How to Draw Samurai Jack

The nameless warrior nicknamed “Samurai Jack” is a cartoon character in a cinematic plot to avenge the murder of his family and the destruction of his father’s empire. An inspirational figure, Samurai Jack never ceases to seek out the evil demon Aku. Drawing Samurai Jack is easy in appearance, but getting the right pose and attitude in the character is a challenge. Following some steps for contour, measurement, texture and depth will produce a fearless and striking pose in your avatar of the warrior daimyo, Samurai Jack, that is bound to send shivers down the twisted spine of the infamous villain Aku.

Things You'll Need

• Drawing pad
• H pencil (lightest)
• B pencil (darkest)
• Color pencils or markers

Instructions

1. Find the center of the paper. Use a very light pencil to draw a line from the top-left corner of the paper to the bottom right of the paper. Draw another line from the top right to the bottom-left side of the paper. The cross is the center where you’ll draw Samurai Jack’s head. Simply draw a short, horizontal line through the center of the crossed lines. Use a light pencil to do this. Do not press hard. You will erase these guide lines later on.

2. Draw a very short horizontal line slightly below the first horizontal line. You now have a guide line for the eyes and the nose. Draw a medium length line below the nose guideline. This is Samurai Jack’s mouth. Draw two vertical lines--one on either side of the center point of the cross section. These lines form the contour of Samurai Jack’s head. Draw a horizontal line, slightly less than the width of the eyes guide line and at a distance from the mouth line at twice the distance from the eyes to the mouth. The ratio depends on how big you draw your eye lines and the contour for the head.

3. Draw a horizontal line just about 1/4 inch or so below the jaw line/chin. Make this line slightly wider than the sides of the head. This line marks the collar width and shoulders starting point. Remember to use a light pencil to draw the guide lines.

4. Draw a horizontal line above the eyes. This line will be at a distance from the eyes equal to the distance of the mouth to the eyes. Draw a small hair knot/pony tail from the top of the head to just a little above the head. The easiest way to draw the hair knot is to draw a zigzag or lightning-bolt shape. Alternatively, draw a small right angle triangle with a horizontal bar through the center.

5. Measure the length of the head, top to bottom, and then place your ruler at the collar. Use the same measurement you took from the head to mark a point below the collar guideline. Draw a horizontal line hear that is roughly the same width as the collar guideline. Draw another horizontal line above the line you just made. You now have the sash or waistband for your Samurai Jack cartoon. Draw a large Y above the sash, so that the bottom of the Y touches the sash, and the top of the Y meets the collar at shoulder width apart.

6. Draw the neck lines with a medium pencil. These lines are intended to be permanent, so make sure you get the angle you want.

7. Draw the contour of the shoulders and arms as one line on each side. Curve this line out slightly. Imagine the silhouette of an umbrella while you draw these lines. Bring the pencil inward, just below the sash. Draw two parallel lines slightly further apart as they are drawn away from the sash. These lines form the body. You should now have the contour for the head, neck, body, arms and the belt.

8. Draw the outline for the wrists and hands. The hands are drawn in a downward position and appear ready for action. Visualize in your mind a cowboy ready to draw his firearm in a moment’s notice. That’s the Samurai Jack stance. The hands may be drawn like an upside-down letter Y. Visualize two tuning forks, and then draw the hands to resemble your visualization. Carefully draw out the individual fingers--three or four fingers visible at a time on each hand. Draw Jack’s hands so that they are just slightly shorter than the length of the head by comparison.

9. Close Samurai Jack’s contour by drawing a line from each end of the body guidelines. Draw a line coming out from the bottom of the hem of Samurai Jack’s kimono cloth. Curve the line out and back up to the hem to form one foot. Do the same for the other, but leave the foot out at an angle slightly away from the body. This gives the samurai drawing the appearance of a prepared fighting stance. Go back and square out the feet a bit as needed with your pencil and eraser. Darken the feet with a heavy pencil after you have achieved the desired stance.

10. Draw the sword’s contour. Samurai Jack never pulls out his sword unless he’s going to use it. Draw Samurai Jack’s sword in its sheath on the right side (his left). Exaggerate the length of the hilt of the sword. Make the hand guard a small rectangle shape, slightly angled so that it appears diamondlike in shape. Draw the hand guard just under the armpit, and to the side of the sash. Draw the sheathed blade behind Samurai Jack’s right side (left on the paper). Start by drawing a thin rectangle at an angle to the body, parallel to the cross line from the top right of the page to the bottom left of the page. Slightly curve the sheath to give it a more realistic look for a samurai’s curved blade. Draw some X marks along the hilt of the sword. This will give your sword hilt a look of wrapped cloth or leather-bound texture.

11. Draw wavy lines on the kimono and sash. This adds depth and texture to the kimono. Draw toes and wavy lines for the sandals and feet.

12. Finish Samurai Jack’s face by adding facial features: almond-shaped eyes, nose line, expression in the mouth, check-mark eyebrows and arched eyebrows and semicircles for ears just below the eyes. Add dark pupils with the heaviest pencil you have, usually a B pencil. The latter will add seriousness in the expression of your Samurai Jack avatar.

13. Draw an M shape for the hairline on Samurai Jack’s head. Color in the volume with a black-colored pencil. Darken the eyebrows, too. Color in the sword’s sheath black. Make the hilt checkered, but darker than the hilt so that the sword’s hilt appears closer to the front of the drawing. Darker colors will give your drawing the appearance of being closer. Color the sandals dark black to bring the feet forward, and make the stance of Samurai Jack more solid. Darken some of the wrinkles on the sash and add more wrinkles to make the sash appear rugged.

Tips & Warnings

• Use dark shades for your foreground, and use light shades for your background.