7 Best Anime Drawing Courses

Anime, originally called “animation” in English, has contributed so much to our cultural awareness that people around the world who love any genre of it feel compelled to visit the country of its origin and even learn Japanese. Contemporary popular culture has been profoundly influenced by the art forms of Anime and Manga in general.

With the freedom of expression in any genre and for any audience, anime provides a great way to tell stories nowadays, a good complement to traditional cartoons that are typically geared toward children. The power of anime lies in its ability to convey complex emotions, tell compelling stories, and create memorable characters that resonate with audiences on a profound level.

What makes a great Anime course

These are the following important factors which make a great great best anime drawing course.

The Curriculum- The course will cover a wide range of topics, starting from a basic level of understanding of proportions and drawing to an advanced level of skills like character design, illustration, background and different styles
Guidance - The best course will provide step-by-step instruction and it will break down the learning process into easily manageable steps, making the course easy especially for beginners to follow along and grasp the concepts
Practice approach- The course will include projects which will allow the learner to apply his/her learnings, this hands on approach do reinforce the lessons and helps in developing real skills.
Variety- Now there are some free online animation courses with certificates on a specific anime style and others cover various styles like shonen, chibi and shojo, this allows the student to explore different genres and find a preferred style for the same.
Flexibility- The online animation courses offered flexibility to learn at one's momentum making the whole learning process fit and interesting

Imagine harnessing the creative energy of anime and channeling it into your own artistic endeavors. That's where the exciting world of digital anime drawing comes into play. Let's explore the best anime drawing courses available online, where you can unravel the secrets of this captivating art form and embark on a journey of artistic discovery!

Top Anime Drawing Online Courses and Classes List

Anime Academy: Characters and Backgrounds!
Anime Academy: Characters and Illustrations
Designing Kawaii Worlds: Spread Joy Through Illustration
Manga Art School: How to draw Anime and Manga Course
Digital Illustration: Create Manga Characters
How to Draw Anime People and bodies
Learn Anime Drawing: The Ultimate Beginners Course

Disclosure: We're supported by the learners and may earn from purchases through links.

1. Anime Academy: Characters and Backgrounds

Learn Character Design, Backgrounds, Illustrations, and More.

In this anime course, you will learn how to:

understand the basics of anime bodies.
draw anime faces.
do line art.
make an illustration with characters.
design a character.
design different types of characters.
understand and follow design principles.
draw backgrounds.
draw different head views.
understand the basics of perspective.
perform the art of storytelling.

You’ll create 4 different projects in this online animation courses that will take you from not knowing how to draw anime, to drawing your own characters and putting them in illustrations!

This best course is designed to take you through step by step, the process of designing your own characters making your own pieces, and learning the fundamentals of anime art. It will equip you with the fundamentals so you can apply them to your own designs and illustrations!

This drawing animation course will teach you the step-by-step process of drawing anime and digital painting from the basics. The course starts with the basics. you will be going over the Photoshop basics necessary to go through the course.

Next, you will get an in-depth understanding of anime characters, starting from basic shapes to building poses using simple shapes. You will also go through how to draw a variety of heads, facial features, hair, etc.

The course will also be teaching you basic 1pt and 2pt perspectives that will be necessary for you to build the human body as well as utilize them for backgrounds.

Then, you will be drawing a variety of male and female poses with clothes on. You will learn the seven basic folds as well as how to integrate them into the body. You will be drawing standing, sitting, and dynamic poses for each, as well as poses for couples!

After poses, you will learn to draw backgrounds from references. As a mini-project, you will be designing a room for your own character and using boxes to help you build it. Then, the course will show you how to draw different environments from easy to advanced.

To create your illustrations, the course will also be teaching you how to digitally paint in a simple and effective way, from light and dark to multiple values. You will be painting still lifes, as well as fabric studies, and learning how to color hair, skin, clothes, etc

For the main projects, the course will teach you how story structures work, so you can make your own stories and characters to design.

Then, you will design with me 2 characters. You will learn the process of design by making magical girl characters and making a character sheet for both. You will watch me how to paint step by step each of the ways, from reference to sketching, linework, and painting.

After designing the two characters, the course will teach you composition tips and sketches to help you with putting your characters in an illustration.

