10 Best | Drawing & Coloring Anime-style Characters Chyan

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)

Chyan’s own art is polished but not hyper-rendered—think late-2000s Kyoto Animation meets modern webtoon clarity. Lines are clean, expressions are readable, and the color choices are vibrant without being garish. Every page is in full color, which is a must for a book on coloring. Paper quality is thick (if physical edition), though the digital version has crisp zoomable panels.

In a saturated market of “how to draw manga” books, Chyan’s Drawing & Coloring Anime-Style Characters stands out by refusing to treat line art and color as separate afterthoughts. Instead, the book weaves them together from page one. True to its title, it dedicates equal weight to constructing expressive characters and bringing them to life with color theory, light logic, and rendering techniques. This is not a “copy these 50 faces” book—it’s a genuine primer on visual storytelling through character design. drawing & coloring anime-style characters chyan 10

Drawing & Coloring Anime-Style Characters delivers exactly what the title promises—and more. It’s rare to find a guide that treats anime as a serious art form with its own lighting and color logic, rather than “realistic drawing but worse.” Chyan’s methodical, encouraging tone and the sheer density of visual examples make this a valuable reference to keep on your desk, not just flip through once.

Where the book shines is in —common trouble spots. The author uses simple 3D forms (boxes, cylinders) before adding anime stylization. Every diagram includes a “common mistake” side panel, which I found more useful than many video tutorials. Rating: ★★★★☆ (4

Chyan begins with the skeleton of anime style: dynamic proportion (6–7 heads for teens, 4 for chibi), rhythm lines, and the often-overlooked “silhouette test.” The breakdown of facial features is refreshingly non-generic. Instead of one “anime eye,” Chyan shows how eye shape, iris size, and highlight placement convey age, personality, and mood (e.g., sharp lower lids for cool-headed rivals vs. large, round eyes for innocent protagonists).

Beginner to intermediate artists, digital illustrators, and traditional media users who love shōnen/slice-of-life anime aesthetics. Paper quality is thick (if physical edition), though

If you’ve been coloring your anime art by guessing (“I’ll just use light blue for shadow”), this book will finally give you rules to break intentionally .