As a manga artist, you must be able to draw people of all ages. You may have to draw a child when referring to your character’s past, for example. Just as in reality, the younger a person is, the larger the eyes, the chubbier the face and the cuter the overall look. In this demonstration, we will learn how to draw a cute little boy in the manga style. If you intended to draw a little girl, then the only major attribute to change is the hairstyle. You may also need to add more eyelashes to emphasize a feminine look.
Start by drawing a circle. Then divide the circle in half with a vertical line. The vertical line establishes the symmetry of the face and will help you draw the eyes within a correct distance from each other. Draw one horizontal line at the bottom of the circle and call it the “nose line.” Add another line below that and call it the “chin line.”
Begin outlining the jaw by drawing a curved line starting from each side of the circle to the chin line drawn in step 1, making sure that the angle used is the same to obtain a symmetrical look. Remember that children in manga tend to have a big head with chubby cheeks.
Sketch the neck, using the vertical line as a guide. The neck’s size depends on the body size, which will be discussed in the later chapters.
Draw two horizontal lines that will guide you in drawing the eyes. These two lines (shown dotted) will help you maintain eye proportions. If you are interested in drawing smaller eyes, then reduce the spacing by moving the lower eye guideline up. To draw the ears, draw curved lines from the upper eye guideline to the nose line.
Start by sketching the eyelid line below the upper eye guideline and then draw the upper eyelashes an equal distance from the nose line. Sketch the lower eyelashes up until the circle. If you have followed the steps carefully, you will see that the eyes fall perfectly within the head circle. This method will help you achieve the symmetrical look you want.
Draw the pupil first and then the iris as indicated. Add a light circle (or highlight) on each eye, following the direction of the light shining on them. Then sketch the eyebrows of your character. Usually manga boys have thick eyebrows, but since this is a child, a thin eyebrow will contribute to a cuter look. The guidelines are blue to avoid confusion.
Sketch a dot on the nose line that you have drawn. Look closely in the illustration above. It’s tiny. Can a nose get any simpler than that? Then draw the mouth within the area between the nose line and the chin line.
Sketch the little boy’s hair. Hair is not easy to draw but becomes easier as you practice. The key element to remember when studying hair is how to draw smooth strands. Once you can do that, you can draw any hairstyle you can think up. In this demo, I used a very basic hairstyle.
Once you are done with your sketch, you can erase the guidelines. Then ink and color your drawing.
