To expand your manga drawing skills and help you sketch characters in this style, I made this lesson on how to draw manga hair.

In this tutorial, I want to show you how to draw manga hair. Manga is Japanese comics that are very popular, it is a separate art form.

Manga hair is usually very detailed. The hairstyle is divided into separate strands that have a pointed shape. These features you will need to portray in your upcoming work.

In the picture, you see long female hair, which is collected in two buns on each side and secured with a bow. If it seems to you that drawing manga hair is difficult, then you are mistaken. It’s actually very easy to replicate. It is only necessary to correctly draw the main contour of the hair and then draw individual strands, while arbitrary lines are allowed.

You will quickly draw manga hair because the lesson is designed for beginner artists who have little experience. You can use the acquired skills in the future when you draw various characters or portraits of real people.

Materials

Pencil
Paper
Eraser
Coloring supplies

Time needed: 15 minutes

Sketch the basic head guide.
Before drawing the hairstyle itself, it’s important to establish the head shape that the hair will sit on. Sketch a rounded outline resembling an oval to represent the face. This outline serves as a base rather than part of the finished drawing, so keep the lines light, as some will be erased later. The size and shape of this head outline influence how the hair will look.
Draw the first hair clumps.
To begin drawing the manga hairstyle, sketch the main bangs that fall across the forehead. Use sharp, pointed lines to create three or four large clumps of hair strands. The center strand should dip lower than the others, while the side strands should follow the curve of the face. In manga, hair is drawn in groups rather than individual strands. Don’t make the bangs too straigh, they should curve to give them volume.
Sketch the side locks of hair.
Now that the bangs are finished, add more strands to the sides of the head. Draw curved lines starting from the top of the head, ending in pointed tips near the cheeks. These side sections should partially cover the face outline but still follow its shape. Keep the strands varied in length, as symmetry can make the hair appear unnatural.
Sketch the strands behind the head.
To give the hairstyle more volume, sketch strands behind the head. These should be drawn as sharp clumps of hair that fan to the sides and back. Begin at the crown and draw a few pointed strands, that taper into thin tips. Adding these elements helps the hairstyle feel fuller and three-dimensional. Don’t keep all strands the same size, because varying their length creates a more natural effect.
Add the large crown strands.
The crown of the hairstyle needs larger strands to illustrate volume and shape. Sketch several big clumps starting from the top of the head and tapering into sharp points. These should overlap with the bangs and side strands.
Erase the extra lines on the top of the head.
Check that the strands look natural. This step also allows you to adjust proportions, if one side looks heavier, balance it with an extra strand on the opposite side. Also, erase any unnecessary parts of the head outline that overlap with the hair, keeping only what’s visible around the face.
Color the manga hair with flat shades.
The last step is to finalize the drawing and paint the entire hairstyle with a solid shade. Purple works well in this example, but you can choose any tone to match your character’s appearance. For a simple manga or even more simplified chibi style, keep the color flat and even. If you want to practice shading, darken areas where the hair overlaps, such as under the bangs or behind the ears, while leaving lighter areas at the top to convey highlights.

How to Draw Manga Girl Hair

To carry out this manga hair drawing, outline the head shape with a smooth curved line. Add two side locks of hair with pointed ends that flow downwards. Sketch the bangs across the forehead with small triangular sections.

Draw a bow on one side of the head, and then repeat it on the opposite side to keep the hairstyle symmetrical. Draw the ponytail from the left bow with flowing, tapered strands, and mirror the same form on the right side. Add several inner lines to convey volume and texture of the hair.

Check the overall summary of both ponytails so the drawing looks proportionate. Once the structure is clear, trace over the main lines and erase unnecessary guidelines. Finally, darken the bows and outer hair sections to finish the manga hair drawing neatly.