
- Carry a sketchbook and pencil with you so you can draw or sketch anywhere, anytime.
Essential items you'll need
- Paper
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Eraser
