For this tutorial, I want to teach on how to draw a chibi in simpliest way possible like doing it starting with a simple shapes and strokes such as circle, oblong and cross.

 

I want this to be beginner friendly because chibi drawings can be overwhelming too if you want to adda bunch of art knowledge to it.

 

Volume, Cylinders and Sphere can be complicated enough for others so I'll try to minimize those as much as possible.

 

So I hope you can learn from this and Good Luck!

Video for Visuals!

If you are more visual and listening, you can go ahead and click that link for a youtube video. It will be easier and faster to learn.

Head Start

Just draw a circle as perfect as possible but doesn't need to be perfect since this will be just a sketch, for now.

Then the cross on the area where the face should be facing.

Then draw an oblong on the bottom half as the character's cheek, and erase the unwanted lines inside just to get into this shape.

And then, just add the ears to get the complete head shape

Gesture Line

This simple line right here can be very helpful for our brain to think for our character poses.

 

This will be your guide on where you should put the character's body. I call it, gesture lines.

This is very important as this will give you so much ahead of your thinking like the example below because without this, your character pose can be boring.

But as of know, we'll just make it simple so that it will be easier to understand for everyone.

 

We'll just gonna draw a stand up character but chest forward to appear less boring. As simple as this could make a difference.

Height Proportion

Normally, on doing a chibi, it's pretty common to make it into 2 heads height proportion.

 

But if you are less comfortable in doing it, it is always fine to go beyond a little like on the fourth one on the right.

There's a lot of ways on doing it but what I am telling you now is pretty basic so if you want to explore more, you can practice further.

Torso and Limbs

Adding the torso starts with the shoulder and the hips.

 

For the Male, shoulder should be wider than the hips

 

As for the Female, hips should be the wider one instead.

 

Otherwise, it will be your preference.

Adding the limbs can be easy by just adding simple lines like we usually draw as a kid.

 

Then adding thickness to it surprisingly could work.

Adding circles on should can help your brain identify the human figure to it.

 

I then proceed adding the shield and bent her left arm for it. Make it simple.

Draw those Hands

I am sure, for others, drawing a and can be scary but I understand so, I am here to help you draw it easily.

 

Just imagine it into a simple shape from palm first. Probably look like a bread, a little arc on the knuckle area.

Adding a circle to the thumb area could help you think where to put the thumb

 

Adding the thumb wouldn't be that hard but make sure you knew how to bend it

 

Adding the four fingers can be simple. You can do better but this is for better understanding

 

Making the fingers closed wouldn't be that hard either as long as you stick with the basic shapes first.

But of course, a fist facing front can be easy if you stick with the simple shapes.

 

If it's hard for you to think, don't be ashamed on looking to your own hands. It will help you improve.

 

For the fingers, just add 3 lines to make the 4 fingers.

Draw those Feet

Since she's facing to her right, the two feet should be facing on different directions.

For the right foot, draw an obtuse triangle.

 

While on the left foot, draw a slightly slanting triangle.

Then, draw these strokes. The pointy part of the drawing indicates as the Heel.

 

but the heel is not visible on the left foot, you should only draw the curve instead.

These are another visuals you might need for better understanding.

Adding those Calves and Forearm (Optional)

This is an optional drawing but recommended to at least learn this one just to add curves on character silhouette.

 

You might get character that showing these parts and it also adds more volume to the character limbs.

Just add curves to these areas.

 

Otherwise, leave it straight.

Finish the Head Drawing

I usually add the nose first to find the center of the head so that it will be easier for me to visualize if where the character face should be facing.

 

Normally, nose isn't the center of the head but as for chibi where proportion changes, it is much closer to the center.

 

But don't draw the nose right on the center of the width since the character is not facing towards the camera, you should move it a little to the direction where the character should be facing.

Drawing the nose can be simple as adding a line or a triangle. Either way, it's fine.

 

Never think of anything flat, think of it like these always a volume to every part of the body.

 

In addition on side view, it can help you draw the side view head using the shape of the cat's head.

 

This way, it will make it less complicated to understand.

And you can just simple draw the mouth after it.

--------------------------------------------Now drawing the eyes, what matters to me is the expression, so I'll draw it in expression first.

 

Drawing it in masquerade shape can help you visualize the expression of the character.

 

These 3 are the common expressions.

to add an explanation more. This way, it will be easier to add the eyebrow and those eyes.

So this is what we've got now so far.

Final Actions

Tracing the figure would make the drawing more sense excluding those unwanted sketches.

From here, you are free to add those character details.

 

You can start adding sketch of character's attire. Make it less clean and clean it up later.

 

From here, this is the part where you have to enjoy.

 

Search for mix reference or if you do fan art, character design should be already there.

On coloring an illustration, it will be a different case. There's a bunch of methods on doing it.

 

As of now, you should try to enjoy coloring it manually and I don't want you to be overwhelmed too much information.

 

The purpose of this tutorial is to know how to draw the Chibi and coloring is part of painting with different tutorial.

 

If you want to know more on about coloring, study about Lighting and Color Theory.

 

You can also visit my other Tips here for other tutorial like how to draw a skintone.