Draw a Manga Girl
Manga (Japanese comics) come in many different styles, so have fun experimenting! This tutorial shows how to draw a girl in a very recognizable manga style – use it to practice, then customize your character from there!
Steps
- Sketch in the head, using pencil. Draw a circle, and add a point underneath. Add a slim neck and shoulders, and sketch in reference lines dividing the head in half vertically and horizontally.
- Draw in the shape of the eyes, on the halfway line. Try a few styles to find one you like. Draw a line for the top lid, add the iris underneath, then a small line under that for the lower lid. Add a circular highlight/reflection at the top of the iris for sparkling eyes. You can also add eyelashes, giving a feminine touch.
- Add the rest of her features – again, try a few out to decide how you want to draw them. Keep the nose delicate by just drawing a small shadow or line, or a simple curve. The line of the mouth can be faded out in the middle if you choose to, and a small line underneath can suggest the lips. Adding a small notch above the upper lip can also suggest lips. You only need a small line, for when coloring, color the empty space of the lips with the color of your choice. Also shape the edges of the face a bit more, and add her ears.
- Sketch in the hair. Have fun with this - there are dozens of styles and variations you could use! Create flowing shapes with pointed ends, and vary the sizes of the sections. You can draw the hair moving to one side if want it moving in the breeze! You can make it curly or straight- brown or auburn! You can give your girl a ponytail or a bun- plain or crazy. It's all up to you!
- Add any clothes and accessories. Make any adjustments you want. When drawing clothes, they should tell about your girl's personality.
- Go over your pencil sketch in fineliner. Feel free to make adjustments as you go – as you can see the line at the side of her face has been moved in a bit! Then erase the pencil sketch.
- Add a few darker shadows to the ink – for example under the jawline or in the hair. Add some fine lines to the hair at the roots and tips, and some shading in her eyes. Add a few lines of blush under her eyes if you like, and you're done!
Tips
- The eyes are usually quite difficult, and it is common for artists to make mistakes or draw them the wrong way. Sketch these lightly, and don't rush them, until you are happy with your final shape and design, then make it darker and refine it. This saves you from having unnecessary dark lines all over your drawing.
- Look at manga from different artists to see how styles can vary.
- Experiment with different ways of drawing features to find what you like best.
- If you have practiced alot with drawing realistically, just exaggerate proportions to make a realistic drawing into manga!! Manga is really just exaggerated realistic.
- sketch lightly at first, so that if you make a mistake, it's easy to erase.
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