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 this is the anatomy page where you can lear how to draw eyes to hole faces.

BASIC EYES

The eyes are said to be the windows to the soul. To draw the eye, you have to understand a few basics about it.

Let's start with the front view of the eye. The first example to the left shows the average eye in real life. It's almond-shaped, has circular pupils, lashes above and below, and lines around the eye defining the eyeball.

To draw eyelashes, draw it outwards away from the eye and eyelid. Note that it's a bit curved.

Also, eyelashes are generally taller at the center of the eye and smaller as it goes to the ends of the eye as shown above right. (T = tall, S = small)

The side view of the eye is shown above. Notice the pupil is more elliptical or ovular than it is circular. The basic shape of the eye now looks triangular rather than almond-shaped.

The eyelashes is drawn a bit differently as well. It still curves away from the eye but the upper lashes curve upwards and the lower eye lashes move downwards. Again, the length of the lashes change from tall to short as indicated by T and S.

Most people draw eyes by drawing shapes. To make it simpler, I found that there are four basic ways of drawing eyes.

1. The first type of eye is the slit. Characters drawn with these eyes are usually older people. To draw this type eye, its' basically a single line drawn a bit upwards.
2. The second type of eye is the almond eye. These type of eyes go to a point at each end. There are two examples here to clarify that the points in the end do not have to meet and can look different even though they're in the same category.
3. The third type is the pointed end and open center. The center refers to the area of the eye closest to the center of the face. In this case, the lines of the upper and lower lid are wide apart at the center and close together at the end.
4. The fourth type is the open end and pointed center. This is the opposite of the third type. Wide at the ends and pointed near the center.

Below are various eyes with different shapes for your reference.

BASIC EARS

Basics
Here's the lowdown on ears. Yes, most characters get the simplified ear but it comes in handy to know actual, real anatomy. (hint, hint) This image to the right shows the two most common ears: the first has a hanging lobe and the second has the lobe directly attached. Other than that, the ear has the outer helix which shows up quite frequently in the simplified anime ear.

Above are several views of the ear with the standard ear plus several simplified versions. From the left: full view, quarter view, and back view. The back view has no simplified drawings as it's already as simplified as you can get.

BASIC NOSE

Basics
The nose is one of the most prominent features in the face but in anime's and manga, they become simplified to the point that is just becomes a line or even a dot in most cases. Above is an example of the transition from realistic nose to over-simplified.

Although you may be drawing small noses for young characters most of the time, one quick way to add age to a character is to draw a more realistic nose. While we're talking about character, you can add "character" to a person by the type of nose they have. Thin, thick, long, short, snub, perky, drooping, aquiline - the choices are endless! This is especially true as to the profile the nose creates in a side view.

Drawing the nose in ther quarter view has the same concept as drawing the face or any part of the body, basically. A nice breakdown is shown on the left where the nose is divided into quarters. Since the nose is in a quarter view, one quarter is on the other side and is not viewable hence only 3/4 is left. Below the graphed nose are examples of a normal to a simplified nose.

Drawing the side view of the nose is quite similar to the 3/4 view. The only difference is the slight change in position of the nostril and the nostril wing (semi-circle). Note that the point of the nose is still basically half of a diamond.

When coloring or toning your nose, though, you have to remember that it's three dimensional and the basic shading of the realistic nose pretty much transfer onto the simplified drawn nose.

BASIC HAIR

Basics
The first thing you have to remember is that hair is drawn pretty much alike whether its straight, spiked, or even curly.

The only difference is if it has curves or none at all. Besides that, the trick to drawing hair is how your lines are drawn!

To draw hair that is believable, you have to draw the lines convincingly. To do this, you have to consider the width of a line in relation to another line.

Notice in the first picture on the top that the lines vary in width - wide at top and thinning down at the bottom. All hair pretty much abide by that rule except when you're drawing dreds!

If you look at the other pictures, they pretty much work the same way. Long hair, short hair, etc. Curly hair, on the other hand is a bit different...


Wavy Hair -> Very Wavy -> Frizzy Hair -> Ringlets

Curly Hair Disected
Wavy hair works like drawing straight hair except with curves. Draw them in long continuous lines and don't forget to draw in the curves while you're at it. Make sure you vary the width's between the lines.

Very wavy hair, on the other hand, is a bit different. In this case, the lines tend to be shorter and may start out of nowhere all of a sudden. Notice that there is not just one line or two but several - this emphasizes the curl and adds more volume to the hair.

Frizzy hair has a different trick to it. What you have to do is to create the base curly lines first. These will be the basic main lines on the hair that define how the hair is shaped. (Think outline!) From these basic lines you then add complementary lines that put more depth to the hair.

Take a look at the frizzy hair example - try to find the main base lines and the complementary lines beside them.

Ringlets, on the other hand, only requires that you draw the lines in a cylindrical fashion forming a sort of column. You have to consider that if you draw ringlets you have to make sure that it shows connection as it spirals down to the next curl.

More on Ringlets
Here are some samples of various ringlets. You'll notice that at certain parts of the ringlet, there is a profusion of lines. These lines help accentuate the curve of the ringlet.

One major point you have to remember is that once you draw a ringlet in one direction - make sure you stick to it! This drawing below, for example, has ringlets going in two directions which completely ruins the picture. It confuses the viewer and it disrupts believability.

Test Yourself!
Take at the hair styles below: do you think you can draw them now? Try it out! (You can look at the other tutorials if you like...) =)

BASIC HANDS

Step 1
Draw a vertical rectangle with curved edges and the bottom end slightly smaller then the top. (Kinda look like an upside down trapezoid). This will be the palm of the hand.

Then draw four small circles at the top end of the palm. These represent the knuckles.

Add two lines at the bottom of the palm to get the wrist.  

Step 2
Then draw three arcs above the palm and knuckles.

Make sure the highest part of the arc will be above the middle finger with the rest going downwards.

These arcs show where each of the joints are in the fingers except the top arc which show where the fingers end.

Use your own hand as reference if you have to.  

Extend the top most arc all the way down the left side of the palm to make a left hand palm up (this is what I'll be doing) or a right hand palm down OR extend the top arc to the right to get the opposite effect.  

Step 3
Draw ovals one atop each other starting from the knuckles to create the fingers. The oval length should range from arc to arc.

Make sure you make them the same size as much as possible. NOT like the figure on the upper right with one fat oval in the middle. (Not unless the character has a disease of course.)

Also, make sure the ovals overlap since those smaller circles created represent the joints of the fingers.

Next, between the fingers, draw little valleys or upside down arcs to join the fingers together.

Step 4
At the left side of the palm, draw a triangle from a little above the middle of the palm to the base of the palm to start making the thumb.

Draw a small circle at the left base of the palm. Then draw another circle at the point of the triangle. Join the two circles with two lines to make a bone.

Now draw two ovals from the point of the triangle to the arc. Try to make sure they meet somewhere in the middle.  

Step 5
Now draw the thumb based on the ovals and triangles.

Make sure you curve on the inside of the thumb at the top side of the triangle.

And  make sure to draw the little bump on the bottom part of the thumb which represent the muscles.

Next, draw the rest of the fingers by drawing a line around the ovals.  

Step 6
Now make any adjustments to the fingers before inking it. Make sure you dry it first before erasing the pencil marks as well.

Don't forget to add some lines at the joints of the fingers (where the ovals meet) and any markings on the palm.

Note: Make sure the area between the fingers are not drawn pointed shown at the upper right. Rather, draw them like the one below it.

To make this into a palm down hand, just put nails at the top of the fingers and don't draw the palm markings. And knuckles are drawn with curved lines. Look at your hand if you have to!

BASIC TORSO

Basics of a Torso
Drawing the torso can be a bit tricky. I'll break it down for you in two ways: the first is the simple "shoujo" method and the other is the standard method. The image below is the basic outline of the upper body in the standard method.

The collarbone is from the shoulder down to the top of the chest (in blue), and rib cage extending from the collarbone to just at the waistline (in green). The chest, whether its a female or a male, will end at about the area in red. As for drawing the torso in the "shoujo" method, it's just basically using a big triangle! The triangle points down and generally covers from the shoulder to the pelvic area. Since we're only at the torso, it's cut off. :)

Different Point of Views
The torso in different points of view is done the same way you would do the face or any other object. Just change the angle of your outline and draw from there.

If you look at the images above, can you tell which one is female and which one is male? If you guessed the top is male and the lower is female, you're right! Why is it? Because of the shape of the torso. Slimmer torso's are generally associated with a more feminine person whereas bulkier torso's are connected with a male. Use this knowledge to your advantage to create yoru average stereotypical gender build or create unique situations with athletic, bulky, females or thin, femininely-shaped guys. ;)

BASIC WINGS

Basics of a Wing
Drawing wings on a human is similar to drawing wings for a bird. The example on the left is the basic construct of how wings are drawn. Keep this in mind when drawing your own wings for your characters.

Wings has soft, smaller feathers towards the top of the wing and longer feathers towards the edges, particularly the tip. Note the difference when the wing is extended versus folded and how the feathers are placed.

Shown to the right is how wings work when folded and extended. There are three bones with two joints. The third joint is connected to the back of torso. If you need something to physically look at, check out a chicken wing next time you come across one... :)

To the left is an example of wings from the back. These are chibi-wings but they work the same way as bigger ones. Besides feathered wings, there is also the leathery kind or "bat wings" as demonstrated on the left side. It works the same as a normal wing except the bones potrude and it has no wings. Speaking of the normal wing, when attached to the back, some artists add additional feathers from the joint connecting the wing and the back. This is optional, though, and is your decision to add or not.

Feathers are fairly easy to draw. The ends can vary from thin to wide. Ending at a point like a double-edged sword or a single-edged katana. There are three types of feathers. The long, the medium, and the smallest with the fluffy top (aka "down" feather).

