There is a specific feeling you get when you watch a Studio Ghibli movie.
The magical bathhouse in Spirited Away and the rainy bus stop in My Neighbor Totoro, the art feels like a warm hug. It is nostalgic, peaceful, and incredibly beautiful.
As artists, we often look at these movies and think, “I want to draw like that!” But when we try, it doesn’t quite look right. It looks too much like generic anime, or it looks too stiff.
That is because the Ghibli art style isn’t just “cartoons.” It is a very specific blend of realism, simplicity, and masterful observation of nature.
In this guide, we aren’t just going to admire the movies. We are going to break down the specific Ghibli art style characteristics and the Miyazaki drawing style so you can actually use them in your own sketchbook.
Grab your pencil (and maybe a snack, because we are going to talk about Ghibli food later), and let’s get into it!
Table Of Contents
The 3 Pillars of the Miyazaki Drawing Style
Before we start drawing eyes or hair, we need to understand the philosophy behind the art.
Hayao Miyazaki didn’t just want to make “cool cartoons.” He wanted to capture life.
1. Realism Over Exaggeration
If you look at many modern anime art styles, you will see huge eyes that take up half the face, tiny pointed noses, and gravity-defying hair.
The Miyazaki drawing style is different. It is grounded in “Semi-Realism.”
- The characters have proportions that are much closer to real humans.
- Children look like actual children (with chubby cheeks and slightly larger heads), not just shrunken adults.
- The movements follow real physics. If a character picks up a bucket of water, you can feel how heavy it is by the way their posture changes.
2. The “Line of Action”
Ghibli characters are never stiff. Even when they are standing still, they feel alive. This is because Miyazaki uses a very strong “Line of Action.”
This creates a sense of weight and flow. When a character runs, they lean forward. When they are tired, they slump.
- Action Step: To practice this, don’t just draw the outline of the character. Start with gesture drawing. Draw a single swooping line to capture the energy of the pose before you add the details.
3. Simplicity vs. Complexity
Here is the genius of the Ghibli drawing style: The characters are simple, but the world is complex.
- The Characters: Painted with flat colors (Cel Shading) and clean lines. This makes them easy to animate and easy for the audience to focus on.
- The Backgrounds: Painted with rich, textured watercolors and thousands of details.
This contrast helps the characters “pop” off the screen. It separates the actor from the stage.
Key Ghibli Art Style Characteristics (Face & Body)
Now, let’s get technical! How do you actually draw a face that looks like it belongs in Kiki’s Delivery Service?
The Eyes: Windows to the Soul
In many anime styles, eyes are vertical ovals. In the Ghibli style, eyes are usually:
- Almond-shaped or rounder buttons.
- The Pupil: Black and distinct, often not touching the outline of the eye.
- The Highlight: Usually just one simple white dot. They don’t have the “galaxy” of reflections you see in other styles.
- The Lines: The upper eyelash line is thicker, but not excessively spiky.
When the character is surprised, the eyes might shrink to tiny dots. When they cry, the tears are big, heavy droplets (often called “globules”) that roll down the face realistically.
- Read more: If you struggle with placement, check out our guide on how to draw eyes from the side view.
The Nose & Mouth: Expressiveness is Key
Miyazaki noses are notoriously simple.
- Front View: Often just a tiny shadow or a small “^” shape.
- Side View: A slightly upturned, natural slope. It isn’t a sharp needle point!
The mouth is where the emotion happens. When a Ghibli character laughs or shouts, the mouth opens wide. It takes up a huge portion of the face. You can see the teeth (usually just a block of white, not individual teeth) and the tongue. It feels raw and energetic.
The Hair: Volume and Gravity
Ghibli hair is famous for how it moves. It isn’t a helmet of spikes.
- Volume: The hair sits on top of the head, creating a distinct shape. It feels thick and fluffy.
- Movement: This is the most important part. If the character turns their head, the hair follows a split second later (follow-through).
- Texture: Use simple shapes for the main masses of hair, but add a few “strays” or flyaway hairs to make it look natural.
- Need help? See our tutorial on how to draw hair for the basics of hair flow.
The Colors: The Palette of Nature
The Studio Ghibli art style uses a very specific color palette. You rarely see neon pinks or electric greens (unless it’s a spirit or magic).
Instead, the colors are:
- Saturated but Earthy: Grassy greens, deep sky blues, terracotta reds, and warm wood browns.
- Harmony: The colors always fit the lighting of the scene. If it’s sunset, everything has a warm orange tint.
The Secret Sauce: “The Wind” and “Ma”
If you draw a Ghibli character perfectly but they still look “wrong,” it might be because they are too static.
There is a Japanese concept called “Ma” (negative space or “the pause”). Miyazaki is a master of quiet moments. But even in these quiet moments, there is movement.
The Wind
Wind is practically a main character in Ghibli movies. It rushes through the grass, it puffs up shirts, and it messes up hair.
