How to Draw a Cute Girl’s Face in 12 Steps
This tutorial shows how to draw a cute girl’s face with step by step instructions on drawing each of the facial features in an anime style.
As mentioned, the focus of the guide is on creating a cute female face. It explains how to draw the head as well as each of the facial features in order to achieve this. The guide also shows an easy way to draw a pair of hair ribbons to further highlight the cute look.
The drawing is done like a portrait (down to the shoulders) in a fairly traditional anime/manga style. Each step is explained in great detail making this one of the most extensive and in depth tutorials here on AnimeOutline thus far.
The girl in the example can be a young child or a teenager. However, in some anime and manga even adults can have a much younger appearance (such as this one) than their actual age.
For drawing an even younger looking girl see:
How to Draw a Cute Anime Girl Step by Step
If you are going to draw using pencil and paper it’s recommended that you start with light lines as you will need to do a bit of erasing in some of the steps. Darken them once you have the entire character outlined.
Above is a video that shows the entire process of drawing the cute girl’s face broken down into easy to follow line segments. You can watch it and then read the more in depth instructions and explanations below.
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Step 1 – Draw the Head With a Big Forehead
To create the cute looking face start with an outline of the head. Begin by making a straight vertical line to act as a guide (shown in red in the example). Towards the upper end of this line draw a circle to get the shape of the top of the head. Going down from the circle draw the lower part of the head getting narrower as it goes down. Draw each side starting with an inwards angled line that runs down to the curve of the cheek. The the curve should then be follow by another line angled even more towards the center of the face that stop just a bit short of touching the center line. Draw the second half of the face in the same way mirror the first half. Afterwards join the two sides with the small curve of the chin at the bottom of the head. You see all of what is described broken down by the different line segments in the example.
Make sure that the lower part of the head is not too tall, you want to create a fairly round face as round faces tend to look cuter.
For an in depth explanations of how to structure an anime face int he front view read:
How to Draw an Anime Face (Structure & Proportions)
Step 2 – Draw a Slim Neck & Narrow Shoulders
Going down from the lower part of the head add the neck. Make the neck quite narrow in relation to the head. Much more so than you would for a real person. Slender necks generally look more feminine.
Going down from the neck draw the shoulders. Again, make the shoulders quite narrow in relation to the head (as compared to a more realistic art style). A bigger head will help make the girl look younger and cuter.
For more on drawing necks and shoulders see:
How to Draw Anime Neck & Shoulders
You can see what the drawing looks like without the line segments in the example above. You should hopefully have something similar when you get to this stage.
For drawing an entire body in different anime styles see:
Step 3 – Draw the Ears Low Down on the Head
For this particular drawing place the girl’s ears very low on the head. Position them well below it’s vertical halfway point.
As most of the ears will be covered by the hair in later step there is no need to draw any of their inner details.
For different ways to draw ears and place them on the head see:
How to Draw Anime & Manga Ears (3 Different Ways)
Step 4 – Draw Big Eyes
Position the eyes below the horizontal halfway point of the head (as shown above). At this stage of the drawing only add the bare minimum details needed to define their shape. Save the rest for later. Define the upper ends of the eyes with the curves of their upper eyelashes. Define the bottoms with upward curved eyelids.
Space the eyes far enough apart that you can fit another one in between them. For this example the spacing is based on the white of the eyes (the inner parts of the eyelashes).
Draw the irises with their upper ends not touching the top eyelids. This will make the eyes look like they are open fairly wide and give them a bit of a surprised or excited look. When combined with the way the lower eyelids are drawn this gives the eyes the kind of an expression a person may have when they are happy to see someone. This can help give the girl a more endearing appearance.
For drawing different kinds of eye expressions see:
How to Draw Anime Eyes and Eye Expressions
Step 5 – Draw Fairly Thick Eyebrows
Draw the inner ends of the eyebrows slightly raised as compared to the outer ends. This will again help create a bit of a surprised/excited look and make the girl look more friendly and cute.
In this case the eyebrows are fairly thick (especially towards their inner ends). Drawing them in such away can help give a character a bit more personality and a more unique appearance than the common slim anime eyebrows.
