The Ultimate Guide on How to Draw Anime Faces

If you’re like most people, one of the things that must’ve captured your attention when you watched your first anime was the faces of the characters.

Most anime characters aren’t just cute; you can tell that the artists pay a lot of attention to the details.

Even though it will take you some time to gain the same level of skills, we put together this simple tutorial to get you started. You’ll find it easy to follow whether you are new to digital art or just an enthusiastic anime fan.

How to Draw an Anime Girl Face

  1. First, draw a circle to create the basic outline of the face. You can use a compass if you want.
How to Draw an Anime Girl Face

However, the circle doesn’t need to be perfect. So don’t be too hard on yourself if it’s a bit distorted. Make sure the circle is large enough to give you enough room to draw the features.

  1. To make sure you draw a symmetrical face, you’ll need to draw a vertical line in the middle of the circle. The vertical line should be longer than the circle.
  2. Next, you’ll need to create a guideline for the character’s eyes. To do this, measure 2/3 of the circle from the top and draw a horizontal line.

The line should go past the circle’s edges. Draw a second horizontal line near the bottom of the circle. The character’s eyes will be located between these two lines.

  1. Draw a horizontal line below the circle to help you create the jaw and cheeks. The horizontal line is where the tip of the chin will be. To sculpt the chin and the jaw, you’ll need to draw a curved line from one side of the circle to the other.

Make sure it’s angled toward the vertical line at the center. The overall outline of the head should look like an inverted egg by now. Female characters often have rounder faces, so try not to make the jaw too long.

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  1. Sketch in a neck by extending straight vertical lines on each side of the face from the jawline. The neck should be narrow, so make sure the lines you draw are closer to the chin.
  2. Draw the tip of the nose where the vertical and horizontal lines intersect.
  3. Draw the eyes below the guideline you drew in step three. Start with an arched line that goes towards the side of the head. The bottom line of the eye should be anywhere above the tip of the nose. Afterward, draw the eyebrows slightly above the guideline.
  4. Draw the ears but make sure they’re between the eye and nose lines you drew earlier on.
  5. To add the character’s mouth, draw a slightly curved horizontal line between the nose and the chin.
  6. Lastly, clean up the guidelines that aren’t a part of the head or face. Give your character a fun hairstyle, and you’re done.

How to Draw an Anime Boy Face

The fun thing about drawing anime faces is that once you learn how to draw the basics, you can repeat the same process for most characters. To draw a male anime face, you’ll only need to make some slight changes to the steps we’ve listed above.

  1. Repeat steps one to three.
  2. Once you get to step four, make the jaw slightly longer since male characters have narrower faces. Remember to use angled lines when sculpting the chin and the jaw.
  3. When sketching the neck, give the male character a muscular build. Draw the sides of the neck closer to the jawline.
  4. For the male eyes, start by drawing a horizontal line under the guideline. The horizontal line should stop near the side of the head.
  5. Complete drawing your male character using the rest of the steps in the first tutorial.

Even if you don’t get it right the first time, you can just practice until you get the results you want. And you’ll be able to draw all kinds of anime characters before you know it.

How to Draw an Anime Boy Face

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