How To – Anime Afar

Nezuko Kamado is one of the most lovable Demons in anime. She can be found in the Demon Slayer anime as the younger sister of Tanjiro Kamado. Her kawaii demeanor makes her a fan favorite, but don't let that fool you. She has some extraordinary powers that make her a force to be reckoned with. Nezuko has been very popular in recent anime pop culture, and this has led to many different artist renditions. Learn how to draw her In this step-by-step guide created by a partnered artist, Zaphyrae. Zaphyrae is self-proclaimed hikikomori as well as an anime and gaming enthusiast. Drawing comedic comic strips is her jam. Check out her stufff here! Creating The Gesture 1.) We'll start with a rough sketch! Be loose with these lines, we'll refine them later. Start the piece with a sphere and a cross to indicate the direction the person is facing. I then add an ear circle, the chin, and neck to give the head more shape 2.) Following the neck, add a curved line for the spine, another for the sternum. and then rough out the ribcage. Following the ribcage, draw the waist. I also like to add the belly button just for a landmark. 3.) Next, we'll add the hands and arms! Using circles and lines to represent the bones and joints is a good way to figure out positions without fleshing (haha, puns) everything out. 4.) Once you're satisfied with the hand and arm positioning, be sure to give the arms their bulk. Also, adjust anything else that looks off at this stage. We'll move onto the detailed sketch next. Adding Line Art 5.) To start the detailed sketch, turn down the opacity of the rough sketch. Then follow it, but in a less messy manner. If you're doing this traditionally, you should be able still to follow along, as long as you used a light touch for the rough sketch. The guides will help you place the features, but do what looks right. 6.) We'll add the hair next! First, draw the hairline, and her hair part, and her signature hair tie. Starting from the hair part, add kinked lines for the hair. 7.) Clothes time! Nezuko wears a haori, kimono, and obi belt. Remember not to flip the way the kimono crosses, it should be a Y-shape. Crossing it the other way is considered bad luck. 8.) Add in your final details to your detailed sketch. I added the bamboo gag, made her sleeves poofier, and added more hair. 9.) Finally, we get to do the line art! Do anything in any order, whatever's easiest. Something I like to do is ink on two layers: one for what I'm currently working on, and one for what I'm already done with. That way, I can't mess up what I've previously done. Since I didn't cover this in the clothes step, I'll cover it here: wrinkles! Wrinkles form in places fabric needs to bend. Look in your closet and down at what you're currently wearing to see how the fabric drapes. For examples, creases will usually radiate out from the armpit, elbows, crotch, and knees Filling In 10.) The lines are done! Now turn off (or erase) your sketch layers! I like to block out my characters to give clipping layers something to clip on to. This will make coloring in the lines easier. 11.) On a separate layer, I clip a multiply layer to the base and add shading. The light source is somewhere above and in front of Nezuko, so the main points to add shading are under the head and raised arm. 12.) Alight, with the shading out of the way, we'll turn off the shading layer and do the base colors. I keep different colors on different layers, and then lock their opacity, again, to help stay in the lines. 13.) Here, I airbrush in gradients, this makes things look less stiff. I add blush to her cheeks, and as well as lighten the top of the head, and some shadows to the lower portion of her hair and haori. I also clipped the star pattern of the kimono onto the "pink" layer. Finally, I colored her eyes by airbrushing her pupil and adding a lighter ring around the edge of the eye. 14.) Now turn back on the shading layer, which should be on top of the color layers. This is the time to admire your gorgeous work! 15.) Final adjustments: fix anything you don't like or think you can do better. I made the lines a dark red color and changed them to a multiple layer, and softened some of the shadows. I also added shine to her eyelashes, iris, the tip of the nose, and cheek. Her hair wasn't looking fluffy enough, so I added more strands to the back as well. If you would like to check out more of my work, check out my instagram!