Anime Academy: How to Draw Heads, Faces, and Expressions! from Udemy

What's inside

Learning objectives

How to draw anime faces
How to draw different types of eyes
How to draw male and female characters
How to draw noses and mouths

How to make a portrait illustration
How to color
How to line
Proportions of the face

How to draw anime faces
How to draw different types of eyes
How to draw male and female characters
How to draw noses and mouths
How to make a portrait illustration
How to color
How to line
Proportions of the face

Syllabus

Introduction

Hey everyone! Welcome to the course! Hope you guys enjoy it :)

In this video, I will be covering the materials needed for this course.

In this video, I will be covering the Q&A section and how to use it.

In this video, I will be helping you along with your inspiration assignment that will jump start your motivation!

In this video, I will be covering how to use photoshop. This is what I use for my course, so feel free to customize your own workflow!

In this video, I will be teaching you the importance of line quality and I'll be giving you some exercises to get you warmed up.

In this video, I will be teaching you the importance of boxes and I'll be showing you how to draw them in a simple way.

In this video, I will be teaching you the importance of cylinders and I'll be showing you how to draw them in a simple way.

In this video, I will be teaching you the importance of spheres and how to draw them and learn how to put them in different directions.

In this video, I will be showing you how to make an anime head by combining simple forms.

In this video, I will be showing you how to make quick and easy facial proportions for male and female heads.

In this video, I will be showing you how to construct the male and female heads using simple planes.

In this video, I will be showing you the variety of face shapes commonly used in anime characters.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw different male face shapes using simple construction.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw different female face shapes using simple construction.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw innocent male faces for the different face shapes.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw innocent female faces for the different face shapes.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw energetic male and female faces for the different face shapes.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw serious male faces for the different face shapes.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw serious female faces for the different face shapes.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw flirty male and female faces for the different face shapes.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw the most common head angles for guys.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw the most common head angles for girls.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw ribbons for drawing hair.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw hair using big, medium, and small strands. I will also be comparing between static, chunky hair, vs dynamic flowing hair.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw different male hairstyles.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw different female hairstyles.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw different updoes for girls.

In this video, I chose two characters for the expressions project, and I will be showing you how story and personality affects expressions.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw happy male expressions from mild to intense.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw happy female expressions from mild to intense.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw sad male expressions from mild to intense.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw sad female expressions from mild to intense.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw angry male expressions from mild to intense.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw extra angry male expressions.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw angry female expressions from mild to intense.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw surprised male expressions from mild to intense.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw surprised female expressions from mild to intense.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw worried male expressions from mild to intense.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw worried female expressions from mild to intense.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw fearful male expressions from mild to intense.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw fearful female expressions from mild to intense.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw confused expressions for Ren and Hana.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw life expressions for guys.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw life expressions for girls.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw blushing expressions for guys.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw blushing expressions for girls.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw chibis of the characters.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw expressions for chibis.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw the characters as babies, and children.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw the characters as teens, and young adults.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw the characters as adults, to middle aged adults.

In this video, I will be showing you how to draw the characters as elderly people.

In this video, I will be showing you how to line a male character.

In this video, I will be showing you how to line a female character.

In this video, I will be showing you how light the male head in different ways.

In this video, I will be showing you how light the female head in different ways.

In this video, I will be showing you the basics of color theory.

In this video, I will be coloring the male head using warm light, and cool shadows.

In this video, I will be coloring the female head using warm light, and cool shadows.

In this video, I will be drawing quick sketches for Ren's illustration, and showing you how to plan illustrations this way.

In this video, I will be cleaning up the thumbnail sketch to get ready for the next phase.

In this video, I will be blocking in the lighting situation for the illustration. This is an important step for making the piece easier to work with.

In this video, I will be working on the linework using simple line weight.

In this video, I will show you how you can organize your layers by masking.

In this video, we will be putting in the base colors on the parts we masked.

In this video, I will be coloring the skin step by step, using the value block in as a base.

In this video, I will be coloring the hair with the same method.

Finally, I will be finishing up the illustration by coloring in the clothing.

In this video, I will be drawing quick sketches for Hana's illustration.

In this video, I will be refining the sketch for Hana's illustration.

In this video, instead of doing a value block in, I will be blocking in the base colors to help me visualize what the illustration's going to look like.

In this video, I will be lining the illustration in the same manner as Ren's illustration.

In this video, I will be masking in the different components, then putting flat color on top.

