How to Start Drawing Anime: 25 Step-by-Step Tutorial and Classes

Before you know it, you’ll be drawing your own anime characters!

.Anime, which refers to hand-drawn or digitalized animation, has taken off in recent years as more and more fans are drawn to its unique artistic style and storylines. Anime characters are known for having big emotions and expressions and, as such, people across the globe are becoming increasingly interested in learning how to draw anime.

To help in your own anime drawing endeavors, we’ve compiled a list of classes and tutorials to help you with everything from how to draw anime step-by-step to how to take your art digital and develop your own unique characters.

25 Anime Tutorials and Classes

Drawing Anime Heads and Hair

1. Anime Hairstyles for Women

Learn how to draw short, medium, and long anime hairstyles for female characters.

If you’re focused on how to draw anime girls, Skillshare instructor Yanting Sun can help you create the perfect hairstyle for your character. She breaks the hair drawing process down by using simple, known shapes and reference photos.

2. Anime Hairstyles for Men

In this course, graphic novel artist Rush Hamden shows you how to draw anime hair on your male characters, from pencil sketches to traditional Japanese anime inking.

3. Simple Head Shapes

Find the right shape for your anime characters head, then add details.

As Skillshare instructor Jay Dubb says, “drawing is fun, but it can be frustrating.” Save yourself the hassle and learn how to draw anime heads using his tried and true simple shapes methods. He’ll show you how to create a character head using a circle, rectangle, and triangle.

4. Heads From Any Angle

Open up new possibilities for your anime drawings by learning to draw heads from any angle.

When planning your anime drawing, it is helpful to have the ability to draw your character’s head from any angle as they move and animate across the page or screen. In this course, Skillshare instructor Nina Rycrof shows you how to draw a head using a three-dimensional model and gridded axis points.

5. Anime Head Guidelines

For some artists, it’s helpful to see the line work broken down into steps.

If you’re on the hunt for a precise guide to how to draw anime heads, Skillshare instructor Coffee Allen’s course will be helpful. She’ll teach you how to sketch your anime character’s head using a series of lines and measurements.

Drawing Anime Faces

6. Beginners’ Guide to Anime Faces

This infographic shows each component of a female anime character’s face.

Skillshare instructor Sensei’s course is a great masterclass in anime faces. If you’re learning how to draw anime for beginners, Sensei’s advice will help you understand the fundamentals of anime characters and draw them with ease.

7. Proportions in Anime Face Design

Proportions are important when designing anime faces.

Anime drawing and character design is unique in that it allows for open-ended creativity while still remaining within standard design principles, like proportions. In this course, Skillshare instructor Yazuki Wolf explains the importance of proportions and helps you learn how to draw anime faces digitally, using gridded maps.

8. Anime Faces in Profile

Drawing anime characters from the side presents a whole new challenge for artists.

It’s important to be able to draw your anime characters from varying angles, especially when animating them. With this in mind, Sensei teaches you how to draw your anime characters from the profile perspective.

9. Anime Eyes

Bring your anime eyes to life with different styles and drawing techniques!

Part of what makes anime so popular is that characters are known for having loud expressions and emotions. To help convey these sentiments through your anime character’s face, follow along as artist Enrique Plazola teaches you how to draw anime eyes in four different styles!

10. Anime Noses

Learn how to draw the perfect nose for your anime character.

When you’re learning how to draw anime lips, eyebrows, or other specific facial features, it’s helpful to have focused instruction—and noses are no exception! In this course, Skillshare instructor Leon F. Andersen teaches you how to draw noses with varying degrees of detail.

Drawing Anime Bodies

It's time to move onto the intricacies of figure drawing with the whole anime form. Revisit the basics in this tutorial from Skillshare teacher and character drawing legend Jazza, and then put that pencil to paper.

Explore these helpful character design tips from Skillshare Originals teacher Jazza.

11. Standing Anime Figures

Start with a stick figure and end up with an anime character!

In this course, Skillshare instructor Sensei breaks down how to draw anime body parts by beginning with simple lines and building upon them to create a full character.

