How to Draw Iria from "Iria: Zeiram the

Animation"

3/4 view

Step 1:

In this tutorial, I will show you how to draw
Iria, the bounty hunter from "Iria: Zeiram the
Animation." She's a favorite character of mine,
so I was excited to get to work on a tutorial of
her (even if some of the pictures didn't turn out
as I had hoped...) ^_^

Anyway, begin by drawing a large circle for
the main part of the head. Draw the lower half
of the face, which you should keep small,
since she has a small face. The curves on the
face should be subtle, except for the chin
(which almost comes to a point here). Draw
the different guidelines for the features, which
are all labeled in the picture to the right. Don't
forget to draw the vertical guideline that runs
from the forehead to the chin; this will help
you line up all the features.

Step 2:

Once all your guidelines have been placed,
you can begin filling in the actual features.
Draw the outlines of the eyes (which will be
contained within the two eye guidelines). They
should be flat ovals in shape, a little over one
eye length apart. Also, make sure that the left
eye is a little smaller than the right. In a 3/4
view, the eye closest to you should always be
be drawn slightly larger and rounder. The
nose, for now, is just a little mark on the face.
The rest of it will be defined later on with
shading. Keep the mouth small; it shouldn't be
drawn past the right eye. Add the neck and
ears, as well.

How to Draw Iria

http://www.animeextreme.com/julie/iria_tutorial.html (1 of 8) [3/7/2000 13:08:36]

Step 3:

Next, erase some of the unnecessary
guidelines and sketch in the basic shape of the
hair. Characters with overly spiky, messy hair
can be difficult to draw, so just worry about
getting the shape of the hair right now, and
add the details and the extra spikes later on. If
you focus on the shape of the hair and making
it look nice and full, rather than focusing on all
the detail at first, the hair will probably turn
out much better. Iria is one of the few anime
characters with more defined lips (most just
have a plain line for a mouth), so adjust the
mouth a little so it looks like she has lips
rather than a flat mouth. Do this by making a
slight indentation on the top mouth, like in the
picture. Add the shading under her mouth and
on the side of her nose. As I mentioned before,
it is mainly the shading that will determine the
shape of the nose; don't make the line too dark.
Draw her eyebrows (which are relatively
thick), and draw the outline of her irises (they
should be almost perfect circles, except for the
area covered up by her eyelids). Draw the
mole under her right eye, too. ^_^

Step 4:

Erase all remaining guidlines. Add details to
your sketch, like the extra strands of the hair,
the hair beads, and her armor. Notice that one
side of her hair is spiky and sticks out to the
side, while the other side is flatter; if you draw
her facing to the right, her hair will be
covering up part of her face, as shown in the
final tutorial of this section. Fill in the detail of
her eyes by adding the light glares and pupils.
Erase any unncessary lines, and smooth over
your sketch as best as you can.

How to Draw Iria

http://www.animeextreme.com/julie/iria_tutorial.html (2 of 8) [3/7/2000 13:08:36]

Step 5:

Next, color or shade your picture however you
like. I chose to use Adobe Photoshop, but you
can use any medium. Notice that the strands of
hair are further defined by long streaks of
alternating highlights and shadows, especially
on the right side of the face. Make sure you
color her hair beads different shades of tan,
blue, black, and red-orange, since the strands
of beads consist of different colors.

Profile

Step 1:

Next, we'll move on to a more difficult angle,
the profile. Begin by drawing a large circle for
the top half of the face. The lower half is a little
trickier; try not to make it stick out from her
face too much, because her face (as I mentioned
before) isn't all that big. Draw the slanted
vertical guidelines as shown to help you
position the eyes, and get the proper proportions
for the front part of the face. Draw the
horizontal lines to help you position her eyes
and mouth. Notice how high her mouth will be
on the face.

