Free Guide

How to Draw Angry & Surprised Anime Expressions: A Step-by-Step Guide by Japanese Pro Artists

The short answer: An angry face starts at the eyebrows: pull them down toward the eyes so they slant up, let the upper eyelids cover part of the iris, and pull the lips tight. A surprised face does the opposite: the brows lift, the whole iris shows and the jaw drops. How far each part moves sets how strong the feeling reads.

If every angry face you draw looks the same, or your surprised faces look blank, this guide walks through a real Anime Art Academy lesson by a Japanese pro: the muscles that move, two levels of anger, and surprise from a sharp start to full shock.

Three anime characters from the lesson: a man shouting in rage, a surprised schoolgirl and a girl glaring with clenched teeth — From the lesson: anger and surprise.

The five stages at a glance

A face drawn half as skin and half as muscle, with the anger muscles of the brows, eyelids and lips marked in color

The anger musclesThe corrugator, the eyes, the lower eyelids and the lips.

Two anime characters showing mild anger, with red lines marking a boy glaring up and a girl with raised shoulders

Mild angerTense brows, a small mouth, a glare or raised shoulders.

Two anime characters in intense anger, with a vein mark on a man's forehead and tears and trembling marked on a girl

Intense angerBrows close to the eyes, small pupils, a vein mark and tears.

A face drawn half as skin and half as muscle, with the forehead muscle in red and two mouth shapes circled in yellow

SurpriseLifted brows, a fully open eye and a dropped mouth.

Two shocked anime characters with high brows, small yellow irises, open mouths and purple arrows showing body movement

Big shockVery high brows, small irises, a slack jaw and the body.

Step 01 · The anger muscles

Which face muscles move in an angry face?

The corrugator pulls the brows toward the eyes, and the mouth muscles lift the upper lip and pull the lower lip out.

In this lesson image, one half of the face is drawn as skin and the other half as muscle. In the red circle, the corrugator contracts. The eyebrows move closer to the eyes, vertical wrinkles form between the brows, and the brows slant up. Because of that brow movement, the eyes open wide and the upper eyelids come down over the iris, so each eye looks like a half moon. In green, the lower eyelids tense up and turn into straight lines.

At the mouth, three muscles pull at once. In purple, the levator labii superioris contracts and lifts the upper lip. In blue, the risorius pulls the lower lip out to the sides, and in yellow-green, the depressor labii inferioris pulls it down at the same time. The result, shown in green in the second image, is a lower lip that juts forward.

Red-pen checkWatch the gap between each eyebrow and eye. In anger it gets small. If the brows float high above the eyes, the face starts to read as surprise instead.

A face drawn half as skin and half as muscle. A red circle marks the corrugator between the brows, green marks the straight lower eyelids, purple the upper lip muscle, blue the risorius and yellow-green the muscle pulling the lower lip down — Red: corrugator. Green: lower eyelids. Purple: levator labii superioris. Blue: risorius. Yellow-green: depressor labii inferioris.

The same half-muscle face with the jutting lower lip filled in green — Green: the lower lip juts forward.

Step 02 · Mild anger

How do you draw an everyday angry face?

Put tension between the brows, let the mouth set how angry the character is, and add a pose like a glare or raised shoulders.

Both characters here have tension between the brows. Look at the boy's mouth in the second image: it looks like he's about to click his tongue. How much the mouth moves tells the viewer how angry the character is, so a small, tight mouth is enough for everyday irritation. Annoyed, not furious.

Add body language to widen the range. The boy on the left glares up from under his brows. The girl on the right has her shoulders raised in anger. These moves let you show many kinds of anger without changing the face much.

Red-pen checkNot every angry face needs to shout. Pick the mouth first, then a pose, and keep both at the same strength.

Two anime characters with mild anger. A red arrow shows the boy glaring up from below, red lines show the girl's raised shoulders — Left: a glare from below. Right: shoulders raised in anger.

Two anime characters with mild anger, a red ellipse around the boy's tight mouth — Red: a small mouth that looks like a tongue click.

Step 03 · Intense anger

How do you show stronger anger?

Bring the brows close to the eyes, make the pupils or irises small, and add signs like a vein mark, tears or a trembling body.

These two are angrier than the ones in Step 02. On the left, the two eyes open by different amounts, but because the brows sit close to the eyes, the face still reads as anger. Making the pupils small pushes the feeling further. On the right, the wide-open eyes are exaggerated in a deformed style, and making the irises small makes the anger even stronger.

In the second image, the man's forehead shows a Vein mark, a common symbol of anger. You've seen it on every hot-tempered side character in manga. It says he's so angry the veins on his forehead stand out, and it works even in simple, deformed drawings. The girl on the right is angry to the point of tears, which tells the viewer the feeling directly. In the green circles, small lines show her body shaking.

Red-pen checkUneven eyes are fine in a furious face. What keeps it angry is the short distance between each brow and eye.

