Pencils are the basic tool of the cartoonist. You should use at least two hardnesses to permit a variety of line and shading.
Anime, or Japanese animation, is popular around the world, not just in its homeland. The distinctive look of anime is considered to date from the postwar work of Osamu Tezuka, who was inspired by early Disney cartoons; his work used film-style storytelling techniques and exaggerated yet simple facial designs. The famous large eyes of anime characters, which remain popular in cartoons and comics, permit greater emotional expression, while the elongated body type reflects Japanese standards of beauty.
Instructions
1. Decide on some basic facts about your character: Is it an adult, teenager or child? Is it male or female? Is it a strong, heroic type, a comic sidekick or a romantic love interest? Think also about the style you prefer: Standard anime uses a stylized version of realistic figures.
2. Draw a stick figure, with lines for shoulders, arms, legs and torso and an oval for the head. Use the harder of your two pencils to achieve a lighter line, and sketch lightly.
3. Measure the head of your stick figure. You can do this precisely, with a ruler, or roughly, with a finger or your pencil.
4. Use your head measurement to size the figure. You may want to make light marks at intervals that are the same height as the head. Classic Western figure proportions use an adult human figure that is seven "heads" high, four "heads" of which are leg, and three "heads" wide at the shoulder, according to Ralph Larmann of the University of Evansville's Figure-Drawing Lab. Anime figures are taller and leaner, about eight "heads" high and two "heads" wide at the shoulder.
5. Erase and re-draw the stick figure's body and limbs as necessary to size it to the proportions you have measured. Erase any tick marks you made for measurement.
6. Fill in body shape and facial features, using the softer pencil as well as the harder one for darker lines and shadows.
