This tutorial shows how to depict a female anime or manga style elf character with several variations of the ears, face up and colors.

Anime elf girl drawing step by step
Anime elf girl cartoon step by step

The chief affair that sets anime/manga elves autonomously from human characters are of grade the ears. The pointy ears may besides be drawn on other fantasy or sci-fi type character types.

This tutorial provides the following:

  • A pace by pace breakdown of drawing an anime elf's face
  • Four unlike ways of drawing elf ears
  • Two variations of drawing the face
  • Two different color combinations (for regular or dark elf character)

If you are going to exist drawing using pencil and paper be sure to beginning with light lines that you lot tin can easily erase. You will need to exercise so in betwixt some of the steps. Y'all can trace over your line with a darker stroke afterwards yous end placing the various parts of the head/face.

Step 1 – Describe the Center Guide Line & Top of the Caput

Anime elf girl head top drawing
Anime elf girl head top drawing

Brainstorm by making a vertical line through the eye of your drawing expanse. This line tin assistance you meet if both halves of the head are equal in width.

Next draw a circle that will represent the top part of the head.

Footstep 2 – Describe the Bottom of the Head

Anime elf girl head bottom drawing
Anime elf girl caput bottom drawing

Going down from the circle describe the bottom part of the head. As shown in the above example the bottom portion should get-go with a pair of lines that and then bend into some other pair that finally joins with a small curve to grade the chin.

Step 3 – Draw the Neck & Shoulders

Anime elf girl neck and shoulders drawing
Anime elf daughter neck and shoulders drawing

From the lesser portion of the face draw the lines for the neck going down into the shoulders. Calculation a bit of the shoulders will brand the drawing wait more like an actual portrait instead of just a "floating" head.

For more on drawing necks and shoulders see:

How to Depict Anime Cervix & Shoulders

Stride four – Position & Draw the Optics

Vertical Centre Positioning

Anime elf girl inner angled eyes drawing
Anime elf girl inner angled eyes drawing

To place the eyes first divide the confront in half with a straight horizontal line. This line can also assistance you make certain that both eyes are on the same level.

In this case the optics will be adequately narrow so draw them slightly below the line.

For this first instance draw the eyes with their inner ends angled slightly downwards (towards the nose).

For at present leave out the smaller details such as the eyelashes, pupils and reflections. These will be added in a later on step.

Horizontal Eye Spacing

Anime elf girl eye spacing
Anime elf girl eye spacing

Infinite the eyes well-nigh far enough apart that you can fit another heart between them.

Different Heart Types

Anime elf girl outer angled eyes drawing
Anime elf girl outer angled eyes drawing

Depending on the type of character you lot desire to have yous tin depict another variation of the optics as shown higher up. This detail one can be for a more "balmy" personality.

For this set of optics draw them with their outer ends (towards the sides of the face) angled down.

For cartoon different eye expressions come across:

How to Draw Anime Eyes and Eye Expressions

Step 5 – Position & Depict the Eyebrows

Anime elf girl lowered eyebrows drawing
Anime elf girl lowered eyebrows cartoon

A slight distance above the eyes draw the eyebrows. For this prepare of eyes depict the eyebrows angled downwards towards the nose (same as the eyes).

For cartoon different types of eyebrows too see:

How to Depict Anime & Manga Eyebrows

Dissimilar Eyebrow Types

Anime elf girl raised eyebrows drawing
Anime elf daughter raised eyebrows drawing

If you chose the second style of eyes in the previous step y'all can depict the eyebrows slightly raised and angled the other fashion.

Footstep 6 – Position & Depict the Nose

Anime elf girl nose drawing
Anime elf daughter nose drawing

Draw the olfactory organ as pretty much just a dot or tiny vertical nuance. For this particular confront position the olfactory organ slightly above the halfway indicate between the line used for placing the eyes and the bottom of the chin.

For more means to describe noses see:

How to Describe Anime and Manga Noses

Pace 7 – Position & Describe the Mouth

Anime elf girl mouth drawing
Anime elf girl oral cavity drawing

The bottom lip of the oral fissure (non really drawn) volition be roughly halfway between the lesser of the olfactory organ and the bottom of the chin. You can describe the actual mouth just a tiny bit to a higher place that signal.

