How to draw anthro heads

By Kelly | June 4, 2007

A quick example of how I approach heads:

tutorial anthro head drawing step 1

It helps to think in terms of 3D objects. The main mass of the head is a sphere, with the attached muzzle and ear shapes varying depending on which species you’re trying to depict.

I’ll start with the rough sphere and some crosshairs on top to set the angle and position of features I’ll draw later.

Then, on top I’ll sketch out the form of the eyes and eye sockets, and the muzzle form below. Eyes are usually placed above the center crosshair. A good rule of thumb is that the eyes are spaced one eye-width apart.

After that I’ll add in other forms like cheek-fluff and hair, and start working out details.

The main objective here is to figure out form and pose before adding any details!

More Examples

These are old but should give you some idea how I approach different species:

186 Responses to “How to draw anthro heads”

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10
Kelly Says:
June 3rd, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Don’t worry, I’m definitely working on a body tutorial next :3
9
Draca Says:
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:46 am
Please please please can you follow this up with a similarly excellent body tutorial? :D
8
Ninetales Says:
June 2nd, 2007 at 10:56 pm
All right, you’ve created animal heads (and some cute ones too,) now, what about the bodies? They need bodies. I think you need to put up a tutorial on how to draw anthro bodies
7
nader Says:
May 31st, 2007 at 10:34 pm
awesome tutorial! i’ll definitely make use of it.

My greatest weakness is getting the hips right. ie. linking the legs to the rest of the body, especially when working with digitigrade legs! if you can do a full body one that covers this problem, i’d appreciate it, thanks.
6
nicholas Says:
May 30th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
before this tutorial my drawings were god-awful but after i tried it my drawings are now decent and now I’ve got other students asking for my artwork, thanks. btw: a full body tutorial would really help.
5
Teson Maraki Says:
May 30th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Yeah this tutorial really helps. and i was, like steven hoping you had a tutorial for bodies? I cant draw those at all( oh and teson isnt my real name I just like it a lot)
4
Manarr Says:
May 27th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
This tutorial has helped me a TON. I literally got better over-night upon discovering this and trying it. Please, post more head tutorials like these? Body tutorials would be awesome, too. ^._.^
3
Steven Says:
May 19th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
yeah, a full body basic (Verrrry basic) tutorial would make my day and then some.
2
Steven Says:
May 19th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Being a very new artist, this is what i used to get started a few months back.
It’s got a nice overlook on drawing a head.
Granted, I’m still not very good… but it’s more than likely to help someone out who’s new.
Good job!
1
Eric Says:
May 19th, 2007 at 10:27 am
Thx for these tutorials. They have helped out alot. I was wondering if you could do a tutorial about constructing the body.