How to Draw Princess Mononoke

In this tutorial, we will show you how to draw Princess Mononoke from the anime of the same name, wearing her costume with a fur cloak on her back and a dagger in her hand. As with our other anime tutorials, we will use a fairly simple technique here while still trying to convey volume in the drawing.

We will follow the basic principles of drawing an anime character and depict the characteristic elements specific to this particular character.

How to draw Princess Mononoke step by step

Step 1: Mark the basic body guidelines

Start drawing Princess Mononoke with a stick figure. First, outline an oval for the head and a simple line for the spine. Along this line, sketch the chest and pelvis. Draw the arms and legs with simple lines. Position the arms close to the torso.

Step 2: Add volume to San’s body

Sketch two guidelines on the head to draw the anime facial features further. Next, sketch the neck and torso. Show the slight turn of San’s body, with the nearer shoulder on the left and the chest projecting to the right. Use simple geometric shapes to outline Princess Mononoke’s arms and legs. Outline one foot facing forward and the other pointing to the right.

Step 3: Outline the clothing and dagger

Add the basic details. Use very light lines to sketch Princess Mononoke’s facial features and hair. Mark the headband above the forehead and the short locks beside her cheeks. Then move down to the body and outline the clothing and the dagger in her hand. Sketch the fur cloak behind the visible arm and the skirt ending above the knees. Draw the blade pointing to the left. From the next step onward, use darker, more definite lines.

Step 4: Refine San’s face and hair

Start refining the details of the head. Carefully draw the anime girl’s eyes, nose, and mouth. Add the slanted eyebrows and long triangular markings on San’s cheeks. Then outline the face, which tapers toward the chin, and draw the anime ears and hair. Separate the short hair into pointed strands around the face. Draw the oval earrings and the narrow headband with a small circle at its center. Erase the unnecessary guidelines from the head.

Step 5: Draw the torso and necklace

There are only a few lines to add here. First, outline the neck. Next, draw the torso contours along the curves of the body beneath the clothing. Add short folds spreading from the waist and trace the uneven lower edge of the top. Outline the fur behind San’s back and the necklace around her neck.

Step 6: Refine the arm and dagger

Carefully trace the visible arm and the hand that grips the dagger. Draw the upper-arm band with two lines. Mark the knuckles and the short divisions between the curled fingers. Then draw the dagger with clear outlines. Finish the long, pointed fur section behind the skirt. Remove the unnecessary guidelines from San’s arm.

Step 7: Complete the skirt and legs

Continue the torso lines downward to draw the skirt. Give the hem small tears and uneven points, then add a few long folds across the fabric. Next, use smooth lines to draw the legs and footwear. Define the calves with gentle curves. Make the contours toward the ankles narrower. Add folds to the footwear and erase all remaining guidelines from the drawing.

Step 8: Shade Princess Mononoke with hatching

Finish the Princess Mononoke drawing with shadows. Apply dense hatching to the areas of the figure that receive the least light. Anime usually uses fairly simple shadows. Visually divide the drawing into lit and unlit areas. Fill the unlit areas with light hatching.

Of course, there is no single universal anime style, but anime as a medium includes many characteristic techniques that artists use when drawing characters.

Within a particular anime, these techniques become even more noticeable. For example, Lady Eboshi from the same anime is drawn in the same style as in this tutorial. The same stylistic choices, but with different details, are used when drawing Ashitaka.

In other words, when drawing different characters from the same anime universe, you should keep in mind not only the basic principles of drawing anime characters but also the main stylistic choices used by the original artists.

This is exactly the exercise worth doing after drawing Princess Mononoke. Try drawing Lady Eboshi and Ashitaka, trying to follow the same style accurately throughout the entire process.