In this instance the character volition have a flake of a smile so y'all tin can draw the mouth slightly loner and more curved than in it's natural land.

For more on oral cavity expressions see:

  • How to Draw Anime Mouths Tutorial
  • How to Depict Anime and Manga Oral cavity Expressions
  • 12 Anime Facial Expressions Nautical chart & Drawing Tutorial

Step viii – Position & Depict the Elf Ears

Anime elf ears drawing different types
Anime elf ears cartoon different types

The way elf ears are drawn tin can sometimes just be a way conclusion but other times they can as well assist emphasize a character'due south personality. For example more than upwards pointing ears can mean a more "upbeat" personality. Downwards pointed ears on the other hand can be attributed to characters with a more a more than mild or shy personality.

One explanation for this can exist that animals tend to raise their ears when alert/on guard and lower them when scared. This is something that pretty much everyone knows and is used to. Therefore drawing pointy anime/manga ears in a particular ways can assistance send a visual message well-nigh the character they are attributed to.

You tin can apply the first two pairs in the case for the regular/upbeat face and the last prepare for the mild/shy one.

For drawing normal ears see:

How to Depict Anime and Manga Ears

Cartoon Raised Ears

Anime raised elf ears drawing
Anime raised elf ears cartoon

While quite oft the base of operations of the the ears is hidden backside hair its a good idea to know how to place them on the caput for times when you do want to prove them fully and to help avoid mistakes.

For this first set of ears you can draw them with their tips raised fairly high up (past the eyebrows).

Generally you can either place the base of operations of the ears with the lesser at the same level as the bottom of the nose or slightly below information technology. The peak can be around the top of the eyes.

Since this is both a stylized and a fantasy character the ear placement is not that important only if you are mode off and so your drawing can end up looking weird.

For some common drawing mistakes and tips on avoiding them run into:

Mutual Mistakes When Drawing Anime & Manga

Drawing Medium Raised Ears

Anime medium raised elf ears drawing
Anime medium raised elf ears cartoon

As an alternative to the previous example you lot can depict the ears with their ends slightly lower down.

Position the base of these ears the aforementioned way as the previous instance. You can do this for the next ii sets as well.

Cartoon Medium Lowered Ears

Anime medium lowered elf ears drawing
Anime medium lowered elf ears drawing

You can depict the ears with their ends even lower downwards and combine them with the second set of optics from footstep four for the "mild personality" look.

Cartoon Lowered Ears

Anime lowered elf ears drawing
Anime lowered elf ears drawing

Finally y'all can depict the "reversed" ears where they curve in the opposite direction and hang fairly far down.

Pace 9 – Draw the Hair

When cartoon hair yous can call back of it as existence split up into the forepart, sides and back sections as shown below.

For a more than detailed explanation of this besides as examples of other hairstyles see:

How to Depict Anime and Manga Pilus – Female person

Draw the Front Section of the Hair

Anime elf girl front hair drawing
Anime elf daughter front end hair drawing

For this particular hairstyle start with the front section as shown above. There volition exist a bit of a dodder in the middle with the rest of the hair swept to each side.

Draw the Side Sections of the Pilus

Anime elf girl sides hair drawing
Anime elf daughter sides hair drawing

Onto the "front hair" add the sides. More often than not hair of this length will tend to "hug" the head/face so describe each side with a low-cal bend.

Draw the Back Department of the Hair

Anime elf girl back hair drawing
Anime elf girl back hair cartoon

Finally add the back/tiptop section department as shown above.

Step 10 – Add the Small Details of the Facial Features

Anime elf girl raised ears drawing
Anime elf girl raised ears drawing

To terminate the line cartoon add together all of the smaller details.

These include the following:

  • Hints of the eyelids (between the eyebrows and eyes)
  • Eyelashes
  • Inner details of the eyes
  • Inner Details of the Ears
  • Hair folds
  • Hints of neck muscles/collar bones

Middle Details Cartoon

Anime elf eyes drawing step by step
Anime elf eyes cartoon step by pace

Yous can encounter a close upward step by step breakdown of drawing the eyes above.

