How To Draw Yourself As An Anime Character
Are you ready to bring yourself to life with your own custom anime-style artwork? Drawing yourself as an anime character is easier than you think — you just need the desire, a few basic steps, and a mental roadmap of your character’s physical and emotional traits!
1. Think About Your Character’s Anatomy
Bringing a unique character to life in anime style starts with building a skeleton beneath its skin. Consider basic anatomy principles, such as the proportions of the head, the size and shape of limbs, and the height of the character’s eyes. Draw an outline of yourself, or an avatar of your own design, in pencil.
2. Give Your Character a Distinctive Eye Style
Whether you’re drawing yourself or creating an original character, you can immediately set a dramatic impression with your character’s eyes. Choose a distinct shape and style that flatter their facial features and evoke the emotive qualities you’re trying to bring to life.
3. Choose the Right Colors for Your Character
With your character’s outline complete, the next step is to build a color palette. Now’s the time to experiment with different combinations and test out how each color interacts with the others to bring out your character’s depth and personality.
4. Put on the Final Touches
Your character’s clothing can make or break their impression. Intricate details, manga-style stars, or different fabric textures all contribute to their style, flair, and the unique qualities that make your character so memorable.
5. Make Your Character Shine with Reflections
After the final touches of clothing highlights and accessories, it’s time to bring your character to life with reflections. Add subtle highlights, glints of light or dark lines, or use shading to give your finished drawing bold definition.
6. Set the Mood with Lighting
Anime characters look their best with dramatic lighting that sets the mood. Anime lighting emphasizes outlines, shadows, and reflections for beautiful, luminous characters that appear to spring alive from the page.
7. Capture Your Character’s Expressions
No anime character is complete without its emotions being unleashed! Find the perfect facial expressions to portray your character’s feelings: whether it’s a mischievous smirk, a fire of determination in its eyes, or a melancholic expression that speaks volumes.
8. Solidify Your Character’s Attributes with Backgrounds
Finally, add a unique background to complete the story of your character. Instead of a single image, you could create dynamic effects with panoramic shots, set pieces, and even comic book-style sound bubbles to give your anime character its own convincing narrative.
9. Have Fun and Express Yourself
Above all, have fun with the process and go with the flow of your creative energy. Show off your vivid imagination and express your individual style as you bring your anime character to life — it’s an opportunity to share what makes you special!