Adding details to a feather is a simple as drawing several angleed lines from the center. Add breaks or splits on the feather at certain areas to add more of a realistic look.

Going back to bat wings, what's shown on the left is the basic general construct. The bones acts as a wire frame with the leathery skin over it creating a webbing that works as well as feathers. The bottom of the web are like drawing hills. How flat or "hilly" it is depends on how the wing is - extended or folded. An extended wing creates a more "flattened" hill than a folded wing.

Also notice the pointy bone at the top of the joint. This is usually just a bone poking out of the skin. At times, this is illustrated as a claw or hand-like bone shown in the middle. Make sure you add the detail of the skin wrapping around the bone!

Winged Examples
Here are a couple of examples of wings in use.

BASIC HIPS

Hips are fairly easy but can be difficult at first. Below shows the differences between the female and male hips. The female tends to be curvy and proportionate to the torso while the male hip is rather straight and equal or smaller than the upper body.

Let's take a closer look at the hip on the side view. Females generally have a rounder posterior with males tending to be less. The crotch area tends to protrude further than the beginning of the leg and the waist differ for each gender. The female waist goes inwards with the stomach curving outward. Males has less of a curve inwards with a flatter stomach. Of course, these are for slim people - this would change if the person was fat or old.

Before we tackle the butt, lets take a quickie look on how to draw the crotch. At the left most image, the female crotch is drawn in a big "V" shape while the male crotch is much wider and drops at the middle. Again, the female is drawn rounded and the male is more angular. The same can be applied to the backside - female butt is rounded, male is more angular. There's a little trick to draw the posterior. Females tend to have a rounded W shape that defines their butt and males have a more of a stiff W bordering on two U's beside each other.

BASIC LEGS

Legs are the foundation of all humans - you stand on it every day. ;) Manga legs range from detailed and buff to generic, simplified lines. Simplified legs being the norm. Below is a row of legs in the front view. The first leg is typical, showing the simplified version I mentioned. Notice how the middle is practically straight and has no curves while the outer edge is just the opposite. The second example, on the other hand, has curves at both sides of the leg. Taking a closer look, the legs are shaped like cylinders with one end slightly wider than the other end from hip to knee, from knee to ankle.

At side and back view, the same idea applies. The back view of the leg tends to have dashes | /  \ | indicating the back of the knee. You can also do the same at the front using one or two dashes except reversed | \  / |.

One important aspect about legs that you must keep in mind is when it is against another object whether if it's a chair or it's own self, the leg tends to widen out. The muscle gets pushed to the side or upwards depending on the situation. Above are three of such examples.

Top: Leg pushing up on itself.
Middle: Leg resting on chair.
Bottom: Leg against itself and on the floor.

BASIC FEET

Drawing feet is not a feat at all. We'll start by going through the different view points of the foot.

Side views of a feet are pratically triangular shaped with a rectangle on top. The straight lines drawn indicates the ankles and toes where bending occurs.

A quarter view of a foot may look tricky but just follow these steps:
1. Begin with a trapeziod with rectangle on top.
2. Cut the pointy end of the trapeziod so it runs pratically parallel with the top of the foot.
3. Bend the end of the foot where the toes should be. Add toes guideline if it helps you.
4. Finish drawing by curving out the lines a bit, adding ankle, and toes.
Not bad huh?
The drawing just below the side view illustrates two feet. Note that one is slimmer than the other indicating a female foot and a male foot. Feet drawing can differ just by a slight change in width or thickness and even length.

Finally, the front view, is also made up of rectangles and a trapezoid. All you basically need to do is draw in ankles and the toes.

Speaking of toes, lets take a look at how to draw them. On the right is a three step process to draw toes. Starting with just a guide, draw laying L's for toes. Make sure the inner toe is the biggest with the last being the smallest. From there, draw in the toenails and you're done!

Moving on to toenails, here are several instances of toes at varying angles. The last toe is of the big toe. It's shape tends to be wide at the middle and tapers off on either end.

Going back to the whole foot, we have here an example of the two sides of the foot. One side, if turned, has an arch. The other side, if turned, does not.
The side of the foot with an arch faces the inside while the archless side faces outwards. A trivial info but something you have to keep in mind when drawing the foot.

Lets look at another detail you have to remember: the ankle. On the right, we have a quarter and a front view of ankles. At quarter view, the ankle is reminicent of a boomerang while the front views are slight bumps. Nothing to it!

Another aspect of feet is how they bend. Below is a drawing of a foot at rest and a vertical foot resting on the toes. At the ballerina-like stance, note how the top of the foot is pretty much straight and the back of the ankle is now scrunched up. The same scrunch would occur if the toe was bent inwards.


One last detail about the foot you must make note: the foot curves at the toes. Check out the example above with the slippers. The longest point is the big toe and grows less as it reaches the pinky toe. This is why shoes are generally shaped with a rounded end.