How to draw anime how to draw manga

Beginner Guide to Drawing Anime & Manga

This guide is an introduction to the basics of drawing with a focus on the anime and manga style. It provides tips on approaching the drawing process in the right way and suggests some beginner friendly exercises to help you get started.

For a list of other things you can learn that will help you draw anime and manga you can check:

This guide covers the first part of that list (The Basics of Drawing).

1. Make Light Line Drawings First

Draw using light lines first and then trace over them with darker lines once you are sure that everything is in the right place. This be especially helpful for large or more complex drawings.

Light lines are easier to erase if you make a mistake and easier to make (you don’t have to press as hard on the pencil so your hand will be less tired).

Even if drawing digitally it’s still a good idea to first make a sketch and go over it with cleaner lines afterwards.

Tracing your own lines will also work as another exercise to help steady your hand.

Try and draw with as few lines as possible. If you make a mistake with your first line it’s fine to add more lines until you land the correct one but don’t scribble or draw extra lines just for the sake of it. If you make too many mistakes erase that part of your drawing start over.

2. Use Guide/Construction Lines

Use guide lines to help yourself draw. For example if you want to draw a symmetrical head/face from the front view you can first draw a horizontal line though the middle of where you want to draw the face. This line will help you make sure that both halves of the face are even in width. You can then draw a horizontal line (or several lines) to help you make sure that both eyes and both ears are on the same level.

For drawing different styles of anime heads see:

3. Plan Out Your Drawing & Draw Larger to Smaller

Estimate your proportions before you start drawing. You can see that in the above example the girl is 6 1/2 heads tall (as anime characters tend to have larger heads in relations to their bodies then real people). By comparing the size of different parts or objects in your drawing to one another you will be less likely to make a mistake.

Regardless of what you are drawing start with the larger shapes first. You don’t need to always start with the absolute largest shape but definitely don’t start with the smaller details.

If you area drawing a person start with the head and work your way down through the rest of the body. Don’t draw the smaller details like the facial features until you have the shape of the entire body.

Drawing this way will make it a lot easier to fix mistakes. For example if you fully draw out the head with all of the details of the facial features you may then find that the body doesn’t actually fit on your drawing area. You will then have to start over and redraw the entire face again.

Some of these mistakes can be easier to fix if drawing digitally but that doesn’t mean that you should not learn to draw in the correct order.

For more on drawing anime bodies you can see:

4. Keep Different Parts of Your Drawing in the Same Stages of Completion

Try and keep the various objects in your drawing in roughly the same state of completion. If for example you are drawing eyes than draw the outer shape of each eye and then draw the shape of each iris. By doing so you will be more likely to notice if the first one is out of place and you will only need to do a little back tracking if you make a mistake (similar to the previous example).

For more on drawing anime eyes see:

5. Draw Things That Are Hidden

It’s sometimes a good idea to draw things that are hidden by something else.

In the above example some parts of the head and face will be hidden by the hair in the final drawing but you may still want to draw their basic shapes and erase them later. The reason for this is to insure the correct placement of the parts that are visible. For example by doing a light drawing of the second eye you will be able to check the spacing between the eyes which will help you insure that the visible eye is correctly placed. You can also draw the outer shape of the ears to estimate the volume the hair needs in order cover them.

For drawing anime style faces see:

6. Do Drawing Exercises

As a beginner artist you can really benefit from some fairly simple exercises of drawing lines and basic geometric shapes. These exercises will help steady your hand and train you to see (and avoid) common mistakes.

You can do these for about 10-15 minutes at a time.

Straight Lines Drawing Exercises

The most basic exercises is drawing straight lines in different directions. Draw horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines without rotating your drawing area (paper, tablet, etc…).

Curved Lines Drawing Exercises

In addition to straight lines practice drawing curved lines in different directions and try to have nice and smooth curve without jitters or sharp turns. Just like for the straight lines exercise don’t rotate your drawing area.

Basic Shapes Drawing Exercises

Practice drawing basic shapes such as squares, circles, triangles, ovals, rectangles, etc…

Try and draw each shape with only one stroke per side. Draw the circle and ovals with one solid line from start to finish.

Don’t worry if your shapes don’t come out right, simply try and improve on the next shape.

