If you are looking to create your own manga or possibly even your own blitheness you lot will probably take to draw and design at to the lowest degree one protagonist.

Even if yous experience quite comfortable with your drawing ability properly designing a character that yous will draw over and over can be challenging. The post-obit tutorial offers some tips on the most important steps of making your own manga or anime grapheme.

Manga/anime style ninja girl design
Anime ninja daughter character design

Character Design vs Normal Drawing

Designing a character for an anime or a manga is quite unlike than doing a 1 time sketch. In a one fourth dimension drawing you but have to worry about what your subject will expect like from that one view for that i cartoon. In a manga or an blitheness a grapheme volition likely have to be drawn many times from multiple views/angles.

Two very of import aspects to designing anime and manga characters:

  1. A character for a manga or an blitheness should have a reasonably simple blueprint (it tin go too fourth dimension consuming to describe a complex grapheme multiple times).
  2. You lot need to consider how a manga or anime character will look from all views/angles (you volition likely have to draw them from multiple views multiple times).

How to Design a Manga or Anime Character Step past Footstep

Step i – Grapheme Profile

Anime notes drawing
Character profile write-upward

Make up one's mind on what your character will be and pick the blank minimum details you will need to convey that to the viewer of your manga or blitheness. For case what clothing or accessories do they need to best show who they are?

If you desire to design a homo or at least humanoid you should write down some basic information nigh your grapheme such as their historic period, occupation, personality, etc… Their blueprint can so be based on these factors.

Pace two – Rough Character Sketches

Manga or anime character sketching
Manga or anime character sketching

Depict some rough sketches of your ideas. These can be from any view and in any pose that y'all like. Depict any y'all experience best shows off your graphic symbol. Do at least a ane full trunk sketches and some close up face sketches.

If your character needs to be especially big or particularly pocket-sized you can sketch them next to what would be an average sized person to get a improve idea of their size.

Use the bare minimum details you need when drawing. Don't brand the designs complicated. You can always add together more details later if y'all experience your grapheme is besides plain.

Once you are done sketching selection the drawings yous like best and combine them into one graphic symbol pattern.

For drawing different poses come across:

How to Draw Anime Poses Step by Footstep

For tutorials on showing a characters personality meet:

  • How to Depict Anime Characters Tutorial
  • How to Draw Male Anime Characters Footstep by Step
  • How to Draw Anime and Manga Eyes to Evidence Personality

For drawing diverse expressions yous can check:

  • 12 Anime Facial Expressions Chart & Drawing Tutorial
  • 12 Anime Male Facial Expressions Nautical chart & Drawing Tutorial
  • xvi Examples of How to Describe Chibi Anime Facial Expressions
  • How to Draw Anime Facial Expressions – Side View

For cartoon a sword run across:

How to Draw a Katana Pace by Stride

Stride 3 – Developing the Character Blueprint

Manga or anime character design
Manga or anime character design

To further develop your design draw your character from the front, both sides (unless they are exactly the same), and back views. You lot tin can also draw boosted views if you need to.

The reason to practice these drawings is and so that y'all volition have an all around design of your character. You tin then apply these pictures as reference material when drawing the same graphic symbol in your manga or animation.

To help you go along fifty-fifty proportions in dissimilar views you can depict guidelines from ane body part in one view to the aforementioned body part in some other view. It's important to note hither that due to perspective (see: Perspective Cartoon Tutorial for Beginners and How it Relates to Anime) certain parts of a graphic symbol may not always be perfectly aligned to others in unlike views. Y'all can see that in the above example if y'all look at the feet. Considering we are looking downwardly on the feet in the front end view and considering they are reaching more than towards the viewer they extend slightly past the guideline.

For tutorials on cartoon people in the anime way you tin can run into:

  • How to Depict an Anime School Girl in half-dozen Steps
  • How to Draw Anime Girl Trunk Step by Step Tutorial
  • How to Draw Anime Guy Trunk Footstep by Step Tutorial

Step 4 – Coloring an Anime Character

Manga or anime character design colour
Manga or anime grapheme pattern color

Manga are often black and white but color is still used in some places (cover for example).

For a tutorial on coloring an anime character you tin meet:

How to Colour an Anime Character Step by Step

While y'all may have sure colors in mind for your grapheme there is a very of import aspect of coloring to be aware of.

Sure colors go better together than others. These are usually free colors or colors across from one another on the color wheel (black and white go with most everything). You lot can often see the use of complimentary colors if you look at the color schemes of pop anime characters. The colors don't need to exactly match those on the color bike they can be a variation of a given color.

Anime or manga ninja girl and colour wheel
Manga or anime graphic symbol coloring

You should also pick colors that are appropriate for the type of grapheme yous are trying to create. Colors can give off certain moods. For case blue is considered a cool color while red is considered warm. So if lets say you want to design a fantasy character that uses ice magic y'all probably don't want to use a lot of reds in their pattern.

For a more detailed explanation of diverse color combinations see:

Beginner Guide to Picking Colors When Drawing Anime & Manga

Bonus Tips

Pattern characters to matches the story. A lot of manga have fairly generic looking characters and are yet very adept. Have a balance between originality and what is appropriate for your story.

For example if you lot are doing a "Slice of Life" manga you should probably have graphic symbol designs that are down to earth. If you are doing a fantasy or sci-fi manga then you can create designs that are a little more than unusual.

Do not rip off characters from other artists. By this I hateful copy the bulk of the design while making insignificant changes. It'due south fine to depict inspiration from the piece of work of others simply exist sure to bring in enough of your own ideas.

How do you lot tell when yous've copied also much? One practiced sign is when people wait at your drawings and says something along the lines of "Oh isn't that so and then from this testify?". Especially when more than i person tells you that for the same grapheme.

Determination

Properly designing a manga or anime character tin can exist a lot of work only it tin can also be a lot fun. If you call up yous have a skillful idea for a manga or an anime definitely requite it a try.

If you need help drawing in the anime or manga style and then check out some other Tutorials on this site. You can find quite a flake of reference material.

For creating your own manga see:

  • ix Steps to Make Your Ain Manga or Comic Volume