Chibis have been used in the art community for some time now, as they are appreciated for their cuteness and general appeal.

From video games to sticker packs for printing and social media, from brand logos to entertaining fanart of your favorite characters, chibis are everywhere. Let’s see how we can draw them!

 

Construction of the Head

The trademark of chibi artstyles is their big round head.

 

We can start by drawing a sphere, on which we will add some more mass in the lower half where the cheeks are, in order to make the form more organic. The cheeks can be round and chubby, or you can slim them down and give your character a slightly sharper chin.

 

The middle section of the head is where the eyes and the ears are placed. You can draw the eyes in the lower half entirely, if your character is very young, or if your chibi has small proportions. Just remember not to draw them too high up on the face, leave some good space for the forehead.

General Proportions

The bodies can be anywhere from one to two heads tall, depending on the preferences and on the amount of detail our characters have: the smaller the body, the fewer the details!

The torso has a slight bean shape / S curve shape that follows the spine. It would be best not to use a box shape to represent it since our bodies (and chibi bodies) need to look organic and soft.

The arms and the legs have a cylindrical shape, making it easy to draw them from perspective without getting lost into anatomy.

 

The trick to drawing anything really, is to train yourself to visualize and block in the 3d forms first and foremost.

The Composition

Chibi bodies are small, and sometimes we don’t know how to pose them in order to make an interesting illustration. However, remember, shapes are your best friend!

This cat chibi character is folded inwards, his fluffy tail carrying on the flow of the spine, making it so that the viewer’s eyes return to the head in a circular motion.

 

Similarly, we can use other elements or props to make the image more interesting. An umbrella, a head accessory, horns, a weapon, a cape, etc.

 

Although the design of the character is simple, the low camera and the pose help lead the attention upwards, to the character’s face, forming a sharp triangular shape. The pigtails also help in the regard.

Color Palette

After sorting out the sketch, it is good to decide on a color palette before proceeding with the final drawing.

 

Chibis are a practice in simplicity. Especially if you’re a beginner, try not to be tempted to add too many patterns and accessories as they will weight down on the general design and will divert the attention from the characters themselves.

 

The color palette also follows the same principle. Try to use one or two main colors, with a maximum of two or three accent colors for the details.

 

Remember not to use all colors in high saturation! However, feel free to experiment with the color temperature and the contrast as you go. The palette is never really set in stone.

The Process from Sketch to Finish

After being satisfied with your composition and color choice, your rough sketch should be ready!

The first step is to line your drawing and to color the flats. The lineart can be done with your favorite pencil or brush, as sharp and crisp or as soft as you prefer. Coloring the flats will help you see if you’re truly happy with the forms and the shapes of your character. Check the navigator window (or zoom out) from time to time to see if your drawing looks good from a distance.

Start mapping out the shadow and the light areas. You can do that easily by clipping the new layers to the flat colors. You can be as precise or as loose as you want at this stage, since we’re working out our scene.

Once we’re happy with it, we can start adding or fixing some details. It is also good to avoid coloring on a pure white background as it will influence how we see the values (the lights and the darks). With this occasion, I also darkened some of the shadows.

Rim light is not a must, but if you have a relatively dark background, it can really make your character pop!

In contrast with the sharp rim light, I added in a warm yellow light from the scepter on a soft light blending mode layer with a simple airbrush. At the same time, I added some contrast with the tone curve settings.

The last stage is the refining stage. If you’re happy with your lineart, you can work on perfecting your color layers, blending in all the colors. And if your lineart layer was not to your liking, you can paint over it, just as I did. It can take a while, but the results are well worth it!

And here is a recap of the process.

Thank you for following this tutorial! And have fun drawing your chibi characters!