How to Draw Anime: Tips for Drawing Anime and Manga Characters

Japanese animation, known popularly as anime, is a unique form of cartooning defined by its distinctive lines and shapes, as well as its interesting genres. Whether you simply want to learn to sketch anime figures or are looking to become a proficient anime artist, learning how to draw this type of animation will certainly enhance your skills as an artist.
 
 
As with any form of entertainment art, learning about how anime is used and who it targets can help you understand how to use various artistic elements to create effective and powerful pieces of anime. As a result, before you pick up a pencil and start drawing, familiarize yourself with some of the more popular types of anime genres, which include the following:
  • Bishonen has storylines surrounding hunky, heartthrob boys and, as such, is aimed at teenage girls. “Peach Girl” is a Bishonen series.

  • Bishoujo tells stories about cute, lovable animals and/or girls. “Hello Kitty” is one of the most popular types of Bishoujo.

  • Josei, for young adult women, are anime soap operas. “Deep Love” and “Happy Mania”are types of Josei.

  • Kodomo, a subset of Bishoujo, is for children younger than 10 years old. “Pokémon” and “Digimon”are good examples of Kodomo anime.

  • Seinen, aimed at young adult males, center on violent stories that contain adult situations. “Akira”and “Young Jump” are popular types of Seinen.

Anime Drawing Supplies

To start drawing anime and manga sketches and pieces, you will need the following supplies:
  • a compass (to help you draw arcs and round shapes)

  • a light box (This is literally a box with a glass top that has a light beneath it that illuminates your drawing. Light boxes help you trace images and are key if you want to get into animation.)

  • a ruler

  • erasers

  • paper

  • pencils with both soft and hard lead (While hard lead pencils allow you to make clean, crisp lines, the soft lead varieties allow for easy shading and smearing.)

  • pens.
In this section, we will give you some tips and guidelines for creating various types of anime and manga drawings. Our articles will outline the distinct elements of this unique art form, helping you to learn how to draw anime.

Manga Heads, Faces and Eyes

Because the heads, faces and eyes of your anime or manga characters give them their personalities, these elements can be the hardest to refine. However, starting off your practice by sketching faces is generally a good way to get into anime, as heads and faces are one of the distinctive features of this art form.
 
The easiest place for an amateur anime artist to start is usually with the eyes. Begin by drawing a few different types of eyes. For example, try sketching eyes that reveal emotion, such as happy eyes, sad eyes and angry eyes.
 
Once you understand how to draw expressive eyes, you will be ready to start sketching full manga heads and faces.

Anime and Manga Bodies

After you have a basic concept of how to draw heads, faces and eyes, you are ready to start experimenting with sketching anime and manga bodies. In general, traditional anime and manga characters are drawn as super deformed (SD) characters. This means that, while their heads, hands and feet are abnormally big, their bodies (torsos, legs and arms) are shrunk.
 
As you start drawing different characters and defining their personalities, play around with body shape and clothing choices. You can significantly shape characters' personalities by manipulating their anime and manga bodies.
 
Resources
 
Manga Tutorials (n.d.). Your One-Stop-Site on How to Draw Manga Style! Retrieved January 8, 2008 from the Manga Tutorials Web site: http://www.mangatutorials.com/index.htm.