This tutorial will show you how to draw three types of skirts in two variations, normal and blowing. Each example includes a step-by-step drawing breakdown.
Skirts are an extremely common clothing item in manga and anime, especially because they are part of school uniforms. This tutorial shows you how to take the basic shape and transform it into various styles.
Drawing on paper? Make sure you start with a tutorial in pencil. You will need to make light lines, as you may have to erase portions of your drawing during some steps.
After you are done, darken the drawing by adding darker lines to your tracing.
Step-by-step instructions on how to draw a basic skirt
This tutorial will show you how to draw the basic shape of a skirt. It will also be useful for the next two variations.
Step 1: Draw the basic outline of the body
It’s a good idea to sketch the area of the body where the skirt will be worn before you begin to draw it. This will serve as a mannequin and can be used to help you avoid making errors such as drawing a skirt too big for a particular body.
Here are some examples of common mistakes in drawing and their fixes:
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Step 2: Draw the Skirt’s Front
Add the skirt outline to the top of your lower body.
There are many types of skirts, but we’ll stick to a short one with a common shape (a narrower top and wider bottom).
Step 3: Draw the upper/back of the skirt
The belt should be placed at the top of your main skirt shape.
Step 4 – Complete the Drawing
Once you are done, remove the portion of your body that is hidden behind the skirt.
Step-by-step instructions on how to draw a basic skirt blowing in the wind
This is the example of the skirt that was previously blowing in the wind.
It is important to note that a skirt that is narrow will not usually wave as much in this example. To better display the wind effect, it will be slightly stretched.
Step 1: Draw the basic outline of the body
Start by drawing the outline of the lower body.
Step 2: Draw the “Front” of the Skirt
The skirt should be slightly curved at the waist to make it one-half inch wider. This will be the “foreground” section of your skirt.
Then, add the belt area to the top as in the previous example.
Step 3: Draw the “Back” of the Skirt
This will allow the skirt to be pulled higher so that it reveals its inner side. If the skirt is further away from the viewer, you can consider this the background.
The main difference is that the foreground will be over the legs, while the background will be behind them.
Draw the entire line that defines your skirt, including the hidden parts behind the legs. You may end up drawing only the visible parts of the skirt.
Step 4 – Clean up and finish the drawing
Finish the drawing by erasing the leg parts that are hidden behind the skirt’s foreground and erasing the skirt’s background.
The background/inner area may be slightly shaded. You will notice that this area is usually darker. Adding just a touch of shading, such as the one in this example, can help your drawing stand out more.
Step-by-step instructions on how to draw a skirt with folds
The proportions of this example will be the same as the previous, but it will have some folds.
Step 1: Draw the outline shape of the skirt
Start by drawing the basic skirt of the previous example on top of a simple drawing for the lower body.
Step 2 – Draw your fold lines
Overlap the outline drawing with the folds lines. The shape of the skirt is similar to this: make them wider towards the bottom, and narrower towards the top.
The skirt wraps around your body so the sides will appear narrower when viewed from a more angle.
Step 3 – Draw the bottoms of the folds
As a guideline for the overall flow of the folds, draw the curves in each one using the curved line at bottom of the skirt.
Step 4 – Clean up and finish the drawing
To complete the drawing, erase any parts of your body that are hidden behind the skirt.
Step-by-step instructions on how to draw a skirt with folds blowing in the wind
It can be difficult to draw a skirt that blows in the wind, but you can still use the drawing of the basic skirt without folds.
Step 1: Draw the outline shape of the skirt
Start by adding the skirt from the second example to the drawing of your legs.
Step 2 – Draw your fold lines
To match the shapes of each side, draw fold lines in the foreground section.
Important to remember is that each fold’s base (near the belt) should originate from the same place as in the previous example. This is true even if the wind is not blowing in your direction. These can be thought of as a pinned string you pull in a different direction. The pinned portion should remain in the same spot.
You can add some folds to the background section once you have done this. These are not visible so you can simply guess their location.
Step 3 – Draw the bottoms of the folds
Add the individual curves they create between the fold lines in the previous example. To guide their flow, you can use the line drawing from earlier. Once you are done, draw the bottom curves and then erase them. How to Draw Male Anime Face in 3/4 View Step by Step
Step 4 – Clean up and finish the drawing
To finish the drawing, erase the portions of the body that are covered by the skirt.
You can add basic shading to the inner portion of the skirt.
Step-by-step instructions on how to draw a school uniform skirt
This is the last example of the school uniform skirt, which is so beloved in manga and anime.
Step 1: Draw the outline shape of the skirt
Begin again by drawing the skirt outline from the first example, Overlanding the drawing of your lower body.
Step 2 – Draw your fold lines
These are the lines that make this skirt unique. To show how the skirt curves around your body, reduce the distance between folds as they move towards the sides.
Step 3 – Draw the bottoms of the folds
As in the above example, draw the saw-like “teeth”, using the original drawing as a guide.
Remember that the skirt’s folds are designed like a swirl and will point towards the viewer on the one side, then gradually turn away as they move towards the opposite side.
Step 4 – Clean up and finish the drawing
To show the edges of your body, remove the skirt from the part that is not visible.
Step-by-step instructions on how to draw a school uniform skirt Blowing in Wind
The school skirt blowing in wind is the final example of the tutorial.
Step 1: Draw the outline shape of the skirt
Begin again by drawing the basic skirt starting from the second example and then adding the lower body.
Step 2 – Draw your fold lines
Make the skirt folds as in the previous example, but add a twist to some to show how the wind is bending the skirt.
Remember that the base of each fold (near your belt) should be exactly the same as the non-blowing part of the wind skirt.
Step 3 – Draw the bottoms of the folds
As a guide, use the lines that define the bottom of the skirt from the basic drawing to help you add the slightly pointed bottoms to each fold.
Once you have completed the process, erase all guidelines.
Step 4 – Clean up and finish the drawing
Finish the drawing by erasing the parts hidden behind the skirt. Add liens to highlight the edges of the folds. Because the skirt’s shape is slightly different from the previous one, it will be more visible.
Once the skirt is complete, you can add light shading to its underside.
Conclusion
Skirts with many folds can be difficult to draw. It is a good idea, to begin with, the simplified shape of the skit and then add smaller details.
See: for more information on how to draw manga and anime clothes
- How To Draw Manga Clothes
- In 6 Easy Steps Draw an Anime Girl