You can take Anime Academy: Characters and Backgrounds! Certificate Course on Udemy.

Course rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 (2,481 Rating total)
Duration: 69 Hours
Certificate: Certificate on completion

2. Anime Academy: Characters and Illustrations

Learn Anatomy, Design, Illustrations, and more.

In this anime drawing course, you will learn how to:

How to draw male and female anime bodies.
How to draw body parts (head, hands, feet, hair, eyes, etc).
How to do line art.
How to draw environments.
How to create your own style.
How to make illustrations.

This high-rated online animation courses from Udemy is your go-to for designing your own anime characters as well as creating illustrations. In this course, you will learn how to draw anime and everything from bodies to anime character design.

You’ll be designing 3 main projects in this course that will take you from basic shapes to creating your own characters and illustrations! This course is set up to help you step by step with understanding the basics of shapes and forms to anime bodies, as well as walking through design.

You will also be walking through the illustration processes such as thumbnails, refinement, and finishing touches. The course will teach you the fundamentals of character design that are backed up by anatomy, facial features, clothes, etc.

Initially, you will learn the basics of drawing basic shapes such as cylinders, boxes, and circles. You will also learn the basics of line quality in drawing and sketching to get you started.

Next, after learning the basic shapes, you will learn how to draw basic male and female bodies starting from gestures to building the body in simple boxes and shapes. You will also be taught the main muscle groups.

Once you've learned the basics of anatomy, you will learn how to draw facial features of both genders such as eyes, noses, hair, ears, and mouths. You will be learning a few types of each.

Then you are going to learn how to draw expressions ranging from happy to angry in 6 different ways for each gender. From then, you will move on to the basics of hair ranging from straight to wavy. You will also learn about hair movement for each style.

After hair, you will be going in-depth with how to draw hands and feet. Keep in mind these are more realistic, and these will help with learning how to stylize them as well as knowing the underlying structure underneath.

The course will then, teach you how to draw basic clothes for both males and females, and then continue with accessories ranging from jewelry to shoes. After basic accessories, you will be learning how to draw in different poses that are standard to dynamic. This will be important for creating illustrations.

Once you’ve learned how to draw poses, you will learn about line work, coloring using cell shading, as well as how to draw in different styles such as shojo, shonen, as well as chibi.

From then on, you will be starting your first project which is creating a character from scratch. You will be seeing a design process, and feel free to make your own as you watch or copy what the course does step by step.

Finally, for the last two sections, you will be creating illustrations from scratch using the characters you created. You will be doing a portrait illustration as well as a dynamic one in that you can express poses.

You can take the Anime Academy: Characters and Illustrations Certificate Course on Udemy.

Course rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 (2,431 Rating total)
Duration: 40 Hours
Certificate: Certificate on completion

3. Designing Kawaii Worlds: Spread Joy Through Illustration

Get a taste of kawaii culture, its proportions, and its expressions. You will then learn how to choose a color palette and a style that suits you. Moreover, you will learn the tools you'll need to create kawaii illustrations and create rough sketches of your character and their world.

In this anime drawing course, you will learn how to:

An Introduction to the Kawaii World
Imagining a Kawaii World
Creating a Kawaii World
Making the Artwork Shine
Final Project

This online animation courses teaches you how to create kawaii characters in magical worlds by finding inspiration in your surroundings. You can use Procreate to create cute scenes full of fantasy and cuteness. With Procreate, you can refine your sketch. Next, draw the lines to ensure a smooth, clean finish. You can add depth to your illustration by coloring it in your favorite palette and adding light and shadows.

Course rating: 19,255 total enrollments
Duration: 3 Hours
Certificate: Certificate on completion

4. Manga Art School: Complete How to Draw Anime & Manga Course

Learn How to Draw Professional Japanese Manga and Anime Character Styles.

In this online animation course you will learn how to:

draw manga characters.
draw anime characters.
draw to a professional level.
draw out of your head.
raw with pencils and paper or digital tools.
draw in 3D and with skill.

Here, you will learn to become adept at drawing professional and authentic Japanese Manga and Anime character stylization. This manga drawing course will help you to learn all the core fundamentals advanced stylization and proportional knowledge needed to draw and sketch Manga and Anime style characters well.

