How to Draw Mei Kusakabe from My Neighbor Totoro

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Let’s get started with “How to Draw Mei Kusakabe from My Neighbor Totoro”

Mei Kusakabe is an anime character in my neighbor Totoro and is very popular among kids and Mei is a quiet and reserved girl who rarely ever speaks to people.

Today we’ll learn how to draw Mei Kusakabe from My Neighbor Totoro; Mei is shorter than her elder sister Satsuki; she has dark-blue eyes and nice hair.

She uses a hat to cover her hair and a hairband to pack it well. Mei Kusakabe is always wearing a nice smile which makes her beautiful. She carries a bag whose strap’s color matches her shoes.

Do you know drawing is not just about making use of a pencil? It is also the act of giving life to your desired character while using a pencil. So are you ready to have fun while drawing Mei Kusakabe? If yes, let’s take off!

How to Draw Mei Kusakabe Head

Contents

Here’s the truth; you don’t start drawing from the bottom; you start drawing from top to bottom, so you can have fun while drawing. Begin to draw Mei by starting with the head; draw a perfect circle for the head.

Draw a vertically curved line on the circle of the head so that it seems to be at the right side of the circle and extends downward outside the circle of the head. Make a horizontally curved line on the circle so that it crosses the vertically curved line you first drew; this is the basic line of the eyes.

Add a little horizontal line under the basis of the eyes so that it crosses the vertically curved line of the head; this is for the nose.

Finally, for the head, make a little horizontal line under the circle of the head so that it also crosses the vertically curved line of the head that was extended downward.

Outline the Body

Outlining the body shape gives your drawing a good structure, and you can do that by drawing out the basic shapes that make up the body; since you’ve outlined the head, draw the shape of her chest by making a horizontal line under the vertically curved line extended downward from the head and add slant lines to the sides of the horizontal line, join the slant lines together with a horizontal line, so it forms the shape of her chest.

For Mei’s waist, draw an oval shape under the chest so that the circle is resting on the bottom of the chest (the oval shape looks flat and not straight), and with these basic shapes, you can easily fix the body’s parts.

Outline Mei’s Arms and Legs

For Mei’s arm, the right arm is situated beside the body and pointing down, while the left arm is bent towards the circle of the waist. I hope you still remember that the arms are attached to the shoulder.

If yes, draw a slightly slant line from the right shoulder, add a little circle at the end to serve as the elbow joint, and draw another line under the elbow circle; this approach is for the right arm.

For the left arm, draw a diagonal line from the left side of the shoulder, add a circle under the diagonal line so it serves as the left elbow joint, and draw a line from the elbow joint pointing towards the oval shape of the waist.

You can now add the basic shape of the hand at the end of the arms so that the right hand is pointing down and the left hand is resting on the waist.

For Mei’s legs; her two legs are attached to the oval shape of the waist. Draw vertical lines which are not close together under the oval shape of the waist so it serves as the basic lines of the legs and adds the basic shape of the feet to the end of the vertical lines of the legs so that the right foot is pointing to the right direction and the left is pointing forward.

Also, learn

How To Draw Catbus From My Neighbor Totoro

How to Draw Mei Kusakabe Eyes, Nose, & Mouth

Pay your full attention to this step and learn new things here. I will be walking you through the sweetest journey of learning how to draw Mei Kusakabe facial features by adding the eyes first.

Draw a circle for the shape of the eyes and add a concave curve at the top of the circle so that it serves as the upper eyelid of the eyes.

You can also add a horizontal line under the circle of the eyes; this is the lower eyelid. For Mei’s eyebrows, make horizontally curved lines at the upper part of the circle of the eyes in alignment with the direction of the head.

In order to learn how to draw a Mei Kusakabe nose, you’ll have to make two different dots at the top of the little horizontal line you drew for the nose’s basis so that the head’s vertically curved line is in the middle of these nose dots.

For Mei’s mouth; this is the funniest part of the drawing, which you cannot wait to replicate, draw a convex curve that seems to be wide under the horizontal line you drew for the basis of the mouth and join the ends of the convex curve with a horizontal line. Hence, it forms the natural shape of Mei’s mouth.

Now to the funniest part, make a horizontally curved line at the top (inside) of the shape of the mouth and a slant rectangular shape that is aligned to the shape of the mouth at the bottom (inside) of the mouth; this curved line and the slant rectangular are Mei’s teeth and tongue respectively.

How to Draw Mei Kusakabe Jaw & Ears

In continuation of the features of the head, draw her jaw and ears.

In order to learn how to draw Mei Kusakabe jaw, you’ll have to make a convex curve at the lower part of the head so that the bottom of the convex curve seems to be blunt, which forms the shape of the chin and is attached to the end of the vertically curved line of the head.

To draw Mei’s ears, you don’t have to overwork yourself; since the right ear is not visible, quickly draw a curve at the joint left side to join the head and other ends of the jaw. You can add a little curve inside the shape of the ear to make it realistic.

How to Draw Mei Kusakabe Arms and Sleeves

Are you still with me? The fun is about to begin.

Add Mei’s arms and sleeves to the sides of the body; at this point, you might have to draw the sleeves so you can confidently add the arms later.

