A beginner-friendly guide to learning how to draw a great-looking Anime Head and Face Front View with easy, step by step drawing instructions and video tutorial. Great for beginner artists!
Jump to the step-by-step instructions.
Would you like to learn how to draw an anime head and face? This easy, step-by-step anime and manga drawing tutorial will show you how, line by line. All you will need is a sharp pencil and plenty of paper!
In this guide, we will discover how to draw a head front view, as if you were looking directly into the face.
Scroll down for a downloadable PDF of this tutorial.
We will also discuss how to draw various head shapes to depict characters at different ages. Finally, we will look at the differences in the structure of female and male anime faces.
Let's get started!
If you'd like to learn more anime face drawing techniques, see these tutorials: How to draw an anime side profile, how to draw 3/4 view face, and how to draw a cute anime girl's face.
Step-by-Step Tutorial for Drawing an Anime Head and Face Front View
First, let's learn the steps of drawing an anime or manga girl's head and face. You will be using a lot of guidelines and erasing them later, so use a pencil and keep your eraser handy.
Anime Head and Face Front View drawing - Step 1
1. Begin by drawing a grid of guidelines. First, draw a straight vertical and a straight horizontal line that meet in the bottom left corner of the page. Then draw another pair of horizontal and vertical lines that meet in the middle of the page. Finally, draw shorter horizontal lines at the top and three-quarters down the page.
This grid will help you place all other elements of your drawing.
Using the grid, draw a simple circle between the top and three-quarter lines.
Anime Head and Face Front View drawing - Step 2
2. Erase the line at the bottom of the circle. Draw a wide "U" shaped line below the circle, meeting the horizontal line at the bottom. This outlines the cheeks and chin.
Use curved lines to enclose the ears, attached to the head below the midline. From the chin, extend two curved lines to form the neck. Notice how the grid helps with the placement of the ears
Anime Head and Face Front View drawing - Step 3
3. Next, draw anime eyes just below the midline. Outline a curved rectangular shape, noting that the bottom line does not attach to the sides. Thicken and darker the top line and outer edges. Extend short, thick lines to form the eyelashes.
Then, shade a small circle inside each eye, and draw a larger circle around it. These are the pupils and irises. Erase the horizontal guideline. See this drawing guide for more detail on how to draw anime eyes.
Anime Head and Face Front View drawing - Step 4
4. Detail the face. Use curved lines to enclose the curved, pointed shapes of the eyebrows, nose, and a simple anime mouth. (See the anime mouth drawing tutorial.)
The nose is placed just inside the original circle, three-quarters down from the top. The mouth goes halfway between the nose and the tip of the chin.
Erase the vertical guideline from the face, as well as the bottom of the original circle.
Anime Head and Face Front View drawing - Step 5
5. Next, begin sketching the character's hair. Use curved lines that meet at points.
Learn more about drawing anime hair and hairstyles on this drawing tutorial.
Anime Head and Face Front View drawing - Step 6
6. Continue drawing more hair on each side of the neck.
Anime Head and Face Front View drawing - Step 7
7. Use long curved lines to enclose the top of the hair. Notice how the two lines meet and dip inward at the crown of the head.
Anime Head and Face Front View drawing - Step 8
8. Erase the remaining guidelines from within your drawing, paying special attention to the top of the original circle. You've completed the anime head base.
Head Shapes at Different Ages
Now that you have mastered this beginner manga head drawing, let's talk about a few variations in the following anime face reference drawing.
You will notice that characters of different ages have differently shaped heads. In fact, the head shape can be a key indicator of the character's age. How so?
Consider this example of a child's head. Notice that the points such as the chin are softer. The face is wider and rounder, especially at the cheeks. Even the eyes are rounder and less square.
Compare this to the teenager's face. The teen manga face is longer than the child's face, but it is still rounder and less defined than an adult face.
Even with a similar hairstyle, this final image is clearly older in age. The chin is more pointed, the face slimmer and more elongated.
Do you think these drawings depict the same character at different ages - child, teen, and adult? You might be right!
Male and Female Anime Faces
So far, we have examined the facial structure of a female anime character from childhood to adulthood.
But what about male characters - do they follow the same pattern?
Let's compare a cute anime girl and a standard anime boy below. Based on the roundness of the faces, we can assume that both of these characters are teenagers or young adults.
What differences do you notice between the facial features? The man's chin and jaw are more angular and defined than the woman's. Her face is round, almost circular. It is more childlike.
The length of the faces also differs. The male face is longer than the female face.
Finally, look at the eyes. Both characters have eyes of a rounded rectangle shape. In each, the lines are thick, especially on the top and outer edge. But this feature is especially exaggerated in the girl's eyes, suggesting her eyelashes.
What to draw next?
Now, it is your turn! You have taken a step-by-step approach to draw a simple anime head. Can you draw it from a different angle - perhaps in profile or with a 3/4 side view?
Could you change the character's age or gender by employing the techniques we have just learned? Could you make the face longer, rounder, or more angular?
Finally, try customizing your character by giving him or her a different hairstyle and unique clothing like in this anime clothes drawing tutorial.
You can even alter their facial expression - widen the smile, install a frown, or furrow the brows! See this anime expressions reference for more details.
To practice with complete face guides, see Adult Anime Woman or Old Man drawing.
We have created a series of anime drawing tutorials that will teach you to draw anime and manga characters. The free course covers drawing anime faces, bodies, facial features and expressions, emotions, hair, clothes, and complete anime and manga characters. Find all our anime drawings here.
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Printable Drawing Tutorial
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See a Google Web Story of this Anime Head and Face in Front View Drawing Tutorial.