For more ways to draw eyebrows see:
How to Draw Anime & Manga Eyebrows
Step 6 – Draw a Small Nose
Draw the nose with it’s lower end between the top of the eyes and the bottom of the chin. Also place it to one side of the vertical guide line and not directly in the center of the head. You just want to give a hint of one of it’s sides.
Make the nose very small in relation to the head and give it a shape similar to an oval but make the side facing towards the center is slightly “flattened”.
It should be noted that less pronounced facial features tend to make a face looking younger and cuter. For this reason anime style noses (which are often barely defined) are particularly well suited to creating a cute looking drawing.
For more on anime and manga style noses see:
How to Draw Anime and Manga Noses
Step 7 – Draw a Mouth With a Light Smile
Draw the mouth fairly wide and with a bit of a curve to create a hint of a smile. Position it slightly above the halfway point between the lower end of the nose and the bottom of the chin. The halfway point itself is the position of the bottom of the lower lip. However, as the drawing is done in an anime/manga style you don’t need to draw it (anime characters are usually drawn without showing the lips).
Give the mouth a little break in the middle (as is also typical of anime/manga mouths).
The light smile will again help show a friendly personality and contribute to the goal of this tutorial (creating a cute looking face).
For more on drawing mouths see:
- How to Draw Anime & Manga Mouths Tutorial
- How to Draw Anime and Manga Mouth Expressions
- How to Draw Anime & Manga Teeth Tutorial
Step 8 – Draw the Hair With a Good Amount of Volume
To make drawing the hair easier it’s split into three sections (shown in different colors in the examples).
For more on this approach read:
How to Draw Anime & Manga Male & Female Hair
As in the example draw the hair right over top of the outline of the head so that you can easily see how much volume you are giving it.
In this case the girl’s hair is fairly long (down to the shoulders).
First, draw the hair along the forehead in large clumps with a split on each of their ends. Make the clump in the middle straight and the ones to it’s sides curved.
Next, add the hair along the sides of the head. Draw each of these sections with a bit of a wave to their shape and with splits on their ends (mirroring one another).
For the last section add the top/background hair (basically it’s silhouette). Draw it starting with a split at the very top of the head (where the hair is combed in opposite directions). It should somewhat follow the head’s shape it’s shape down to the ears. As it goes past the ears (down to the shoulders) make it’s overall shape wider. After you’ve added this sections main outline, draw a series of splits along it’s bottom as well as some folds along the top and around the neck.
It’s also important to note that you should mind the distance of this section of the hair from the head. You want to give the hair a good amount of volume. Well styled hair generally contribute to a nicer/cuter appearance.
Step 9 – Draw the Smaller Details of the Body & Face
Once you’ve got a basic portrait style outline you can start adding some of the smaller details of the body and face. First, add the collarbones going down from the upper areas of the shoulders to below the neck. Draw them angled slightly downwards as they run to the middle of the body with curves on their ends.
Draw the smaller details of the eyes in blue in the example above. These include the following:
- Eyelids – slightly above the eyes
- Individual Lashes – hinted at as little pointy clumps
- Reflections – shaped like oval to one side of each iris
After drawing the details erase the bits of the the eyelash outlines where you’ve add the individual lashes.
For more on drawing eyelashes see:
How to Draw Anime Eyelashes Step by Step
Step 10 – Draw a Pair of Ribbons & the Dress
Ribbons are often associated with a cute look. As creating such an appearance is the goal of this tutorial adding a pair of them can definitely help.
Draw the ribbons coming out from behind the forehead section of the hair (tied around it’s side areas). Position them well above the ears.
You can erase the parts of the hair behind the ribbons once you have them outlined.
For drawing a different kind of ribbon see:
How to Draw Anime Christmas Santa Hat Girl
Draw the dress overlapping the outline of the body (similar to what was done with the hair). Start by defining it’s neckline as shown above in blue. Do this VERY lightly in regular pencil.
Once you have the basic shape of the neckline go over it with a wavy outline as shown above. Next, add the shoulder parts of the dress. Give them just a little bit of volume so that they are not flush against the body. You can erase parts of the lines that define the actual shoulders afterwards.
