How do I draw anime eyes?

Draw a heavy upper lash line first — it is the darkest, thickest line on the face — then a large iris that is cut off by both the top lash and often the lower lid. Add one big highlight and one small one, and leave the lower lid as a thin, light line or nothing at all.

How is anime hair different from realistic hair?

It is drawn as clumps, not strands. Each clump starts wide at the scalp and tapers to a sharp point, and the clumps overlap in a clear front-to-back order. Realistic hair is a soft mass with shadow between locks; anime hair is a set of hard shapes.

What proportions does an anime face use?

Eyes sit at or below the halfway line of the head, the chin tapers to a small point, and the nose and mouth are minimal marks placed close together low on the face. The distance from eyes to chin is much shorter than in realistic proportion.

How do I draw a three-quarter anime face?

Draw a circle for the cranium, then a curved centre line down the side you are turning toward. The far eye sits close to the head's edge and is narrower than the near one, and the jaw line runs from the cheekbone to a chin point that is now off-centre.

What is chibi and how do I draw it?

Chibi is an exaggerated small proportion, usually two to three heads tall. Enlarge the head to roughly the same height as the whole body, remove the neck, simplify the hands to mittens, and push the features into the lower half of the face.

How do I get better at drawing anime characters?

Draw the same character's face from four angles on one page. Copying different characters teaches you to copy; turning one character in space teaches you the underlying construction, which is what transfers.

Anime

37 Anime Drawing Ideas: Eyes, Hair, Faces and Poses

Anime style is strict about a few things and loose about everything else. Eyes are large with a hard upper lash line, hair is drawn as clumps that taper to points, and the face keeps a curved centre line through every turn. Break those and it stops reading as the style, no matter how neat the linework is.

Catalog status

37 ideas · 7 illustrated

The ideas below work through those fundamentals in order — eyes, hair, face turns, chibi proportion, then poses and clothing folds.

Generate one instead Browse illustrated references

How to use this list

Centre line through every turn
A curved vertical across the face places every feature. Skip it and the face drifts.
Hair in clumps, not strands
Five tapering clumps beat five hundred strands, every time.
Eyes set the age
Bigger and lower means younger. Narrower and higher means older and colder.

Anime practice ideas

37 ideas, each with a starting point

Work these in order if you are new to the style; the face rules underpin everything after.

Beginner

6 ideas

An anime eye with layered highlights
Big iris, dark upper lash line, two highlights: one big, one tiny.
16 minbeginner
A chibi character with a head as tall as the body
Two-head-tall proportion; tiny hands, no neck.
16 minbeginner
A baby dragon that has not learned to fly
Oversized wings on a stubby body sells the joke.
18 minbeginner
A creature designed from three circles only
Three circles, any sizes. Everything else grows from them.
14 minbeginner
A shape traced from a spilled ink blot, then turned into a creature
Accept the blot's outline; only add eyes and limbs.
16 minbeginner
A chibi version of a serious character
Two heads tall, no neck, features pushed into the lower third.
18 minbeginner

Intermediate

24 ideas

An eye seen straight on, with a visible catchlight
The catchlight is a hard white shape; leave it, do not add it.
24 minintermediate
A face with hair drawn as five big locks
Five masses first. Individual strands only at the very end.
26 minintermediate
An anime character in a three-quarter turn
Cross the face with a curved centre line before features.
28 minintermediate
The same face with three different emotions
Change eyebrows and mouth only. Nothing else moves.
24 minintermediate
A person wearing headphones, eyes closed
Headphones give an easy horizontal to check the head tilt.
22 minintermediate
A person in a raincoat under an umbrella
Umbrella ellipse first, then hang the figure under its centre.
24 minintermediate
A mermaid tail disappearing under the surface
Cut the tail with a hard water line and shift everything below.
26 minintermediate
A unicorn with a spiral horn
Spiral wraps a cone — the twist tightens toward the tip.
22 minintermediate
A tiny fairy asleep in a flower
Scale first: draw the flower large, the figure small.
22 minintermediate
A robot with one clearly damaged arm
Damage sits on one part only; the rest stays clean for contrast.
26 minintermediate
An alien plant nobody has classified
Combine two real plants, then break one rule of both.
24 minintermediate
An original character in their everyday clothes
Silhouette test: it should be recognisable as a black shape.
30 minintermediate
A villain whose silhouette is all sharp angles
Angles only. Test it against a hero drawn with curves.
28 minintermediate
A superhero cape caught in the wind
Cape flows opposite to the movement; anchor it at two points.
24 minintermediate
An anime face in three-quarter view with a large iris
Curved centre line first; the far eye sits tight to the edge.
26 minintermediate
Anime hair drawn as five clumps with sharp tips
Every clump tapers to a point away from the scalp.
24 minintermediate
An anime character shouting, mouth wide open
Mouth becomes a rounded trapezoid; eyes close to arcs.
24 minintermediate
A manga panel with speed lines behind a running figure
Speed lines converge on one point behind the figure.
28 minintermediate
An anime side profile with a small nose and long lashes
Straight forehead-to-nose line, then a sharp step at the lip.
24 minintermediate
Anime eyes showing four different emotions
Change pupil size and lid curve. Nothing else.
26 minintermediate
A school uniform drawn with only four fold lines
Folds appear where fabric is pulled: shoulder, elbow, waist, hem.
24 minintermediate
An anime cat-eared character in a half-turn
Ears sit on the skull curve, not on the outline.
26 minintermediate
A hooded anime character with the face in shadow
One hard shadow shape across the eyes; leave the mouth lit.
28 minintermediate
A robot built from kitchen objects
Pick three real objects and keep their proportions exactly.
24 minintermediate

Advanced

7 ideas

A dragon curled protectively around a small egg
Body coils in one spiral; the egg sits at the spiral's centre.
38 minadvanced
A griffin mid-landing, wings forward
Front half bird, back half cat; the join is at the shoulder.
38 minadvanced
A goblin merchant with too many pockets
Pockets tell the story — vary their size and how full they look.
34 minadvanced
A character turnaround: front, side, and back
Draw horizontal guides across all three so heights match.
45 minadvanced
A character's hands only, showing their job
Calluses, rings, scars, dirt — the hands carry the biography.
30 minadvanced
A magical girl transformation pose
Line of action first — one long curve from foot to raised hand.
34 minadvanced
A mecha head with a visor and vents
Symmetry in perspective: build a centre line, mirror everything.
34 minadvanced

With a picture

7 of these have an illustrated reference

Each reference page pairs one checked illustration with construction order, common mistakes, a self-check, and easier or harder variations of the same exercise.