How to Draw Anime Necks

Drawing anime characters varies in detail.

Anime is the action form of Manga, the Japanese art of cartoon drawing. Popular worldwide, manga books and anime films have hundreds of characters, from ordinary humans, such as those in the Marmalade Boy series, to super-humans of action fantasy such as those in the Saiyuki series, to the science fiction characters of the Cowboy Bebop series. Successful anime character representations are drawn to appeal to certain demographics, such as the Shojo style that appeals to girls, as in the Angel Sanctuary series and the Shonan style that appeals to boys, as in the InuYasha series.

Instructions

Marmalade Boy

1. Sketch the heart-shaped face with pointed chins first of a character in the Marmalade Boy series to fit the tall, thin, beautiful, teenage character.

2. Draw a neck that is ¼ inch long per 1 inch of head length. Begin the neck where the face begins to narrow for the chin.

3. Depict two lines for the sides of the neck.

4. Shade slightly under the chin area of the neck to show that the character's neck has no visible fat.

5. Illustrate the character wearing a collared top, to show sophistication.

Saiyuki

1. Draw the fantasy characters of the super-humans in the Saiyuki series as having very long necks to fit their half-starved bodies, allowing at least a half of the head length for the neck. Sketch inner lines to depict muscle and rigidity of the necks.

2. Draw scarves to cover the necks of Sanzo and Son Goku, since they are cold a lot of the time, and San Goku is never illustrated without one.

3. Shade Sanzo's neck with a very dark color, as he wears a tight scarf. Put a couple of curved lines, to show the wrinkling of the fabric around his throat.

4. Illustrate Son Goku's scarf as a blousy one that covers his entire neck and comes up to the bottom of his ears. Depict this by drawing several unconnected rings from his chin to the top of his shirt and shading in random places.

Cowboy Bebop

1. Draw the necks of the excitable, space bounty hunters of the Cowboy bebop series by drawing parallel lines that descend from their chins.

2. Sketch one or two other vertical lines on the neck, as these characters do a lot of yelling, and their throats are strained.

3. Shade one side of the neck deeply to show that there is no excess fat in the throat area.

Angel Sanctuary

1. Draw the necks of the characters in the Angel Sanctuary series by paying attention to the gorgeous detail of the shojo-style manga.

2. Illustrate the slender necks by drawing the two sides of the neck in lines that drop and then curve outward as the reach the top of the shoulders.

3. Indicate the clavicles of the characters that are wearing open-necked or scooped neck tops by sketching two horizontal lines beneath the necks, and then shading under them slightly.

InuYasha

1. Draw InuYasha's shonan neck as though he were a human, even though he is a fantasy character.

2. Sketch a neck that is about a quarter of the length of the head and equally as wide.

3. Draw his collar by sketching two parallel V-shapes at the bottom of his neck, above the shoulder level.

Tips & Warnings

• Some anime characters, such as children and animals, have no necks. Simply place their heads on top of their shoulders.

References

• How to Draw Manga and Anime
• How to Draw Manga: How to Draw
• Drawing Now: How to Draw InuYasha

Resources

• "Marmalade Boy, Vol 2"; Wataru Yoshizumi; 1993
• "Saiyuki, Vol 1"; Kazuya Minekura; 2004
• "Cowboy Bebop, Shooting Star, Volume 1"; Cain Kuga; 1998
• "Angel Sanctuary, Vol. 13"; Kaori Yuki; 1998