Anime Drawings: Manga Eyes, Anime Hair and Cartoon Lips

Anime, sometimes known as "anamation," is a Japanese style of animation. Anime drawings have a style that sets them apart from other animation. An anime sketch is stylized, with large "manga" eyes, simplified cartoon lips, expressive eyebrows and often only the hint of a nose.
 
Learning to draw your favorite anime icons isn't that difficult if you're willing to put in a little time and practice. Understanding the basics of anime drawings is also a big help, and there are conventions that hold true for any anime sketch.
 

Manga Eyes

Manga eyes are the most expressive aspect of an anime icon's face. Different anime drawings use different styles of manga eyes, but certain rules apply in all cases.
 
Despite the stylized nature of manga eyes, understanding how more realistic eyes are drawn is very helpful. Manga eyes, after all, are exaggerations of natural eyes. A drawing anatomy book will have examples of how realistic eyes are drawn.
 
Manga eyes are used to convey emotion. Narrow eyes indicate anger or sadness. Wide eyes suggest the anime icon is happy or surprised. Really wide eyes are used for shock or extreme surprise.
 
In some cases, manga eyes may be simple slits or dots. These extremely simple eyes may indicate anger, disapproval, plotting or bemusement depending on the character and circumstances.
 
Eyebrows are as important as manga eyes when an anime icon expresses emotion. High eyebrows indicate surprise, while rounded eyebrows express happiness. Eyebrows that slant toward the nose suggest anger or displeasure, while eyebrows that curve upward are often used to convey sadness.

Anime Tears and Sweat Drops

Anyone familiar with Japanese animation knows of the notorious "sweat drop." Essentially, sweat drops look like anime tears. The sweat drop appears on one side of the face, usually to add emphasis to embarrassment or uneasiness.
 
Anime tears, like so much in anime drawing, are stylized and exaggerated. Anime tears seem to explode out of the outer sides of the eyes on either side of the face. Another option for anime tears is to draw two wavy lines down from each eye to indicate tears.
 
Anime tears are often used for comic effect. If a situation is serious, however, anime tears are drawn more realistically.

Anime Hair

No discussion of Japanese animation is complete without mentioning anime hair. Anime hair comes in a rainbow of colors, from natural hues to outlandish greens, blues and purples.
 
Anime hair often seems to break the laws of physics, with enormous spikes and exaggerated features. (Just think of Cloud's spiky hair in "Final Fantasy VII," or the enormous pompadours of anime thugs.)
 
Rather than draw each hair, anime drawing suggests thickness through lines of hair. These lines should be wider than the crown of the head and narrow toward the edges of the hair.

The Anime Face: Front View

A front view of most anime faces begins with a pencil drawn circle. Lightly draw the circle, and then draw a vertical line through the center of the circle. Lightly draw a dashed line horizontally through the circle, and then draw a second horizontal line slightly below the dashed line.
 
A sharp chin is a typical feature of an anime sketch. Draw the jaw line so the chin makes a V, with the point of the V meeting at the vertical line. Add a couple of lines draw down from the two sides of the jaw to suggest a neck.
 
The bottom of anime eyes should be approximately at the same level as the solid horizontal line you drew, with the eyebrows at the same level as the dashed line. Add your anime icon's nose along the center line, with a simplified anime mouth just below the nose. When you draw in anime hair, remember that hair does not lie flat on the skull, so the top of the hair should be above the circle.

The Anime Face: Profile

Anime faces in profile also start with a circle with a vertical line through the center. As with a front face anime sketch, the circle has a horizontal dotted line through the center with a second horizontal line slightly below the dotted line.
 
On either the left or right side of the dotted line, draw a line straight down, curving up to the center line to provide a jaw line.
 
The location of the manga eyes is at the same height as in a frontal sketch: The bottom of the eyes rests at the same level as the solid horizontal line, with the eyebrows at the dotted line.
 
The ear is centered on the middle line, with the bottom of the ear at the solid horizontal line, and the top approximately an equal distance above the dotted line. As with cartoon lips and anime noses, the ears are usually simplified, with only a few lines hinting at their shape.
 
Draw the nose, cartoon lips and chin using the straight section of the jaw line as a guide. Round the forehead slightly and add the anime hair.

Perfecting the Anime Face

Learning to draw anime icons takes time, and your first attempts may not look perfect. That's fine. Think of every mistake you make as an opportunity to improve your anime faces, and keep sketching and doodling. In time, your anime drawing will improve.
 
Resources
 
Manga Tutorials (n.d.). Basics. Retrieved January 9, 2008, from the Manga Tutorials Web site: http://www.mangatutorials.com/index.htm.
 
Marshall, M. (2006). Lesson 1: Faces. Retrieved January 9, 2008, from the Akemi's Anime World Web site: animeworld.com/howtodraw/faces.html.
 
Marshall, M. (2006). Lesson 3: Eyes. Retrieved January 9, 2008, from the Akemi's Anime World Web site: animeworld.com/howtodraw/eyes.html.