In this free art lesson, you’ll learn how to draw a Happy 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 Happy 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. 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 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.
That’s it for the guides! From this point on, press harder with your pencil for a more defined drawing.
Step 5: Inside the head, directly below the construction guide, draw two thick shapes for the manga girl’s closed eyes. The eyes should be on either side of the vertical construction guide. Curve these shapes so that the middle parts bulge up like little hills. This curve gives the eyes a happy expression. If you make the shapes flatter or curve them in the opposite direction you will get a different expression. On the ends of the shapes draw a few thin, pointy tips for the eyelashes.
Step 6: High above the eyes, draw two long, horizontal lines for the girls’ eyebrows. The inner tips of the eyebrows should be thick and the outer tips should be thin. Use the vertical construction line as a guide to help you space out the eyebrows. Curve the outer edges downward to emphasize the happy expression.
Step 7: Directly above the first circle and slightly to the left of the vertical construction line, draw a very short line for the manga girl’s nose. On the left side of the nose, draw a smaller line for the outer nostril. On the right side, draw a tiny dot for the other nostril. Below the nose, draw a big shape for the open mouth. The top part of the shape should be flatter than the curved bottom. The shape should be similar to a sideways letter D.
Step 8: Inside the open mouth, draw a short, horizontal line for the top row of teeth. Don’t draw each individual tooth; just draw the overall shape of the row. On the sides, draw short lines for the tongue. Above each eye, draw a curved, horizontal line for the creases of the closed eyelids.
Step 9: Darken the curved lines on the sides of the head for the 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 10: 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 11: If you’d like, you can add hair to your girl drawing so that she’s not bald. Use a serious 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 12: 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 13: Using a pen or marker, go over the lines to make your 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 drawing! This drawing was colored digitally but you can achieve the same result using color pencils, markers or crayons! Using light pink, color a few streaks across the middle area of the entire hair for highlights. Use regular pink for the rest of the hair but don’t overlap the highlights. Use dark pink 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 pink 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. You can also color the hair the more standard colors of brown or black. Use peach for the skin. Add a bit of pink to the cheeks for blush. Use a bit of light brown under the head for a shadow.
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!