How to Draw Anime Hair

This tutorial will show you how to draw male and female anime hair. Anime hair is what makes anime heroes unique and beautiful – as with real humans, it's the crowning beauty. Let's begin!

Method 1
Method 1 of 6:

Male Anime Hair

  1. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 1
    1
    Draw an outline of the head using a pencil, this will only serve as your guide in drawing the hair.
  2. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 2
    2
    Draw the hairline.
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  3. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 3
    3
    Imagine what type of hair style you want and to which direction the hair strands flow. Try drawing simple chunks of the hairstyle you want.
  4. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 4
    4
    Add more detailed lines to the initial style you envisioned to make the hair more realistic.
  5. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 5
    5
    Use a dark marker on the outlines of the hair you have drawn and erase all unnecessary lines and curves from your outline.
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    6
    Once you have drawn your desired hairstyle, you can now add more details to your drawing like the eyes, etc.
  7. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 7
    7
    Apply color as desired.
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    8
    Here are some examples of the most commonly used anime hairstyles for male characters.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 6:

Female Anime Hair

  1. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 9
    1
    Draw an outline of the head using a pencil, this will serve as your guide in drawing the hair.
  2. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 10
    2
    Draw the type of hairline you want for your female character.
  3. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 11
    3
    Using your imagination, picture out the hairstyle you want. For most female characters, the hair is usually longer.
  4. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 12
    4
    Add more detailed lines to the initial style you envisioned to make the hair more realistic.
  5. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 13
    5
    Use a dark marker on the outlines of the hair you have drawn and erase all unnecessary lines and curves from your outline.
  6. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 14
    6
    Once you have drawn your desired hairstyle, you can now add more details to your drawing like the eyes, etc.
  7. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 15
    7
    Apply color as desired.
  8. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 16
    8
    Here are some examples of the most commonly used anime hairstyles for female characters.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 6:

Male Manga Hair

  1. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 17
    1
    Draw an outline of the head using a pencil, this will serve as your guide in drawing the hair.
  2. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 18
    2
    Draw the type of hairline you want for your male character.
  3. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 19
    3
    Using your imagination, picture out a simple outline of short and spikey hair. You can draw zigzag lines along the head, or pointed angles for your hair.
  4. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 20
    4
    Add more detailed lines to the initial style you envisioned to make the hair more realistic.
  5. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 21
    5
    Use a dark marker on the outlines of the hair you have drawn and erase all unnecessary lines and curves from your outline.
  6. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 22
    6
    Once you have drawn your desired hairstyle, you can now add more details to your drawing like the eyes, etc.
  7. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 23
    7
    Apply color as desired.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 6:

Female Manga Hair

  1. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 24
    1
    Draw an outline of the head using a pencil, this will only serve as your guide in drawing the hair.
  2. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 25
    2
    Draw the hairline.
  3. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 26
    3
    Imagine a long hair style you want and to which direction the hair strands flow. Try drawing simple long slanted and curved lines of the hairstyle you want.
  4. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 27
    4
    Add more detailed lines to the initial style you envisioned to make the hair more realistic.
  5. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 28
    5
    Use a dark marker on the outlines of the hair you have drawn and erase all unnecessary lines and curves from your outline.
  6. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 29
    6
    Once you have drawn your desired hairstyle, you can now add more details to your drawing like the eyes, etc.
  7. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 30
    7
    Apply color as desired.
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Method 5
Method 5 of 6:

Alternative Male Anime Hair

  1. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 1
    1
    Draw a sketch for a man's head to provide framework for the hair.
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    2
    Draw the hair using simple curves or strokes which extend reaching the shoulders.
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    3
    Draw the details for the hair using short straight lines and also curve lines.
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    4
    Trace with a pen and erase unnecessary lines. Add details for the face.
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    5
    Refine and color to your liking!
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Method 6
Method 6 of 6:

Alternative Female Anime Hair

  1. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 6
    1
    Draw a sketch for a woman's head to provide framework for the hair.
  2. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 7
    2
    Draw the hair using rounded curves which extend along the framework to the neck.
  3. Image titled Draw Anime Hair Step 8
    3
    Refine the hair using simple curves and strokes around the hair.
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    4
    Draw details for the face especially the eyes.
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    5
    Trace with a pen and erase unnecessary lines.
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    6
    Color the drawing as you like!
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    Are there hair types that look like they are evil?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    You could use the shadow of the hair to fall over the eyes giving it a gloomy look. Spiked hair can look evil sometimes. Slicked, oily hair can give the impression of being greasy in character as well as in hair. Check out cartoon character and movie villains for an idea of what might work.
  • Question
    Why do I need to draw the head?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    It is not exactly necessary, but solely drawing hair floating in the air is an image which is rarely drawn. Even for the purpose of practicing how to draw hair you should draw it with head so you get a feeling how hair, face, eyes and so on work together, so that your "real" drawings have a realistic and good looking outcome.
  • Question
    What are some mistakes people commonly make with the hair?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    It's your choice what you want the hair to look like, there is no right or wrong. One thing you might want to look out for is not making the hair too flat, try to emulate human hair. Human hair has volume.
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Things You'll Need

  • Paper
  • Pencil
  • Pencil sharpener
  • Eraser
  • Colored pencils, crayons, markers, watercolors, felt tip pen or Copic pens.
  • Brush
  • Reference image

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About This Article

Kyle Hall
Co-authored by:
Kyle Hall
wikiHow Staff Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Kyle Hall. Kyle Hall works on the content team at wikiHow. He helps manage our team of editors and creates content for a variety of wikiHow projects. Kyle continually looks for new ways to improve the content at wikiHow and make it more helpful and enjoyable for readers. He graduated from Eckerd College in 2015, where he majored in Political Science. This article has been viewed 1,190,268 times.
28 votes - 66%
Co-authors: 47
Updated: September 2, 2022
Views: 1,190,268
Categories: Drawing Anime Characters
Article SummaryX

To draw anime hair, start by sketching the shape of your character’s head. Sketch a line where you want their hairline to be, usually about halfway between the brow line and the top of the head. Next, pencil in the character’s hair using simple lines and curves. In general, the hair should follow the natural curves of the head, but don’t be afraid to give your character spiky hair that sticks up or the occasional ahoge (cowlick of flyaway hair) to make their hairstyle more interesting. Don’t worry about drawing every individual strand—just add a few lines or spikes here and there to suggest the shape of the locks and the texture of the hair. Experiment with giving your character bangs that hang over their eyes or hair that’s brushed back away from their forehead, depending on the look you’re going for. You can also try giving your character a ponytail or braids if you like. When you’re done, erase the hairline, the outlines of the character’s head shape, and any other parts of the head and face that are covered by the hair. If you want, color the hair in and add some highlights.

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