Anime facial features references

[Celianna]

Alright, I felt like working on my anime eye style to create a bunch of different eye shapes, without relying on creating a different iris (so I used only the same one throughout the sheet). I also put notes at the top of how anime eyes are usually made - though of course there's always plenty of exceptions.

I hope this helps anyone else out who has trouble creating differently shaped eyes for their characters!

The rule of thumb is usually this: angular, and squinted eyes are for guys. Large round ones are reserved for girls. It can also display a type of personality, with the squinty eyes being reserved/mean/evil and the large ones outgoing/nice/good. Exceptions always apply, of course.

And here are several anime nose styles, I didn't work on various shapes, just a thin/regular nose.

[Camille]

This is a nice reference. :3 I really like art styles where each character is distinct. It's a sad day when you can only tell characters apart by their hair and clothes…

[Celianna]

This is a nice reference. :3 I really like art styles where each character is distinct. It's a sad day when you can only tell characters apart by their hair and clothes…

Same here, it's one of the things that bugs me the most. Eye shapes can tell so much more than hairstyle and colour.

The mangaka of Inu Yasha is a huge offender of this, all her female characters look 100% the same, with only their hairstyle/clothing being different. These are two different characters (in different mangas!), ridiculous, isn't it?

[Mink]

I've noticed that Junji Ito has a tendency to have Same Face Syndrome with his women. :/ Which is...weird, because he draws plenty of women. Hard habit to break, maybe?

Also, practically everyone in Furuba Fruits Basket look the same to me. >x>

Ha, I noticed that I don't give eye shapes based on boy/girl as much as personality. Consequently, a guy I draw could end up with bigger, wider eyes than a girl.

[Auro-Cyanide]

I've noticed that Junji Ito has a tendency to have Same Face Syndrome with his women. :/ Which is...weird, because he draws plenty of women. Hard habit to break, maybe?

Also, practically everyone in Furuba Fruits Basket look the same to me. >x>

Ha, I noticed that I don't give eye shapes based on boy/girl as much as personality. Consequently, a guy I draw could end up with bigger, wider eyes than a girl.

I think it's mostly because people learn to draw an 'ideal' of beauty and it's hard to get away from. Quite a few artists suffer from it. You see a lot of things where it could be the exact same character if you stuck them in the same outfit.

I also tend to draw everything, including eye shape, on the 'feeling' I want a character to have as opposed to male/female or good/evil.

[Celianna]

Ha, I noticed that I don't give eye shapes based on boy/girl as much as personality. Consequently, a guy I draw could end up with bigger, wider eyes than a girl.

Drawing a boy with large round eyes is hard because they tend to look like a shota (which is tied to being cute and bubbly), which is sad. I love big eyes, they express more emotion to me and are fun to play around with, but it's hard to get a balance right.

[Mink]

^This is true. Though to me the same thing is true of girls, and they can end up just looking like a kid.

...Unless that's the point, I guess. Or a cutesy/moe/etc. art style. (Not that there's anything wrong with that)

@Auro: Mm, yeah. I just think it's weird for Junji Ito, because he's clearly capable of distinguishing features, different body types...But his women tend to look so similar. Though I like the fact he'll give girls (really) short hair, which doesn't seem all too common in manga. (Like Kirie in Spiral Uzumaki; her hair got cut boyishly short relatively early on, and it STAYED that way. It made sense for her to keep it short, but still.)

I still find it hilarious that how he drew his fiance/wife just pissed her off.

[Omnificent]

Oval eyes can be pretty masculine as long as they're set in a more male-proportioned face. Big, round eyes with huge pupils are less flexible there, though.

[redcat]

@Celianna--> Nice reference. Thanks for sharing!

[Celianna]

I updated the OP with anime styled noses, and added 10 more different eye shapes as well. I'll be adding more facial features references in the future, such as the lips or the shape of the head etc.

[Nuxill]

These are great! I have such a terrible time trying to make anime eyes that don't suck, these should help a bit.

I think a great way of teaching oneself how to differentiate their characters is to try drawing celebrities or famous people in history in their style while still making them look like themselves- caricature, basically.
Also studying anime artists who are good at diveristy, such as Asano Inio or Naoki Urasawa. Every character looks distinct while having a very 'anime' feel.

[Celianna]

Added a few new eye styles.

A good way to recognize male versus female eyes, is that male eyes are usually drawn more narrow, whereas females will have big and round eyes.

[dramspringfeald]

Isn't this a colored version of "how to draw Anime faces? From like 2002 or something?

[Celianna]

Isn't this a colored version of "how to draw Anime faces? From like 2002 or something?

Uhm, no? I drew these myself, each and every single one of them.