Different ways to draw anime womens’ noses

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The nose is the centre of the face, and despite often being heavily simplified in anime, it’s still a very important part of the face. The nose sticks out from the face, meaning there’s lots of ways we can represent it – using either the parts of the nose, or the shadows made by the parts of the nose that stick out most. The way the nose is drawn can also really impact how we see a character, so let’s talk about some of these different nose types and their implications today!

For more info on drawing noses, remember to check out our article on how to use real life anatomy to draw anime noses.

Just shading

Here we shade just the area that’s thrown into shadow at the underside of the nose. With no definition for the bridge of the nose, it leaves the face quite clear and clean, and can make the character look younger. This kind of nose is often used on young children up to about middle school age.

Just the bridge

Here we have drawn just the shadow from the bridge of the nose. It’s a simple, but effective way to draw a nose. It can make the whole face look a bit sharper, so this kind of nose is often used on responsible, grown-up characters.

Bridge and nostrils

Here we have the shading from the bridge of the nose, along with the nostrils. This is one of the most “complete” ways to draw an anime nose, and this strong nose makes the character look grown-up and sophisticated.

Nostrils only

Drawing in just the nostrils will give the character a determined expression. Bringing the nose up further away from the mouth can give the nose a bit of an upturned appearance, which can give the character an extra bit of personality and make them look quite haughty.

The “dot”

The “dot” style nose is actually a very short line, and can represent either just the tip of the nose, or the line from the bridge of the nose to the tip of the nose. It’s very small, and makes for a cute, younger looking character.

“No nose”

Many artists will choose to leave the nose out altogether. This leaves the face clean and simple-looking, and makes it harder to place the character’s age.

Hope you enjoyed this rundown of all different nose types in anime, and learnt something about how each nose can change the atmosphere of a character too. Be sure to try some of these out in your work!

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