How to Sketch Anime Figures

Japanese animation, called anime, is growing ever more popular as time goes by. Along with this popularity is the desire to emulate the distinctive art style in Japanese popular culture. There are countless ways to draw in the anime style---but you will first need to learn the basics.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pencil
• Paper
• Eraser

1. 
    

   Draw a circle and base the outline of the face on that. There should be small indentations above the cheeks, level with the eyes. Below the cheeks, the face will taper off into a chin. The size of the cheeks and the indentations by the eyes, as well as the shape of the chin, can be used to make a character's face unique.

2. 
    

   Draw a line down the middle of the face, then add two horizontal lines at the top and the bottom of the eye indentations. The middle line is to help approximate the placement of the nose, and the horizontal lines will help keep the eyes level and the same size. The mouth should be about halfway between the eyes and the chin; the tip of the nose should be about halfway between the mouth and the eyes. The ears should be roughly level with the eyes, and don't forget the eyebrows.

3. 
    

   Draw the neck, and draw a horizontal line below it to estimate the width of the shoulders. This will be wider for male than for female characters. The line should be as far down as you want the top of the shoulders to be. Draw circles at the shoulders to estimate the width of the arms.

4. 
    

   Finish the neck by adding a curve down to the shoulders. Draw a torso, then add hips. Add breasts if you're drawing a woman---women generally have smaller waists and wider hips than men.

5. 
    

   Sketch two ovals for the upper and lower arms. They should interlock at the elbows, which will be about level with the waist. The upper and lower arms are about the same size.

6. 
    

   Sketch two ovals for the upper and lower legs, like you did for the arms. When you add the feet, the legs will be as long as the head, torso and pelvis. The knees should be in the middle of the legs.

7. Sketch circles for each hand and a dome for each foot. (The feet are only dome-shaped if viewed from the front or back. From any other angle, a long triangle shape is best for preliminary sketching.)

8. 
    

   Darken the lines you'll be keeping, then erase the guidelines as you see in the accompanying picture. Sketch the outlines of the clothes, and erase body parts that will be covered by them. Draw shoes and hands. Draw in the hair, while erasing any parts of the face that will be covered by the hair.

9. 
    

   Add details to the clothes and body, such as the two small lines denoting the knees.

Tips & Warnings

• The materials listed above are the bare minimum. For example, there are numerous different drawing pencils with a large price range, but you can also learn a lot just from using a plain old #2 pencil. Start with what you have on hand, and experiment with new materials as you get more comfortable drawing. Anime characters can be drawn in countless different styles. Compare the art from some of your favorite shows or comics, and consider the elements you like and dislike. Also, think of this guide as a starting place to developing your own style. There's no right or wrong way to draw, but there are good and bad ways. Practice drawing people in a realistic style as well, either from photographs or from live models if they're available. Realism can help you understand how people and objects are being represented in a different style.

Resources

• Manga Tutorials: How to Draw Anime and Manga Style
• How to Draw Manga
• Polykarbon: Anime Drawing Tutorials

[jamers]

on 10/18/2009 Good directions. The drawings help, too.

[pillywallis]

on 9/7/2009 I really liked the drawing tips. Very encouraging.