Create Your Digital Art - Anime
Design and draw your own anime character using simple digital tools or apps, learning basic shapes, colors, expressions, and layers step by step.
About this activity
Design and draw your own anime character using simple digital tools or apps, learning basic shapes, colors, expressions, and layers step by step.
What you need
Step by step
- 1
Step 1
Open your drawing app.
- 2
Step 2
Create a new square canvas about 1000 by 1000 pixels.
- 3
Step 3
Choose a basic round brush for sketching.
- 4
Step 4
Pick a light color for your sketch lines.
- 5
Step 5
Make a new sketch layer and draw a simple oval for the head.
- 6
Step 6
Add one vertical line and one horizontal line across the oval to guide the face.
- 7
Step 7
Draw two big anime eyes using circles on the horizontal guideline.
- 8
Step 8
Draw a small simple nose and a mouth that match the expression you want.
- 9
Step 9
Create a new layer and draw the hair shape and a simple outfit with big shapes.
- 10
Step 10
Lower the opacity of your sketch layer so the sketch looks faint.
- 11
Step 11
Make a new layer above the sketch layer for clean lineart.
- 12
Step 12
Trace neat outlines on the lineart layer using a darker brush.
- 13
Step 13
Add color on layers beneath the lineart by filling skin hair and clothes.
- 14
Step 14
Add simple shading and a small highlight to make your character pop.
- 15
Step 15
Share your finished anime character on DIY.org
Fun facts
How do I guide my child step-by-step to design and draw an anime character digitally?
Begin by picking a kid-friendly drawing app or basic digital tool and open a new canvas. Start with rough shapes — circles for heads, ovals for bodies — to map the pose. Add facial guidelines, then draw eyes, nose, mouth and hair, keeping expressions simple. Use separate layers for sketch, line art, flats, and shading so kids can edit easily. Finish by adding colors, highlights, and export the image; encourage practicing different poses and styles.
What materials and apps do I need to create digital anime art with my child?
You'll need a device (tablet, smartphone or computer) and a simple drawing app—free options like ibisPaint X, Autodesk SketchBook, Krita, or kid-friendly apps. A stylus helps precision but fingers work fine. Optional: reference images, printed face-shape templates, a charger, and cloud storage or USB for saving files. For young kids, set up a comfortable workspace and install an ad-free version or parental controls to avoid distractions.
What ages is digital anime character drawing suitable for?
This activity suits a wide range: guided introduction for ages 5–7 using simple apps and templates, independent drawing for ages 8–12 as they learn shapes and layers, and deeper practice for teens refining anatomy, shading and digital tools. Adjust complexity, tools, and supervision based on skill level. Younger children will benefit from more templates and adult help; older kids can explore custom brushes and export options.
What are the benefits of having kids create digital anime art?
Making digital anime art builds creativity, visual storytelling, fine motor control, and color and shape recognition. It teaches basic digital skills (layers, undo, exporting), encourages problem-solving and patience through revisions, and boosts confidence when kids see finished work. Additionally, it offers an accessible way to practice repeatedly without wasting paper. Balance screen time with breaks and encourage offline sketching to strengthen traditional drawing skills.
Watch & Learn
Need help?
What can we use if we don't have a drawing app or a tablet?
If you don't have a drawing app or tablet, follow the same steps on paper with pencil—draw a square guide (about the same proportions as the 1000×1000 canvas), sketch the oval head with the vertical and horizontal guidelines, add the eyes, hair and outfit, then photograph or scan the result to import into a free app like MediBang or to share on DIY.org.
My colors spill outside the lines when I 'Add color on layers beneath the lineart by filling skin hair and clothes' — how do I fix that?
Before filling, make sure you 'trace neat outlines on the lineart layer' and close any gaps in your outline, increase brush size to patch tiny holes or use your app's selection tolerance/close-gap fill settings, or clean edges with an eraser on the color layer beneath the lineart.
How can I adapt this activity for different ages?
For younger kids, simplify by using a big round brush or crayons, drawing a large oval head with one vertical and horizontal guideline and big circle eyes without worrying about layers, while older kids can use the full 1000×1000 canvas, multiple layers, finer brushes for clean lineart and more detailed shading and highlights.
Any ideas to personalize or extend the finished anime character?
To enhance the project, add a background, experiment with different hair shapes and outfit details on their own layers, increase shading and a small highlight as in the instructions, or duplicate layers to create a simple blink or pose change and export the result to share on DIY.org.