How to Draw Anime Noses Like a Master
Welcome to my how to draw anime noses tutorial!
By the end of this I’m hoping you have a masterful understanding of anime noses.
Don’t worry. It won’t be very difficult. Noses in anime (especially in modern anime) are laughably simple. Male characters’ noses are rarely more than 2 lines, and females often have only a single, short line.
As a general rule, less is more for anime noses. In some subgenres of anime, like Moe or Chibi, noses are sometimes completely ignored. This makes drawing anime noses step by step super simple! Hooray! (Why did I even write a tutorial???)
Ironically, learning to draw noses is often one of the harder parts of learning to draw a life-accurate human face. Oh, sweet, precious anime XD
The only part that might take a little practice is putting it in the right spot and drawing from the full side view.
A heads up on style:
The following guide is just to learn common noses, but there are many different kinds of nose styles in anime.
There is no official anime and manga nose style. Don’t feel you have to draw noses in a certain way because “it’s anime”.
I’m just reminding you of this so you don’t get hung up on it.
Anyway, that’s enough of me telling you about how easy drawing anime noses is. Allow me to show you. In this guide you will find:
- Nose Position
- Front View – Female
- Side View – Female
- Front View – Male
- Side View – Male
- Drawing the nose from different angles
Nose Position
Before you ever learn how to draw anime noses, you should probably know where to put it.
It’s no good to know how to draw noses but not know where the nose goes.
The length of the head is your guide. The base of the nose sits around 1/4 up the from base of the head or 3/4 down from the top of the head.
You can also think of it as between the eyes and chin.
As the head turns there will be a center line where the center of the face is. The nose should be along the center line of the face at all times.
How to Draw Anime and Manga Noses Female – Front View
Of the two genders, female anime noses are the simpler.
This is especially true for the front view. Most of the time, a female anime nose is a single, tiny line.
That sounds a little ridiculous. But I’ll show you some examples of real characters, and you’ll see what I mean.
Also, note that anime/manga characters often don’t have a consistent nose. A single character within a single show can have all these nose variations below. There’s even better examples of this in the male nose section.
Single Line
See? It’s only a single, little, itty-bitty line. The example’s here are Kaguya from Love is War (left) and Ezra from Fairy Tail (right).
Often, you can omit the shadow entirely. But if you have strong lighting, the circular shadow can go on either side as needed.
You can slightly angle the line a bit to add the suggestion of contour.
This really is the bread and butter of anime female noses. Honestly, it’s like 90% of anime females noses.
Triangle
This one is like a triangle on it’s side – with a slight contour of the central line (implying the nose tip).
In the example (Erina from Food Wars!), notice how the shade goes inside the triangle.
The shade still goes on the side that the triangle is pointing.
Half Arrow
A slightly less common variation. This one is almost like half of an arrow that’s pointing down. The shadow goes on the side with the pointy bit.
Slits
How to Draw Anime Nose(s) Female – Front View
How to Draw Anime Noses Female – Side View
When a head is rotated between a full side and front view, it’s known as 3/4 view.
And, as anime females start turning their heads to 3/4, you will see there are a similar variations as the front views.
Oddly enough though, in the full side view profile, there is really only 1 variation (as you’ll see in a below example).
Let’s look at the examples using the same characters as above so you can see how it changes.
Also, I will repeat that characters and their noses are often not consistent. The same character can have each of these variations at different times throughout one show.
Triangle
It’s the same version as the front view triangle, just slightly thinner because of perspective.
You can make it a curve or a sharp point. You can also omit the softer line on the outside and just use the central line.
Line
These examples are great for showing how noses can change for the same character, based on angle.
Aoi Kunieda (left) had the two slits in front view. Now she has a single line as her head rotated.
Kaguya (right) went from a single line to single line with a little bit of shade.
Right Angle with Nostril
Shihouin (left) had slits in the front view.
Ezra (right) had the single line from the front view, but it turns into a right angle when her head is turned.
This further emphasizes my point that these nose styles are not set in stone. They constantly change. The degree of the right angle can change from character to character, usually ranging from 90 degrees to about 135 degrees.
