How to draw a boy manga in 6 steps

Having the ability to transcribe your ideas, stories and characters into the real world on a piece of paper is unique. The problem of course is that your sketches do not always look the same as in a Japanese comic strip or cartoon. Find in this tutorial how to draw a male character manga style and how to bridge the gap between your imagination and what you actually draw, to finally draw a manga boy as you thought.

1. Draw the body of the Manga

Let's start the structure of the human body by drawing a circle above a vertical rectangle. There should be about half a centimeter of space between the rectangle and the circle. Then draw a straight line through the middle of these two shapes.

Then draw two temporary elements: an inverted triangle starting from the top of the rectangle and ending at 2/3 of it for the upper body; and a semicircle starting from the bottom of the triangle and joining the two lower ends of the rectangle, for the hips.

Draw the arms and legs with simple temporary lines and temporary circles for the joints.

Finally add the contours of the arms, legs, neck and body shape, then remove the temporary items.

At this stage, you have a solid foundation on which you can rely to develop each part of the body.

Tip: If you are struggling to reproduce the right proportions, you can bring a visual reference such as a Body Kun .

2. Well draw the face

To start the shape of the face of your Manga character, take the first circle of step 1. This will be the top of your character's head. It will help shape all other aspects of the head, such as the eyes and the mouth.

Then find the center of the circle and draw a vertical line through it from top to bottom. This will be the guideline for the chin of your character. Then draw the chin as in the picture below.

To get the right proportions, find the middle of the vertical guideline and draw a horizontal guideline on the width of the head. This is the line of the eyes.

Halfway between the eye line and the chin, draw another horizontal line. This new line will be the benchmark of the bottom of the nose.

In the middle of the line from the nose to the chin, draw a short horizontal line. This line will be the shadow under the lower lip.

3. Where to draw Manga's mouth

Draw the line of the mouth equidistant between the line indicating the bottom of the nose and that serving as a marker in the shadow of the lower lip.

4. Draw the eyes of the Manga Boy

The eyes usually have a top and bottom with suggested sides or corners. The eyebrow follows the shape of the upper eyelid to a certain extent. The distance between the eyebrow and the upper eyelid is proportional to the height of the eye. Here are some examples below:

5. How to draw the Manga nose

There is no limit to the nose but in general, Manga's noses are of a fairly simple form whose bottom corresponds to the reference line mentioned in Step 2 "Drawing the face". Some examples below:

6. Last step to draw the face of a boy Manga: hair

Make a line indicating the limit of the hairline. Note that the hair is outside the circle guideline that you first drew for the face, for a more real effect.

If you want to reproduce realistic positions and proportions, take a Body Kun.

Take a Body chan if you want to learn how draw a manga female and check our manga girl drawing article.

These figurines serve as a model for your creation, their physiology is drawn so that you can even see the shading on their body.

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Drawing a girl Manga is based on some common bases in the drawing of a boy Manga. So you can take a look at our article " Draw a manga boy " or watch and follow the 5 steps of the tutorial below that highlight the differences between parts of the body to help you understand the specific characteristics of a manga girl.

1) The body: a key step to draw a girl Manga

To draw the shape of a female character, keep in mind that she is more sinuous than the male body. The hips and shoulders are almost perfectly aligned when compared vertically. In general, it is better to have a reference. If you want to save time and quality, get a Body Chan figurine on which you can rely.

When you sketch your shoulders, do not sharpen them; try to round them up. Once again, observation is the key!

Now let's see how different sizes and shapes of the chest can affect the silhouette. Because gravity is continuously active (obvious), the breasts should be pointed slightly down. Never draw bulging breasts outward as if there is another external force pushing them in another direction. Also, keep in mind the perspectives of the chest when you superimpose the patterns of clothing: they must adopt the shape of the chest for a natural rendering.

2) How to draw a girl Manga face

In order to draw a girl's face, some elements must be exaggerated. Most of the Manga seen in cartoons have a style with large eyes wide compared to the nose, mouth and eyebrows. If you draw in this Manga style, make the eyes occupy 3/4 of the facial area, leaving 1/4 for the nose and mouth. Sometimes, the difference in proportions becomes even more important: up to 1/8 in the most exaggerated styles. Anyway, do several tests with different styles, until you develop the one that suits you the most!

3) Draw the nose and eyes of a girl Manga character

Knowing how to draw the nose of a girl Manga does not require a pencil stroke very different from a male character.

4) How to draw a female mouth

The most important part about mouth development is the amount of detail and definition you want to bring to the lips. The least defined lips are the easiest to draw. The longer the lips are, the more they will appear masculine. Larger lips are generally used for extremely seductive female characters.

The cupid curve, which represents the inverted curve at the top of the upper lip, should not be drawn as an acute angle. It would be not only unrealistic, but also awkward. The best way to do this is to create a slight dip in the bow, creating a natural look.

5) The drawing of the hair of a girl Manga

Let's continue the drawing of the head with the hair. Since most women's hair cuts have long hair, you will need to outline the outline by covering part of the face before attacking the eyes, nose and mouth.