In this free art lesson, you’ll learn how to draw a Manga Girl (side view or profile) with a ponytail 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 a girl with ponytail, we will be using the Basic Girl 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 ponytail. 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: Start with a long, curved shape to the right of the ear for the side of the manga girl’s hair. The left edge of the hair should be the longest line and it should touch the ear. At the bottom of the shape, draw two pointy tips for the ends of the hair clumps. When you draw hair, it is best to draw it as big clumps instead of individual hair strands. This shape represent a big clump of hair that is divided into two clumps at the bottom. Leave a space between this clump and the eye.
Step 2: To the right of the previous hair clump, draw a series of curved lines to create the first part of the girl’s bangs or fringe. First draw a long, curved line, and then to the right draw more lines that look similar to a big, curved letter W. It’s okay if the lines overlap the eyebrow and eye.
Step 3: To the right of the forehead, draw a series of thin, pointy, curved, V-shaped lines for the rest of the anime girl’s bangs or fringe. Curve the right-most line up and to the left so that the clump of hair ends at the top of the head. Don’t draw this shape too far to the right. Keep the lines close to the shape of the bald head.
Step 4: Draw a curved line long the outer edge of the manga girl’s bald head to create the back of the girl’s hair. Draw a series of bumps as you draw this long, curved line. Keep the line close to the bald head. If you draw this line too far away from the edge of the bald head, draw hair will be too poofy. Draw a series of short, curved line behind the ear for the roots of the hair being pulled up.
Step 5: On the top, left side of the head, draw a short, curved line for the girl’s hair tie. You can draw this curved line farther down the side of the head if you don’t want the ponytail to be so high up. On top of the hair tie, draw a few tiny curved shapes for a bow. To the left of the bow, draw a series of curved lines that slope to the left and then downward for the ponytail. The left-most line should be wavy and very long. Notice how far away from the head the left-most line is. Draw a shorter, curved line closer to the head for the inner edge of the ponytail.
Step 6: Below the previous lines, draw more curved lines for the bottom of the manga girl’s ponytail. The ponytail should be one big, thick, curved shape. Make the sides of the shape wavy. At the bottom, curve the shape up and make the tip thin and pointy. The curved tip of the ponytail should touch the girl’s back. You can make the ponytail longer or shorter if you’d like.
Step 7: At the bottom of the anime girl’s ponytail, draw more curved, pointy shapes for the more tips on the ponytail. Add a few more long, curved lines throughout the shape of the hair for extra detail on the hair strands. Curve the lines to follow the shape of the hair clumps and ponytail. Don’t draw too many of these lines; just a few to give more structure.
Step 8: Using a pen or marker, go over the lines to make your drawing permanent. Ink slowly and carefully to avoid accidents. If you’d like, you can draw the eyebrow 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 drawing! This drawing was colored digitally but you can achieve the same result using color pencils, markers or crayons! Color the headband red. Using light yellow or white, color a few streaks across the top of the hair and bangs for highlights. Use yellow for the rest of the hair but don’t overlap the highlights. Use yellow orange and light brown along the top of the bangs and on the underside of the ponytail for some shadows. Color lightly at first and slowly blend the colors together. For an easier drawing, just color the entire hair a single yellow color. You can also use any other color you want. Manga characters are always colorful so use, green, pink, purple or any other color you want for the hair.
Use peach for the skin. Add a bit of pink to the cheek for blush. Use a bit of light brown under the head for a shadow. Color the iris dark blue at the top and gradually add light blue 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 eye. Don’t overlap the tiny highlight circles inside the eye as you color the iris.
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! Bookmark this page for different upcoming hairstyles.
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