If you’re an absolute beginner or you’re already at an intermediate level, the course will advance your current ability to not only a professional level but also help you achieve an authentic and appealing manga or anime style in your character work. This course will show you how to achieve a real Japanese Anime and Manga stylization of your work.

You can take the Manga Art School: Anime and Manga Character Drawing Course Certificate Course on Udemy.

Course rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 (5,331 Rating total)
Duration: 11 Hours
Certificate: Certificate on completion

5. Digital Illustration: Create Manga Characters

Are you a manga, anime, and video game fan and want to create characters like them? Learn how to create your heroes by following this online course. This course will help you learn how to create detailed and expressive manga heroes using digital tools.

In this anime drawing course, you will learn how to:

The Manga: Bases of Digital Illustration
Narrative Illustration
Projection and Diffusion
Final project

Take your fantasy world and turn it into reality with Procreate and Photoshop. You will learn to draw expressive manga characters and tell a story through their clothing, accessories, and environment. Additionally, you will learn digital techniques to help you create captivating illustrations rich in light, color, shadow, and intricate detail.

Course rating: 17,638 total enrollments
Duration: 3 Hours
Certificate: Certificate on completion

6. How to Draw Anime People and bodies

Learn how to draw amazing anime or manga bodies. Master the unique style of manga and anime with this top course.

In this anime drawing course, you will learn how to:

understand the proportions of anime bodies.
draw all ages, from toddlers on up.
draw in the unique anime/manga style.
draw both the male and female bodies and what makes them different.
make your anime bodies look 3D.
pose anime people.
draw all the muscles--crash course on anatomy.
draw a hot bikini anime girl.
draw a reaper anime girl.
draw a buff anime guy.

The course includes:

Anime Proportions
Advancing anime bodies
Drawing muscles - Anatomy for anime
Drawing skin on our anime bodies5 lectures

This course teaches you how to draw bodies in the anime style. It teaches you how to simplify. It teaches the proportions of anime and even a quick crash course on anatomy so your anatomy figures look amazing.

When you are finished with this course, you will know how to draw anime and manga bodies from your imagination. You will be able to pose them and everything.

You can take the How to Draw Anime People and Bodies Certificate Course on Udemy.

Course rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 (375 Ratings total)
Duration: 6 Hours
Certificate: Certificate on completion

7. Learn Anime Drawing: The Ultimate Beginners Course

Learn how to draw anime characters in Anime Style!

In this anime drawing course, you will learn how to to draw anime characters in Anime Style!

draw full-body anime characters with basic poses.
use DesignDoll software for creating models with any pose.
draw chibis (miniature characters).

The course includes:

Facial features
Head from different views
Hair with various hairstyles
Hands and feet
Body and poses
Clothes and shoes
Facial Expressions
A brief introduction to chibis
General drawing advice and tips

You can take Learn Anime Drawing Online: The Ultimate Beginners Course Certificate Course on Udemy.

Course rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 (3,034 Rating total)
Duration: 2.5 Hours
Certificate: Certificate on completion

FAQs

What is the best anime drawing course?

The 2 courses: Anime academy: Characters and Illustration and Anime academy: Characters and Backgrounds, are the 2 best and highly rated courses mentioned in the blog above, these 2 courses cover a wide range of topics including background, illustration, design and more

Which course is best for drawing anime?

Now from the details of the online animation courses we have provided in the blog

Anime Academy: Characters and Backgrounds
Anime Academy: Characters and Illustrations
Manga Art School: Complete How to Draw Anime
Manga Course," and "Learn Anime Drawing: The Ultimate Beginners Course.

These 4 animation course are highly rated and they cover all the major aspects of anime drawing from the beginning to the pro level All the above courses are lined up in the Udemy platform and course certification is provided once you finish the course

Where can I learn anime drawing?

Now to kickstart your journey in anime drawing you first enroll in a beginner-level free animation courses as you can sign up for Learn Anime Drawing: The Ultimate Beginners course now courses like these cover all the basic aspects of anime drawing and as you progress you can move on the advance level courses that deep dive into character background, design, specific anime style etc.

Hey! If you have made it this far then certainly you are willing to learn more, and here at Coursesity, it is our duty to enlighten people with knowledge on topics they are willing to learn. Here are some more topics that we think will be interesting for you!