12 Anime Facial Expressions Chart & Drawing Tutorial
This step by step tutorial explains how to draw some of the more popular anime and manga facial expressions with easy to follow step by step examples.
Different Types of Anime & Manga Facial Expressions
Drawing anime faces to show different kinds of emotions can be quite fun. Their large eyes in particular make it easy to clearly show various facial expression. This guide illustrates how to draw an anime face with twelve different emotions and explains how the facial features (eyes, eyebrows and mouth in particular) shift to create them. For expressions where the mouth is open the jaw/chin may also be positioned lower down.
The focus of the tutorial is on a female face drawn in a traditional anime/manga style. For drawing facial expressions on other kinds of faces see:
- 12 Anime Male Facial Expressions Chart & Drawing Tutorial
- 16 Examples of How to Draw Chibi Anime Facial Expressions
Quick Guidelines for Drawing Anime & Manga Heads & Faces
Before adding the facial features you will need to create an outline of the head. Creating the one shown in this example is quite simple. Start with a straight vertical line to help guide the rest of the drawing. This can help you see if the face is symmetrical and that the facial features are properly centered and even placed.
Towards the upper part of the vertical line draw the upper part of the head (centered on it). Next, add the lower part of the head. Firsts make it’s shape narrower as it goes down to the cheeks. Next, draw the cheeks with a pair of curves. After the cheeks make the face even narrower as it goes to the chin and draw the chin itself with yet another curve.
As already mentioned, for expressions where the mouth is open you will want to draw the jaw/chin lower down. To do this make the area that goes from the upper part of the head to the the cheeks longer (like it’s been stretched out).
After outlining the head you can add the neck and shoulders. As this is an anime/manga style drawing you can make both fairly slender.
For an in depth guide on the shape of an anime head see:
How to Draw an Anime Face (Structure & Proportions)
How to Position Anime & Manga Facial Features
Before drawing different kinds of anime facial expressions it’s good to first have something to base all of them on. If for example you need to draw wide eyes to show a certain emotion it’s good to know what they are being drawn wide in comparison to.
For this reason it’s important to first understand the placement of the facial features of a particular face in their normal state before trying to draw it with different emotions.
The proportions for this face are explained below. Please note that these are good proportions for drawing anime faces in general.
Positioning the Eyes
Draw a horizontal line though the middle of the head and draw the eyes below that.
For more on drawing anime eyes see:
How to Draw Anime Eyes and Eye Expressions
Positioning the Nose
Draw a horizontal line between the top of the eyes and the bottom of the face. This will be the position of the nose.
For a guide on drawing anime noses check out:
How to Draw Anime and Manga Noses
Positioning the Mouth
Draw a line between the nose line and the bottom of the face. Place the mouth slightly above that. The reason for this is that the line will actually determine the position of the bottom lip.
For a tutorial on drawing anime mouths see:
How to Draw Anime and Manga Mouth Expressions
How to Add the Hair When Drawing Anime Facial Expressions
Please note that it’s important to draw out the entire head to be able to get the proper placement of the facial features. Even the parts that are covered by the hair. You can draw the hair over top of the head’s outline after adding all of the facial features and erase the parts that it covers.
For an easy to understand approach to drawing common anime and manga hairstyles see:
How to Draw Anime and Manga Hair – Female
The second example in particular is very close to the one shown in this tutorial.
Drawing Normal Facial Expressions
This is the normal facial expression mentioned in the explanation above. You can use it as a basis for all of the other expressions shown in this tutorial.
It’s facial features are placed as was described above.
Drawing Angry Facial Expressions
For an angry face draw the eyes narrower than normal with the lower eyelids raised in upside down curves and the upper eyelids lowered (particularly their inner ends). Draw the eyebrows closer together with their inner ends significantly lowered.
Draw the mouth in an upside down arc.
For a detailed tutorial on drawing angry looking eyes see:
How to Draw Angry Anime Eyes (8 Steps)
For drawing a pouting anime character see:
How to Draw Anime Pouting Face Tutorial
Drawing Content/Happy Facial Expressions
For a content and happy face draw the eyes completely closed in upwards curves (basically just the eyelashes with a hint of the eyelids).
Draw the mouth with a wide smile showing the teeth.
Drawing Gloating Facial Expressions
For a gloating expression draw the eyes narrower with their lower eyelids raised in upside down curves and their upper eyelids lowered.
Draw the mouth smiling with the teeth showing. However, as compared to the happy expression draw the mouths upper end with more a curve to create more of a sly slime or a grin.
Drawing in Love Facial Expressions
For an in love appearance the eyes are the most important aspect. Draw the pupils bigger than normal and add more reflections.
Draw the mouth open and slightly smiling but without showing the teeth. Also, as the mouth is open draw the jaw lower down.
For drawing the “love eyes” in a different way (with hearts in them) see:
How to Draw Anime “Love Eyes” (With Hearts)
Drawing Surprised/Confused Facial Expressions
For a confused facial expression draw the mouth open in an “O” shape with the jaw lower down. Draw the eyes wide open with the eyebrows lifted. Make the irises (and everything contained in them) small than normal. Also, position the irises slightly closer together.
Drawing Upset Facial Expressions
For an upset face draw the eyes looking down. To do this position the irises lower down so that large parts of them are covered by the bottom eyelids. Draw the mouth in a light upside down arc. Draw the eyebrows in upside down curves with their inner ends raised.
You can also see 4 Ways to Draw Crying Anime Eyes for drawing really upset characters.
Drawing Grinning/Plotting Facial Expressions
For a look like the character you are drawing is plotting something draw the eyes very narrow with the lower eyelids raised in upside down curves and the upper eyelids lowered. Draw the eyebrows closer together with their inner ends much lower down. Draw the mouth with a light smile showing the teeth.
Drawing Scared Facial Expressions
For a scared expression draw the eyes wide open with the eyebrows raised. Draw the mouth open in an upside down curve with the jaw lower down. Make the irises/pupils much smaller than normal and position them closer together.
Drawing Embarrassed Facial Expressions
For an embarrassed look draw the eyebrows in a slight upside down arc and raw the eyes looking down. Draw the mouth with a light smile.
Drawing Puzzled Facial Expressions
For a puzzled expression make the eyebrows and the eyes raised (looking upwards). Draw the pupils with large portions of their upper ends covered by the top eyelids. Draw the mouth slightly open with an “O” shape and the chin/jaw lower down.
Drawing Smiling Facial Expressions
For a light smile draw the curve of the mouth slightly wider than for a normal expressions. Draw the eyes with their lower eyelids slightly raised and in upside down curves (as compared to their normal state).
Conclusion
This guide illustrates how you can draw the same anime face with different emotions. It explains where to position the facial features and how they shift with different expressions. It also provides a basic guide on drawing the shape of the head.
As mentioned at the start of the tutorial, drawing anime faces with different expressions can be quire fun. You can try those provided in the examples or experiment with trying to show other kinds of emotions based on this particular face.
For drawing anime facial expressions from the side view see:
How to Draw Anime Facial Expressions – Side View
For drawing different kinds of anime characters to show different personalities and emotions also see the following guides:
