how to draw a anime manga

by Javier VonRueden 6 min read
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  1. Draw a template of a manga head. Use this as a starting point for your manga characters.
  2. Start with manga hair. Hair is usually one of the traits that instantly identifies a character as manga-style.
  3. Add manga-style eyes. As with hair, eyes are an instantly recognizable hallmark of manga drawing.
  4. Add some facial expressions to your manga faces. These can help communicate emotion in your characters, expressions are very important in drawing manga.
  5. Draw a manga girl. You can try this method or this one.
  6. Draw a manga boy. Change the hair, eyes and facial expression as you see fit.
  7. Try drawing a whole character. Incorporate face, hairstyle, eyes, and expression as you work.
  8. Add unique manga clothing styles. Start by tracing the clothing over a basic form, then erasing unnecessary lines.
  9. Try drawing gothic-style manga clothing. This usually incorporates features such as top hats and petticoats.
  10. Give your manga characters a pet by drawing a dog. Once you get the basic technique down, try adapting it to different breeds.
  11. Add wings to your manga character.
  12. Draw a manga robot. Try combining the shapes into different robots as you get more comfortable with the technique.

So where do you begin with creating a manga character?
  1. Brainstorm Your Character and Build a Concept for Their Pose. ...
  2. Sketch a Wireframe. ...
  3. Correct Proportions. ...
  4. Outline the Shapes to Create a Skin Layer. ...
  5. Draw Facial Proportions. ...
  6. Add Clothing, Decoration, and Hair. ...
  7. Tidy Your Outlines and Ink Your Drawing. ...
  8. Refine Shading and Color.
Oct 2, 2019

Full Answer

How to get better at drawing anime?

  • Get Into A Drawing Routine
  • Learn Basic Anatomy
  • Learn To Draw In Perspective
  • Learn About Value (Light and Dark)
  • Practice Mindfully
  • Learn From The Pros By Using References
  • Learn About Composition
  • Study Different Drawing Styles
  • Be Open To Criticism
  • Don’t Get Discouraged

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How can i Improve my anime drawing?

  • Draw ovals for the upper and lower arms and legs, and then draw a circle at each joint for the knees and elbows. ...
  • For the torso, draw a quadrilateral (a 4-sided shape) that’s wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. ...
  • To outline the hips, draw an oval over the point where the torso and upper legs meet.

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How do you draw yourself in anime?

Beginner Guide to Drawing Anime & Manga

  1. Make Light Line Drawings First. Draw using light lines first and then trace over them with darker lines once you are sure that everything is in the right place.
  2. Use Guide/Construction Lines. Use guide lines to help yourself draw. ...
  3. Plan Out Your Drawing & Draw Larger to Smaller. Estimate your proportions before you start drawing. ...
  4. Keep Different Parts of Your Drawing in the Same Stages of Completion. Try and keep the various objects in your drawing in roughly the same state of completion. ...
  5. Draw Things That Are Hidden. It’s sometimes a good idea to draw things that are hidden by something else. ...
  6. Do Drawing Exercises. As a beginner artist you can really benefit from some fairly simple exercises of drawing lines and basic geometric shapes.
  7. Study the Anime Style. To make art that looks like anime and manga you have to understand their defining characteristics. ...
  8. Check for Mistakes. If you are having trouble spotting your mistakes turn your drawing upside down or hold it up to a mirror.

How to draw yourself as an anime character?

How to Draw an Anime Character Step 1: Draw the Head. Step 3: Draw Anime Mouth. Step 4: Add the Final Touches. Step 1: Outline the Face.

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How do you draw anime manga step by step?

0:0216:43How to Draw Faces for Beginners | Anime Manga Drawing TutorialYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipI'm gonna be drawing a basic female face and a male face I'm gonna start with a male here the usualMoreI'm gonna be drawing a basic female face and a male face I'm gonna start with a male here the usual that you see in most tutorials.

How do you start drawing manga?

Follow the tips and techniques of manga artists.Practise by copying.Understand manga proportions.Try life drawing.Learn manga's visual language.Study popular manga.Cultivate your own manga style.

What do manga artists use to draw manga?

Manga artists use Clip Studio Paint for drawing, paneling, and layering their drawings and Photoshop, PaintTool SAI, and Corel Painter for editing, cleaning, coloring, and formatting. Manga artists access this software using a drawing tablet.

Can you make manga if you cant draw?

Manga quite frequently have separate writers and artists, though not always because the writer can't draw themselves.

How do you create an anime?

2:3814:56How to Make Anime EXPLAINED - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipEven maybe some sketches with different facial expressions. And different poses to really get theMoreEven maybe some sketches with different facial expressions. And different poses to really get the vibe of that character. So that everybody on the team is consistent.

Is manga still hand drawn?

Yes, 80% of manga artists use digital tools today to keep up with their demanding work schedules. Only 20% stick strictly to the traditional way of drawing, and then a few combine traditional with digital.

Why is anime called anime?

The dispute typically begins here: the word “anime” (shortened from “animēshon“) is the Japanese pronunciation of the word “animation.” In Japan, the word is often used as a blanket term for all animated content no matter where it's from.

Is my hero academia drawn digitally?

In order to reduce the risk of infection from the new coronavirus, we are changing from a conventional analog drawing system to a digital drawing system. Because of the change, it took a lot of time to complete the manuscript, and it became difficult to publish it in WJ32, so we decided to put it on hiatus.

What does manga represent?

The majority of manga characters represent humans , and there is really only one actual anime style. When you learn to draw manga, you will notice that, aside from a few variables, this art form embodies the basics of realistic artwork and drawing. Other than the larger-than-average heads and eyes, the rest of the anime characters’ body proportions all make sense, and light and shadow have the same effect as other art. With anime, background artwork is also very realistic most of the time. In fact, it is quite beautiful, as is anime-style food!

Why use omissions in art?

What this means is that you should use lines of varying thicknesses to create more nuance in your artwork. Using omissions can also look really good, especially later on when they start to complement the colored-in areas.

Is black line art hard?

You may feel that drawing your line art in black is too harsh and hard. You can soften it up a bit by giving it a little color. Using a simple brown tone is often best, but you should be objective and adaptive when choosing the right tone and shade for this, bearing in mind the enclosed color and of course, light.

What are the basic shapes of anime characters?

Drawing anime characters is fascinating and looks pretty hard—but, interestingly, all your favorite characters (from simple to extremely complicated) are born out of basic shapes like circles, squares, triangles, and so on.

Why is it important to give anime characters the right body structure?

However, giving them the right body structure enhances their personalities, and viewers can relate to them more as you convey the characters' thoughts and emotions through their physique.

What anime has the colors of the water tribe?

Ren Tsuruga and Shoutarou Fuwa in the anime Skip Beat! An exemplary use of colors is shown in Avatar: The Last Airbender, where the characters from different nations are shown with their respective colors. Water Tribe is shown in blue, Fire Nation has a red color, the Earth Kingdom is green, and Air Nomad is Yellow.

What anime is Yuno from?

An example in the image above is Yuno from the anime Black Clover (the manga artist is Yuki Tabata). Yuno is serious, handsome, and sophisticated. He also has the power of the wind. All these attributes are clearly identifiable in this drawing.

Why is shading important in drawing?

Shading is important—it gives your drawing a real-life look. It enhances the two-dimensional object and creates a sense of three-dimensionality. To perfect your shading skills, first look at how objects of different sizes and surfaces reflect light.

What does it mean to draw in perspective?

And perspective drawing is a method of enhancing the 2D object to give it a look of three-dimensionality. A great example is a cube, as shown above. Though all the sides are equal, they appear smaller from a distance.

How to use color effectively?

To use color effectively, you should be aware of simple theories like warm, cool, and complementary colors. Each color helps depict specific situations—for example, white is a symbol of peace. You can draw characters in white clothes if they are supposed to be plain and simplistic.

How to draw a manga head?

1. Draw a template of a manga head. Use this as a starting point for your manga characters. 2. Start with manga hair. Hair is usually one of the traits that instantly identifies a character as manga-style.

How to draw a Shonen style character?

Start drawing in the clothes, making sure they fit the form of your character. Shonen styles character will have fancy heroic clothes,comedy style has carefree or strange clothes draw the hands and feet, and fill in the, eyes, nose, mouth, hair, etc. 6. Clean up and get ready for inking.

How tall are manga eyes?

Proportions: Manga style is all about manipulating proportions, your character may be anywhere from three to eight/nine heads tall. Compare to a normal human figure, which is generally six or seven. 2.

What is a manga?

This article has been viewed 1,216,233 times. Learn more... "Manga" refers to comics and graphic novels created in Japan, but this style of comic is popular worldwide. To draw manga or illustrations in a manga style, you'll need to practice sketching facial features, clothing styles, and other elements common to manga.

How to make a stick figure?

Add weight and depth to the various parts of your stick figure and you must do it well. Head: Indicate which way it's facing with a line, and then add the chin and cheekbones. Remember that the chin may be very pointy depending on your style. Shorter cheek and round chin indicates cuteness.

How to draw stick men?

Draw the "stick men" This is the basic framework of your character. Draw the lines for where arms/legs will go and their positioning. Draw the circle for the head first, a line for the spine, a line for the shoulders (a little below the head, so there's a neck), a line across for the hips.

Is it better to copy or draw manga?

