drawing of a girl with long hair

In this free art lesson, you'll learn how to draw a Manga Girl (side view or profile) with long hair step-by-step. All of the tutorials on How2DrawManga.com are good drawing tutorials for beginners and experienced artists alike. The online tutorials are easy to follow; they teach you the how to draw basics while showing you how to draw manga step by step.

To learn how to draw long hair, we will be using the Basic Girl Head / Face template that we created in a previous tutorial. Click on the link below to complete the Head and Face drawing first:

After you have your drawing for the Basic Head / Face, follow the step-by-step drawings below to add the long hair. The new lines in each step are shown in red, so you'll know exactly what to draw next. Take your time and draw at your own pace.

Intro: Start off with a pencil sketch. In the beginning stages, don't press down too hard. For every step, sketch lightly at first so that it's easy to erase if you make a mistake

Step 1: Starting on the top, right side of the head (above the forehead), draw line that curves and then down all the way across the face and below the neck for the first part of the manga girl's long hair. This line should come very close to the eye and at the bottom it should curve up slightly.

Step 2: At the top, draw a curved, dome-like line for the top part of the girl's parted hair. To the right of the ear, draw another long, curved line that meets the first line at the bottom. The two lines should form a pointy tip at the bottom. Near the middle of this line, draw a thick clump of hair using a couple of curved lines. The line in step 1 and this line in step 2 should form a thick clump of hair that is parted from the middle of the head. When you draw hair, it's important that you don't draw every single hair strand. Draw clumps of hair as bigger shapes instead. You can make these lines even longer if you want longer hair. At the bottom draw a couple of spiky shapes for the tips of the hair.

Step 3: On the right side of the forehead, draw a series of curved lines for the other side of the manga girl's parted hair. The bottom of these lines should end close to the eyelash on the other side of the head.

Step 4: Below the chin, draw more long, curved lines for the other side of the girl's parted hair. Make the lines wavy and curve the up at the bottom. Keep the same length as the first side of the parted hair. At the bottom, draw a couple of curved, pointy tips for the ends of the hair.

Step 5: At the top, draw a series of lines within the curvature of the previous hair chunks for the roots of the hair. Curve these lines so that the bottom ends forms the girl's hairline. Vary the thickness of each line but keep the bottom tips thin and pointy.

Step 6: Starting above the head, draw a long line that curves to the left of the head and then curves downward for the back of the hair. Follow the curvature of the head as you draw this line. The line should end at the shoulder to indicate the the hair continues on her back. Draw a line from the ear to the bottom of the neck to complete the shape of the hair.

Step 7: Inside the front part of the manga girl's hair, draw a few curved lines to emphasize the strands of hair within the clumps. Above the ear, draw a series of overlapping curved lines for the area where the hair shape splits.

Step 8: Draw more curved lines within the rest of the girl's hair for extra detail on the hair strands. On the lower, left side of the ear, draw a series of curved, overlapping lines to emphasize the hair splitting. Near the bottom, draw a curved clump of hair overlapping the shoulder.

Step 9: Using a pen or marker, go over the lines to make your drawing permanent. Ink slowly and carefully to avoid accidents. After the ink dries, get rid of every pencil mark with an eraser.

Final Step: Color your drawing! This drawing was colored digitally but you can achieve the same result using color pencils, markers or crayons! Using light orange or yellow-orange, color a few streaks across the side of the hair for highlights. Use orange for the rest of the hair and don't overlap the highlights. Use light brown for along the top and near bottom of the hair for some shadows. Color lightly at first and slowly blend the colors together. For an easier drawing, just color the entire hair a single orange color. You can also use any other color you want. Manga characters are always colorful so use, green, pink, purple or any other color you want for the hair.

Use peach for the skin. Add a bit of pink to the cheek for blush. Use a bit of light brown on the skin next to the hair for shadows. Color the irises dark green at the top and gradually add light green at the bottom. Using two colors gives the iris a more rounded feel. For a simpler drawing, you can also just use a single color for the iris. You can also use any other color you'd like for the eyes. Don't overlap the tiny highlight circles inside the eyes as you color the irises.

That's it! Keep practicing until you get the hair right. Draw it again and again using different colors and eventually you'll get better! Bookmark this page for different upcoming hairstyles.