For drawing other kinds of clothes see:
For the last set of details add a series of little folds running along the entire length of the neckline. Try and make the spacing of these somewhat uneven so that they appear more natural.
After adding the folds have a look over your drawing to make sure you are happy with all of it’s parts. Afterwards, make any corrections if required and trace over it with darker lines.
Step 11 – Color the Drawing With a Good Combination of Colors
Before you begin coloring very lightly outline a set of highlights running across the forehead section of the hair. These will show light reflecting from it and help make the hair look shiny (shiny hair tends to look nicer).
Instead of outlining highlights another option is to simply create them by leaving white spots as you color. If drawing digitally add the highlights over top of the color in a new layer. You can also use a white correction pen to add them over top of the color on paper.
For more on drawing hair highlights see:
Different Ways to Draw Anime Hair Highlights
In this case the main colors used for the drawing are red for the hair and light blue for the clothes along with some green for the eyes (redheads often have green eyes) plus the skin tone.
You can fill in the different parts of the drawing as follows:
- Hair – red
- Hair Highlights – same red as the hair but much lighter
- Eyebrows – red
- Eyelashes – red
- Ribbons – blue
- Dress – blue
- Eyes (irises) – green (with white reflections)
For a guide to colors see:
Beginner Guide to Picking Colors When Drawing Anime & Manga
Once you’ve colored the different parts of the drawing describe above also add some blush to the cheeks (just below the eyes). To do this first draw a series of little red lines and then blend in some rend around them (see example).
The blush will help contribute to a cute and youthful appearance.
For more on drawing blush see:
How to Draw Anime & Manga Blush in Different Ways
As an alternative to the blush some freckles can also work really well for this particular character. For an easy guide on drawing these see:
How to Draw Freckles on Anime Faces
Step 12 – Add Some Simple Shading
Adding shadows to the drawing can help it stand out much more than just flat colors.
In this case she shading is done similar to most tutorials here on AnimeOutline and probably to most anime and manga scenes. The shadows are distributed as though the girl is in a well lit environment where the main light source is somewhere above her. For example, she can be outdoors on a sunny day or in a room with good lighting. In such an arrangement you would generally get fairly short downwards cast shadows as in the example.
Place the shadows as follows (by darkening the areas described below):
- The upper ends of the irises – will help make it look less like the eyes are staring
- Upper ends of the whites of the eyes – cast by the eyelashes
- Upper ends of the eyelids – as these areas are indented in the head somewhat less light will reach here as well
- The ears (all visible areas) – as they are generally surrounded by the hair allowing less light to get to them
- The nose (entire outline) – to make it stand out more
- The chin (below the lower lip) – the lip itself is not actually drawn
- Upper area of the neck (shape like the chin) – cast by the head
- Inner area of the hair (around the neck) – similar to the inner ends of the bows this area is fairly closed off and less light will reach here
- Lower ends of all hair clumps – where they curve inwards and start to cast shadows on themselves
- Upper ends of the side sections of the hair – cast by the front section
- Inner sides of the ribbon bows – as these areas are somewhat closed off less light will reach there
- Upper parts of the ribbon ends – cast by the bows
For a guide to shading a face in different lighting see:
How to Shade an Anime Face in Different Lighting
Conclusion
There are many ways to create a cute looking face, the drawing done in this tutorial is just one such example. However, there are features that cute faces tend to have in common, they are generally round with small noses and big eyes.
There are also other things such as blush, accessories (ribbons for example) and particular facial expressions that can contribute to creating a cute look. While it would be great to cover more example, as was mentioned at the start of the tutorial, this is already one of the most extensive and in depth guides featured here on AnimeOutline thus far. It’s also one of the longest and if you’ve made it all the way to the end hopefully you’ve found it informative and helpful.
For more similar tutorials also see the following:
- How to Draw Male Anime Characters Step by Step
- How to Draw a Beautiful Anime Girl Step by Step
- How to Draw an Anime Cat Step by Step
- How to Draw an Anime Boy (12 Steps With Proportions)
- How to Draw Closed Anime Eyes Step by Step