Mixed Drawing Exercises

You can also combine the drawing exercises. For example you can draw a square than inside it draw lines going from one corner to another followed by two more lines going through the intersection point of those lines followed by drawing a circle inside the initial square. But unlike the previous exercise draw this circle a quarter at a time.

In addition to all of the previous benefits this exercise is also really good for learning to draw symmetrical shapes.

Anime head from basic shapes structure

In the above example you can see how an anime style head can be broken down into three simple shapes. The same can often be done with other parts of the body and various other objects. You don’t need to actually draw all of these out every time you want to draw something but its a good example for why learning to draw basic shapes can be so useful.

7. Study the Anime Style

To make art that looks like anime and manga you have to understand their defining characteristics. Fortunately there are plenty of tutorials here on AnimeOutline to help you study these styles. Simply see the Anime & Manga Drawing Tutorials section and pick whatever it is you are interested in drawing.

8. Check for Mistakes

If you are having trouble spotting your mistakes turn your drawing upside down or hold it up to a mirror. This will give you a fresh “perspective” making it easier to see them.

For mistakes beginners commonly make when drawing anime (and fixes for them) see:

Conclusion

Doing the exercises and applying the tips suggested above will help you with the basics of drawing anime. Once you you have a fairly steady hand with good control of your pen or pencil you can move on to more advanced aspects of drawing. These include things such as perspective, color and shading. For some basics on all of these see the following tutorials:

For a suggestions on things that can help you learn to draw anime see:

How to Draw Anime and Manga Hands Step by Step

This tutorial illustrates how to draw anime and manga hands in various positions.

While It’s difficult to have one clear guideline for how to draw hands as they can bend in so many different ways this tutorial provides some basic tips and examples.

For anime hands holding different kinds objects you can see 6 Ways to Draw Anime Hands Holding Something.

Drawing anime hands

Hands a difficult body part to draw and the best way to learn is through a lot of practice.

Drawing anime hands can be a little easier then drawing realistic hands as a lot of the details are left out. But the overall structure and proportions are basically the same.

For drawing arms see:

Drawing Anime Hands With an Open Palm

If you are a beginner then you should practice by first drawing the hand with the palm open and fingers extended to get an idea of the proportions. You can also look at photographs other drawings or at your own hands for reference.

Step 1 – Drawing the Palm & Thumb Base

Draw a rough shape of the palm. Next draw the rough shape of the base of the thumb to get it’s proportions in relation to the palm.

Step 2 – Analyzing the Proportions of the Hand

Study the proportions of the fingers.

The fingers (fully extended) and the palm of the hand should be roughly the same length. The tip of the thumb if drawn at a 45 degree angle to the hand should reach to just slightly below the knuckle bone of the index finger.

The fingers consist of 3 parts with the distance from the tip of the fingers to the top joint being the shortest and the distance from the knuckles to the bottom join being the longest.

Step 3 – Drawing the Fingers

Draw the outer shapes of the fingers and the thumb.

Step 4 – Cleaning Up & Finalizing the Drawing

Clean up the drawing and add the details such as the lines and small wrinkles along the palm and the fingers. These will generally be positioned around the finger/thumb joints. Draw a thicker line for the overall shape of the hand and a thinner for the details.

Drawing Anime Hands Side View

Step 1 – Drawing Side View Palm & Thumb Base

This is a difficult view to draw but a very common position of the hand.

Drawing anime hands side view palm and thumb base

Draw the overall shape of the hand without the thumb or fingers and draw the shape of the base of the thumb after.

Step 2 – Drawing Thumb & Fingers

For the purpose of the tutorial I will fully draw out the structure of all the fingers (even the parts that wont be visible in the final drawing) for you to use as a reference. You do not need to do this (especially if you are drawing on paper) but you should be aware of the positioning of the invisible parts of the fingers to avoid mistakes when drawing that parts that are visible. For example if you can only see the tip of the pinky but you don’t consider the length of the rest of the finger you can end up drawing the tip too far up or too far down the hand.

Step 3 – Drawing Other & Fingers

Same as step two.

Step 4 – Cleaning Up & Finalizing the Side View Drawing

Clean up the drawing and add the details such as the small wrinkles around the joints of the fingers and thumb as well as the fingernails.

