Drawing characters in their chibi forms helps create a different feel for the character. So, I’m sure that you’ve noticed that most manga, manhwa, or manhua have stylized chibi forms of their characters, and sometimes they’re showing funnier, cuter, or exaggerated portions of the story.
This helps add more depth to the character and sometimes showcases what else the artist can do. Aside from this, they are often way easier to draw since chibi characters require minimal detail–but it still must have enough in order to still make it feel like the same character.
Also, seeing chibi versions of your favorite character is just an overload of cuteness! I mean, so why not draw them as such, right? At this point, might as well as take this time to go grab any of your art materials and some paper to start off with this tutorial!
Also, remember that you don’t have to be good right off the bat, it’s okay to start slow, and go along with what you’re feeling. Trust the process and just have fun while you’re at it!
BEGINNER-FRIENDLY TUTORIAL OF HOW TO DRAW CHIBI ANIME
DRAWING CHIBI CHARACTERS
When drawing chibi characters, it is important to understand how their body proportions work. Chibi’s tend to be more exaggerated in terms of their bodies and emotions. Usually, we see these characters with bigger heads and cute little bodies. We’ll also note how some of their details aren’t that noticeable compared to the usual characters.
There are usually 3 common body proportions in drawing chibi characters. However, other artists may have their own styles. But these 3 are the most common and easiest to understand. Just remember that the bigger the proportion, the more details it has to express, and the smaller the proportion the simpler the details get.
DRAWING A CHIBI CHARACTER (3 head version)
DRAWING THE HEAD (and the rest that goes with it!)
1. Draw a sketch of a circle, or a square, or an oval could work too. Keep in mind that the head should be bigger than the body, but of course, not too massive either, okay? Just a bit bigger than normal… just find a comfortable size that’ll make it look adorable to you.
2. Draw a vertical line across the circle so you’ll be able to figure out where the features are going to go. Then add some horizontal lines as seen in the drawing, this will help in deciding whether the size of your eyes is going to fit. It doesn’t have to be straight as this only becomes your guide on how your chibi’s face is going to look and where they’re going to face.
3. Drawing the jaw for the chibi is usually with curved lines, in chibi characters, there are traditionally no sharp edges, so it’s important to remember to keep your lines curved and soft. Don’t forget to add ears–even if you plan on covering them with the hair.
Tip: it’s also helpful to imagine the head as a spherical object rather than just a shape. This will help you map out what the chibi would look like from other angles.
4. Next, we start drawing the details of the face. The face of the chibi characters stays in the center of the head—oh, and noses aren’t really needed. Some common mistakes when drawing chibi characters are filling the entire space of the head. So, just like when drawing the usual-sized characters, we have to keep the features in proper proportions. Unless you’re drawing Saitama… then you wouldn’t have to worry about the hairline.
Tip: The eyes are one eye-ball apart.
Make sure the expressions on the face are easy to understand. You can try out other expressions to your liking to make it look cuter.
5. Drawing the hair for chibi characters is similar to drawing your usual characters, but for chibis, there is less detail. By drawing the shape of the hair first, you’ll be able to know how it flows and what it will look like.
Next, add little wisps of hair and just add more details to your liking. Also, here are some other hairstyles that you might want to try out.
DRAWING THE BODY
When drawing the body, we absolutely disregard the idea of anatomy here. We throw it out to the bin and just go ham with the proportions! Similar to drawing the head, we keep the lines soft and curved and remember that details are lesser. You can use ovals and circles to help shape the body. But remember, even if we go crazy with the proportions, we still have to make sure it doesn’t look too weird, hence we’re trying the 3 head proportions.
Some shapes for the body that you may want to try
1. The neck is a bit thinner and shorter, and the body can be bell-shaped or square-shaped but just take note of the curves. The usual proportions of the torso and the leg is 1:1, but you’re also free to ignore physics and just see which portions are to your liking. You can have a longer torso and short legs, or have a short torso and longer legs.
2. Having the shoulders slope can work well with female and male characters. You don’t need to differentiate them like in the normal drawings. This helps to add the shape of your body and be able to know where the arms will be attached.
3. For arms and legs, the arms of your character can only reach half of the head so their proportions are a bit different than the usual arm. So keep that in mind when you try drawing your chibi characters with arm movement. The fingers aren’t that detailed here but you can have the option to have them shaped like hands or just make them look like mittens.
4. Toes aren’t important, just draw on some socks and a pair of shoes and you’re good to go. The legs can either be cone-shaped or be shaped like a thin rectangle–it all depends on how you want your character to look.
Just keep in mind that the main point of chibi characters is to exude cuteness.
5. Drawing the clothes may seem tricky, but having a reference for your character can help. You can look up references on clothes and copy them with less detail.
I try to choose clothes that are easier to replicate with less detail because it’s easier to draw on a chibi body. Just try to use poses that are simple so you wouldn’t have to concern yourself with where the folds go or the direction the clothes should go.
Once you’re done sketching out the clothes, you can go ahead and clean out the sketch and do some line-work. Lining or inking your sketch will give you the final look of the chibi character. You can also go back to the previous steps and see if you can add or erase certain details.
6. Add some shading or color, and a bit more details to try and tie up the whole look for your character. It’s important to note as well, that the more exaggerated your character looks the cuter it will be.
You can try changing the hairstyle, by adding more wisps or accessories to it. You could also make the accessories of your clothes bigger, or you can try different poses that can make your character seem more lively.
CONCLUSION
So that’s about it! Did you have fun? Now remember this, drawing in general, takes a lot of practice. No one gets good overnight, okay? Just keep practicing and sooner or later drawing chibi characters would be so easy. If you found this tutorial helpful and you may want to see more content related to this, then comment down below! And while you’re at it, why not enjoy some of these other chibis that we drew for ya!
