Q&A for How to Draw Manga Hair

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  • Question
    How do I draw boys' hair from a front view?
    Community Answer
    Start from the top left of the head and draw spikes in all directions, with some bent. Use these spikes as guides. The hair will be too straight, but don't worry. Now draw over the straight hair; this time, make uneven proportions - some small and some big.
  • Question
    How do I know where to put the eyes?
    Community Answer
    Draw guidelines for this, like a cross on the head, bent in the direction your person/character is facing. Let these be your guidelines, so when you draw the hair, the draw the eyes, etc., all of it will look even.
  • Question
    Am I supposed to draw the hair spiky?
    Community Answer
    Create 4 points on the head where the main points of hair will be and sketch lightly trying out different ideas until you find the right design. But you can make the hair however you want -- it's your drawing!
  • Question
    How do I draw a cat boy?
    Community Answer
    Draw a boy. Draw cat ears sticking out of the head. Draw a cat tail sticking out of the lower back/butt area.
  • Question
    How do I draw a Manga cat girl?
    Community Answer
    Check out these articles on how to Draw an Anime Cat Girl and how to Draw Cat Girls .
  • Question
    How do I know if the jawline is drawn right?
    Community Answer
    If it is a boy you make the features sharper, with a more rounded chin, and if it's a girl you make the features soft and rounded, commonly with a more pointed chin. If your girl has man-like features, then it is probably not drawn right. Don't worry, though, mistakes help you learn. Art is basically trial and error until you find your style.
  • Question
    How do I make girl hair?
    Community Answer
    If you want the hair to look stereotypically "girly," make it long and flowing.
  • Question
    How do I know where the hair is supposed to be positioned?
    Community Answer
    The first rule of anime drawing is that the hair is always right above the eyes. Aside from that, anime drawings are fairly life-like, so try observing yourself in the mirror, and you will know where to position the hair.
  • Question
    Why do I need to make the hair go to the side to make it look like it's blowing? Is there another way?
    Community Answer
    You can make it flow to either side, or you can make your character upside down, and make it flow above the head.
  • Question
    Should I draw the hair first and then the face, or the other way around?
    Community Answer
    It is best to draw the face first so you have a point of reference for the hair. This will make things easier for you and improve the quality of your drawing.
  • Question
    Do I have to make anime hair spiky?
    Community Answer
    Not necessarily but most, if not all, manga/anime drawings have spiky hair.
  • Question
    How do I draw the face?
    Community Answer
    Start with a small curved cross, then mark the nose where the T or cross meets, and put the eye(s) above it a few centimeters(or inches however big you're making the face) then a small little line to indicate where the mouth goes, then start drawing it out from there.
  • Question
    How do I make the hair nicer and less messy-looking?
    Community Answer
    Experiment with different hairstyles and look at anime drawings of hair and real photos of hair. You may adjust something in the process, like adding more forehead to your character. You may find it tedious at first, but it helps you in the long run!
  • Question
    What's the best pencil for drawing manga hair?
    Community Answer
    If you are planning to make the hair very detailed and refined by adding a ton of shading, I suggest going for a lighter pencil, but any pencil that doesn't smudge much works fine!
  • Question
    How can I make the hair blowing in the wind?
    Community Answer
    Make the hair go to one side.
  • Question
    Should I start from the center of the character's head, or draw the hair part first?
    Community Answer
    You should start with the head outline first, then outline the hair. The head is the base for the hair. If you don't have the hair, you will find it harder to draw the head to adjust to the hair you drew.
  • Question
    How do I shade the manga hair after I draw it?
    Community Answer
    You can shade in many ways. You can make sure that the hair that is under another layer has a shadow overcasting it. Then, you can imagine a light coming at the hair from one direction and shade it like shadows. Remember, if the light is coming from the back, the front of the hair is relatively darker than what is in the back.
  • Question
    How do I make the hair look more rugged and messy?
    Community Answer
    Try drawing more spikes and loose strands of hair from the top and sides. Like on the top of the head you can draw more than one row of thin lines of hair flowing down off to the side. If you look at yourself in the morning, or just google "bed head," you can also get ideas there.
  • Question
    What if my anime/manga charater has curly/wavy hair?
    Cros Saint
    Community Answer
    Draw it like spiky hair, but make sure that instead of straight-ish curves that make up the spikes, curve it to simulate curly hair.
  • Question
    How can I draw long hair boy?
    Cros Saint
    Community Answer
    You can draw it like you would for a girl, but make it simpler. Boys who have longer hair in anime/manga tend to use very simple styles, such as straight long hair or a ponytail.
  • Question
    How do I shade the back of the hair (the inside layer behind the neck)?
    Cros Saint
    Community Answer
    It should be darker the higher up it is and slightly lighter at the bottom, due to the face that the rest of the head casts a shadow on it.
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