For Mei’s sleeves (which is for the innerwear), make a curved line from the top of the shoulder pointing towards the direction of the upper arms, and draw a curved line joining the line of the sleeves to the side of the body. You can also double the curved line attached to the sleeves, so it forms the helm of the sleeves towards the body.

In order to learn how to draw Mei Kusakabe left arm, you’ll have to draw a curved line from the helm of the sleeve to the direction of the left hand and make a slant line from the left sleeve’s inner side to the hand’s basic shape, so it forms the left lower arm.

Do the same for the right arm while minding the direction of the right arm; that is not all; there is more!

Now manipulate the ends of these arms to form the shape of Mei’s hands while the hand’s five fingers are attached to the arm so that the left hand is resting on the waist and the right hand is also by the side of the body.

Draw the Collar of the Mei Shirt

Don’t waste too much time on this step. Add the shirt collar by drawing a slant rectangular shape at the left side of the jaw.

Draw a convex curve at the edge of the rectangular shape which the other end of the curve is attached to the chin of the jaw so that the slant rectangular shape forms a sharp edge and the convex curve forms a blunt edge.

Draw Mei’s Outfit

So, take the next step by drawing her outfit, which is the gown she wore on the inner shirt.

Draw the sleeveless arm of the outfit by joining the collar of the shirt to the end of the sleeve you drew for the shirt, and draw a curved line from the joint of these lines of the shirt to the helm of the sleeve of the shirt.

Draw a bent line that looks like the letter “L” from the convex curve of the collar and draw the reverse that looks like the letter “J” from the rectangular shape of the collar so that they form the design on the outfit (gown).

For the lower part of the gown, draw a slant line from the right hand and a diagonal line from the curved part of the left lower arm; join these lines together with a horizontally curved line passing under the oval shape, and that’s it!

Draw Mei’s Legs and Shoes

Mei’s gown covers part of her upper legs (thigh), so you must keep that in mind before drawing the legs; draw vertical lines that seem to curve slightly at the sides of the straight lines you drew for the basics of the legs while minding the ankles of the legs.

For Mei’s shoes, the shoes are attached to the feet; therefore, draw a concave curve under the ankle, so it serves as the top of the shoe and adds to the body of the shoes so that the left shoe is facing forward. The right shoe is facing the right side in alignment with the feet’s direction.

Draw Mei’s Hat and Hair

We are almost there! Draw her hat and add the obvious part of her hair, so it makes your drawing nice.

For her hat, make a wide curve around the head so that it’s attached to the right side of the head, and make a flat, concave curve at the top of the wide curve of the hat; that is all for the hat, you have to draw the hair to complete this step.

In order to learn how to draw Mei Kusakabe hair, you’ll have to make a horizontally curved line crossing the top (inside) of the head and make sharp edges with curved lines under the horizontally curved line so that the edges are pointing down towards the eyebrows; that is, the hair on her forehead.

Use a zigzag line to make a circle at the left end of the wide curve, which is for her hair behind the hat, and use a zigzag line to draw the hair at the right side of the face.

At this stage, draw a curved line from the hair behind the hat to the left side of the jaw to make her hat more realistic.

Draw Mei Bag Strap

Hey! You made it to this point; this is technically the last step for this drawing.

Draw her bag strap in which the handle crosses the chest, and the body of the bag is slightly seen on the right side of the body.

Draw the strap by making a slant line from the rectangular shape of the collar to the right side of the body, and draw another diagonal line from the left shoulder to the right side of the body in the same direction as the first line.

Ensure there is space between these slant lines for better results.

For the body of the bag, make a curved line from the wrist of the right hand to the right side of the gown and add the bag’s design to make it perfect.

Add Details to the Mei Kusakabe Drawing

Are you ready for the fun? It is time to add details to the drawing.

Add two little circles joining the ends of the hair behind the hat together; this is her hairband; trace all the outlines and outfits with a thick pencil so that your drawing can come out well and easily focus on the important parts of the drawing.

Draw a little circle inside the oval shape you drew for the eyes and shade the oval shape while minding the little circle; this is the pupil of the eyes.

Add a little circle under the collar of her shirt; this is the shirt’s button. Erase all excess lines and dots on the drawing, and you will appreciate your dedication.

Add Colors to the Mei Kusakabe Drawing

To color any drawing, you must learn how to blend colors for a better outcome of your drawing. Color is what enhances the drawing and makes it more attractive.

And if you don’t know about color combination, I will show you how to balance this; you can use brown color for the hair and maybe a lighter shade of brown color for her hat, and color the circles of the hairband red.

Make the shirt (inner wear) white and the gown pink in color.

I know you are having fun doing this; use a nice dull color for the bag, and you can use the same color as the bag for her shoe, so it matches her outfits. Don’t forget to color the tongue; of course, the teeth remain white.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have finished learning how to draw Mei Kusakabe from My Neighbor Totoro, and I hope you are satisfied with your drawing.

I know you have very limited time to complete this drawing, but by following the guidelines above, you will be able to draw it perfectly.

This is a good drawing for an amateur artist because it has few details, which will help you develop your skill and teach you new approaches to your next drawing. Enjoy!