- How to draw it: When sketching your character, don’t draw their clothes hanging straight down. Draw the hem of the shirt blowing slightly to the left. Draw the bangs lifting up.
- The Effect: This instantly makes the drawing feel like it is part of a living, breathing world.
The Water and Tears
Fluids in Ghibli films have “weight.” They aren’t just blue colors; they are heavy. When a character cries, the tears look thick. When they step in a puddle, the water splashes heavily.
- Action Step: When shading liquids, use high-contrast white highlights to make them look wet and heavy.
How to Color Like Ghibli (Digital Painting Tips)
If you are a digital artist using Procreate or Clip Studio Paint, here is how you can replicate the Ghibli style coloring process.
1. The Characters (Cel Shading)
The characters are almost always “Cel Shaded.” This means the shadows have hard edges, not soft gradients.
- Base Color: Fill the character with a solid flat color.
- Shadow Color: Pick a slightly darker, cooler version of the base color.
- Placement: Draw the shadow shapes with a hard brush. Focus on the shadows under the chin, the hair casting a shadow on the face, and the folds of the clothes.
- No Soft Airbrushing: Avoid using the airbrush tool on the characters! It makes them look “muddy” and breaks the style.
2. The Backgrounds (Painterly Style)
The backgrounds are the opposite. They look like traditional oil or poster paint.
- Texture: Use brushes that have a bit of canvas texture or noise.
- Detail: Paint the grass blades, the clouds, and the wood grain.
- Softness: Unlike the characters, the backgrounds do have soft blending to show distance and atmosphere.
Combining these two (Hard-edged Characters + Soft Painterly Backgrounds) is the key visual signature of Studio Ghibli.
- Learn more: Check out our guide on how to shade in Procreate to master hard vs. soft edges.
Image Recommendation: A “Process” image showing a flat-colored character placed on top of a painted background to demonstrate the contrast between Cel Shading and Painterly styles.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the Studio Ghibli art style called?
Technically, Studio Ghibli’s art style it falls under the umbrella of “Japanese Anime.” However, art historians often refer to it specifically as the “Hayao Miyazaki Style” or the “Toei Doga Style” (referencing the older animation studio where Miyazaki started). It is characterized by its high-frame-rate movement, semi-realistic proportions, and painterly backgrounds (influenced heavily by artist Kazuo Oga).
2. Is the Ghibli style hard to learn?
It is easy to start but hard to master. Because the characters are simple, any mistake in anatomy shows up immediately! You can’t hide a bad arm drawing behind a million sparkles or crazy armor. It requires strong fundamentals in anatomy drawing and perspective.
3. What brushes should I use for Ghibli art?
For the characters, use a G-Pen or a standard Inking Pen with a hard edge. For the backgrounds, look for “Gouache” or “Poster Paint” brushes. In Procreate, the default “Gouache” brush in the Painting folder is actually a great starting point!
4. Why does the food look so good in Ghibli movies?
The food looks delicious because of Color and Texture. Miyazaki uses warm, saturated colors (reds, oranges, browns) that trigger our appetite. He also animates the food with “soft physics” – cheese stretches, eggs jiggle, and steam rises. To draw food like Ghibli, focus on the “shininess” (highlights) to make it look hot and fresh.
5. Can I mix the Ghibli style with other styles?
Absolutely! This is how you find your own art style. You might love the Ghibli eyes but prefer the spiky hair of Dragon Ball Z. Or you might like the Ghibli backgrounds but want to draw Disney style characters on top. Experimenting is the best way to grow.
6. Did Miyazaki draw everything himself?
For many of his early films, Miyazaki drew the majority of the “Key Frames” (the most important drawings in a scene) himself! However, he had a massive team of talented artists (like the legendary background artist Kazuo Oga) who helped define the look of the studio. It was a team effort, led by his very specific vision.
Conclusion
The Studio Ghibli art style is more than just a way of drawing lines. It is a way of looking at the world. It is about noticing the way the wind moves the grass, the way light hits a cloud, and the way a child runs when they are excited.
You don’t need to copy Miyazaki exactly to capture this magic.
Take the elements that speak to you: maybe it’s the simple, soulful eyes, or the natural color palettes, and mix them into your own art.
Your Homework:
Put on your favorite Ghibli movie (I recommend Kiki’s Delivery Service for beginners), pause it on a random scene, and try to do a quick sketch of the character.
Don’t worry about being perfect; just try to capture the “Line of Action.”
Now, go create something magical!
(If you want to dive deeper into the basics of art, check out our guide on the Elements of Art next!)
And for a step-by-step guide, check out my Complete Figure Drawing Course (on sale right now!)
Patricia Caldeira is the main writer here at Don Corgi. She's an art teacher with over 20.000 happy students across many platforms and courses!
Enjoy your stay and as always:
Keep on drawing!
Patricia’s courses have enrolled 22 000+ students around the world, in platforms such as Udemy, Skillshare, Gumroad and more.