12. Anime Hands

Take the guesswork out of drawing hands by breaking them down into simpler, more familiar shapes.

If you know how to draw anime hands, you open your anime characters up to all kinds of possibilities. Hands can be drawn in different poses, from different angles, and even holding objects. If you’re not sure where to begin, follow along as Skillshare instructor Pluvias teaches you all of this and more!

13. Anime Feet

To enhance your anime character design, learn how to draw feet and toes.

According to Skillshare instructor Pluvias, drawing anime feet is actually easier than learning how to draw anime hands. In this course, she will show you how to create feet for your anime character from different angles and positions.

14. Anime Clothes

Add clothing to your anime drawing to give your character personality.

Clothing is another excellent way to add uniqueness to your anime character. If you’re not sure where to begin, Pluvias will teach you how to draw everything from dresses to jeans!

15. Anime Shoes

No anime character is complete without a great pair of shoes!

Looking to customize your anime character even further? Pluvias will teach you how to draw many different shoe styles, and even how to show different ways of tying your character’s shoes!

Digital Anime Drawing and Animation

16. Draw Chibis

Practice digital anime drawing with cute little chibis!

Chibis, or miniature characters who fall under the umbrella of anime art, are a great choice for beginning digital anime drawing because they are simpler in design than traditional anime. In this course, Skillshare instructor Emily Weiland will teach you how to create your own chibis and begin to animate them using Procreate.

17. Anime Drawing Timelapses

Try something new and incorporate timelapse functions into your anime art.

In this course, Skillshare instructor David Samuelson invites you to take your digital anime drawings to the next level by filming a time lapse of your entire drawing process. He first breaks down each step of his “twins” drawing, and then combines them into one cohesive clip.

18. Character Posing

Digital anime art gives your anime characters endless posing options.

One of the best things about digitizing your anime drawings is that you have limitless options for posing and positioning your characters. Character designer and animator McCoy Buck shows you how to do exactly that using digitized vector points for reference.

19. Inking

To take your anime art digital, you need to know how to ink properly.

If you plan to digitize your anime drawings, inking—the practice of outlining your drawing with dark ink—is helpful for maintaining the integrity of your hand-drawn design when it’s converted into Photoshop, Procreate, or your digital editing program of choice. Creative director Camilla D’Errico teaches you how to ink your drawings and also how to edit your inked anime characters in Photoshop.

20. Animate Your Drawings

Bring your anime drawings to life with simple animation techniques.

If you’re looking for a fun challenge, follow along as Skillshare instructor Will Constantine shows you everything you need to animate your characters—from sketching to full digitalization and movement.

Anime Character Design

21. Planning Your Anime Character

An anime character created by Skillshare student Linda L.W.

When learning how to draw anime characters, you first have to consider who you want your character to be! In this course, Skillshare instructor Jazza Brooks walks you through everything from choosing a color scheme to creating the environment around your character.

22. Painting Your Character

Skillshare student Charlie Cunniffe painted his anime character in deep oranges and golds.

Once you’ve decided upon a color scheme for your character, the real fun begins. Skillshare instructor Robert Marzullo shows you everything you need to know to create and paint fun anime characters in the digital space.

23. Designing a Warrior

No one said that anime characters had to be dainty!

If you’re looking to create a strong anime character, then you’ll enjoy Skillshare instructor Robert Marzullo’s course on how to design an anime warrior. He’ll take you step-by-step from the first sketch to the final touches.

24. Mythical Anime Characters

Create your own anime mermaid with Skillshare instructor Emiline F. Cosplayer

Though you may not associate anime with mythical creatures, it’s fair game when it comes to character design. Create your own anime mermaid, unicorn, or dragon character—you’re limited only by your imagination!

25. Combine Character Styles

Combine different styles to create your own unique anime character!

Though you may never have heard of a ninja skateboarder or a singing surfer, one of the best things about anime character design is that there are no rules! Feel free to combine different character types and styles to create a character that represents you and your interests.

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