From bed head to battle hair, the way you style your manga character’s hair can make or break their look. In this guide, discover hundreds of styles to transform your sketches into amazing illustrations.
How to Draw Hairstyles for Manga includes:
Detailed information on how hair influences characters and scenes, how it grows and moves, common male and female hairstyles, and more!
Step-by-step instruction for sectioning and drawing hair to achieve more realistic looks. Plus, learn tips and tricks for taking styles up a notch.
600+ illustrations showing hundreds of hairstyles from multiple angles. From French braids and ponytails to defying gravity with underwater looks and epic battle scene styles, this book has it all!
With step-by-step guidance and hundreds of sample illustrations, this is your must-have guide to drawing hairstyles for your manga characters. What are you waiting for? Grab your supplies and get started drawing with style!
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140 reviews for How to Draw Hairstyles for Manga: Learn to Draw Hair for Expressive Manga and Anime Characters
4.7out of 5
★★★★★
★★★★★
8
★★★★★
2
★★★★★
2
★★★★★
1
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★★★★★
anonyme –
Il est souvent difficile de dessiner des personnages manga qui font “pro ” quand on ignore comment les ” coiffer “. Souvent, on se retrouve avec un look correct pour le visage et le corps, mais le style capilaire laisse à désirer et on se retrouve au final avec un personnage bof bof dont on sent qu’il aurait pu être tellement mieux. Ce livre, à mon avis, indispensable pour tout aspirant mangaka, montre comment dessiner des dizaines de coiffures stylées différentes, tant pour les personnages féminins que masculins. Un must have pour les designers de tous poils. Formidable !
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Roxas –
It’s only a good reference book it only teaches you step by step once and a lot of tips
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
batman –
I’m not too big of a fan of instructional books, as I find that I don’t tend to learn too much from them. However, this book does give some good tips. If anything, it is more like a reference book of hairstyles. So, I mainly use it to copy the styles, but in my own style. So, it has gotten me to draw way more then I would have just googling hair style images.
Overall, I think it is a useful book.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Anonymous45 –
Very good in terms of reference. However there doesn’t really seem to be much in terms of instruction.
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★★★★★
Davey Jay –
This book is ESSENTIAL. If you’re stuck on hair like i am (was!) then you need this book. It’s easier than looking on Pinterest or YouTube. It’s all right here in this book. There’s clear specific instructions that just make sense. Step by step teaching you how to draw any hair you need. By the tenth page (there’s hundreds) you’ll already be thinking “i can’t belive this was hard!!”
I’m not joking at all. I’m not in the habit of writing reviews but this one deserves it. Someone went to great lengths to teach their trade to anyone for a small fee and I appreciate it. I’ve managed to learn how to draw bodies, faces, heads, every part of a human in both realistic, ghibli and manga in the last two years. I’ve studied fairly hard, not crazy but a drawing a day. And from my mind alone I can draw any pose any face, anything, but hair always spoiled it. This book has solved all my problems and it’ll solve yours too.
Nothing more to say without spoiling the feeling of overwhelming joy you’ll get reading this book if you’re a struggling artist. I honestly want others to feel the feeling of unlocking a skill you never realised was so easy. It’s wonderful. Again, this book is ESSENTIAL.
Buy.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Jon –
I was looking for a book with step-by-step instructions for designing and rendering hair in various styles. The sample images which were provided made it look like that’s what I was buying. However, in reality the process images shown on the page are the ONLY process images in the book. The rest of the book features finished pictures of hairstyles with short annotations. There is value in that and clearly the creator put substantial work into this, but it is more of a reference than a “how to” guide.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Caroline Hill –
I was initially drawn (ha!) to this book because I liked the art style on the cover. I am happy to say that the art inside is also excellent. There are several artists featured in this book, and I found all the art and hair styles extremely pleasing to look at. If you want to learn, you could do a lot worse than the skill presented here.
This is more a reference book than a how-to book. When I see a book is “how-to” I usually expect a lot of numbered step-by-step instructions, and complex images broken down into simple shapes. Reference books include a lot more finished drawings (or photos), often with notes. How-to books are a great benefit for beginners who haven’t yet exercised breaking down bigger ideas into smaller shapes. The downside is that they don’t leave a lot of room for creativity – you either follow the steps or you don’t. Reference books assume that you’ve been doing this long enough that you can simply take what you need and leave the rest. There comes a point in time when an artist moves from how-to books to reference books, and this book seems to sit exactly on that line. The front part covers the basic breakdown of sectioning off hair, setting a hairline, and finding the crown and the part. But more complex ideas like braids and curls aren’t given a similar breakdown – only finished drawings with notes. There’s a large portion dedicated to hair physics that I liked, including working with gravity, wind, water, and human interactions. I feel like I learned the most in this section. Would recommend this book for artists who have moved past beginner level, are developing their own style, and are looking to expand. Of note: This book does not include much by way of textured hair or extremely short styles.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Luz Pulpeiro –
Es un libro muy útil, ya que describe de manera práctica como dibujar el cabello humano en manga y también en dibujo artístico. Es muy detallado. Incluye secciones para analizar el cabello en movimiento, proporciones, tipos de cabello. Me servirá para mis proyectos artísticos.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Silly –
I decided to get this book thinking it would be a how to or step by step for drawing hair, this was not the case. This is a book filled with illustrations were perhaps 5 pages give you some sort of direction of how the hair flows etc.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Brenna –
This book has everything you need to know about drawing hair. If your character is under water, hair blowing in wind, brushing hair, different hairstyles etc. This book has it.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Ed –
El libro llegó bien, en perfecto estado. Es realmente útil y viene muy completo en cuanto a lo que se refiere; las indicaciones son precisas y las ilustraciones son de mucha ayuda. Vale la pena.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
JKN –
Has a lot of references and is great for artists just looking for hair inspiration, but some of the descriptions are quite vague. The tips are useful though, especially the ones giving tips on hair direction when force is applied! I think if you’re a beginner though, looking for a how-to or step-by-step, maybe try a different book
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Kelly –
I absolutely need a physical copy of this. The way that things are broken down is just so helpful and made a big difference in how I think about direction and movement with hair and styles. A lot of the poses also just hit that creative button in me that makes me want to create characters and draw. An excellent reference!
