A beginner-friendly guide to learning how to draw a great-looking Anime Hair for Girls and Women with easy, step by step drawing instructions and video tutorial. Great for beginner artists!
Jump to the step-by-step instructions.
In a previous drawing tutorial, we discussed how anime characters are often recognized by their large, expressive anime-style eyes. Anime and manga hair is also a feature that sets this art style apart.
Some characters have relatively realistic hair, as in the step-by-step drawing guide below. Others have outlandish, spiky hairstyles.
We'll also take an in-depth look at different female anime hairstyles. You'll find lots of hair ideas to make your character unique below.
Now, let's check out a step-by-step guide to drawing anime hair for beginners. We will draw an anime girl with long hair in the wind.
Step-by-Step Tutorial for Drawing Anime Girl with Long Hair in the Wind
Anime Hair for Girls and Women drawing - Step 1
1. Draw the face in 3/4 perspective (see this guide to learn to draw an anime head and face in 3/4 view). Start with a grid of two slightly curved lines. Around it, use curved lines to trace the head, ear, and face.
Use the guidelines to get the proportions just right. For example, the temple and ear should line up with the horizontal grid line. The vertical line should be centered in the middle of the forehead and chin.
Anime Hair for Girls and Women drawing - Step 2
2. Use curved lines to draw the neck and shoulders. Contour the neck and collar bones.
Anime Hair for Girls and Women drawing - Step 3
3. Use the gridlines to position the facial features. Center the girl's eyes on the horizontal grid line. Use thick lines and ovals for the eyes. Draw neutral eyebrows above the eyes. (See the anime eye reference guide for more details.)
Use a curved line to draw the nose to the right of the vertical grid line, with the nostril positioned on the opposite side of the line. Use curved lines to draw the mouth, centering it on the vertical line, below the halfway point between the chin and the grid.
For more details on how to draw an anime nose and mouth, see these Anime Nose Drawing and Anime Lips and Mouth drawing tutorials.
Anime Hair for Girls and Women drawing - Step 4
4. Erase the grid. Sketch the girl's hair. This time, we've chosen a long, spiky hairstyle, so use lines of different lengths and allow them to meet at sharp points. Shade an oval-shaped pupil in each eye.
Anime Hair for Girls and Women drawing - Step 5
5. Erase remaining guidelines from the hair and texture it with a long line. Then, draw more of the hair's length. Again, use long curved lines that meet at points.
Anime Hair for Girls and Women drawing - Step 6
6. Shade the black hair drawing.
Anime Hair Cuts - Drawing Anime Girl Hair
Anime hair comes in many styles. Consider the following anime hair reference for lots of hair drawing ideas.
Anime female hairstyles
The first image shows medium-length hair in a style sometimes referred to as a bob. This is a typical style for an anime girl with short hair.
The second style is known as double buns or pigtail buns. In Japanese, it is called odango (お団子), named for a type of Japanese dumpling which the buns resemble.
The third image shows long wavy hair. This style is often used for mature characters. Texture can be added to this hairstyle to create the appearance of curly anime hair.
In the second row, the first image shows an anime ponytail. This is a sporty look for young characters.
The second picture shows a girl with two ponytails. This style is also called pigtails, twin tails, or dog ears. It is often used to give mystical or elfin characters a childlike appearance.
The third picture shows a typical long hair anime hairstyle with anime bangs. The hair is very straight.
The first image on the third row shows another typical anime hair base, long hair with bangs but a spikier appearance.
The second picture shows full, thick, tousled hair. A character might look like this after washing her hair or tracking through the wilderness.
The final image shows a messy bun or ballerina bun.
What to draw next?
You've just drawn an anime girl with long hair blowing in the wind. Can you draw her with different hairstyles? What would she look like with short hair? Or with her hair pulled back in a ponytail? Use the hairstyles drawing reference above.
In addition to her hairstyle, you can alter her eyebrows to make her appear angry or sad. In fact, why stop there? You can give her a range of anime face expressions, including tears, embarrassment, or even sticking out her tongue.
Would you like to work with a different character? No problem! Change her ears, nose, and other features to make her your own. Or, try gender swapping your character with these anime boy hairstyles.
To can also practice drawing female hair with these guides: Cute Anime Wolf Girl drawing, Cute Christmas Girl drawing, and How to Draw a Vampire Girl.
Whether you’re a beginner or advanced in drawing anime, you'll find something to help you refine your skills on our anime drawing ideas and guides page. These tutorials cover a variety of subjects and skill levels, from practicing detailed features to drawing complete anime and manga characters.
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