For more on drawing fingernails see:

Drawing Anime Hands Closed Palm Side View

This position of the hand would be used for something like holding a grocery bag. It’s close to a fist but not quite the same.

Step 1 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Basic Shape

Draw the overall shape of the whole hand in this position. Next draw the shape of the side view of the palm.

Step 2 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Finger Proportions

Draw the overall shape of the fingers and get the proportions for the pinky.

Step 3 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Fingers

If you need a better understanding of how to draw the rest of the fingers (following the pink) in this view you can use the same method as in Steps 2 – 3 of the side view example.

Step 4 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Thumb

Get the proportions for and draw out the thumb.

Step 4 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Details

Clean up your drawing and add the details.

Drawing an Anime Fist

Step 1 – Drawing Anime Fist Basic Shapes

Draw a rough overall shape of the fist and afterwards draw the overall shape of the combined fingers.

Step 1 – Drawing Anime Fist Thumb Proportions

Draw the shape of the base of the thumb and get the proportions for the rest of it.

Step 1 – Drawing Anime Fist Thumb & Finger Proportions

Draw out the thumb. Draw the fingers slightly thicker than normal (squeezed) to show that the fist is clenched. Also be aware that in a clenched fist the fingers fan out slightly in a direction away from the base of the thumb.

Step 1 – Drawing Anime Fist Details

Clean up your drawing and add the details.

Drawing Anime Male and Female Hands

Anime male and female hands are often drawn in basically the same. However when drawing close ups of the hands there are a few differences.

Female hands are usually more slender and curvy with long fingernails. Male hands are usually bigger in comparison.

Simplified Anime Hands

When drawing hands for something like a manga you don’t always need to make a detailed drawing. Sometimes a basic outline of the main feature of the hand is enough. For example if you are drawing a character that is in the background you don’t need to draw the fingernails on their hand.

How to draw anime hands

Conclusion

It takes a lot of practice to be able to draw properly structured hands in different views. Depending on your skill level as an artist your drawings may not come out the way you like at first but don’t get discouraged, hands are difficult to draw. If you draw on a regular basis you can improve.

Hopefully you found this tutorial helpful as it was very time consuming to create. Don’t forget to check out some of the other Tutorial on the site.

Tips on How to Learn How to Draw Anime & Manga

If you are a fan of anime or manga and would like to learn how to draw in the style but have no idea where to start this article will provide you with a list of things you should learn as well as some links to relevant tutorials.

If you are looking for advice on making your own manga you may also be interested in:

How to learn to draw anime

The above illustration shows some of the things you will need to know to be able too draw anime and manga. Below is a detailed breakdown of each.

1. Learn the Basics of Drawing

Drawing anime characters is great. But if you are a total beginner to drawing in general you should start by learning the basics. Practice drawing simple things like straight lines and basic shapes like circles and squares. This can be boring at times but will help you improve.

Continue drawing anime or anything else you might like. Practice drawing basic lines and shapes a few minutes a day and then draw anything you find fun or interesting after that.

For a detailed guide on the basics of drawing as well as tips on approaching the drawing process in the correct way see:

2. Learn Perspective Drawing

Perspective is objects getting smaller as they go farther off into the distance. A good example of this is if we were to look at a cube. Even though all sides of it are even the sides that are further away from the viewer will appear smaller. The larger the object the more noticeable this will be.

Perspective drawing is taking this effect into account and portraying it in a correct and realistic way. You can practice by drawing basic three dimensional objects such as cubes and cylinders from different angles. Later on this will help you draw more complex shapes and even anime character.

To learn about some of the basics of perspective drawing you can check:

3. Learn Some Basic Anatomy

You don’t need to be a doctor to draw people but some basic anatomical knowledge will definitely help. Knowing the proportions and placement of different body parts will help you avoid making mistakes when drawing. In anime certain proportions may be exaggerated but overall anime and manga characters are still usually based on real anatomy.

For drawing anime character bodies you can check:

4. Learn How to Shade

Properly shading in a drawing can give otherwise two dimensional objects a three dimensional appearance. To be able to shade an object in a proper and realistic way you need to study how light reflects off of different shapes and surfaces. But the basic rule is that the side of an object that is facing the light source will be the lightest and the one facing away from the light source will be the darkest.

