Anime

Anime

Anime is an art style either done by hand, or computer animation originating from Japan. The word “anime” is a Japanese term for all forms of animation but, outside of Japan, anime specifically refers only to Japanese animation or drawing style associated with Japan.

I think anime is very interesting, because it has very distinctive methods and techniques such as the eyes, facial expressions, and the body. First, lets begin with the eyes. The eyes are most commonly drawn quite large, with lots of small and big circles/squares/rectangles representing light reflecting off the eyeball. This creates an illusion, which makes it appear much more realistic than it actually is. Most artists also add shading, to give it more depth and actually make it look more like a real eye.

The facial expressions are hard to explain, but if you’ve seen it before, it is easier to understand. Something that will make this easier to explain is if you understand there are more realistic anime and more cartoony. For cartoony anime characters, they have special signs that anime fans or most people understand, but when you really stop and look at the signs, it is just downright weird! For example, when drawing somebody nervous or anxious, they usually have a water drop on their forehead or head. When characters are angry or frustrated they have a strange sign that has four curved lines put together to form a sort of star. The star is usually put on the left or right side of the head or forehead and the characters have large, angry eyes with smaller irises and pupils, and with an open, yelling mouth. Sometimes artists will add some teeth or a single sharp tooth to show that the character is, I don’t know, angry like a bear, because bears have sharp teeth or something? When drawing surprised people, they usually have even larger eyes than normal, with no iris and a tiny pupil in the middle of the eye. The surprised eye also usually has some added lines under it and I don’t know why. There are SO many different facial expressions and this blog would be EXTREMELY long if I were to try and describe every anime expression of both cartoony and realistic anime. For realistic anime, the expressions make much more sense than cartoon anime, but still not accurate. They are very similiar to the other anime cartoon style just minus the weird symbols.

An anime body sometimes follows normal body proportions but some artists also make the body less accurate, for example, making wider hips or smaller legs or whatever they think looks good. They do it just to make it look how they want it because it is their art. I sometimes draw normal body proportions, but sometimes I draw some things smaller and some things larger just to make it look how I want. And that’s fine!

If you are interested in either starting to make anime art pieces or just improving your skills, I would recommend looking at pictures of anime art, watching anime cartoons, or even just watching a drawing tutorial on YouTube or any other search source you use.

I discovered and learnt how to draw anime when I decided it was a very interesting, beautiful and unique art style. I decided to learn more about it by looking at some pictures of anime, and I also watched a lot of drawing tutorials. I didn’t ever follow any of the tutorials step-by-step, I just watched a lot of them until I kind of got an idea of what to do. I absolutely love anime and I hope you know what you love!

Do you draw anime? If not, what do you draw?

Do you have any favourite anime characters? What are they?

What are your thoughts about anime? Do like it? Do you not? Explain why.

-xXToxicCupcakesXx