How to Draw Anime Character Body

When drawing an anime character that you love or creating your own, you will probably find the body quite difficult to draw. Characters can vary in shape and size, but start by sketching out the proportions of the human body before transforming into your own design. The body proportions of the male and female characters are the same, but the shape is slightly different. With a little practice, you can draw any type of anime character!

Table of Contents

Sketch the female character’s body

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Draw the tip near the top of the page. Draw a circle in the center of the top of the page so that there is enough room to still draw the hair. The tip of the chin is located below the circle, protruding slightly outside because the jaw will be below. Draw the jawline with curved lines from the sides to the previously marked chin tip to make the anime girl’s pointed chin. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Draw with a pencil so you can erase and retouch if needed.
You can use a compass to draw circles if you find it difficult to draw.
Do not rush to draw more details of the face, because then you may have to adjust the size of the head.

Note: Be careful not to draw the head too big, otherwise you won’t be able to draw the whole body of the character on the page.

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Draw a vertical line down the center of the page, 6.5 times the height of the head. Measure the height of the head from the top of the circle to the tip of the chin. Starting at the top point of the head, draw a straight line down, 6.5 times the height of the head. Draw horizontal strokes that divide the vertical line into segments equal to the height of the head to serve as guides. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Measure the distance between each part when marking, or your character will look unnatural.
This guide will help balance the drawing.

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Sketch an hourglass shape with 2 inner circles for the upper body. Draw a line above the hourglass shape, slightly below the chin to create the shoulder shape. Draw curved lines toward the center line and flare out at the bottom of the hourglass shape so that it is wider than the shoulders to serve as the hips. Use a compass to draw 2 circles on the top half of the hourglass shape to make the character’s chest. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

When you complete this step, the head and upper body combined will be 3 times the height of the head.
An anime girl’s shoulders will be one and a half times the width of her head.
Draw small circles in the upper corners of the hourglass shape if you want to visualize the shoulder joints more clearly.

READ More: How to Do Push-ups

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Draw the arms extending from the upper corners of the upper body. Draw two tubes from the shoulder joints down. When you reach the slimmest point of your torso, you’ll draw two circles inside the arms you’re drawing to mark the elbows. Continue drawing the arms down to the bottom of the hourglass shape and draw 2 small circles for the wrists. Draw a fingerless glove at the top of the arm to make a hand. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

The upper arm and the forearm are of equal length.
Try different poses for your arms if you don’t want to draw your arms hanging loosely. Remember that the arm length should be approximately the length of the upper body.

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Draw two legs starting from the bottom of the hourglass shape pulling down. Draw two tubes from the bottom of the upper body extending down either side of the guide lines. When the thigh is half the height of the head, draw a circle inside the tube to represent the knee joint. Continue drawing the shin to the length of the thigh, then draw a circle for the ankle. Draw two trapezoids attached to the ankles to make the feet level with the final horizontal line. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Remember to draw both legs of equal length, lest your drawing be disproportionate.

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Erase the guide lines, leaving only the basic shape of the character’s body. Use a small eraser to erase excess lines. Erase the center vertical line and all the horizontal lines marking the scale that you drew earlier. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

Be careful not to erase the strokes, or you will have to redraw.

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Draw hair and facial contours. Draw 2 eyes just below the middle of the circle and add an eyebrow point above. Draw the nose and mouth below the eyes, in the middle of the face. Choose a hairstyle for your anime character and draw individual hairs instead of individual hairs. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

See the hairstyles of different characters to get ideas for anime hairstyles.
Draw the hairstyles on the tracing paper placed on top of the drawing to practice sketching first without disturbing the rest of the drawing. As such, you can try many different hairstyles before choosing one.

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Draw clothes. There are a variety of outfits you can dress your character in, so choose what looks best. Draw clothes on the character’s body with blurred strokes for easy visualization. Once you’ve chosen a style, erase the outlines of the character’s body that the clothing covers. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

See photos of real people wearing the type of clothing you’re drawing for the character to see where to draw the creases or pleats to look realistic.