Correct shading can help indicate the lighting conditions of an environment, the time of day, and even the weather.

For example if you are drawing a character that is outside on a bright sunny day. Then the shadows would be fairly sharp with high contrast between shaded and lit areas. On a foggy or rainy day it should be the opposite the shadows would be fairly blurry and harder to see with far less contrast between shaded and lit areas.

The shading technique used in anime is highly simplified but is still based on the study of real people and settings.

For some basic examples of anime style shading see:

5. Learn How to Use Color

To be able to use color effectively you should learn at least some of the basics of the color theory such as warm and cool and complimentary colors. You can always look at a color wheel if you need some help remembering which colors are which. The colors across from each other on the color wheel are the complimentary colors. An example of a warm color would be yellow. An example of a cool color would be blue.

Using the right combination of colors you can create a more interesting and attractive looking anime character.

For more on color anime see:

6. Use Reference Material When Drawing

No matter what you are drawing it is always good to have some reference material, especially if you are a beginner. This can be photographs or real objects, people and animals.

Study the work of other artists to see how anime and manga are drawn. Learn the style.

For tips on designing your own manga or anime character you can check:

For help with catching and fixing mistakes see:

7. Be Patient and Don’t Give Up

Learning to draw is not easy. It takes time and a lot of effort and patience. But it can also be very rewarding to see your own improvement.

At times it may seem like your drawings don’t come out the way you want them to or that you are not making much progress. Don’t let this get you down. Take a break or try again another day. With practice you should eventually get better.

If you ever need inspiration you can always look at the work of other artists by watching anime or looking at your favorite manga. Of course there are quite a few tutorials here on AnimeOutline that can help you with drawing in the anime and manga style. Check the Anime & Manga Drawing Tutorials section.

How to Draw Anime and Manga Noses

This tutorial explains how to draw anime and manga noses from the front, side and 3/4 views in different styles.

Drawing Anime and Manga Noses

If you would like more information on how to position the nose on the head you can check the How to Draw an Anime Girl’s Head and Face tutorial.

How to draw anime and manga noses

Some defining feature of anime and manga noses are that they tend to be small and pointy with details like the nostrils often not drawn at all. Of course there are also quite a few variation to the style some of which are shown above.

For this tutorial we will split the noses into tree main types:

Drawing a Basic Anime or Manga Nose

This is the most simple style of anime noses and the easiest to draw.

Basic Nose Front View Drawing

For the front view of the most basic nose you can simply draw it as a dot or a dash. Depending on how simplistic you want the style to be you can even not draw the nose when showing the head from the front.

A good guideline for placing the nose is to first vertically and horizontally divide the head in half. For the vertical positioning draw this type of nose directly in the middle of the head. For the horizontal position draw it between the horizontal halfway point and the chin.

You can place the nose slightly higher or lower based on style and the type of character you want to create but generally try and keep it close to the area described above. This will be discussed in a little more detail later on in the tutorial.

Basic Nose 3/4 View Drawing

For the 3/4 view you can keep the vertical placement of the nose the same as for the front view. The vertical placement of the nose will be the middle of the face. You can roughly estimate where this will be by projecting a line down from the curve of the forehead to the bottom of the chin.

As you are really only drawing the end of the nose position it some distance away from this line so that the empty space leaves enough room to fit the full thing (if it were actually drawn out).

You can give a hint of the nose with just two curved lines as shown in the example above. Alternatively you can also only draw the top curve or even just a dot/dash similar to the front view.

For drawing the head in 3/4 view see:

Basic Nose Side View Drawing

For the side view again be sure to keep the vertical placement of the nose as described earlier and as shown in the above illustration. A common mistake beginners make is misplacing facial features when drawing the same character from different views.

It’s hard to have a clear placement guide for the horizontal positioning of the nose in the side view as this can be effected by the face type, nose length and style. Generally however you will want to draw it sticking out past the forehead.

Make the actual shape of the nose somewhat like a vertical check mark with a short bottom curve, a pointy tip and a long upper curve.

Drawing an Anime or Manga Nose Using Light and Shadow

Another common way to draw an anime nose is with some very basic shading. You can make this completely black or a grey/darken skin tone depending on weather you are using color not not.

