How to Draw Anime Rain

Rain is one of the most interesting elements you can add to any anime drawing. Rain gives dark, comic book-style anime a dramatic flair and can create interesting layers in serial anime stories. Experiment with adding colorful and dark rain to your anime drawings.

Things You'll Need

• Eraser
• Chalk
• Watercolors or crayons
• Graphite pencil
• Sketch pad

Instructions

Draw Night Rain

1. Shade in a dark background in a color like coal, slate gray or even black.

2. Streak gray chalk or watercolor in diagonal lines from the top of the picture to the bottom in the negative space around your anime character. Your streaks should travel in front of your character as well as behind to immerse him fully in the storm.

3. Place a "halo" (a thin layer of white or gray) around the head and shoulders of your character for a typically anime "hero" look. This also denotes a small splashing effect from the downpour without having to draw endless drops.

Draw Colorful Rain

1. Choose a light or neutral background color such as white, beige, yellow or a pastel primary color.

2. Draw long diagonal dashes of rain in a primary color, such as red or blue, around your anime character. These dashes should be intermittent in length, but should all head in the same direction, such as from top right to bottom left.

3. Add point-of-impact drops on the head, shoulders and arms of your anime character. To do this, make four to five tiny diagonal dashes (in the same color) in an asterisk shape and repeat this in various locations on the body.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep in mind that if it is raining, you will most likely want to draw your character's clothing as wet. To do this, you need to incorporate folds and gathers throughout each garment, making them cling to your character's body. This will accentuate every part of the body, so make sure to master how to draw body parts as well.

• Drops of rain are not typical of anime, and long, diagonal lines are more commonly used in this art form.

• If your character is outside, adding clouds to an ominously dark sky can give your rain a more realistic look. Similarly, a cartoonish cloud in the sky can still give comic book anime pieces a unique look.

• Don't forget to intersect the face and body with rain as well. Many anime beginners forget that rain goes everywhere, not just around the character.