In this video, I will be coloring the skin. as well as the eyes.

In this video, I will be coloring the hair by coloring the shadows.

In this video, I will be coloring the highlights of the hair.

In this video, I will be coloring the darker parts of the hair, as well as smoothing out hard edges.

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Begins with the fundamentals of drawing, such as boxes, cylinders, and spheres, which are essential building blocks for creating more complex anime characters and scenes

Explores a variety of expressions, such as happy, sad, angry, surprised, worried, fearful, confused, life, and blushing, which allows learners to convey a wide range of emotions in their characters

Covers how to draw characters in different ages, ranging from baby to elderly, which is useful for creating characters with a sense of history and depth

Requires learners to have access to Photoshop, which may require a subscription and a computer that meets the software's minimum requirements

Teaches how to draw chibis, which are a popular and simplified style of anime characters, and how to draw expressions for them, expanding creative possibilities

Includes instruction on linework and coloring, which are essential skills for creating polished and professional-looking anime illustrations and portraits

Reviews summary

Comprehensive anime head drawing guide

According to learners, this course offers a comprehensive guide to drawing anime heads, faces, and expressions. Many found the instructor's teaching style to be clear, engaging, and easy to follow, breaking down complex topics into manageable steps. Students particularly appreciated the detailed sections on head construction, proportions, and different face shapes, noting it provided a strong foundation. The module on drawing a wide variety of expressions was frequently highlighted as a major strength. While the course includes extensive content on Photoshop usage and creating full illustrations, some beginners or users of other software found this a slight hurdle, though the core drawing principles were applicable universally. Overall, reviews indicate a highly positive experience, especially for those starting out or looking to solidify their fundamental skills in anime character drawing.

Instruction includes specific software techniques.

"The course uses Photoshop extensively. If you don't have it or use different software, you might need to adapt."

"Basic Photoshop skills are taught, which is great if you're new to digital art, but less relevant if you use Procreate or Clip Studio Paint."

"While the drawing principles are universal, the detailed workflow is tied to Photoshop."

"The lessons on masking and coloring are specific to Photoshop features."

Applying learned skills through illustrations.

"The final projects tie everything together perfectly and give you a chance to create finished pieces."

"I really enjoyed working on the full illustrations. It helped me practice linework, lighting, and coloring."

"Creating a complete portrait illustration felt very rewarding after learning all the steps."

"The step-by-step process for planning and executing the illustrations was very practical."

Comprehensive coverage of facial emotions.

"The section on expressions is fantastic! There are so many different emotions covered from mild to intense."

"Learning how story affects expressions was a unique and valuable insight."

"I can now draw characters showing believable feelings after going through the expression lessons."

"The variety of happy, sad, angry, and surprised expressions shown for both genders was very useful."

Course provides a solid base in core principles.

"Learning head proportions and construction first was incredibly helpful. It made everything else click."

"This course really solidifies the basics like face shapes and angles before moving on to more complex things."

"Understanding how to build the head from simple forms made a huge difference in my drawings."

"I finally understand how to properly measure and place features thanks to the early lessons."

Instructor's teaching style is highly praised.

"The instructor explains everything step-by-step and makes it very easy to understand, even complex ideas."

"I love the way the teacher breaks down the lessons; it's very encouraging and not overwhelming at all."

"Excellent explanations and pacing. I never felt lost following along with the videos."

"The lessons are really well-structured and the commentary is clear and helpful throughout the course."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Anime Academy: How to Draw Heads, Faces, and Expressions! with these activities:

Practice Line Quality Exercises

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Improve your control and confidence with line work, a fundamental skill for creating clean and expressive anime art.

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Practice drawing straight lines, curves, and circles repeatedly.
Experiment with varying line weights to create depth and emphasis.
Focus on smooth transitions and consistent pressure.

Review 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain'

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Improve your understanding of fundamental drawing principles to enhance your anime art skills.

View Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: The... on Amazon

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Read the book and complete the drawing exercises.
Focus on the techniques for perceiving edges, spaces, and relationships.
Apply these techniques to drawing anime faces and expressions.

Review 'Manga for Dummies'

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Gain a broader understanding of manga art styles and techniques to inform your anime drawings.

View Manga For Dummies on Amazon

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Read the book and focus on the sections related to character design and expressions.
Compare the techniques in the book to those taught in the course.
Experiment with incorporating different manga styles into your anime art.

