Studio Hard Deluxe - How to Draw Hairstyles for Manga: Learn to Draw Hair for Expressive Manga and Anime Characters

Learn to Draw Hair for Expressive Manga and Anime Characters

STUDIO HARD DELUXE

After facial expressions, hair is the most important element when drawing a great manga character. How you draw your characters hair can take them from a simple sketch to a more realistic form with personality and dimension, ready for the anime screen. In How to Draw Hairstyles for Manga, we focus on illustrating hairstyles that express movement and emotion to take your work to the next level.

To get started, we first look at the basics of human hair, how it grows from the scalp, how it parts, and how it moves. Follow along, step-by-step, as you discover how to add bangs, length, curls, and more. Plus, youll learn how to identify a variety of different hairstyles, from traditional styles for men and women to unique looks that surprise. Once you have a grasp on hair characteristics, youll learn to enhance your drawings further by adding movement and shadows.

Looking for specific hairstyle ideas? Weve got you covered. How to Draw Hairstyles for Manga shares hundreds of looks for any character! Get inspired with examples of short, medium, and long styles, styles for epic battle scenes, underwater scenes, windy scenes, and more. Your character will never have another bad hair day.

Grab your drawing supplies and lets go!

Hair is an important part of a characters individuality and personality. In this section, well explore the relationship between hair and characters.

Expressing Personality

A characters hairstyle can suggest their personality just as much as their clothing. Paired with a strong facial expression, you can assume a lot about the characters intent in a scene. Looking at the characters here, what do you think their hair says about them?

Long wavy hair with braids lifted up halfway

Bouncy, slicked back style

Short hair with bangs

Twin ponytails with flair

Expressing Different Occasions

People change their hairstyles to suit different occasions. You can even express the time of day through a hairstyle. Hair is messy when first waking up, but when ready for a day at the office, it is combed and styled. A formal updo suggests a special evening event.

Messy hair when just waking up
Short hair styled for business

A formal style for a special occasion

Expressing Movement

Hair moves and changes shape as it is blown by the wind or when the body moves. Hair movement is an essential element to drawing dynamic manga characters.

Blown by the wind

Floating in the water

Types of Hairstyles

There are countless variations in hairstyles for men and women, but the classification is surprisingly simple. Here, youll learn the basic classification of hairstyles, which is the standard for drawing hair.

Hair Texture

Hair textures can be broadly divided into two types: straight and curly. By combining these two, various hairstyles can be created.

STRAIGHT

Straight hair grows straight down from the root without resisting gravity.

CURLY

Curly hair grows with bends and waves from the root and appears to defy gravity.

Hair Length

Hair length is the most obvious way to classify hairstyles. They are divided into three types: short, medium, and long.

SHORT HAIR

Short hairstyles are those where the ends of the hair fall between the top of the ear and the bottom of the chin.

MEDIUM-LENGTH HAIR

Medium-length hairstyles are those from below the chin to the shoulder for women and from below the ears to around the chin for men.

LONG HAIR

Long hair reaches past the shoulders and down to the chest for women, and under the chin for men. Hair longer than this is classified as super-long for both men and women.

Understanding How Hair Grows

In order to draw realistic hair, it is important to understand where and how hair grows on the head. Hairstylists divide hair into sections as they cut it based on how hair grows. By doing the same in your illustrations, you can make drawing hair and capturing its movement much easier.

Sectioning Hair

Hair is roughly divided into four sections around the head: front, side, crown, and back. Each section tends to grow in its own direction. The front typically grows forward toward the face, the sides grow and flow down the side of the head, and the back grows down the back. The trickiest part is the crown of the head. This is where the sides and back come together and form a swirl. Hair that grows in a different direction from the rest is called a cowlick.