by Arcadia Hudson

Created on: January 28, 2009

Anime characters are very appealing, and for the beginner artist, deceptively easy to draw. They look simple, but it's still an art. It actually takes a bit of skill to draw them properly, but following these guidelines will help with learning those skills, and hopefully, you'll be on the way to creating original anime characters of your own.

1. It's okay to copy.

Starting out, it's a great idea to attempt drawing anime characters from pictures that other people have done. It's not original, but it is practice. Try to imitate the drawings without tracing, and as you look at the picture you're attempting to copy, take note of the way the artist did things. How are the eyes drawn? Are they round or slanted? How did they draw the nosethe overall face shape? As you see these things, store them away mentally. Then when you start drawing original characters, you can think back to what styles of anime are your favorite and use them in your art. Even better, make a scrapbook of your favorite anime characters and jot down notes of what elements in the pictures you would like to use in the future.

2.Take things a piece at a time.

Copying a picture without tracing is easier said than done. Sometimes just looking at the whole picture is overwhelming. Don't look at the whole picture. Instead take things one part at a time. For example, instead of trying to draw a whole face with its features at once, simply draw a circle and focus on face shape. Follow the curves, the shape of the chin, and perfect it. After the face shape is the way you want it, pay attention only to the eyes. Examine the lines, the angle, their position. After the eyes are perfect, move on to another part of the picture. This way, you can slowly imitate someone else's drawing without being overwhelmed. Also when a picture is drawn this way, there's a greater chance of accurately copying the proportions as well.

3.Mutate

If you just follow the first two steps, you'll become a great copying machine. But you want to be more than a machine, right? If you want to step out into drawing original characters, but you lack confidence in your abilities, learn to mutate what you copy. As you copy a character, experiment with what would happen if you changed their hair style, expression, or the way certain facial features are drawn. Revamp their pose. The more you change a character the better, because doing this is the first step to drawing anime characters on your own. The more you do this, the bigger your mental library

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