How to Correctly Position the Eyes, Nose, and Mouth When Drawing Anime-Style Characters From a 3/4th Perspective

One of the most defining features of drawing anime-style characters’ heads is the face. The trademark large eyes and small nose are what help make the style stand out. In fact, it was Betty Boop alongside Takarazuka Revue that influenced the large eyes, and were said to be a big influence on Osamu Tezuka’s art direction that he used in many of his works.

If you use a 3D model as a basis for your own works, it can be tricky trying to create a piece of art that would work well with your audience. Over the past month following the critical failure of Touhou Chouhatsuyou ~ Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity, Drillimation began refining their art direction continuously in order to find a direction that would work. Unfortunately, the 3D model does not seem to meet everyone’s expectations.

Right away, you will notice one thing is off. Just look at the position of Queen Yukari’s eyes, nose, and mouth. While her right ear is invisible, the facial features appear to be too far away.

The example below is the proper way of putting the facial features when drawing characters from a 3/4th perspective. If you draw the face in the example on the right, your character’s face will protrude out! In fact, in-game character sprites (not counting portraits) get this right. To avoid this problem, it is best to line up the symmetrical line that splits the head vertically with the neck as shown in the simple illustration below.

By lining things up, you’ll have your character’s facial features intact!