How to Draw: Chibi/ SD

[AtsirkEiram]

Hi there! I would like to start this tutorial with a bit of background on the subject… please read… it would only take off 1-2 minutes of your lifetime…
Super-deformed (SD) is a specific type of Japanese caricature that make the characters resemble small children, due to the current trend in anime the term SD has been replaced with the term “chibi” which means “small” to refer to such an art form… for purpose of clearer understanding, I will use both terms interchangeably.
NOTE: to learn how to draw chibi knowledge of normal anatomy is not really needed, so, anyone can learn it… whether you’re a pro or a beginning artist, learning it is easy and fun.
-----okay, your life span is officially decreased by 2 minutes…. ---
Moving on… please take time to look at the drawing I made of Tomoyo Daidouji’s transformation into SD, look at it and notice the differences….

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In real life people’s heads are 1/8th of the persons height, in SD the character’s head is increased to anywhere from1/3rd to ½ of the characters height with the eyes taking much of the head (think, Power Puff Girls)…. Anywhere more than that is popular in anime but is no longer considered, traditionally, as SD.


Take a look at the anatomy…. Do you notice that SD are typically chubbier with stubby hands and feet? They also have bigger eyes and much of the details are exaggerated.

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As you can see, when drawing hands, the details of the fingers do not need to be exact or ANATOMICALLY correct… so you CAN draw it anyway you like…
MAIN differences with normally drawn characters:
1.=Heads are bigger with the eyes taking most of the space
2. =Limbs are shorter and more stubby
3. = Necks are almost absent or are deleted entirely
4.=Fingers and toes are really short
5.=Shading is not important, a chibi character can be drawn without attention to shading and detail
6. = Easier to draw and in comics language, they take up all the panels that you have no idea what to draw in!


Next I will show you different ways to draw chibi, take time to note the different mangaka’s art style:

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NOTE: as you can see I rated them on the level of difficulty I had in learning them with 5 being the hardest and 1 being the easiest….the name I gave for the first work: CLAMP style, is in tribute to CLAMP since as a child, they were the first artists that, I noticed, to use PROPORTIONALLY made SD characters, their style is also the hardest one for me to learn….
Copying other artist’s work is not a bad thing, in fact in some countries, particularly China, copying the work of a master is an art form in itself…overtime, you will learn how to do it without a guide and you will learn how to add new elements. Here are other examples:

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NOTE: I added their non-SD pics so that you can see how they were derived from the original


SD/ Chibi is also used to show an extreme or exaggerated emotion which would be difficult to express in a normal face. They are meant to be cute and humorous diversions. Watch Haninozuka’s (yeah I spelled his name wrong on the pic) transformation into SD:

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I have also added some Chibi expressions which you may or may not find useful.
So that’s that! I hope that you will learn How to draw chibi! Thanks for your time!
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I would like to take this moment to advocate INKING or EMBELLISHING. Technically it is all about splashing ink on areas in your drawing that should be colored black. Due to the dawn of machines, artists have used technology to do this task, but the rewards of doing them by yourself are worthwhile.

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Notice that INKING gives your drawing a more professional feel, it also lessens the panels you have to color if you’re making a manga/comic.

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It can also destroy or improve your work and can cover up some mistakes… it is a whole separate subject in itself and deserves a separate tutorial.
CREDITS

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Special thanks to my cousin and niece who forced me to make this thread when I told them about Animea….

Thanks to Marvin dela Cruz THE man who thought me to draw chibi and the original Loli-shota of high school… I hope that you grew taller man and that you’re not bringing your stuffed toy animals to work and that you finally, outgrew your magical thinking. If you EVER get to read this, I just wanna ask why you gave names to your school stuff and treated them as if they were alive and why you kept on biting us when we offended you. It was weird… I mean you’d go:
Marvin: where’s David?
Me: who’s David?
Marvin: He’s my eraser! Which one of you guys took my eraser!!? Grrrgh!!
I hope you finally grew up man… I really do…….and… I never got to learn how to draw Keroberos of Card Captor Sakura, even if you taught me for 2 days in a row, I still can’t draw his head right.

[rjtayler]

Thank you a quite informative piece there. Ideal for the Anime/Manga 'novice' such as myself to follow. What I find is that the style is so frequently used for the toy/souvenir end of the marketing stream as well. Probably owing to the 'moe' quality of the work as opposed to the 'normal charachter' drawing. I look forward to many more 'nuggets' of information from you. Well Done.

[Aca]

Tnx for the share :) i'm sure that it will be useful to some ppl :D

[nit3mar3]

nice one, krista ;)
and thumbs up for drawing it yourself ;)

[AtsirkEiram]

oi!!! nit3mar3!! who gave you the permission to post my real name in the threads...,.,..

nitayler and aca85:

yep...I hope more people will learn to draw anime... I don't use a particular technique so I had to do some research and improvise a little to make the presentation....I usually have a harder time teaching people on a face to face basis...

I did try to LEARN the right way to draw a few years back... but since I had no particular technique, it was harder to try to do it RIGHT and systematically... thanks for the compliment.

[nemesiz]

AHHHHRRRGGHHH...that that made me loose 2 mins of my life!!!.......lol just kidding m8 good tutorial...would be helpful for people who can't draw :D

[Little_Buster]

Nice tutorial ;]
And great drawings :]

[nemesiz]

haha forgot to rep...Done now

[Leezah]

Of all the things chibi characters are the ones I find the most difficult for me to draw. I'm not sure why. Although the anatomy lessons here will be very helpful. I'll save these images so I can get a better understanding. Thanks! =)

[AtsirkEiram]

Originally Posted by Leezah

Of all the things chibi characters are the ones I find the most difficult for me to draw. I'm not sure why. Although the anatomy lessons here will be very helpful. I'll save these images so I can get a better understanding. Thanks! =)

Yes, i know how you feel. I also had the most difficulty with chibi, but once you master it..you can't stop..you'd enjoy it! Ahehe.