Shaded Nose Front View Drawing

In the front view divide the head in half both vertically and horizontally (same as the first example of the tutorial). Draw the nose shadow to one side of the vertical line with it’s horizontal placement between the chin and the horizontal halfway point of the face.

Shape the shadow itself a bit like an oval with the side facing towards the horizontal line being slightly flatter.

Shaded 3/4 View Drawing

For the 3/4 view you can again place the nose as described in the first example. Positional it horizontally between the halfway point of the head and the bottom of the chin with the vertical placement based on a line projected from the forehead to the chin.

Shade the the bottom part of the nose with a shadow that is wider at the base of the nose and narrower at the tip. Draw the upper part of the nose with a simple curve and keep the tip pointy.

Unlike the basic nose example you can make the the upper curve slightly larger and more defined so that it does not get “lost” compared to the large shaded area.

Please note that this nose shading applies to general/common lighting conditions. If you want to shade the nose/face in more unusual lighting see:

Shaded Side View Drawing

In general the “shaded style” of anime/manga noses may be more appropriate if you want to create somewhat serious looking artwork but still retain the anime or manga look. It’s also sometimes used when showing closeups of character’s faces.

Drawing a Semi-Realistic Looking Nose

For a more realistic looking anime nose draw it closer to traditional art. With more curvy lines and greater attention to detail. You can also show the nostril/nostrils in all views.

Semi-Realistic Nose Front View Drawing

Same as the previous two example for the front view of the realistic nose first divide the head in to halves both horizontally and vertically. Draw the nose with it’s bottom at the halfway mark between the horizontal halfway point of the head and the bottom of the chin. Use the vertical halfway point to center the nose on the head.

Draw both sides of the bottom of the nose exactly identical but give a hint of the bridge of the nose on one side only. If you were to shade the drawing this should be the “shadow side”. The reason you want to only show one side of the bridge is because showing both will simply make your drawing look odd (you can try it for yourself).

Semi-Realistic Nose 3/4 View Drawing

For the 3/4 view again position the nose as in the previous two example by projecting a line down from the forehead to the bottom of the chin.

Draw the bottom and bridge of the nose with curves similar to the first example but make these a little longer so that they define more of the noses shape. Also give a hint of the nostril and optionally outline the tip of the nose with an under curve.

Semi-Realistic Nose Side View Drawing

Yet again as for the two previous examples position the semi-realistic side view nose roughly between the horizontal halfway point of the head and the bottom of the chin. Horizontally the nose should go slightly past the forehead.

Draw the tip of the nose with a curve (not pointy) and give a hint of the nostril.

Anime Noses Positioning

As mentioned earlier the positioning of anime noses can vary depending on style and character.

Anime nose drawing positioning

In the above example of a slightly more realistic face the nose is drawing higher up.

Anime nose lower position drawing

In more stylized characters as this other example the nose may often be drawn lower down.

Please keep in mind that these placement examples are just general guide lines. There is no one exact set of rules for drawing noses. Some artists can have fairly odd looking characters while others may be closer to the examples in this tutorial.

Anime and manga noses on the head

You can see the nose lower down on the face on a more stylized head above.

Conclusion

Drawing anime noses in any view is generally not very complicated. Also the more stylized the nose the easier it tends to be to draw.

You can experiment by adding or remove details or by drawing them with various degrees of realism (as shown at the start of the tutorial) and see if you get a style that you like.

For drawing other anime facial features see:

How to Draw Anime Poses Step by Step

This tutorial explains the basics of drawing different poses. The instructions it provides can apply to anime and manga or to more traditional art styles.

Anime poses drawing

Drawing an anime or manga character in a given pose can be quite challenging. To make things simpler (especially for beginners) this tutorial shows examples from fairly easy to draw angles. It also show how to use mannequin like characters for getting the pose without any of the details such as the facial features, clothes, hair, etc…

The “mannequin approach” mentioned earlier lets you draw various poses quickly making it easier to find the right one for the character you want to draw. It can also help avoid having to do excessive erasing in case of a mistake.

If for example you fully draw out the details of the head and then move on to the body you may realize it does not quite have the right angle. This means now having to erase all of the facial features when you could have caught the mistake much sooner if you were to draw a basic outline of the entire body.