Four other activities

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Facial Expression Studies

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Reinforce your understanding of facial expressions by practicing drawing them repeatedly from reference images.

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Gather reference images of various anime facial expressions.
Sketch the expressions, paying attention to the subtle changes in features.
Repeat the process with different expressions and angles.

Design a Character Sheet

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Solidify your knowledge by creating a character sheet showcasing different angles, expressions, and hairstyles for an original anime character.

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Develop a concept for your original anime character.
Draw the character's head from multiple angles (front, side, 3/4 view).
Illustrate a range of expressions for the character.
Design several different hairstyles for the character.

Create a Digital Portrait

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Apply your skills by creating a fully rendered digital portrait of an anime character, focusing on lighting and color techniques.

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Choose an anime character or create your own.
Sketch the character's head and shoulders.
Create detailed linework.
Apply base colors and shading.
Add highlights and refine the lighting.

Help Others in Online Forums

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Reinforce your learning by answering questions and providing feedback to other students in online art forums.

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Find online art forums or communities focused on anime and manga.
Look for questions related to drawing heads, faces, and expressions.
Provide helpful and constructive feedback to other artists.

Career center

Learners who complete Anime Academy: How to Draw Heads, Faces, and Expressions! will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Manga Artist

A manga artist creates Japanese comics, and a foundational skill is the ability to draw expressive faces and characters. This course helps a manga artist hone their talent by teaching how to draw anime faces, with a focus on a variety of expressions. The course covers the essential skills like head proportions, construction, and how to draw various faces for different genders, as well as how to draw hair. Also, with the course’s approach to coloring and lighting, a manga artist may find themselves able to more effectively render their work. A manga artist should take this course because it focuses on the specific style and skills necessary for manga creation.

See salaries and explore the career path for Manga Artist

Character Designer

A character designer creates the visual appearance of characters for various media, such as animation, video games, and comics. This course helps build a strong foundation in drawing anime heads, faces, and expressions, which are crucial elements of character design. The course specifically teaches how to draw different face shapes, expressions, and hairstyles, which are essential skills for anyone looking to develop unique and engaging characters. Furthermore, understanding how to light a head and create a full color portrait illustration, as is taught in this course, is vital for bringing character designs to life. A character designer should take this course because it is centered around the specific techniques that will make their designs more effective.

See salaries and explore the career path for Character Designer

Animator

An animator creates moving images, and a critical skill for animators is the ability to draw consistent and expressive characters. This course provides essential training in drawing anime heads, faces, and expressions, giving animators a solid base from which to start. The curriculum, which covers head proportions, face shapes, different hairstyles, and a variety of expressions for both genders, is directly applicable to animation. The course also teaches how to create full color portrait illustrations which can help animators visualize how their characters will look in different scenes. An animator should take this course because it provides targeted skills that will improve their drawing skills with an anime focus.

See salaries and explore the career path for Animator

Illustrator

An illustrator creates images for various purposes, such as books, magazines, and advertisements. This course helps an illustrator through its lessons on how to draw anime heads, faces, and expressions. The course gives an illustrator the skills needed to create captivating character illustrations. The course covers head proportions, different face shapes, and various expressions and how they impact conveying emotion. The course also teaches how to do linework, color, and lighting, important skills for every illustrator. An illustrator should take this course because of its comprehensive approach to illustrating anime faces for any project.

See salaries and explore the career path for Illustrator

Comic Book Artist

A comic book artist creates the visual art for comic books, which tells a story using sequential images. This course is a great way to build a foundation in drawing anime-style characters, particularly heads, faces, and expressions, which are essential for compelling comic art. The course covers head proportions, face shapes, and different expressions that can bring comic book panels to life. Additionally, learning how to do linework, color, and lighting, and how to create a full color portrait illustration as is taught in this course, can greatly improve the visual presentation of comics. A comic book artist should take this course because of its focus on creating detailed and emotionally resonant characters.

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Concept Artist

A concept artist creates visual representations of ideas for projects, such as video games and films. This course helps a concept artist by building fundamental skills in drawing anime heads, faces, and expressions. A concept artist must be able to design a wide range of characters. This course provides a framework for understanding head proportions, face shapes, and expressions to help make compelling designs. Additionally, knowing how to do linework, color, and lighting, as taught in this course, can help visual concepts more easily. A concept artist who wants to work within an anime style should take this course to develop their skills.

