In this free art lesson, you’ll learn how to draw a Manga Boy (3/4 view) with spiky hair step-by-step. All of the tutorials on How2DrawManga.com are good drawing tutorials for beginners and experienced artists alike. The online tutorials are easy to follow; they teach you the how to draw basics while showing you how to draw manga step by step.
To learn how to draw long hair, we will be using the Basic Boy Head / Face template that we created in a previous tutorial. Click on the link below to complete the Head and Face drawing first:
After you have your drawing for the Basic Head / Face, follow the step-by-step drawings below to add the spiky hair. The new lines in each step are shown in red, so you’ll know exactly what to draw next. Take your time and draw at your own pace.
Intro: Start off with a pencil sketch. In the beginning stages, don’t press down too hard. For every step, sketch lightly at first so that it’s easy to erase if you make a mistake.
Step 1: Draw four big, V-shaped lines across the manga boy’s forehead for the first few spikes. These spikes represent thick chunks of hair. When you draw hair, it’s important to draw the overall shape of the hair in chunks as opposed to individual hair strands. For this style, the spike on the left should be outside of the shape of the bald head. The two spikes in the middle should be similar to a wide letter W. The spike on the right should be thin. Pay attention to how high up on the head the V-shaped lines go. Don’t draw them too high. Follow the eyebrows as you draw the pointy tips at the bottom. It’s okay to overlap the eyebrows.
Step 2: On the right side, squeeze four more V-shaped clumps of hair between the boy’s eyebrow and ear. Make these V-shaped lines thinner. Notice how each V-shaped lines is placed lower the farther to the right it is.
Step 3: To the right, draw more V-shaped spikes but turn them a bit so that they’re on their sides. The spikes at the bottom should be thin, while the spike at the top should be bigger and wider. Use the eyes and eyebrows as indicators of where to place the spikes.
Step 4: Follow the edge of the boy’s bald head and draw more spikes along the curvature on the top, left side. These spikes should gradually turn so that the spike at the top is completely upside-down. Add a couple of ultra thin spikes along the way for variation. Draw a straight line on the right side for a loose individual hair strand. Don’t draw the spikes directly on the edge of the bald head. Draw the spikes higher but always follow the curvature of the bald head.
Step 5: Draw more spikes along the top, right curvature of the manga boy’s head. Make the spikes different sizes for variety. Start to turn the spikes the farther along the head you go so that they have a sideways orientation on the right side. You may find it helpful to turn your paper as you draw the spikes around the head. Draw the spikes as small or as big as as you want too. If you want to create short hair like Naruto or Ichigo from “Bleach”, draw small, V-shaped spikes. If you want longer hair like Goku from “Dragon Ball Z” or Yugi from “Yu-Gi-Oh!” use bigger and wider V-shaped lines.
Step 6: Continue to draw more spikes along the right side of the head to finish up the boy’s hair. Turn the spikes along the bottom so that they look like the letter V. The spikes should be big at the top and gradually get smaller toward the bottom. Notice how close to the ear they are at the bottom.
Step 7: Using a pen or marker, go over the lines to make your manga boy with spiky hair drawing permanent. Ink slowly and carefully to avoid accidents. If you’d like, you can draw the eyebrows over the hair like in the image or omit everything that is behind the hair. It all depends on personal style. Some manga artists draw the eyebrows over the hair because hair can be a bit see-through and others don’t. It’s up to you. After the ink dries, get rid of every pencil mark with an eraser.
Final Step: Color your manga boy with spiky hair drawing! This drawing was colored digitally but you can achieve the same result using color pencils, markers or crayons! For this look, use dark blue along the bottom edges of the hair for shadows and color the rest of the hair regular blue. You can also color the hair any other color you want. Manga characters are always colorful, so use, red, green, orange or any other color you want!
Use peach for the skin. Use a bit of light brown under the head and spikes for shadows. Color the irises dark brown at the top and gradually add light brown at the bottom. Using two colors gives the iris a more rounded feel. For a simpler drawing, you can also just use a single color for the iris. You can also use any other color you’d like for the eyes. Don’t overlap the tiny highlight circles inside the eyes as you color the irises.
That’s it! Keep practicing until you get the hair right. Draw it again and again using different colors and eventually you’ll get better!
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