For more common drawing mistakes and good practices also see:

Importance of Proper Poses

Even if you are a reasonable good artist an improperly drawn stance can greatly detract from your drawing and the message your are trying to convey to the viewer.

For example in the two punch drawings above the first one looks like a person holding their arm out while the second looks like they are actually punching.

It’s very important to properly convey the action or stance you want to show. Without that an even otherwise well done drawing won’t look right.

Drawing Specifics of this Tutorial

For the more generic/common styles of anime and manga the bodies tend to be drawn similar to those of real people. This is how the examples in this tutorial will be drawn as well. The only real difference is a slightly larger and rounder head (as is common in anime).

This means drawing as follows:

Though it’s quite common to start the drawing of a person from the head the examples in this tutorial will start with the torso. In more dynamic poses getting it’s bend and/or twist first can make it much easier to place the rest of the body parts.

Another important thing you should do is draw light lines that you can easily erase (if drawing on paper). This will make corrections easier in case you make a mistake and it will also let you more easily erase parts of the “mannequin” if you want to add all of the details mentioned earlier over top of it. The lines in the examples have been made dark just so that they are easier to see.

Drawing a Running Pose

There are several common variations of running poses. A lot can depend on the type of character/event you want to portray. This particular pose is suited to sports.

Step 1 – Draw the Torso

In this particular pose the torso will be drawn at about 3/4 angle. As this is a female character draw it with a bit of an hour glass like shape.

To show that the character is running position the torso leaning slightly forward. You can also draw a hint of the shoulders/collar bones to define it’s upper part. In this pose the shoulder closer to the viewer will be slightly higher up.

Step 2 – Draw the Head

Draw the head leaning forward at pretty much the same angle as the torso.

Step 3 – Draw the Legs

Draw the legs with one being bent into a sort of forward facing arrow (helps emphasize motion) and the other straight at about the same angle as the body.

The foot on the bent leg can be drawn in a fairly natural/relaxed position. The foot of the stretched out leg will be pushing off of the ground and should be on it’s toes.

Step 4 – Draw the Arms

Draw the arms swinging in the opposite direction of their corresponding legs. For example if the left leg is going forward the right arm should swing backwards and vise versa.

Each arm should be bent with the hands clenched into fists. As already mentioned you can simply draw the hands as though they have mittens on them (no individual fingers).

For more on drawing hands see:

Step 5 – Draw the Neck

Draw the neck at pretty much the same angle as the head/body with roughly the same thickness as the upper part of the arms.

Step 6 – Draw the Chest Details

As this is a female character you can add some basic details of the breasts to finish the pose. Keep in mind that generally characters will be wearing clothes which will squeeze the chest area making it flatter.

Drawing a Ballet Pose

This pose is very characteristic of ballet dancers as it shows flexibility with the split of the legs as well as a bit of an artistic motion with the pulled back head.

Step 1 – Draw the Torso

Draw the torso bending backwards and make it slightly narrower in the middle (curving inwards at the back) as compared to the top and bottom.

Step 2 – Draw the Head

Draw the head tilted far back (almost upside down) with the chin pointing upwards.

Step 3 – Draw the Legs

Draw the legs as as though the character is doing a split but with the front leg bent.

Draw the feet bent backwards like when the ballet dancer is standing on their toes.

Step 4 – Draw the Arms

Draw the arms (or arm in this case) stretched out backwards with the palm of the hand being held upwards.

Though you could also draw the back arm it’s not really needed in this case as it can be pretty much hidden behind the front arm.

Step 5 – Draw the Neck

Draw the neck with it’s angle pretty much matching that of the upper part of the body. In this pose it will also be somewhat covered by the shoulders.

Step 6 – Draw the Chest Details

The chest will be both stretched out and squished by the clothes (if they were drawn) so draw it fairly flat.

Drawing an Punching Pose

This pose is well suited to a boxing punch. Especially when hitting a bag during a workout.

Step 1 – Draw the Torso

In this case the torso will be shown at about 3/4 view (similar to the running pose). Draw it with a slight hourglass like shape characteristic of a female character. You will also want to draw it leaning forward to show that the character is putting their weight into the punch and not simply holding their arm out.

Step 2 – Draw the Head

Draw the head tilted forward and lower down (basically tucked in).