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Freelance Illustrator

A freelance illustrator works on a variety of projects, often including character design and illustration. This course is directly applicable for such a role by building a foundation in drawing anime heads, faces, and expressions. The course covers many critical aspects such as head proportions, facial structure, and character expressions. In addition, it teaches how to draw with line, color, and light, which are essential skills for any illustrator. The course's practical, step-by-step approach to illustration may be particularly helpful for a freelancer. A freelance illustrator who wants to expand their skillset into anime style should take this course for its targeted approach.

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Graphic Novel Artist

A graphic novel artist creates long-form comics, and a basic skill is the ability to draw compelling characters and faces. This course helps a graphic novel artist hone their abilities in drawing anime heads, faces, and expressions to tell more engaging stories. The course teaches essential skills such as drawing proportions, expressions, and different face shapes. Additionally, the course covers how to do linework, color, and lighting, which are critical for a graphic novel artist. A graphic novel artist, especially one who focuses on the anime style, may find the targeted practice this course provides invaluable to their work.

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Webcomic Artist

A webcomic artist creates comics that are published online. This course may be useful for an aspiring webcomic artist, as the focus on anime-style faces provides a foundation in character creation. It also may give them the skills to develop visually engaging characters. The course covers head proportions, face shapes, and a range of expressions, and, in addition, it covers how to do linework, color, and lighting, all of which are essential for webcomics. A webcomic artist should take this course as it can help them hone their skills for a specific style.

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Storyboard Artist

A storyboard artist creates visual representations of a film or animation sequence to help guide the production process. This course may be useful to a storyboard artist because it teaches how to draw anime heads and faces, allowing an artist to depict characters in their storyboards more effectively. Storyboards often require a multitude of character drawings to convey action and emotion. The course’s lessons on facial proportions, head shapes, and expressions help a storyboard artist show characters in various moods and actions, which is important for storytelling. A storyboard artist should take this course to hone their ability to visualize and convey character emotion through drawings.

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Visual Development Artist

A visual development artist designs the look and feel of characters, environments, and props for animation or video games. This course helps a visual development artist improve their character design skills by teaching the fundamentals of drawing anime heads, faces, and expressions. The course covers essential skills such as constructing heads, drawing different face shapes, and rendering various expressions, which are all important in the process of visual development. Also, learning how to do linework, color, and light helps in the presentation of designs. A visual development artist may benefit from the course because it provides targeted skills that relate to character design.

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Video Game Artist

A video game artist creates visual assets for video games, including characters, environments, and user interfaces. This course helps a video game artist to develop skills in drawing anime-style characters. This is useful for any game with anime-influenced art styles. The course provides a foundation in drawing heads, faces, and expressions, and it covers a range of topics such as head proportions, face shapes, and how to draw hair. Also, this course teaches how to do linework, color, and lighting, which is vital for game art. A video game artist looking to create anime-style characters should take this course for its targeted character art training.

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Art Director

An art director oversees the visual style and images for various projects, and this may include character design. This course may be useful to an art director because the course’s understanding of anime heads, faces, and expressions can help them provide better feedback and direction to other illustrators. An art director also needs to understand the basics of the skills with which artists are working. The course covers many aspects of drawing and illustrating anime characters which can be useful for an art director’s creative vision. An art director should take this course to enhance their understanding of the specific techniques involved.

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Art teacher

An art teacher instructs students in various artistic techniques and concepts, and this course may be helpful for an educator looking to teach students how to draw anime-style characters. The course provides a strong foundation on how to draw anime heads, faces, and expressions, which may be useful for teachers to pass along to their students. Also, the course covers head proportions, face shapes, and a variety of expressions, providing content for a teaching curriculum. Additionally, the skills in creating portrait illustrations can help educators teach technique. An art teacher should take this course because they will better understand the subject.

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Tattoo Artist

A tattoo artist creates permanent designs on skin. This course may be helpful to a tattoo artist, as the lessons in drawing anime heads, faces, and expressions might be useful for developing unique designs. The course gives a foundation in understanding proportions, facial anatomy, and expression. It is these skills that can prove necessary for creating captivating and visually appealing tattoos. Learning about creating portraits, lining, and color as is covered in the course may also be beneficial for a tattoo artist. A tattoo artist should take this course as it can help them develop skills and expand their design repertoire.

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Anime Academy

How to Draw Heads, Faces, and Expressions!

What's inside

Learning objectives

Syllabus

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Reviews summary

Comprehensive anime head drawing guide

Activities

Career center

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