How to Draw Iria

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Step 2:

This is one of the toughest steps, so be very
careful. Draw the nose and mouth, making sure
to stay within the guidelines. The lower lip is
slightly farther back on the face, and the chin
curves and sticks out slightly. Don't make the
nose too thin or pointy. It may take some
practice to get the curves and angles just right.
Draw in the outline of the eye and ear, as well.
Notice that the eye is very slanted and angular.

Step 3:

Now that all the features have been positioned,
you can erase all your guidelines. Draw the
basic outline of the hair, focusing on the shape
rather than the details at this point. Add the iris
and eyebrow.

How to Draw Iria

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Step 4:

Fill in the details on the hair by adding extra
strands and spikes to the existing forms. You
will notice again that her hair is much spikier on
one side than on the other. Draw the strands of
hair beads that hang down behind her ears.
Notice that they should bend easily at the joints
if draped over her shoulder or blowing in the
wind or whatever; they aren't solid strands. Add
detail to her eyes, and draw the mole directly
beneath her eye. Draw her armor, as well. Erase
all unnecessary lines, and clean up any messy
areas until you are ready to complete your
picture.

Step 5:

Color your picture as you see fit. Again, use
highlights and shadows to give definition to her
hair and to show the extra strands. Make sure
the hair beads are multicolored; most of the
larger ones are tan, while the small connecting
pieces are black.

How to Draw Iria

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3/4 View (Facing the other way)

Step 1:

I wanted to do another 3/4 pose facing in the
other direction, to show that her hair will
partially cover her face when she turns the other
way, and because I wasn't very pleased with the
previous two turoials (though this one isn't much
better...) ^_^; Begin with a large circle, as
always, and draw the lower half of the face.
Make the guidelines as shown (note that you can
just make a little mark for the nose beneath the
point where the vertical guideline and bottom of
the circle intersect). The eyes aren't overly large,
so make the guidelines relatively close together
(not too close, though, or it'll look like she's
squinting or has really beady eyes).

Step 2:

Using your guidelines, draw the outline of the
eyes, nose, and mouth. The eyes should be
spaced a little over one eye length apart. The
nose will be just a small mark on the face for
now, since the shading will determine its form
rather than harsh lines.

How to Draw Iria

http://www.animeextreme.com/julie/iria_tutorial.html (6 of 8) [3/7/2000 13:08:36]

Step 3:

Erase the guidelines. Draw the basic outline of
the hair, focusing on making the shape of it look
nice and full rather than worrying about the
smaller details. Draw her irises and eyebrows, as
well as the shading on the side of her nose and
under her mouth.

Step 4:

Fill in the details on her hair. Notice that the left
part of her hair obscures part of her face, and that
you cannot see her hair beads at this angle. Any
time she is facing the right, the hair beads will
probably be blocked from view, and part of her
face will be covered, depending on how far her
face is turned. Add the light glares and pupils to
her eyes, and draw her clothes. In this picture,
she is wearing her cloak over her usual armor.
Do not draw in all the folds yet; add them when
shading. Erase all unnecessary lines and clean up
your sketch.

How to Draw Iria

http://www.animeextreme.com/julie/iria_tutorial.html (7 of 8) [3/7/2000 13:08:36]

Step 5:

Add shading to your picture using whatever
medium you like. Notice that her nose, hair, and
clothing and defined mainly by shadows and
highlights rather than harsh lines. Try to shade
her hair so that you can see the two different
main parts (the spiky part on the left side of her
face and the flat, smooth part on the right side of
her face) as separate, intersecting regoins. See
how the shading makes some parts look like they
are further forward than other portions? Look at
the other pictures of her, and try to visualize how
her hair would look when she turns in different
angles. I hope that made some sense... ^.^

That completes my tutorial for how to draw Iria. I hope this was of some help to you. :)

If this tutorial has helped you in any way, I'd love to see your finished work. If you have

any questions, please

email me

.

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Julie Dillon

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Arigatou gozaimasu!

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How to Draw Iria

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