Step 3 – Draw the Legs

Draw the legs with both of them slightly bend (more so for the front leg) and a good distance apart. Make the forward leg stand flat on the ground with the backward leg being on it’s toes.

Step 4 – Draw the Arms

Draw the punching arm extended forward (hand in a fist) with the other arm pointing slightly backwards and it’s hand basically clenched to one side of the chest.

Step 5 – Draw the Neck

Draw the neck tilted slightly more forward than the angle of the body with it’s front part hidden by the chin.

Step 6 – Draw the Chest Details

You can draw the breasts fairly normal slightly to one side of the chest to show that it’s being viewed on a angle. Again simply take into account that they will be squeezed by the clothes.

Drawing a Dashing Pose

In this pose the character will be dashing forward winding up a strong punch. You can also do a similar pose if for an attack with a weapon like a sword or a club.

Step 1 – Draw the Torso

Like some other poses in this tutorial the entire body will again lean forward. As the character is swinging one arm backwards the torso will be twisted to face very slightly in the opposite direction to that of the dash. This type of pose may be slightly less realistic as it will probably be quite difficult to mimic in real life but sometime some exaggeration can help make a pose look more dramatic.

Step 2 – Draw the Head

The head will be tilted forward just like the body (also facing the viewer) so draw it as shown in the example.

Step 3 – Draw the Legs

Similar to the running pose the front leg will be bent pointing forward with the back leg being straight and on the same angle as the rest of the body.

Draw the foot on the front leg tilted backwards so that it’s aligned with the leg.

Draw the hands clenched into fists.

Step 4 – Draw the Arms

Draw the forward facing arm bent so that it’s elbow points forward (sort of a reverse bent of the forward leg). The back facing arm in this case will be bit tricky as it’s bent backwards as the character is taking a swing. To show this bend draw the elbow to shoulder part of the arm slightly shorter and project it’s outlines to “cut” into the elbow to wrist part.

Step 5 – Draw the Neck

Draw the neck on pretty much the same angle as the body.

Step 6 – Draw the Chest Details

To show that the body is slightly twisted draw the breasts a little bit more towards the right of the picture.

Drawing a Kicking Pose

This is a straight up forward kick like the character is trying to kick something down.

Step 1 – Draw the Torso

Draw the torso angled and slightly bent backwards. Make it narrower towards the middle/back area.

Step 2 – Draw the Head

Draw the head tilted slightly backwards but not as much as the torso as the character will generally be looking forward/at the kicking foot.

Step 3 – Draw the Legs

Draw the kicking leg raised and slightly bent with the other leg pretty much straight on a slightly angle. You can draw the kicking foot bent slightly backwards with the other foot flat on the ground.

Step 4 – Draw the Arms

The arms or arm in this case will be facing backwards and slightly towards the viewer. To show this draw each of it’s parts shorter than if you were simply looking at directly from the side. Make the first than normal with at thicker than normal wrist. This will show a little bit of perspective where objects closer to the viewer appear larger.

For more on perspective drawing see:

Step 5 – Draw the Neck

Draw the neck angled slighlty backwards.

Step 6 – Draw the Chest Details

Draw the chest fairly flat as it will be stretched out and squeezed by the clothes.

Drawing a Aiming Pose

This pose is of a character aiming a gun. It can be common for a scenes like special forces storming a building.

In this case the gun is a fairly large rifle but a similar pose can also work for a hand gun. You would simply need to change the position of the arms.

Step 1 – Draw the Torso

For this pose the character will be facing the viewer with a 3/4 view of their back.

Draw the torso with a bit of a curve to show that they are leaning forward.

Step 2 – Draw the Head

Draw the head lowered and very slightly tilted forward to show that the character is aiming.

Step 3 – Draw the Legs

Draw the legs bent and a good distance apart with the feet flat on the ground. This will give the pose a stable appearance. This stability is generally needed to compensate for the recoil in case they have to fire the gun.

Step 4 – Draw the Gun

You can pretty much draw any rifle design you like for this pose as long as the shape is not too unusual. Position it so that it’s stock is pressing up against the shoulder area.

Step 5 – Draw the Arms

Once the rifle is drawn you can draw the arms over top of it and erase the parts covered by them afterwards. The placement of the arms will be determined by the shape of the rifle.

In this case one arm is on the handle and one arm close to the front.