anonyme –
Il est souvent difficile de dessiner des personnages manga qui font “pro ” quand on ignore comment les ” coiffer “. Souvent, on se retrouve avec un look correct pour le visage et le corps, mais le style capilaire laisse à désirer et on se retrouve au final avec un personnage bof bof dont on sent qu’il aurait pu être tellement mieux. Ce livre, à mon avis, indispensable pour tout aspirant mangaka, montre comment dessiner des dizaines de coiffures stylées différentes, tant pour les personnages féminins que masculins. Un must have pour les designers de tous poils. Formidable !
Roxas –
It’s only a good reference book it only teaches you step by step once and a lot of tips
batman –
I’m not too big of a fan of instructional books, as I find that I don’t tend to learn too much from them. However, this book does give some good tips. If anything, it is more like a reference book of hairstyles. So, I mainly use it to copy the styles, but in my own style. So, it has gotten me to draw way more then I would have just googling hair style images.
Overall, I think it is a useful book.
Anonymous45 –
Very good in terms of reference. However there doesn’t really seem to be much in terms of instruction.
Davey Jay –
This book is ESSENTIAL.
If you’re stuck on hair like i am (was!) then you need this book.
It’s easier than looking on Pinterest or YouTube. It’s all right here in this book. There’s clear specific instructions that just make sense. Step by step teaching you how to draw any hair you need.
By the tenth page (there’s hundreds) you’ll already be thinking “i can’t belive this was hard!!”
I’m not joking at all. I’m not in the habit of writing reviews but this one deserves it. Someone went to great lengths to teach their trade to anyone for a small fee and I appreciate it.
I’ve managed to learn how to draw bodies, faces, heads, every part of a human in both realistic, ghibli and manga in the last two years. I’ve studied fairly hard, not crazy but a drawing a day. And from my mind alone I can draw any pose any face, anything, but hair always spoiled it.
This book has solved all my problems and it’ll solve yours too.
Nothing more to say without spoiling the feeling of overwhelming joy you’ll get reading this book if you’re a struggling artist. I honestly want others to feel the feeling of unlocking a skill you never realised was so easy. It’s wonderful.
Again, this book is ESSENTIAL.
Buy.
Jon –
I was looking for a book with step-by-step instructions for designing and rendering hair in various styles. The sample images which were provided made it look like that’s what I was buying. However, in reality the process images shown on the page are the ONLY process images in the book. The rest of the book features finished pictures of hairstyles with short annotations. There is value in that and clearly the creator put substantial work into this, but it is more of a reference than a “how to” guide.
Caroline Hill –
I was initially drawn (ha!) to this book because I liked the art style on the cover. I am happy to say that the art inside is also excellent. There are several artists featured in this book, and I found all the art and hair styles extremely pleasing to look at. If you want to learn, you could do a lot worse than the skill presented here.
This is more a reference book than a how-to book. When I see a book is “how-to” I usually expect a lot of numbered step-by-step instructions, and complex images broken down into simple shapes. Reference books include a lot more finished drawings (or photos), often with notes. How-to books are a great benefit for beginners who haven’t yet exercised breaking down bigger ideas into smaller shapes. The downside is that they don’t leave a lot of room for creativity – you either follow the steps or you don’t. Reference books assume that you’ve been doing this long enough that you can simply take what you need and leave the rest. There comes a point in time when an artist moves from how-to books to reference books, and this book seems to sit exactly on that line. The front part covers the basic breakdown of sectioning off hair, setting a hairline, and finding the crown and the part. But more complex ideas like braids and curls aren’t given a similar breakdown – only finished drawings with notes. There’s a large portion dedicated to hair physics that I liked, including working with gravity, wind, water, and human interactions. I feel like I learned the most in this section. Would recommend this book for artists who have moved past beginner level, are developing their own style, and are looking to expand. Of note: This book does not include much by way of textured hair or extremely short styles.
Luz Pulpeiro –
Es un libro muy útil, ya que describe de manera práctica como dibujar el cabello humano en manga y también en dibujo artístico. Es muy detallado. Incluye secciones para analizar el cabello en movimiento, proporciones, tipos de cabello. Me servirá para mis proyectos artísticos.
Silly –
I decided to get this book thinking it would be a how to or step by step for drawing hair, this was not the case. This is a book filled with illustrations were perhaps 5 pages give you some sort of direction of how the hair flows etc.
Brenna –
This book has everything you need to know about drawing hair. If your character is under water, hair blowing in wind, brushing hair, different hairstyles etc. This book has it.
Ed –
El libro llegó bien, en perfecto estado. Es realmente útil y viene muy completo en cuanto a lo que se refiere; las indicaciones son precisas y las ilustraciones son de mucha ayuda. Vale la pena.
JKN –
Has a lot of references and is great for artists just looking for hair inspiration, but some of the descriptions are quite vague. The tips are useful though, especially the ones giving tips on hair direction when force is applied! I think if you’re a beginner though, looking for a how-to or step-by-step, maybe try a different book
Kelly –
I absolutely need a physical copy of this. The way that things are broken down is just so helpful and made a big difference in how I think about direction and movement with hair and styles. A lot of the poses also just hit that creative button in me that makes me want to create characters and draw. An excellent reference!