How to Draw Manga Girls

Manga is a Japanese word that, translated into English, is best described as printed comics or cartoons. With manga, the most minute details you draw are going to help the reader understand the age and gender of the character you have created. When you draw manga girls, close attention must be paid to the clothing and hair, so that the reader can recognize that they are female characters. Read on to learn more.

Things You'll Need

• Eraser
• Pencils
• Table
• Paper
• Magazine ads or pictures

Instructions

Draw Little Girls in the Manga Style

1. Draw manga girls by starting with very round heads. Add large, rounded eyes, without eyelashes, that are set low down on the face.

2. Finish your girl's face by adding a very small nose and mouth. Your drawing will look more childlike when the eyes are proportionally much larger than the other features on the face.

3. Create a simple hairstyle for your little manga girl, making sure the hair covers the ears. This will help the reader realize that she is a girl, not a little boy.

4. Create the girl's body by using a two-to-one ratio with the head. The body should be short and rounded, spanning twice the length of the head. Although this is a young girl, the bottom half of her body can be filled out a little more than that of a little boy.

5. Add clothing that is traditionally female, such as a dress or skirt with a floral pattern. Ribbons and bows may work well too.

Draw Older Girls in the Manga Style

1. Create an older face for your manga girl by drawing smaller eyes and adding eyelashes. Enlarge her mouth a bit, and make her face a little more angular than the little girl's rounded head.

2. Add longer hair, and make the style more sophisticated for an older girl or adult female.

3. Lengthen the body gradually as you age your character. An adult manga character's head-to-body ratio can be up to one to eight.

4. Thin out the girl's torso and add curves if they are appropriate to the age of your character.

5. Draw feet for your manga girl that are a little smaller in relation to her body than the young girl's feet.

6. Add clothing and accessories that determine her age. This can include a school uniform, a shirt with ruffles or earrings.

Tips & Warnings

• If you do not have any real-life models to use, look at magazine ads or catalogs to see how little girls dress and hold themselves. This may help you be more accurate in your drawings.

• To depict very young children, manga artists often draw them as "chibi" or, as English speakers call them, "super deformed" or SD characters. This means the body proportions are smaller than a real person would have. The head is very large compared to the body and the arms and legs are very short.