How to Draw Cartoon Japanese People

Draw Japanese cartoon people.

Japanese folklore holds that Japan became a country in 600 B.C., and that its ruler at that time, Emperor Jimmu, was a descendant of deities. Japan first made contact with the West in 1542, after which Western influence grew rapidly. However, Japanese fears of an invasion by Europe forced all Westerners out soon after. This isolation lasted for two centuries. When Western influence returned, it eventually led to Japan's replacement of its feudal political system with a constitutional government. Vibrant figures from Japan's history include the geisha, a female entertainer, and the samurai, a warrior from Japan's feudal period.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pencil

Instructions

1. Draw a square at least two inches long by two inches high. This is the cartoon character's torso, seen in front view.

2. Form the legs by drawing two ovals that extend down from the bottom of the square. The ovals are three times longer than the torso, and half as wide.

3. Make the arms by drawing slender ovals that extend down from the top left and right sides of the torso. Ensure the length of both arms is a little less than twice the height of the torso square.

4. For the head draw an oval slightly above the torso. Make the head slightly larger than a quarter of the square's size.

5. Trace the drawing you have so far onto another piece of paper. You'll make a Geisha woman from one drawing and a Samurai warrior from the tracing.

6. Make the geisha's dress flaps by drawing a curve that starts at the figure's left shoulder, moves down and slightly right to the vertical center of the figure and then ends at the left edge of the left leg. Make the right flap the same way, except start and end it on the figure's right side. Erase the portion of the right flap that's overlapped by the left flap.

7. Make the skirt by erasing the left leg's right edge and right leg's left edge to form the appearance of the skirt. Then, draw a wavy line that extends from the bottom left of the left leg to the bottom right of the right leg. This is the skirt's bottom.

8. Complete the geisha by forming the sash. Draw a rectangle whose top edge is the torso's bottom edge. Make the rectangle's height one-third the torso square's height.

9. Begin drawing the samurai. On the figure you traced in Step 5, divide the torso's top edge into three equal segments. Then, draw a rectangle that extends from the leftmost segment directly down to just below the torso. Draw another rectangle from the rightmost segment directly down to just below the torso. These rectangles form the samurai's vest.

10. Form the left shoulder covering by slightly extending both the left and right points of the torso square's top edge. Then, draw a diagonal line (about 45 degrees) down and left from the new top left point of the torso, until it touches the left vest rectangle (from Step 9). Draw the right shoulder covering in the same way, but starting from the new top right point of the torso.

11. Complete the samurai by following Step 7, which creates the skirt.

References

• "Vilppu Drawing Manual"; Glenn Vilppu; 1997
• U.S. Department of State: Background Note: Japan