How to Start Drawing Anime — A Beginner's Guide for Teens

So you want to draw anime?

Cool. Welcome to the obsession. Whether you got hooked watching Demon Slayer, fell in love with Studio Ghibli as a kid, or just spent way too much time on Pinterest saving manga panels — drawing anime is one of the most fun rabbit holes a teen artist can fall into.

But also? It can feel HARD. You see all these incredible artists on TikTok pumping out polished pages and you're sitting there with a wonky head shape thinking "yeah nah, I can't do this."

Here's the thing nobody tells you: every single anime artist you admire was also drawing potato heads at some point. Honestly. The skills that make anime drawings look good aren't magic — they're a stack of small techniques you can learn one at a time.

This post is going to walk you through the basics: where to start, what to draw first, the mistakes that trip everyone up, and what you actually need to begin (spoiler: not much). By the end you'll have a real starting point — not "draw the rest of the owl" energy. 🎨

Start With the Head

The head is where almost every anime drawing begins — and it's also where most beginners get stuck. The good news is there's a simple method used by artists everywhere: the circle and cross.

Start by drawing a circle. This is the cranium — the top and sides of the skull. Then draw a vertical line down the centre and a horizontal line roughly one-third of the way down. That horizontal line is where the eyes sit. The vertical line helps you place the nose and mouth symmetrically and also shows which direction your character is facing.

Here's where anime parts ways with realistic drawing: the face takes up much less of the head. In realism, the eyes sit roughly halfway down the full head. In anime, the eyes are placed lower — and they're huge. The forehead is bigger. The chin is smaller and often pointed. The jaw tapers in rather than being wide and boxy.

This isn't "wrong" — it's a stylistic choice that makes characters look younger, more expressive, and more emotionally readable from a distance. Once you understand why the proportions are different, you stop trying to fight the style and start leaning into it.

Practise drawing 10 heads with the circle and cross method before you move on to anything else. They'll be terrible. That's fine. Keep going.

Eyes — The Soul of Anime

Ask any anime artist what makes or breaks a drawing and they'll say the same thing: the eyes. Eyes are where emotion lives in anime. Get them right and the whole face comes alive. Get them wrong and something feels off, even if you can't put your finger on it.

There are two main styles you'll come across as a beginner. Shoujo eyes (think Sailor Moon, Fruits Basket) are large, rounded, heavily detailed, and loaded with sparkle and shine — they take up a lot of the face and are designed to look dreamy and emotional. Shonen eyes (think Naruto, My Hero Academia) are smaller, sharper, more angular — they read as confident and intense rather than soft.

Neither is better. They're just different tools for different characters.

Here's a simple exercise to try right now: draw five eyes in a row, all the same basic shape — a curved top line and a flatter bottom line, like a squashed almond. Then draw a large circle iris inside it. Add a smaller circle for the pupil. Now add two or three white highlight dots. Do this five times, and you'll start to see what makes an eye feel "alive."

Once you're comfortable with the basic shape, start experimenting: make the iris bigger, thicken the top lash line, add more highlights. Small changes make a huge difference. This is how your personal style begins to form.

Common Beginner Mistakes (And How to Dodge Them)

The TikTok comparison trap is real. You open the app, see someone finish a full character in 60 seconds with perfect linework, and immediately feel like you're behind. Here's the truth: that person has been drawing for years. You're seeing the result, not the decade of practice. Unfollow or mute accounts that make you feel rubbish instead of inspired — that's not weakness, it's protecting your learning.

The other big one is skipping fundamentals. Everyone wants to jump straight to shading and colour and dramatic poses. But if you can't draw a face from a three-quarter angle yet, adding colour is just putting glitter on a shaky foundation. Give yourself permission to do boring things — practice sheets, gesture sketches, the same eye ten times in a row — because that's what actually builds skill.

Tracing as learning is fine, tracing as a shortcut isn't. Tracing a pose to understand how the body is constructed? Great. Tracing someone else's finished art and calling it yours? Not the move, and you won't actually learn anything from it.

Finally: the eraser is not your enemy, but it might be holding you back. A lot of beginners erase constantly and never finish anything. Try drawing with a pen once a week. You can't erase. You have to commit. It feels horrible. It's also one of the fastest ways to improve.

What You Actually Need to Get Started

You do not need an iPad. You do not need a Wacom tablet. You do not need a subscription to any app or a specific brand of sketchbook. These are nice things to have eventually, but beginners routinely use expensive tools as a way to feel like they're progressing without actually drawing.

Here's the real list: any paper (printer paper is fine), any pencil (HB or 2B), and a black pen or fine-liner for when you want to ink your sketches. That's it. Seriously.

If you want to level up your supplies a little, a light box (for tracing your rough sketches onto clean paper) is genuinely useful and costs around $30–40. A set of Staedtler or Micron fine-liners in a couple of different thicknesses makes inking more fun. Copic markers are beautiful but not necessary — coloured pencils work brilliantly for an anime aesthetic.

In Townsville, you can find most of what you need at Officeworks or Riot Art & Craft. If you want a wider range of fine-liners and quality sketchbooks, Riot usually has better options. Don't spend a fortune — spend 20 minutes drawing instead.

Where to Learn in Townsville

YouTube is your best free resource globally — channels like Drawlikesir, Mikey Mega Mega, and Mark Crilley have hundreds of hours of free tutorials specifically for anime and manga. Draw with Jazza is great for fundamentals. Pinterest is brilliant for building a reference folder of poses, expressions, and character designs you love.

But if you want to learn with other people your age — in a room where it's okay to ask "why does my nose look like a potato" — that's where Vibe Creators comes in.

Vibe Creators is a creative program in Townsville designed specifically for teens aged 12–16. It's a space where you can explore art, design, and creative skills alongside other young people who are into the same things — no judgment, no pressure. We run workshops throughout the year that cover everything from character design to digital illustration basics, and we do run sessions focused specifically on anime and manga-style drawing.

If you're interested in joining or want to know when the next anime-focused workshop is happening, get in touch or check the events page. We'd love to have you.

How long does it take to get good at drawing anime?

Depends on how often you draw and what "good" means to you. Most beginners see a noticeable improvement in 2–3 months of consistent practice — even 15 minutes a day makes a difference. There's no fixed timeline, but the artists who improve fastest are those who draw regularly and finish things even when they're unhappy with the result.

Do I need to learn realistic drawing before anime?

Not before — alongside. You don't need to master photorealistic portraits, but understanding basic anatomy (where the shoulders sit, how the spine curves, how hands work) will make your anime art significantly better. Even 10 minutes a week studying a real reference photo will pay off over time.

What's the best app for drawing anime on a phone or tablet?

Ibis Paint X is free, popular, and genuinely great for anime-style art — it has thousands of brushes, a large community, and tutorials built in. MediBang Paint is another solid free option. Procreate is the gold standard if you have an iPad, but it costs around $17 AUD as a one-time purchase. Start with Ibis Paint — it's more than enough for a beginner.

Is it okay to copy other people's anime art to practice?

Copying for practice (redrawing a piece to understand the technique) is a completely normal and respected part of learning art. Every artist does it. What's not okay is posting copied work as your own or claiming it as an original. Keep your practice copies in your sketchbook, and always try to move from copying to creating your own versions as quickly as possible.

Where can teens learn to draw anime in Townsville?

Vibe Creators runs creative workshops specifically for teens aged 12–16 in Townsville, including sessions focused on anime and manga-style drawing on saturday mornings. It's a relaxed, social environment where you can learn technique, get feedback, and meet other young artists. Check the events page or get in touch to find out what's coming up.