Perfect Circles (and why you don't need them in drawing manga)
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I used to be one of those people who'd watch How-To Manga Youtube videos and copy anime drawings off of Google Images. As I would scroll through the comments, I would see a lot of these:
- Please teach me how to draw a perfect circle!
- How do you draw perfect circles??? >.<
Well here's a fun fact: in drawing anime faces: you really don't need a perfect circle. As perfect as those Youtubers draw their circles, it doesn't really matter. Draw some kind of oval, egg-shaped thing. You'll still get a pretty close face.
Why?
- Are faces perfectly round?
- They aren't, so if your circle is perfectly round, it's still going to change into a resemblance of a face. All faces have angles where their eyes are, the bridge of their nose, the line of their jaw.
- Anime faces usually have oval faces with a pointy chin (exc. Chibis)
- If you'd raw a perfect circle, your face is going to turn more round than the oval ones you see so often.
Well... they can't be too crazy either.
- Try to aim for something for a bit more oval shaped (not entirely!) not extremely round. It will make it easier for you to shape your cheeks.
- Make sure that the top of your circle (forehead) is about the same size (or smaller) as the bottom (chin). You can shape your chip later into a more defined point
But I still want to know how to draw a perfect circle!
I have to admit that my circles (that I draw freehand) are pretty close to perfect circles, but the most important part is that it comes with practice. You really can't expect yourself to draw a perfect circle in your first try, so don't get too frustrated with yourself. I've been drawing circles for about 2-3 years, and after all the repetition, my hand is used to the movements.
Try, Erase 'N Trace
- Draw some sort of circle looking thing.
- Fine tune the edges until you get close to a perfect circle.
- Go over their final perfect circle a few times, pressing hard on your pencil so that it makes a like dent in the paper
- Erase your circle
- Retrace your circle by following the dent that you had previously made
There is another one, in which all you do is draw a circle, and fine tune it. You can erase the edges of your finished circle to make it look neater. The next way is a method I learned in class.
The more complicated way (and doesn't exactly guarantee a perfect circle)
- Draw a square (yes a square). Make sure to make it about the size of how big you want you circle to be. **The smaller you want your circle to be, the harder it will be to use this method
- Starting from the corners of your square, star rounding off the edges so it resembles more and more of a circle
- Keep on doing step two until you're satisfied with your ending result
- Erase your previous lines until all you have on your paper is your circle
That's it! If you keep on practicing drawing circles (just free handed), you'll get better and better, I promise.