If y'all desire to stop at a line drawing it'southward recommended that you lot still add fleck of shading to the eyes (as shown in the example). If you lot are going to move onto the coloring office so you lot can add together color instead of the greyness.

For a detailed explanation of drawing anime optics run across:

How to Depict Female Anime Eyes Tutorial

For more than variations of eyelashes run across:

How to Describe Anime Eyelashes Step by Step

One time done adding the pocket-sized details (if you were drawing in pencil and made light lines as was suggested at the start of the tutorial) you lot tin at present trace over your drawing with a darker stroke. Alternatively you can also employ a black pen or marker, just be careful not to brand a error.

Alternative Face Details

Anime elf girl lowered ears drawing
Anime elf girl lowered ears drawing

Above you lot can also encounter what the alternative version of this grapheme with the slightly dissimilar ready of ears/facial features can look like.

Step 11 – Apply Color

Anime elf girl coloring
Anime elf daughter coloring

This particular character will use only two main colors. I for the skin and the other for the hair, eyebrows and optics.

Greenish is a adequately mutual anime pilus color. It can also exist a good choice for an elf as they are often associated with forests and nature.

Delight annotation that if you are coloring on paper you may want to leave the pilus highlights white (see final step of tutorial) and colour around them. If y'all are coloring digitally you can add them in over top of the hair colour. You lot can also add together them with a white correction pen or white paints.

Nighttime Elf Color Variation

Anime dark elf girl coloring
Anime dark elf girl coloring

Alternatively yous can also brand the character a dark elf by irresolute up the colors like to the case above.

Step 12 – Finish the Elf Graphic symbol Drawing

Anime elves drawing
Anime elves cartoon

To finish the elf drawing add some basic shading. In this particular instance the character will have very generalized shadows that tend to occur in most common lighting weather condition.

Add the shadows equally follows:

  • On the head/confront cast by the hair
  • Around the eyelids (really small)
  • At the top of the eyes (from the eyelashes)
  • Inner parts of the ears
  • To one side of the nose
  • Beneath the bottom lip (lip itself not actually fatigued)
  • On the cervix from the head/hair

For examples of shading a face up in different types of lighting run across:

How to Shade an Anime Face in Dissimilar Lighting

You lot can add the shadow in exactly the same places for the dark elf.

Afterwards yous stop the shadows you can also add some highlights to the hair. In this case they will exist washed as a series of lines/zigzags but you lot can also do other simpler types of highlights.

There is no need to add together highlights for the dark elf equally the hair is pure white and they wont be visible.

For examples of other types of hair highlights run across:

Dissimilar Ways to Draw Anime Pilus Highlights

Normal Elf Character

Anime elf girl drawing
Anime elf girl drawing

You can see a large finished drawing of the first version of the elf girl in a higher place.

Culling Elf Grapheme

Anime elf girl ears down drawing
Anime elf daughter ears down drawing

An alternative version for the "mild personality" await.

Dark Elf Graphic symbol

Anime dark elf girl drawing
Anime night elf girl drawing

The dark elf version is pretty much the same but with a different color template.

Shy Night Elf Character

Anime dark elf girl ears down drawing
Anime nighttime elf girl ears down drawing

And finally for the last case the dark elf version of the "mild personality".

For more on picking colors for an anime graphic symbol besides encounter:

Beginner Guide to Picking Colors When Cartoon Anime & Manga

Conclusion

Drawing an anime/manga style elf character is pretty much the same as drawing a human. However with an elf you can apply the ears to give them a fleck of added personality as shown with the four different ear types.

For more than on drawing fantasy characters see:

  • How to Draw an Anime Vampire Daughter Step by Step
  • How to Draw Anime Wolf Girl Step past Footstep
  • How to Draw an Anime Fox Girl Step past Step
  • How to Draw an Anime Panda Girl Step past Step
  • How to Draw an Anime Cat Step by Step

For more than on showing personality and drawing dissimilar types of characters meet:

  • How to Depict Anime Characters Tutorial
  • How to Draw a Beautiful Anime Girl Step by Step