Two anime characters in intense anger. The man's eyes open by different amounts and are colored red and blue, the girl's eyes are colored red — Left: uneven eyes, brows close to the eyes. Right: wide eyes with small irises.

The same two characters. A red vein mark on the man's forehead, blue tears in the girl's eyes and green circles around her shaking shoulders — Red: Vein mark. Blue: tears of anger. Green: a trembling body.

Step 04 · Surprise

Which face muscles move when a character is surprised?

The frontalis lifts the eyebrows, the upper eyelids rise so the whole iris shows, and the mouth drops open or pushes forward into an O.

The lesson also covers surprise. The red area is the frontalis, the muscle across the forehead. When we're surprised, it contracts and lifts the eyebrows. That pulls the upper eyelids up too, so the whole iris becomes visible.

The mouth can go two ways, shown in the yellow circles. Sometimes the lower jaw goes slack and the mouth falls open. Other times the lips push forward and open into an O shape. That's how a surprised face works.

Red-pen checkShow the whole iris. If the upper eyelid still covers part of it, the eye reads as angry or tense, not surprised.

A face drawn half as skin and half as muscle. Red marks the frontalis lifting the brows, the eyes show the whole iris, and yellow circles show a slack open mouth and an O-shaped mouth — Red: frontalis lifting the brows. Yellow: a slack open mouth and an O-shaped mouth.

Step 05 · Big shock

How do you draw a shocked anime face?

Place the brows far above the eyes, make the irises small, let the jaw drop or go slack, and add movement to the body.

Start with a quick surprise, in the second image. In red, the boy pulls his brows together, but the frontalis still lifts them, and the eyes are wide open. It's the face of someone surprised by something who is already sizing up the situation. The mouth hangs open weakly, and the small sweat drops show that things are urgent or that he hasn't taken it all in yet.

In the first image, the surprise is bigger. This is the jaw-on-the-floor moment. In red, the eyebrows sit very high above the eyes, which shows the feeling moving a lot. In yellow, small irises stress how wide the eyes are open. In light blue, the man's jaw drops wide, and the girl's mouth hangs slack. The purple arrows show the body: leaning forward on the left, shoulders dropping on the right. This tells the viewer how each character feels about what surprised them.

Red-pen checkMeasure the brows against the eyes. The higher you place them, the bigger the shock reads.

Two shocked anime characters. Red ellipses mark brows placed high above the eyes, yellow marks small irises, light blue circles mark the open mouths and purple arrows show a forward lean and dropped shoulders — Red: very high brows. Yellow: small irises. Light blue: mouth. Purple: the body leaning in or shoulders dropping.

An anime boy surprised, with his brows pulled together, wide yellow eyes, a slack open mouth circled in blue and sweat drops — A quick surprise: brows pulled in, eyes wide, mouth hanging open, sweat drops.

Same anger, different strength

Both pairs are angry. Mild anger stays in the brows and a tight mouth. Intense anger brings the brows down close to the eyes and opens the mouth wide.

Two anime characters with mild anger: a boy frowning with a tight mouth and a girl with tense brows

Mild anger: tense brows, a small mouth.

Two anime characters with intense anger: a man shouting and a girl glaring with clenched teeth

Intense anger: brows close to the eyes, a shout or bared teeth.

Where people usually get stuck

My angry face looks surprised instead.

Check the gap between the brows and the eyes. Anger pulls the brows down close to the eyes and slants them up. If the brows sit high above the eyes, the face reads as surprise.

All my angry faces look equally angry.

Let the mouth and the body set the level. A small, tight mouth and a glare read as irritation. A wide shout, a Vein mark, tears or a shaking body read as rage.

My surprised faces look blank.

Give the viewer more to read: small irises in wide eyes, brows far above the eyes, a slack or dropped jaw, and a body that leans in or drops its shoulders.

Angry and surprised anime expression FAQ

What is the key to drawing an angry anime face?

The eyebrows and their distance from the eyes. When the corrugator muscle contracts, the brows move toward the eyes, slant up and make vertical wrinkles between them. The upper eyelids then cover part of the iris, so the eyes look like half moons.

What does the vein mark on an anime character's forehead mean?

It is a Vein mark, a manga symbol of anger. It says the character is so angry the veins on the forehead stand out. It is quick to draw and works even in simple, deformed styles.

What is the difference between an angry face and a surprised face?

The eyebrows move in opposite directions. Anger pulls the brows down toward the eyes, and the upper eyelids cover part of the iris. Surprise lifts the brows with the frontalis muscle, raises the upper eyelids so the whole iris shows, and lets the jaw drop or the lips form an O.

How do I get feedback on my facial expression drawings?

When you join an Anime Art Academy course, a professional Japanese artist gives you personal advice and draws red-line corrections directly on your drawing. There is no limit on how many times you can submit. The only rule: post one drawing at a time, and wait for your teacher's reply before posting the next.