How to Draw an Anime Girl

In this tutorial, we will show you how to draw an anime girl. This guide will help you continue to master the basics of anime drawing techniques.

We all know that anime is home to distant Japan. It was here that such works as “No Longer Human”, “Spirited Away”, “Your Name”, “Princess Mononoke” and others were created.

And what unites them all? That’s right, a uniquely distinctive style! You see a character with colorful hair, big eyes, surrounded by a Japanese setting, and you immediately realize that this is an anime.

Right now, we will learn how to draw an anime girl, and imagine that our character is the future heroine of another anime masterpiece! Have you presented? Well then, go ahead!

How to Draw an Anime Girl

Step 1 – Sketch the Basics

The base of any anthropometric character is the centerline. It plays the role of a spine and will further serve as a guiding vector. Thanks to this line, we will be able to visually correctly determine the growth of the character. This anime girl will not be too tall, slender, and athletic. On the centerline, we will “plant” arbitrary ovals, the uppermost of which will determine the position of the head. You can tilt it slightly to the left. This will give the feeling that the character is in a certain pose.

Step 2 – Sketch the Arms and Legs

Using thin lines define the position of the shoulder joints and forearms. As you already understood, these guidelines will form the arms in the future. Sketch the shoulder with a bold point, do about the same with the elbow. All these points will help us visually determine the length of the arm and match the size of the entire character. Next, do the same with the legs, sketching them with simple lines and dots.

Step 3 – Sketch the Facial Guidelines and Torso

Using two simple lines sketch out the facial guidelines. The intersection of lines is not in the very center, but slightly below. We remember that this intersection is needed for the correct positioning of the facial details. Using a couple of smooth lines sketch out the outlines of the torso. Note that the torso should taper at the waist.

Step 4 – Add Volume to the Arms

Draw parallel lines around the joints. Just straight lines parallel to each other. After that sketch out the hands. One is simply lowered, the second rests on the waist. Recall that the tradition of drawing anime is such that the male and female figures are quite noticeably different from each other.

Step 5 – Sketch the Legs

The legs should be sketched in the same way as the arms. That is, using modified cylinders, you should sketch out the upper and lower legs, and with the help of circles sketch the knees. In the same step, you need to sketch the feet.

Step 6 – Draw the Eyes

An important and essentially basic detail of any anime character is big eyes. Draw two large circles almost at the very edges of the head oval. Above them draw the eyelashes. Draw the eyebrows with short lines. Draw the nose with a dot and denote the mouth with a very short line.

Step 7 – Draw the Anime Girl’s Hair

The individuality of the anime character can also be emphasized by the hairstyle. In the final result, we will have two fluffy ponytails, and now we will draw the central part of the hair. Do not forget to draw the contours of the jaw with a few lines.

Step 8 – Draw the Ponytails of the Anime Girl

Nothing really complicated – just play with the lines. With light movements, draw long lines as in the example below. Each such line is not a hair, but a trajectory of the direction of hair tufts, which sets the relief and volume.

Step 9 – Draw the Top of the Clothing

Use two inverted triangles to decorate the collar of the suit. In the area of the neckline, draw a festive bow. The outline of the clothes should follow the outline of the body.

Step 10 – Draw the Arms of the Anime Girl

The lines defining the sleeves need to be traced. To indicate the folds, we will determine their location – usually, folds appear when the fabric is bent. Make the line wavy as shown in our example. It remains to separate the cuffs with a line.

Step 11 – Draw the Hands of the Anime Girl

Using the previously sketched guidelines draw the hands. Please note that one hand is at the waist, and the other is slightly clenched. Because of this, the left and right hands are drawn differently.

Step 12 – Draw the Skirt

Now using smooth and curved lines draw the skirt. Note that the folds should emphasize the movement of the fabric. You can of course dress your drawn anime character in any other outfit.

Step 13 – Detail the Legs

Using long, flowing lines, trace the legs to give them a more complete look. Please note that the legs should taper smoothly from the hips to the knees, then slightly widen in the calf muscles and then taper again in the ankle area.

Step 14 – Draw the Feet

Our heroine needs lightweight shoes to have fun with her friends. These are such simplified shoes. They take up very little space in the drawing. Draw a neat line along the rise of the foot, let’s take another look at how the shoes look.

Step 15 – Erase the Guidelines

Carefully erase all the lines that “propped up” the anime girl drawing from the inside. By tracing the drawing, you will give it more manga style. Once again, we will clearly mark the lines, for example, trace the hair and show how rich and lush they are!

Step 16 – Color the Anime Girl Drawing

As you can imagine, this is a stage in which you are free to act as you please. You can color your drawing of an anime girl in the colors from our example. Or you can come up with your own color palette. You can also add some shadows to make the anime girl drawing even more voluminous.

We are sure that the anime girl drawing tutorial allowed you to show your skills to the maximum! Write in the comments which anime you are watching!