Copying is better, doing so then you have a concept of what you drew. Find a simple character on a manga you like or on the web. More possibly headshots, Make sure they have relatively easy to draw hair. Fan art can be just as good as the originals.

How to draw anime characters?

While artists have varying preferences about how to structure an anime character’s head and face, they all start with the same basic principle: First draw a circle, and then draw a horizontal line and vertical line directly ...

How to draw anime girl eyes?

Start by sketching a curved upper eyelid, then draw a short line extending down from the outer corner of the eye. Leave the inner corner of the eye open for a softer look. Then, add a circle in the middle of the eye as the iris. Draw a smaller circle—the pupil—in the middle of the iris.

How long should an anime character's legs be?

The legs of an anime character should be approximately as long as the top half of the character, from the top of the head to the waist. Finally, add in the arms. A good rule of thumb is to align the elbow with the character’s waist, and then extend the rest of the arm (including the hand) to about mid-thigh.

What pen do you use to highlight a character?

While you will mostly ink with a black pen, it can also be helpful to have a white jelly pen on hand—you can use this to add highlights, like the reflection points in the character’s eyes. You may also choose to add additional colors with colored pencils or medium of your choice.

What is the difference between a character's nose and mouth?

The character’s nose and mouth will typically be much smaller and simpler than the eyes. The nose, for instance, may just be two small lines that represent the nostrils. Similarly, the mouth may be a simple curved line.

How to draw anime nose?

Depending on how simplistic you want the style to be you can even not draw the nose when showing the head from the front. A good guideline for placing the nose is to first vertically and horizontally divide the head in half.

How to draw a nose shadow?

Draw the nose shadow to one side of the vertical line with it’s horizontal placement between the chin and the horizontal halfway point of the face. Shape the shadow itself a bit like an oval with the side facing towards the horizontal line being slightly flatter.

Can you draw a shadow on an anime nose?

Anime nose shadow drawing side view. For the side view of the “shaded nose” you can actually draw it without any shading (exactly the same as the side view of the first example) . As the shadow is used to help define the nose there is no need for it in a view where the silhouette of the nose is already well defined.

What is manga style?

Since manga is only one style and most of the characters represent people, much of it is based (with noticeable variations) on the basics of realistic drawing. This includes the anatomy and proportions of a person, the effect of light and shadow, or the use of different perspectives.

What is the eye in a manga?

The eyes are usually the eye-catcher in a classic manga figure and may be larger (especially in female and childish figures) compared to the other parts of the face. Then follows the position of the small nose and mouth. To make the face look a little more delicate, I like to just indicate the nose a little.

What is shading in manga?

I want to change this quickly with the shading. Shading is an essential part of manga drawing. Tip: When shading, you should be aware of the direction, angle and strength of your light source. Also, what kind of light (warm, cold, artificial, natural) the shadow creates can be important for your drawing.

What to do if you make a mistake in the color pot?

If you have made a mistake in the color pot, the colors have become too gray or your picture lacks a certain color direction, you can finally correct them with the help of correction layers. I like to use these very much to give my picture the right color mood at the end.

Is it cheaper to draw digitally?

Drawing digitally is of course not very cheap in the beginning, but it has the advantage that you don’t have to pay attention if your pens and colors are all filled up or if you have enough paper left. While drawing you can also correct most mistakes more easily. However, it takes practice to get used to using a drawing tablet, so be patient with yourself. I would recommend using:

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Understanding The Manga Art Style

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Have a look online at different anime and manga animations to get a really good idea of what you are in for. You will notice the eyes immediately, but remember, you have full control of your character’s eye size! You will notice the style used in our example images is quite childlike – the characters all have the typical manga styl…
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Materials You Will Need to Draw Manga

  • Obviously, choosing to do your drawings on a digital platform is not the most affordable, especially in the beginning. That said, once you have made the initial purchase of a graphics tablet and the appropriate software, you will not need any other tools! In particular, there will be no purchasing of costly art supplies! You will also have the awesome advantage of being able to co…
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The Basics of How to Draw Manga

  • You are here to learn how to draw anime characters, and as mentioned before, there are a few different manga styles you can choose from. There are also various techniques. Here, we will cover all the basics while using a graphics tablet for our manga drawing tutorial. You should learn everything quite quickly and relatively easily!
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Frequently Asked Questions

  • How Do You Draw Anime Eyes?
    To learn how to draw anime eyes, you must remember that they are usually bigger and oversized. They are also filled with much detail. We suggest adding some light reflection if you want your eyes to be more alive in appearance. You can draw your eyes in absolutely any color you want t…
  • How Do You Draw Anime Hair?
    When you learn how to draw anime hair, you will begin by creating the basic outline and shape of your desired hairstyle. After this, you will start adding some layers to create more realistic hair. Just like the eyes, anime hair can be any color at all! But, do not forget to add elements of shado…
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