How To Draw Anime Girl Hair [Short, Long & Hime]

Anime hair is illustrated in a simplistic manner to save time when animating and illustrating characters.

Instead of being portrayed using individual strands, it is illustrated as chunks of hair. A general rule of thumb is to draw a forehead piece, a side piece, a back piece, and front strands. This is to illustrate the depth and give variety to our hairstyles.

How To Draw Anime Straight Long Hair for Girls

The plain long straight hairstyle is used to depict the popular girl in anime. These girls are usually quite sassy and act prim and proper. They are also mature, intelligent, and very elegant.

Step 1

Make a drawing of the base. The base consists of the head, the shoulders that the hair will rest on, the body and face are optional. Indicate the hairline on the forehead.

A good general rule is that the hairline will take up one-fourth of the head’s total height (depending on the angle of the face). Additionally, most hairlines should be a curved line across the forehead that gradually swoops over the earline.

Step 2

Draw the hair that goes over the forehead. For this hairstyle, you can use any type of bangs or pulled-back hair. In this example, I used side bangs that swoop to one side and start at the arch of the left brow. You can make these bangs longer or shorter to cover one eye and depict a shy character.

Step 3

Draw the hair at the sides of the head, near the ears. These side pieces do not cover the face and emphasize her full cheeks.

Step 4

Draw the hair at the back of the head. This can be thick or thin depending on the character, but the thicker the hair is, the wider and the more it should flare out going downwards.

Step 5

Add some front strands to the hair. Shape these along the chest line to depict the thickness and texture of the straight hair.

How To Draw Anime Hime Hairstyle

The hime hairstyle is usually used to depict royalty and prestige, hence the name “hime” meaning princess.

The hairstyle consists of straight even bangs, with the side pieces being cut straight at an angle and the hair being voluminous. This hairstyle is symmetrical.

Step 1

Make a drawing of the base. The base consists of the head, the shoulders that the hair will rest on, the body and face is optional. Indicate the hairline on the forehead.

A good general rule is that the hairline will take up one-fourth of the head’s total height (depending on the angle of the face). Additionally, most hairlines should be a curved line across the forehead that gradually swoops over the earline.

Step 2

Draw the hair that goes over the forehead. For this hairstyle, it is straight bangs. These bangs are very sharp, so make sure that the corners are crisp and imply harshly cut hair. Make sure that the bangs are symmetrical and rest on top of the forehead without covering the eyes.

The bangs of a Hime haircut usually go barely past the eyebrows. The bangs width should be resting on top of the eyebrow arches.

Step 3

Draw the hair at the sides of the head, near the ears. These side pieces frame the face and create the illusion of a slimmer oval face. The hime haircut is notable for having shorter side pieces than the rest of the hair and angled toward the face at the bottom of its cut.

The side bangs of a hime hair cut are usually thick and short, but exceptions can be made according to your character.

Step 4

Draw the hair at the back of the head. Hime haircuts work on both thin and thick hair textures, so feel free to use either.

Step 5

Add some front strands to the hair. Usually, hime haircuts are very prim and proper, so having a small to no amount of front strands is the most fitting for this type.

How To Draw Anime Pigtails

The pigtails hairstyle is usually used to depict youthfulness and innocence. This can also imply that a character is childish and immature. Many tsunderes possess this hairstyle, although not all characters with pigtails are tsunderes.

Step 1

Make a drawing of the base. The base consists of the head, the shoulders that the hair will rest on, the body and face is optional. Indicate the hairline on the forehead.

A good general rule is that the hairline will take up one-fourth of the head’s total height (depending on the angle of the face). Additionally, most hairlines should be a curved line across the forehead that gradually swoops over the earline.

Step 2

Draw the hair that goes over the forehead. For this hairstyle, you can use any type of bangs or pulled-back hair. In this example, I used the classic triple bang, with a long piece in the middle. Make the bangs curve and rest on the forehead to show volume.

Step 3

Draw the hair at the sides of the head, near the ears. These side pieces frame the face and create the illusion of fuller cheeks and a more youthful face.

Step 4

Draw the hair at the back of the head. Pigtails are two ponytails on both sides of the head. You can make them wider or narrower according to how thick the hair is supposed to be.

Additionally, you can adjust how high or low the pigtails are and how far apart they are from each other. Pigtails usually swoop outwards because of volume, but thin pigtails can swoop inwards.

Step 5

Add some front strands to the hair. Pigtails usually don’t have front strands, but you can move the pigtails to the front of the body.

How To Draw Anime Short Hair for Girls

The short hairstyle is usually used to imply boyishness in girls. Girls with this hairstyle usually have strong personalities and are confident and rebellious.

Step 1

Make a drawing of the base. The base consists of the head, the shoulders that the hair will rest on, the body and face is optional.

Indicate the hairline on the forehead. A good general rule is that the hairline will take up one-fourth of the head’s total height (depending on the angle of the face). Additionally, most hairlines should be a curved line across the forehead that gradually swoops over the earline.

Step 2

Draw the hair that goes over the forehead. For this hairstyle, you can use any type of bangs or pulled-back hair. In this example, I used a pin to pull back the bangs.

Step 3

Draw the hair at the sides of the head, near the ears. These side pieces frame the face and create the illusion of a smaller face.

Step 4

Draw the hair at the back of the head. A short hairstyle will usually flare outwards because of the texture of hair and its volume. The hair can flick inwards if it is extremely short/near the neck.

Step 5

Add some front strands to the hair.