Creative & ArtBeginnerPreview
Manga & Anime Drawing
A practical, demonstration-driven course on drawing manga and anime characters and pages. You will master head-count proportions, the manga eye and face, clean inking with pens and nibs, screentone basics, and panel composition that guides the reader's eye.
Beginning artists, anime fans, and aspiring manga creators who want a concrete, tool-specific path to drawing characters and full pages.
Course content
Workbook & downloads
Put the course into practice — a printable workbook plus editable templates you can fill in and reuse.
Preview the workbook
This workbook turns the Manga & Anime Drawing course into reps you can pencil, ink, and tone. Each section maps to one course module and mixes drawing exercises, fill-in worksheets, and pre-flight checklists. Work through it with one original character in hand, and finish by building a complete one-page sequence from thumbnail to final tone.
Manga Anatomy and Head-Count Proportions
Lock proportions with the head-count system, capture poses with the line of action, and keep a character on-model.
Exercise: Three Builds from One Character
Draw the same original character at three head-counts on a single page to feel how the head-to-leg ratio controls apparent age and cuteness. Use a divided vertical line and place landmarks by fraction.
- Draw an 8-head heroic adult, marking the crotch at the 4-head midpoint and knees near 5.5 to 6 heads.
- Draw a 6.5-head teen by shortening the legs first while keeping the head the same size.
- Draw a 3-head chibi by compressing the body and enlarging the head, and note which version reads youngest.
Exercise: Gesture Sprint
Do a timed set of one-minute gesture sketches from free timed references such as Line of Action or Quickposes. Draw only the line of action plus the rib-cage and pelvis boxes; no faces or hands.
- Draw the single sweeping line of action first for each pose, before any mass.
- Hang a tilted rib-cage box and pelvis box on that line, tilting them in opposite directions for any twist.
- Complete ten poses in ten minutes and circle the three with the strongest sense of flow.
Worksheet: Character Proportion Sheet
Fill this out for your main character before you draw a single panel, so heights and ratios never drift across the project.
- Character name
- Chosen head-count (e.g. 6.5 for a teen, 8 for a tall adult)
- Shoulder width in head-widths
- Eye spacing (target one eye-width)
- Hair part and signature trait
- One reference pose where the build looks right
Checklist: Figure Construction Pre-Flight
- A line of action was drawn before any outline.
- The figure was blocked from simple 3D forms, not flat shapes.
- Rib-cage and pelvis boxes tilt against each other for natural weight.
- Landmark heights match the chosen head-count (crotch at the midpoint).
- Hands are roughly face-sized and feet roughly one head long.
Expressive Eyes and Faces
Construct the head on a wrapping grid, design distinct manga eyes, and drive emotion with brows, mouths, and manpu.
Exercise: Heads at Five Angles
Using the ball-plus-jaw construction, draw the same character's head at five angles, wrapping the brow, eye, nose, and mouth guidelines around the form rather than drawing them straight across.
- Draw front, profile, and three-quarter views with the guidelines bowing to follow the skull.
- Draw one looking up and one looking down, growing the chin or cranium as the angle demands.
- On the three-quarter views, make the far eye narrower than the near eye for correct perspective.
Exercise: Ten Eyes, One Variable
Draw one character's eye ten times, changing only a single variable each time, then label the personality each version suggests.
- Vary iris height across several versions, from tall and round to small and narrow.
- Vary highlight count and lash weight on the others, keeping the socket identical.
- Label each eye with the age, gender lean, or personality it reads as.
Worksheet: Eye Design Spec
Lock your character's eye design so it stays consistent across every panel. Record each component as a deliberate choice.
- Upper eyelid weight (bold, medium, fine)
- Iris height and read (tall = young/soft, short = cold/old)
- Number and placement of highlights
- Lash clustering (even, outer-corner heavy, lower lashes)
- Overall read in one word (innocent, sly, sleepy, fierce)
Checklist: Expression Read Check
- Eyebrows and mouth carry the expression while the eyes hold attention.
- The expression matches one of the core universal emotions clearly.
- Feature placement follows the head grid (eyes near vertical center, one eye-width apart).
- At most one manpu symbol is used per face, and it strengthens rather than clutters.
- The emotion still reads at small, thumbnail panel size.
Inking Clean Lines
Choose your inking tools, draw confident weight-varied lines, and render shadow and hair in pure black and white.
Worksheet: Inking Setup Sheet
Record your inking toolkit and settings so every page is produced under the same controlled conditions, traditional or digital.
