How to Draw an Anime Boy

Sample anime boy.

Use a pencil and draw a stick figure. Draw an egg shape for the head and then draw the rest of the body using lines.

• You should be able to find the pose you like easier this way. Keep the limbs of the body proportioned with the head, so that the head is not too big for the body.
• This stick figure is sort of like the skeleton of your anime boy.

Add some form to your stick figure. Add circles where there are joints and form the body by adding more lines. Darken the lines that you will use to start distinguishing the contours.

Draw the face in a sweeping motion. You can choose any expression for your anime boy, but most anime boys have sharp, defined features, with eyes slanting more at an angle towards the middle of the face. Draw a horizontal line across the middle of the face for the placement of the eyes, and a line vertically down the middle for the nose. The example here uses a normal smile and short, unkempt hair.

• As you did for the body, darken the lines you want to keep for the little details. Add a bridge and a tip to the nose.
• Longer strands at the base of the neck are very popular in recent animes.

Draw the clothing for the figure. Since the figure is already complete, all you have to do is add onto the body the outfit you want for him. You can draw the neckline of his shirt and sketch the zipper of pants. Go over the final rubric for the details of his outfit in darker strokes.

Ink the drawing with a black, sharp pen (make sure it's fine point but defined). Remember to add fine details like the pupils of his eyes. Add some shadows in his hair to give it volume and depth. Broaden the shoulders a bit to make him more masculine.

Erase the other lines you used to clean it up.