How to Draw Anime & Manga Eyebrows

This tutorial shows how to draw different types of anime and manga style eyebrows (thin, short and thick/bushy) in different positions (lowered/raised).

Anime eyebrows different types
Anime eyebrow types

Anime and manga eyebrows have many variations in their shape and size but generally they tend to fall into a few categories.

Thin Anime Eyebrows

These are the types of eyebrows most anime characters tend to have.

Example 1 – Basic Thin Eyebrows

Anime eyebrows
Thin anime eyebrows

Very simple eyebrows. Draw these slightly thicker towards the middle and thinner towards the ends.

Thin anime eyebrows different positions
Thin anime eyebrows different positions

You can draw these types of eyebrows in a wave like shape when lowered. When raised (depending on the emotion you want to show) you can either draw them in upside down curves or just higher up on the head with raised inner ends.

Example 2 – Thick to Thin Eyebrows

Thin anime eyebrows with thick inner ends
Thin anime eyebrows with thick inner ends

Not much different from the first example these tend to be thicker towards the inner ends and thinner towards the outer ends. Draw accordingly

Thin anime eyebrows with thick inner ends different positions
Thin anime eyebrows with thick inner ends different positions

When drawing these types of eyebrows in different states you can do it exactly the same as the first example. Simply respect the overall shape of the eyebrow and draw the inner ends slightly thicker for each one.

Example 3 – Single Line Thin Eyebrows

Thin anime one line eyebrows
Thin anime one line eyebrows

The simplest types of eyebrows. Draw these using just one line.

Thin anime one line eyebrows different positions
Thin anime one line eyebrows different positions

For different positions you can draw these eyebrows as described in the first example.

Short Anime Eyebrows

Some anime characters tend to have very short eyebrows. It’s important to note that short eyebrows generally start the same distance away from the middle of the face as long eyebrows. It’s usually their outer ends that don’t go as far to the sides of the face as long eyebrows.

Example 4 – Short Thin Eyebrows

Anime short eyebrows
Anime short eyebrows

The short and thin eyebrows tend to be thicker towards their inner ends and thinner towards their outer ends.

Anime short eyebrows different positions
Anime short eyebrows different positions

For different emotions draw these almost the same as in example one but with less of a “wave” when they are lowered.

Examples 5 – Short Bushy Eyebrows

Short and busy anime eyebrows
Short and busy anime eyebrows

You can draw these types of eyebrows with a shape similar to a triangle with rounded corners.

Thick and pointy short anime eyebrows different positions
Thick and pointy short anime eyebrows different positions

When drawing these types of eyebrows in different positions you can draw them with almost the same overall shape or just slightly warp it to match the expression.

For lowered eyebrows draw them pointing more inwards towards the face and closer together.

When the eyebrows are raised like in the third drawing above you can basically just flip their shape upside down.

For raised eyebrows like in the fourth example draw them higher up on the head without any tilts.

Example 6 – Thick & Pointy Short Eyebrows

Thick and pointy short anime eyebrows
Thick and pointy short anime eyebrows

Very similar to the previous example but with a slightly different shape.

Thick and pointy short anime eyebrows different positions
Thick and pointy short anime eyebrows different positions

You can pretty much follow the instruction in the previous example when drawing these in different position. Generally you can maintain or very slightly tweak their overall shape and rotate move them as needed.

Thick or Bushy Anime Eyebrows

Thick and/or busy eyebrows are another fairly common type used in anime and manga. They tend to be more common among male characters but sometimes female characters can have them as well.

Example 7 – Thick Eyebrows

Anime eyebrows on head

These are basically a thicker version of the eyebrows in the first example of this tutorial. Draw these thicker towards the middle and thinner towards their outer ends. Alternatively you can make them thicker towards the inner ends instead (like example number two).

Tick anime eyebrows different positions
Tick anime eyebrows different positions

You can draw these types of eyebrows in different positions the same way as described in the first example.

Example 8 – Very Thick/Bushy Eyebrows

Very tick anime eyebrows
Very tick anime eyebrows

These types of eyebrows are fairly rare. Usually it’s male characters that tend to have them though female characters may sometimes get them as a joke.

Draw these types of eyebrows with a fairly “blocky” shape.

Very tick anime eyebrows different positions
Very tick anime eyebrows different positions

Once again you can draw the different positions of thee eyebrows based on the first example.

Example 9 – Multi Line Thick/Bushy Eyebrows

Tick multi-line anime eyebrows
Tick multi-line anime eyebrows

These types of bushy eyebrows are drawn with multiple lines to give them their thickness. This trick lets you draw thick eyebrows that still look kind of light.

Draw these types of eyebrows with each line basically tracing the shape of the other with some distance between them.

Tick multi-line anime eyebrows different positions
Tick multi-line anime eyebrows different positions

Yet again draw the different positions of these eyebrows as described in example one.

Conclusion

There is a lot of variety in anime eyebrows and you can always experiment by mixing different traits from different example to see what kind of character you get.

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