Sometimes the lines will curve to follow nose contour, yet other times they will be straight.
Right Angle
Similar to the right angle with nostil, except the nostril is gone.
Again, the degree of the angle can change between characters.
This style usually has a slight curve on the upper part to suggest the nose’s natural curve.
Ritsuko had a triangle for the front view, but it changed into a right angle when her head turned.
Profile
Remember how I said there’s really only one variation from full side view? Notice all these characters, who previously had different noses, have incredibly similar profiles.
Some styles will use smoother or sharper lines between the angles, but the general shape is the same.
How to Draw Anime and Manga Noses Male – Front View
Anime male noses are very similar to female anime noses.
The difference is the male versions are usually a little bigger or thicker. This is because male faces generally benefit from stronger lines, tending to have more defined features than female faces.
Because men’s faces can get away with less minimalism, there is often more diversity between male anime noses.
To prove my point that noses are not consistent, I’ve included a character who is depicted with 3 different noses all in the same view.
Single Line
In younger characters, like Kirito from Sword Art Online (left), this is just a small line. In older characters, this line tends to be longer.
Also, it’s not uncommon for a slight bend in the line or for there to be little flourishes at the bottom of the line to imply a nostril. Kyon from The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi (right) has the aforementioned flourishes.
Thicker Line
Generally a more adult nose. This is like the line above but it resembles more of an actual nose’s shape.
This can be seen on Levi from Attack on Titan’s face (left). And Kyon (right) can be seen with this variation as well.
Triangle
A partly finished triangle shape. Here we see Kyon again – with a 3rd nose! This time with a slight bend in the lower portion of the line.
The length of the bridge will vary, and something be omitted. And sometimes a nostril is included.
You can vary it as you need. Edward Elric from Full Metal Alchemist (left) has a shorter upper section and a nostril
Half Arrow
Generally used for younger characters, as shown by Gon from Hunter X Hunter.
The sharpness of the nose tip may vary between characters.
Slits
2 small lines give the impression of nostrils. Sometimes a line is present where the bridge of the nose would be, like Neji Hyuga from Naruto (left).
Other times, it’s only the nostrils, like Mugen from Samurai Champloo (right).
How to Draw Anime Noses Male – Side View
In absolute contrast to the 5 variations anime male noses have from the front, they are almost universal from 3/4 and profile view.
It’s almost always either a right angle or a right angle with a nostril.
Right Angle
A right angle of varying degrees with slight contours to the lines.
To make a character younger, like Kirito (right), just use less of a bridge and make the overall nose smaller, or keep it big and manly like Kyon’s nose (left).
Right Angle with Nostril
Take the above and add a nostril! The bridge can go right to the eye line like Levi’s face (left), or it be short like Neji’s face (right).
Triangle
A thin line is added to contour the shadow the nose casts. Edward has a nostril in the example, but the nostril is optional.
Profile
Once again, the general shape is the shape. The only difference is how hard or gentle the angles are.
Younger, softer characters will usually have smoother lines, whereas harder, older, or more rugged characters will have more angular noses.
That is only a guideline though, and by no means a rule.
Draw Anime Noses from Different Angles
Here’s a general guideline for how noses behave when the face in looking in different directions.
How to Draw Anime Noses – Female
How to Draw Anime Noses – Male
There you have it. Anime and manga noses!
Always remember, these are just general guidelines. If you’ve noticed anything above, it should be that anime noses are very “optional”.
Sometimes, lines are not drawn at all and instead implied by lighting and position. But if you’re new to this, don’t think about that too much for now. Put it in the back of your head for later. Until then, the above guides should work fine. If you need extra help getting things right click here.
UNHAPPY WITH YOUR ART PROGRESS?
Become a better artist
Join 2000+ artists getting inspiration sent straight to their inbox!
Sign Up Now and Get Access to:
- Drawing Secrets to help you create the art you’ve always dreamed of
- Art Career Insights I’ve learned from nearly a decade working as a pro artist
- Updates when I make new poses
- No Spam!