Drawing male characters

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Draw an oval with a pointed bottom near the top of the page for the top. Draw an oval in the center, at the top of the page, making sure to leave room for the hair afterwards. Draw two diagonal lines from either side of the oval down to form the jawline. These two lines will meet at the point below the oval to form the chin. ^{[9] X Research Source}

Male anime characters usually have longer and narrower faces than female characters.
Don’t draw the circle too big, otherwise you won’t have enough room to draw the whole character.

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Draw a vertical line down 6.5 times the height of the head. Measure the height of the character’s head from the top of the circle to the tip of the chin. Multiply this by 6.5 times to get the correct proportions. Starting from the center of the top of the head, draw a line down, extending a length equal to the height of the character you calculated. ^{[10] X Research Source}

You can also draw horizontal lines marking each segment as long as the height of your head, along the center guide line. That way, you’ll know where to draw the character’s body parts.

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Sketch a rectangle for the upper body. Draw a horizontal line below the chin to mark the shoulder contour. Draw lines from the ends of the shoulders, slightly diagonal down toward the center guide. When the upper body reaches half the height of the center vertical line, draw a horizontal line at the bottom for the hips. ^{[11] X Research Source}

The male character’s shoulders should be twice the width of the head, and the hips should be slightly narrower.
Draw two circles in the upper two corners of the shoulders to mark the shoulder joints for ease of visualization.
Try to draw symmetrically so that the character has a balanced body.

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Draw the arms starting at the shoulders. Draw two tubes from the shoulders extending down to the upper half of the body. Mark the elbow with a small circle inside the tube so you know where to draw the forearm. Continue extending the tubule until the forearm is as long as the upper arm. Add a circle for the wrist, then draw the hand at the top of the tubular. ^{[12] X Research Source}

You can draw a fingerless glove if you don’t want to draw the fingers right away.
The arms will be as long as or slightly longer than the upper body.

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Draw the legs below the upper body so that they are half the length of the character’s height. Starting just below the upper body, draw two tubes either side of the center guide line for the legs. When you’re halfway up the length from the hip to the final point, you’ll draw a circle inside the tube for the knee. Draw the lower leg at the same length as the thigh, then draw a trapezoid for the foot at the bottom. ^{[13] X Research Source}

Draw one leg first, then mark with horizontal lines extending from the knee and foot so you can balance out when drawing the other leg.
Hold the drawing in front of you to see if the proportions are natural.

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Erase all the guides so that only the outlines of the anime character are visible. Use the pencil eraser to erase the center guide line and the horizontal lines you added. Erase carefully so you don’t erase the outline, lest you have to redraw. Continue to erase all the extra strokes. ^{[14] X Research Source}

If your pencil doesn’t have an eraser attached, you can use an eraser or a pen eraser to erase the narrow spots.

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Draw lines on the face and muscles to add detail to the drawing. Draw two rounded rectangles slightly below the center of the head for the eyes. Make a small stroke for the tip of the nose and draw the mouth below the nose, in the center of the circle. Choose a hairstyle that suits your character and draw it on top of your head. Draw individual clumps of hair with pointed ends instead of drawing individual hairs. Add a few strokes to create muscles, such as pectorals or six pack abs. ^{[15] X Research Source}

There’s no need to draw muscles if you’re going to draw a character wearing loose clothing.
See a diagram of muscle groups in the body to see which lines and shapes should be drawn to form the muscles of your character.

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Draw a costume for the character. Anime characters wear a variety of outfits, so you need to choose the one that best suits your character. Sketch the outlines of the outside of the character’s body to visualize what the suit will look like when worn on the character. Once you’re satisfied with the look, erase all the lines that are hidden by the clothes for a more natural look. ^{[16] X Research Source}

Practice drawing clothes on tracing paper so that you don’t have to draw and erase again.

Tip: Look at pictures of real people dressed similar to the suit you want to paint to see how to draw the creases of the clothes.

Advice

Refer to the photos in various poses and angles to practice drawing the body of the anime character in action. Follow the pictures to better understand the body structure.
Try drawing your favorite anime characters for practice and comparison.

Things you need

Paper
Pencil
Eraser

Steps

Sketch the female character’s body

Drawing male characters

Advice

Things you need

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