While for most of the poses the hands are drawn as mittens for this particular pose you can actually draw out the trigger finger while still combining the rest.

For an up close example of how to draw a hand holding a gun see:

Step 6 – Draw the Neck/Chest Details

Finally you can add the neck (tilted forward) and a just a tiny bit of the breasts as they will be turned slightly away form the viewer.

Drawing a Throwing Pose

This is a light/playful throw kind of pose where the character is not really being aggressive.

Step 1 – Draw the Torso

Draw the torso almost horizontal to the ground with a slight backwards bend. It will also have a bit of a twist that you can show by making it wider at the top and narrower towards the the middle curving inwards on both ends but more so at the back.

Step 2 – Draw the Head

Draw the head tilted back (in relation to the torso) so that the character is pretty much looking forward.

Step 3 – Draw the Legs

Draw the front leg very lightly bent with the back leg bent and lifted off of the ground. Make the foot of the front leg either be fully alight to the ground or just barely be on it’s toes. The foot of the back leg can pretty much be in a relaxed state.

Step 4 – Draw the Arms

Draw the throwing arm facing forward at about a 45 degree angle and the other arm facing backwards in pretty much the opposite direction.

Make the fingers of the open arm point forward and the thumb downwards. This will create that “just threw something” gesture. You can draw a little more detail of the fingers in this pose as they are important in showing the throw.

Draw the other hand in a more relaxed state with its fingers slightly bent.

Step 5 – Draw the Neck

Draw the neck pretty much in line with the upper part of the body or tilted just a little bit backwards in relation to it.

Step 6 – Draw the Chest Details

Draw the breasts slightly towards the throwing arm to show the body is being viewed on an angle.

Drawing a Leaping Pose

This is a dramatic looking leap pose that is somewhat similar to the ballet pose but with a few differences.

Step 1 – Draw the Torso

Draw the body tilted forwards but leaning backwards.

Step 2 – Draw the Head

Draw the head tilted slightly backwards.

Step 3 – Draw the Legs

Make the forward food bent with it’s knee pointing forward and draw the back leg stretching out backwards. Draw the toes on both feet pointing down like a ballet dancer.

Step 4 – Draw the Arms

Draw the arm/arms stretched backwards with the palm of the hand pointing upwards. You will notice that only one arm is shown as the second arm can be hidden behind the first one.

Step 5 – Draw the Neck

Draw the neck tilted slightly backwards.

Step 6 – Draw the Chest Details

The chest in this pose will be only lightly stretched and facing just a tiny bit towards the viewer instead of directly forward.

Drawing a Flying Kick Pose

This type of flying kick pose can be used in martial arts/anime manga as well as comedy.

Step 1 – Draw the Torso

Draw the torso at about a 45 degree angle. In this pose it will have a bit of a bend and twist. Show this by making it narrower in the middle with both sides curving inwards (more so at the back).

Step 2 – Draw the Head

Draw the head tilted slightly forward as in this pose the character will generally be looking at the target of the kick.

Step 3 – Draw the Legs

Draw the kicking leg stretched forward with the other leg bending so that it’s knee points slightly in the opposite direction of the kick.

You will want to draw the upper area of the leg (above the knee) shorter to show that it’s pointing towards the viewer.

Draw the foot of the kicking leg pulled back facing forward with it’s heel and draw the foot of the other leg pointing forward with it’s toes.

Step 4 – Draw the Arms

Draw the arm closer to the viewer pointing backwards with a slightly bend. To show the bend you can make the elbow to wrist area just a tiny bit shorter than normal with the elbow being just a tiny bit wider.

Step 5 – Draw the Neck

In this case the neck will be barely visible as a large part of it will be covered by the shoulder/arm.

Step 6 – Draw the Chest Details

With this particular twist of the body the chest will be viewed from the side. This means you can draw the breasts as just one bump. Again keep in mind that the chest will also be squeezed by the clothes so it should be fairly flat.

Conclusion

Drawing poses can be very complicated. To make the drawing process simpler first drawn your characters in the poses you want with as few details as are needed to convey the pose. You can add the clothing, hair, facial features and other details afterwards.

When drawing the poses try and think of the various body parts and how they would move in that particular action or stance. You can also use reference material such as photos or the work of other artists.