In this free art lesson, you’ll learn how to draw a Surprised Manga Girl 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 draw this Surprised Manga Girl, follow the step-by-step drawings below. 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.
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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 a big circle as a guide for the top of the manga girl’s head. To draw the circle, first make four marks to determine the height and width. Then connect the marks using curved lines. Space out the marks evenly at the beginning. The farther apart the marks are, the bigger the circle will be. Sketch lightly at first so that it’s easy to erase if you make a mistake. If you’re struggling to draw the circle, just trace the outer rim of a circular object like a bowl or a lid.
Step 2: Below the circle, draw an angled line as a guide for the lower part of the manga girl’s head. Pay attention to the length of this guide. If you draw it too long, then the head will be too long. The lines on the sides are basically vertical but they slope inward a bit. The bottom is made up of a line similar to a wide letter V. This entire line is a guide for the jaw and chin.
Step 3: Half way between the top and bottom of the head, draw a long horizontal line as a construction guide that will help you place the manga girl’s facial features later. The sides of this line should end where the circle meets the jaw. Draw a long vertical line across the entire head for another construction guide. Place this line directly in the middle of the entire shape too.
Step 4: On each side of the head, draw a curved line as guides for the girl’s ears. Place the ears directly below the horizontal construction line that’s inside the head. Below the head shape, draw two short, vertical lines as guides for the neck.
Step 5: Inside the head, directly under the horizontal construction line, draw two thick curved lines for the top part of the manga girl’s eyes. Place the eyes on either side of the vertical construction line. The eyes should fit in the area between the horizontal construction line and the bottom edge of the first circle. The lower edges of the eyes should curve inward along the edge of the first circle. Make the inner tips of the eyes thin.
Step 6: On top of the eyes, draw a few short, curved spike-like shapes for the manga girl’s eyelashes. On the bottom of each eye, draw a short, curved line with more spike-like shapes for the lower eyelashes. The eyes should be wide because the girl is surprised, so draw the lines for the bottoms of the eyes far down to make the eyes extra big.
Step 7: Inside each eye, draw a circle for the manga girl’s irises. Draw the ovals in the middle of the eyes so that the edges of the irises don’t touch the outer shape of the eyes.
Step 8: In the middle of each iris, draw a small dot for the manga girl’s pupils. Above each eye, draw a couple of short, curved lines for the folds of the eyelids. The eyelids should be very close to the eyes.
Step 9: High above the eyes, draw two thick, long lines for the manga girl’s surprised eyebrows. Pay attention to the placement of the eyebrows. They should be up pretty high to express shock. Use the vertical line as a guide to space out the eyebrows in the middle. On the top, right edge of each iris, draw a tiny circle for highlights. Draw these tiny circles directly on the edge of the iris, you can erase the inner edge later.
Step 10: Directly below the main first circle and slightly to the left of the vertical construction line, draw a very short line for the manga girl’s nose. On either side of the nose, draw an even smaller line for the nostrils. To the left of the nose, draw a small, U-shaped line for a bead of sweat to emphasize the surprised face. Below the eyebrows, draw two tiny lines for extra detail.
Step 11: Below the girl’s nose, draw a wide shape for the shocked open mouth. The shape of the mouth should be curved at the top and flatter on the bottom. Pay attention to the size of the mouth. Don’t draw it too big. Place the open mouth halfway between the nose and the bottom of the chin.
Step 12: Inside the mouth, at the top, draw a horizontal line for the manga girl’s top row of teeth. At the bottom, draw a curved line for the tongue. Leave a small space between the tongue and the sides of the mouth. Draw a curved line in the spaces on the sides of the mouth for the lower teeth.
Step 13: Darken the curved lines on the sides of the head for the manga girl’s ears. Inside each ear, draw a series of curved shapes for the inner ear structure. These lines don’t have to be perfect, just draw some short curved lines for detail. You can also draw fewer lines and it would still look okay.
Step 14: Darken the outer edges of the first two guides to create the shape of the girl’s head. Leave a small gap on the sides of the head to accentuate where the ears connect to the head. As you darken the lines on the bottom, make the shapes curvier for a smoother jaw and chin. Darken the lines under the head for the neck. Add sloping lines on the sides of the neck for part of the trapezius area.
For a more detailed, step-by-step explanation on how to draw a Manga Girl Head check out this tutorial: How to Draw a Manga Girl (Front View)
Step 15: If you’d like, you can add hair to your girl drawing so that she’s not bald. Use a series of curved lines along the forehead for the hair on the bangs or fringe. Add longer lines on the sides for the sides of the hair.
Step 16: To complete the girl’s short hair, draw longer lines on the sides and a dome-like line above the head for the top of the hair. Add a series of lines inside the shape of the hair for texture on the hair.
For a more detailed, step-by-step explanation on how to draw Short Hair for a Girl Head check out this tutorial: How to Draw Short Hair for a Girl.
Step 17: Using a pen or marker, go over the lines to make your surprised manga girl drawing permanent. Ink slowly and carefully to avoid accidents. Don’t ink the parts of the ear, jaw or neck that are behind the clumps of hair. 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 surprised manga girl drawing! This drawing was colored digitally but you can achieve the same result using color pencils, markers or crayons! Using light brown, color a few streaks across the middle area of the entire hair for highlights. Use regular brown for the rest of the hair but don’t overlap the highlights. Use dark brown along the top and bottom of the hair. Color lightly at first and slowly blend the colors together. For an easier drawing, just color the entire hair a single brown color with no highlights. You can also use any other color you want. Manga characters are always colorful so use, green, yellow, purple or any other color you want for the hair.
Use peach for the skin. Add a bit of red to the cheeks to emphasize the surprised blush. Use a bit of light brown under the head for a shadow. Color the irises 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 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 facial expression right. Draw it again and again using different colors and eventually you’ll get better!