- Workflow (traditional nibs / brush pen / digital)
- Primary tool (G-pen, Copic Multiliner size, brush pen, or digital pen)
- Software and hardware if digital (e.g. Clip Studio Paint on Wacom)
- Canvas resolution (target 600 dpi for print)
- Stabilization / line-correction setting
- Paper or surface if traditional (Bristol, manga paper)
Exercise: Uniform vs. Weighted Inks
Ink the same pencil drawing twice to prove what line weight does. Draw from the shoulder and rotate the canvas so every stroke is pulled toward you.
- Ink version one with a completely uniform line weight throughout.
- Ink version two thickening the shadow side, the outer silhouette, and overlaps, and tapering lines into the light.
- Place the two side by side and note how much more solid and lit the weighted version reads.
Exercise: Hair Three Ways
Ink one hairstyle three different ways to control how soft, glossy, or dramatic it reads. Block the masses over the skull first; never draw strand by strand.
- Version one: render fully with tapered hatching lines bunched toward the shadowed underside.
- Version two: leave a clean white highlight band on the upper crown for the classic anime shine.
- Version three: spot the shadow clumps solid black and flick a few white strands across the black.
Checklist: Inking Quality Check
- Long lines were drawn from the elbow and shoulder, not cramped at the wrist.
- Strokes are single and confident, with no hairy, sketchy build-up.
- Line weight follows the light: thicker in shadow and on the silhouette, thinner in light.
- Shadows are built from hatching, cross-hatching, or spotted blacks, not gray pencil.
- Solid blacks are placed deliberately to balance the page, not scattered randomly.
Screentone and Panel Composition
Apply screentone at print-safe settings, lay out right-to-left panels and gutters, and build a full one-page sequence.
Exercise: Tone a White Shirt in Shadow
Practice value over fill. Tone only the shadow shapes of a white garment, leaving lit areas as blank paper, so the cloth reads as white rather than gray.
- Choose a single line count for the piece (e.g. 60 LPI) and stick to it.
- Fill the shadow shape with a light density (around 20 percent) and leave highlights white.
- Add a darker tone (30 to 50 percent) to a deep fold, and confirm no two dot tones overlap to cause moire.
Worksheet: Page Thumbnail Plan
Plan one manga page before drawing it, deciding flow, pacing, and bubble placement up front. Remember the page reads right to left, top to bottom.
- Page beat or moment in one sentence
- Panel count (target 3 to 6 for standard storytelling)
- Which panel is largest and why (the key moment)
- Reading path described right-to-left, tier by tier
- Speech-bubble positions in reading order
- Where gutters are wide (big time jump) vs. tight (quick succession)
Exercise: Direct the Eye
Compose a single dramatic panel that steers the reader's eye to one focal point using the painter's tools adapted for manga.
- Use a leading line, such as an arm, a road, or a gaze, that points at the focal subject.
- Place the focal subject off-center on a rule-of-thirds intersection.
- Put the highest black-and-white contrast on the focal point so the eye lands there first.
Checklist: Finished Page Pre-Flight
- Panels and bubbles both read correctly right to left, top to bottom.
- Panel sizes match importance: the key beat gets the most room.
- Screentone uses a consistent line count and no overlapping dot tones (no moire).
- White paper is used as a value, not filled in everywhere.
- A thumbnail was made first and the final page matches its flow.
Your Action Plan
- Pick one original character and fill out the Character Proportion Sheet and Eye Design Spec before drawing pages.
- Build a minimal model sheet (front, profile, head close-up) so the character stays on-model.
- Warm up with a gesture sprint and head-angle drills at the start of every drawing session.
- Choose a one-page beat for your character and thumbnail it right-to-left, planning panels, pacing, and bubbles.
- Scale the chosen thumbnail to rough pencils, blocking figures with head-counts and construction forms.
- Tighten the pencils on-model, finalize expressions, and confirm speech bubbles still fit the art.
- Ink the page from the shoulder with deliberate line-weight variation, then spot the solid blacks.
- Lay screentone at a single consistent line count for shadows and mood, leaving white for highlights.
- Add any speed lines, effect tones, and manpu, then place the final lettering and bubbles.
- Hold the finished page beside its thumbnail, note what drifted, and log one lesson to apply to the next page.
Pairs well with
Courses members commonly take alongside this one.
Flagship CoursePreview
Freelance Business Foundations: Position, Price, Sell, and Deliver High-Value Services
Freelancing · Beginner · 16h
Self-pacedPreview
Client GrowthPreview
Freelance Client Acquisition: Outreach, Leads, Referrals, and Deal Flow
Freelancing · Beginner · 15h 30m
Self-pacedPreview
Sales SystemPreview
Freelance Sales & Proposals: Discovery Calls, Scoping, Objections, and Closing
Freelancing · Intermediate · 16h
Self-pacedPreview