Free Guide

How to Draw Long Anime Girl Hair: A Step-by-Step Guide by Japanese Pro Artists

The short answer: Split long hair into three parts, bangs, sides and back, and give each one its own flow. Draw long locks like ribbons with a front and a back, let them follow the head, shoulders and chest, and start every flow from the part.

Long hair that looks like a flat curtain glued to the head? You don't need more strands. You need four ideas, and each one fixes a different part of the problem.

The same anime girl from the front and from the side, with her bangs colored pink, her side hair blue and her back hair green — Bangs in pink, sides in blue, back in green. In the side view, the red line is the head underneath, and the arrows show the hair rising off the scalp before it falls.

The four ideas at a glance

The bangs, side hair and back hair drawn as three separate pieces around a bald head

Three partsBangs, sides and back, each with its own flow.

An anime girl looking back, with two long locks colored to show their front and back

Ribbon locksLong locks have a front and a back, and they twist.

An anime girl whose long hair wraps the head, splits at the shoulders and follows the chest

Follow the bodyWrap the head, split at the shoulders, ride over the chest.

An anime girl with blue arrows flowing out from her part

Part and hairlineStart every flow from the part, and keep the scalp hidden.

Step 01 · Three parts

How do you break long anime hair into simple parts?

Split it into bangs, sides and back, and work out the flow of each part on its own.

Bangs are the hair over the forehead. The sides frame the face and hang in front of the ears. The back is everything else. As one big mass, long hair is hard to read. As three parts, each one has a simple direction, and the silhouette falls into place.

Hair also grows up out of the scalp before it falls, and it has thickness of its own. So the outline of the hair always sits outside the head, a size bigger than the skull. This split works for long and medium hair. Very short cuts need a different approach.

Red-pen checkHair drawn tight against the skull. Lift it off the head first, then let it fall.

A bald anime head in the middle, with the bangs, the side hair and the back hair drawn as three separate pieces around it — The three parts, pulled apart: Bangs, Sides and Back.

Step 02 · Ribbon locks

How do you draw long locks so they look light?

Think of every long lock as a ribbon with a front and a back.

A ribbon twists. When it turns, you see its back, and the edge flips over. Long locks do the same. In the diagram, the ribbon is orange on the front and blue on the back, and the locks of hair next to it are yellow on the front and purple on the back.

Let the tips curl, and let the back show here and there. A lock that shows only its front all the way down looks heavy. A lock that twists and curls at the end looks light. Think of the shot in every shoujo opening where the wind catches her hair.

Red-pen checkEvery lock shows the same side from root to tip. Add a twist and show the back of the ribbon.

A twisting ribbon colored orange on the front and blue on the back, next to three long locks of hair colored yellow on the front and purple on the back — A ribbon and three locks: you see the back wherever they twist or curl.

An anime girl looking back over her shoulder, with two long locks colored orange on the front and blue on the back as they twist — The same idea on a character: two locks twist and show their backs.

Step 03 · Follow the body

How should long hair fall over the head, shoulders and chest?

Let it wrap the round head, split at the shoulders and follow the curve of the chest.

Hair sits on a body, not in empty space. Over the head it curves like a band wrapped around a ball. At the shoulders, some of it falls in front and some falls behind. In front, it rides over the chest instead of dropping straight down.

This is where most long hair goes wrong. The girl on the left ignores all of that: every lock hangs in a straight line from the top of her head. The girl on the right has the same long hair, but it bends around the head, splits at the shoulder and follows the chest. Same hairstyle, and now it has weight and shape.

Red-pen checkStraight vertical lines from the top of the head to the ends. Bend the hair over the head and the shoulders.

Three panels: an anime girl with hair hanging straight down, marked with an X; a ball and a box with a ribbon wrapped over them; and an anime girl whose hair follows her head, shoulders and chest, marked with a check — Left: hair hanging straight down. Middle: a ribbon wrapped over a ball (the head) and a box (the shoulders and chest). Right: hair that follows the body.

Step 04 · Part and hairline

Where do the part and hairline go on long hair?

Decide the part first, from the bangs back to the whorl, and start every flow from it.

The part runs from the front of the bangs back to the whorl, the spot on the back of the head where the hair spirals out. Fix that line before you draw a single lock. Each lock starts at the part, rises a little, then falls. Seen from behind, the hair spreads out from the whorl in every direction.

Then watch the gaps between locks. If a gap in the bangs reaches back past the hairline, bare scalp shows through, and your character suddenly looks like she's going bald.

Red-pen checkA gap in the bangs that shows skin. Close it, or keep it in front of the hairline.

An anime girl from the front with blue arrows flowing out from her part, and the back of a head with blue arrows spreading out from the whorl — Front: every lock starts at the part. Back: the hair spreads out from the whorl.

An anime girl scratching her head, with a red patch where her scalp shows through a gap in her bangs, marked with an X — The red patch: bare scalp showing through a gap in the bangs.

The bangs mistake: starting them on the hairline

Bangs don't grow from the hairline itself. Start them from a small wedge of hair just behind it, and they sit on the forehead naturally.

An anime girl with a ponytail whose bangs start right on the blue hairline, marked with an X

The bangs start right on the hairline, so they look pasted on.

The same girl with her bangs growing from a small purple wedge behind the blue hairline, marked with a check

The bangs grow from the small purple wedge behind the hairline.

Where people usually get stuck

My long hair looks flat and glued to the head.

Draw the outline a size bigger than the skull. Hair rises out of the scalp before it falls, so there is always some room between the head and the top of the hair.

The hair hangs like a stiff curtain.

Let it bend. Wrap it over the head, split it at the shoulders and let the front locks ride over the chest.

The bangs look pasted onto the forehead.

Start them from a small wedge of hair behind the hairline, not from the hairline itself.

Long anime hair drawing FAQ

How many parts should I split anime hair into?

Three for long or medium hair: bangs, sides and back. Draw the flow of each part on its own, then put them together. Very short haircuts don't split this way.

Why does my character look bald at the part?

A gap between locks has opened up past the hairline, so bare scalp shows through. Close the gap, or keep it in front of the hairline.

Where should the flow of long hair start?

At the part. Decide where the part runs, from the bangs back to the whorl, and start every lock there. Each lock rises a little before it falls.

How do I get feedback on my long hair 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.