Step 1:

In this tutorial, I will show you how to draw Iria, the bounty hunter from "Iria: Zeiram the Animation." She's a favorite character of mine, so I was excited to get to work on a tutorial of her (even if some of the pictures didn't turn out as I had hoped...) ^_^

Anyway, begin by drawing a large circle for the main part of the head. Draw the lower half of the face, which you should keep small, since she has a small face. The curves on the face should be subtle, except for the chin (which almost comes to a point here). Draw the different guidelines for the features, which are all labeled in the picture to the right. Don't forget to draw the vertical guideline that runs from the forehead to the chin; this will help you line up all the features.

Step 2:

Once all your guidelines have been placed, you can begin filling in the actual features. Draw the outlines of the eyes (which will be contained within the two eye guidelines). They should be flat ovals in shape, a little over one eye length apart. Also, make sure that the left eye is a little smaller than the right. In a 3/4 view, the eye closest to you should always be be drawn slightly larger and rounder. The nose, for now, is just a little mark on the face. The rest of it will be defined later on with shading. Keep the mouth small; it shouldn't be drawn past the right eye. Add the neck and ears, as well.

Step 3:

Next, erase some of the unnecessary guidelines and sketch in the basic shape of the hair. Characters with overly spiky, messy hair can be difficult to draw, so just worry about getting the shape of the hair right now, and add the details and the extra spikes later on. If you focus on the shape of the hair and making it look nice and full, rather than focusing on all the detail at first, the hair will probably turn out much better. Iria is one of the few anime characters with more defined lips (most just have a plain line for a mouth), so adjust the mouth a little so it looks like she has lips rather than a flat mouth. Do this by making a slight indentation on the top mouth, like in the picture. Add the shading under her mouth and on the side of her nose. As I mentioned before, it is mainly the shading that will determine the shape of the nose; don't make the line too dark. Draw her eyebrows (which are relatively thick), and draw the outline of her irises (they should be almost perfect circles, except for the area covered up by her eyelids). Draw the mole under her right eye, too.

Step 4:

Erase all remaining guidlines. Add details to your sketch, like the extra strands of the hair, the hair beads, and her armor. Notice that one side of her hair is spiky and sticks out to the side, while the other side is flatter; if you draw her facing to the right, her hair will be covering up part of her face, as shown in the final tutorial of this section. Fill in the detail of her eyes by adding the light glares and pupils. Erase any unncessary lines, and smooth over your sketch as best as you can.

Step 5:

Next, color or shade your picture however you like. I chose to use Adobe Photoshop, but you can use any medium. Notice that the strands of hair are further defined by long streaks of alternating highlights and shadows, especially on the right side of the face. Make sure you color her hair beads different shades of tan, blue, black, and red-orange, since the strands of beads consist of different colors.

Step 1:

Next, we'll move on to a more difficult angle, the profile. Begin by drawing a large circle for the top half of the face. The lower half is a little trickier; try not to make it stick out from her face too much, because her face (as I mentioned before) isn't all that big. Draw the slanted vertical guidelines as shown to help you position the eyes, and get the proper proportions for the front part of the face. Draw the horizontal lines to help you position her eyes and mouth. Notice how high her mouth will be on the face.

Step 2:

This is one of the toughest steps, so be very careful. Draw the nose and mouth, making sure to stay within the guidelines. The lower lip is slightly farther back on the face, and the chin curves and sticks out slightly. Don't make the nose too thin or pointy. It may take some practice to get the curves and angles just right. Draw in the outline of the eye and ear, as well. Notice that the eye is very slanted and angular.

Step 3:

Now that all the features have been positioned, you can erase all your guidelines. Draw the basic outline of the hair, focusing on the shape rather than the details at this point. Add the iris and eyebrow.

Step 4:

Fill in the details on the hair by adding extra strands and spikes to the existing forms. You will notice again that her hair is much spikier on one side than on the other. Draw the strands of hair beads that hang down behind her ears. Notice that they should bend easily at the joints if draped over her shoulder or blowing in the wind or whatever; they aren't solid strands. Add detail to her eyes, and draw the mole directly beneath her eye. Draw her armor, as well. Erase all unnecessary lines, and clean up any messy areas until you are ready to complete your picture.

Step 5:

I wanted to do another 3/4 pose facing in the other direction, to show that her hair will partially cover her face when she turns the other way, and because I wasn't very pleased with the previous two tutorials (though this one isn't much better...) ^_^; Begin with a large circle, as always, and draw the lower half of the face. Make the guidelines as shown (note that you can just make a little mark for the nose beneath the point where the vertical guideline and bottom of the circle intersect). The eyes aren't overly large, so make the guidelines relatively close together (not too close, though, or it'll look like she's squinting or has really beady eyes).

Step 1:

I wanted to do another 3/4 pose facing in the other direction, to show that her hair will partially cover her face when she turns the other way, and because I wasn't very pleased with the previous two tutorials (though this one isn't much better...) ^_^; Begin with a large circle, as always, and draw the lower half of the face. Make the guidelines as shown (note that you can just make a little mark for the nose beneath the point where the vertical guideline and bottom of the circle intersect). The eyes aren't overly large, so make the guidelines relatively close together (not too close, though, or it'll look like she's squinting or has really beady eyes).

Step 2:

Using your guidelines, draw the outline of the eyes, nose, and mouth. The eyes should be spaced a little over one eye length apart. The nose will be just a small mark on the face for now, since the shading will determine its form rather than harsh lines.

Step 3:

Erase the guidelines. Draw the basic outline of the hair, focusing on making the shape of it look nice and full rather than worrying about the smaller details. Draw her irises and eyebrows, as well as the shading on the side of her nose and under her mouth.

Step 4:

Fill in the details on her hair. Notice that the left part of her hair obscures part of her face, and that you cannot see her hair beads at this angle. Any time she is facing the right, the hair beads will probably be blocked from view, and part of her face will be covered, depending on how far her face is turned. Add the light glares and pupils to her eyes, and draw her clothes. In this picture, she is wearing her cloak over her usual armor. Do not draw in all the folds yet; add them when shading. Erase all unnecessary lines and clean up your sketch.

Step 5:

Add shading to your picture using whatever medium you like. Notice that her nose, hair, and clothing and defined mainly by shadows and highlights rather than harsh lines. Try to shade her hair so that you can see the two different main parts (the spiky part on the left side of her face and the flat, smooth part on the right side of her face) as separate, intersecting regoins. See how the shading makes some parts look like they are further forward than other portions? Look at the other pictures of her, and try to visualize how her hair would look when she turns in different angles. I hope that made some sense... ^.^