Discover how to draw anime characters! Transform your rough sketches into amazing, full-color illustrations with animation artist Cotty Kilbanks as your guide! Begin with a chibi rendering and learn how to use simple shapes and guidelines to create an expressive character. Progress to a more complex anime sketch and find out how to easily render the distinctive heart-shaped face and winsome eyes of the anime world. Conquer changes in perspective as you learn how to translate a front-facing character to a side view, and transform your drawing from flat to fully volumetric with form-building shading. Explore inspiring options for hair, eye and costume designs and learn how to depict various facial expressions. Then, bring your character to life with bold inking, vibrant Copic markers and Cotty’s expert tips.
Class Sessions
Introduction & Getting Started
27:29
Meet your instructor, anime artist Cotty Kilbanks, as you start your first sketch: a basic chibi character. Use Cotty's tips on drafting guidelines to help you as you begin to work on your character's features. Then gain confidence developing light and shadows.
Manga Head Design
30:47
Begin to develop a more complex character with Cotty's troubleshooting tips along the way. You'll design the head to your liking as you learn how to rough in facial features, taking your future inking and coloring plans into consideration as you work. Discover tips for working with tricky areas such as highlights and hair, and draw along with Cotty as she demonstrates how to draw the face from the front and side views.
Eye Design, Hairstyles & Expressions
21:53
How do you transform a character from tired to excited, or add emotion to his or her face? Capture the nuances of eyes, hairstyles and expressions with Cotty's help as you make informed artistic decisions about your drawing. Next, you'll add details such as dynamic highlights and pops of color that help tell your character's story.
The Anime Figure
30:35
Figure drawing can be challenging, but Cotty offers easy, helpful tips that will make your drawings look more proportional and gestural. You'll loosely sketch your character's body from head to toe, considering elements like joints and movement as you work. Watch your figure take form on the page as you add more detail and ink your drawing using Cotty's expert techniques .
Costume, Hands & Feet
22:42
Let your imagination run wild as Cotty demonstrates ways to draw several popular costume types. Create complex details in your work with Cotty's tips as you sketch clothing folds, pepper fabric with lines of stitches, and consider how clothing lies on the body. Next, tackle methods for drawing tricky areas such as hands and feet, and learn how to pose your character on the page.
Coloring Techniques
27:56
Move from the world of graphite and ink into the vivid world of color. Cotty shows you how to use markers, colored pencils and more to create vivid characters that burst off the page. You'll learn how to create even areas of fill color, experiment with unconventional hues for hair and eyes, and add shadow lines to create volume.
Action Poses & Male Characters
15:58
Finish the class as you learn how to draw your character in expressive action poses. Bring your anime figures to life as you work with perspective, motion and a variety of positions. You'll learn how to infuse humor, sadness and surprise to any scene using Cotty's professional tips on sketching physical expression.
Your Instructor
Cotty Kilbanks
Carol Cotty Kilbanks attended Syracuse University and St. Martin's School of Art in London, England, and began her animation career working on shows such as The Berenstain Bears and Strawberry Shortcake. After re-locating to Los Angeles, she worked as an animator for Warner Brothers, Nickelodeon, Marvel New World, South Park and Disney. Kilbanks has taught anime drawing at a host of prestigious art schools, including the California Institute of Art and the Laguna College of Art. She currently teaches in the Continuing Education Department at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, at her own teaching studio in Easton, PA, and now here on Craftsy!
Bonus Material
Drawing Anime Style - Supplies
Bonus Materials available for download after purchase.
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