Yasuko seems to have a playful side about her and is constantly drawing or painting something for either Satsuki or Mei.
This guide shows you how to draw Yasuko Kusakabe from My Neighbour Totoro; take your time and don’t miss any step while you enjoy your drawing.
Outline Yasuko’s Head
Contents
Begin your drawing by starting from the head.
For this drawing, the head will take up to 45% of the drawing because our main focus will be the upper part of Yasuko’s body, showing only the upper part of her outfit.
Draw an oval shape for the head and add the lines for the facial features (three different horizontally curved lines, which the widest line will be for the eyes, and a medium horizontally curved line for the nose and mouth).
Ensure there are spaces between these horizontally curved lines and add a vertically curved line in the middle of the circle of the head so that it crosses the horizontally curved lines of the facial features; this will help in the alignment of the facial features.
The vertical line extends out of the head to form the neck.
Outline Yasuko’s Shoulder
For the shoulder, draw a slant line from the lower part of the shape you drew for Yasuko’s head so that the left slant line for the left shoulder seems to be closer to the chin of the head than the right slant line you drew for the right shoulder.
Now that you have the head and shoulder outlined, it’s time to start fixing and adding all the necessary parts of the upper part of Yasuko’s body.
Draw Yasuko’s Jaw and Ear
The next step is to draw her jaw and ear.
For the jaw, trace down the lower part of the shape you drew for the head into the natural shape of her jaw so that the left side of the jaw is extended upward with a curved line.
For the ear, as earlier said, only the right ear is more obvious while her hair completely covers the left ear.
For the right ear, draw an oval shape attached to the right side of the shape of a head, and you can add a curved line on the oval shape of the ear, so it also helps to fix the hair on the right ear.
Draw Yasuko’s Eyes, Pupils, and Eyebrows
At this point, we need to add the facial features using the basic lines we drew on the shape of the head.
Let’s begin these features by drawing the eyes, the pupil of the eyes, and as well as the eyebrows.
For the eyes, Yasuko has two eyes which are the right and left eyes, and circles can replicate these eyes; draw a circle on the horizontally curved line you drew for the basis of the eyes and ensure the circle is not too small.
For the pupils of the eyes, draw another small circle inside the circle of the eyes, but this time, the circle should be oval so that the horizontally curved line of the eyes is showing in the middle of the oval shape.
For Yasuko’s eyebrow, draw two separate curved lines at the top of the circle of the eyes so that these curved lines meet and form blunt edges above the eyes.
Draw Yasuko’s Nose and Mouth
Drawing Yasuko’s nose and mouth is one of the easiest parts of the body that can be replicated without any error; don’t force it at this stage, and have enough fun.
For the nose, make two little curved lines on the horizontally curved line you drew for the basis of the nose, and add a vertically curved line at the left side of the nose so that it appears at the side of the circle of the eyes.
So here we go! For Yasuko’s mouth, make a horizontally curved line on the basis you drew for the mouth so that it’s aligned with the horizontally curved line of the mouth; the shape of the mouth is very important and it shows her current facial expression.
You can add another convex curve joining to the ends of the horizontally curved line of the mouth and make a little horizontal line under the mouth (on the chin) which makes the mouth realistic.
Draw Yasuko’s Outfit
We are almost there! The next step here is to draw her outfit.
As said earlier, I will show you how to draw the upper part of her outfit. Let’s divide the outfit into two parts: the inner part and the outer part of the outfit.
Draw the outer part of the outfit so it will be easy for you to fix the inner part, for the outer part; begin by tracing the slant line you drew for the left shoulder and add curved lines for the right shoulder.
Draw two vertically curved lines from the curved part of the right shoulder down and draw another two vertically curved lines from the upper part of the left shoulder down, so it shows the open edge of the outer part of the outfit.
For the inner part, this will be easier for you to draw since the outer part is in place. Draw curved lines from the side of the jaw so that these lines form a “V” shape pattern around the neck extending to the chest part of the body.
Draw a vertically curved line from the curved part of the right shoulder and another curved line from the edge of the “V” shape towards the right direction of the body.
Complete the inner part of the outfit by drawing a curved line from the left shoulder so that it’s pointing downward in the right direction.
Draw Yasuko’s Hair
This is practically the last step in accomplishing the upper part of Yasuko’s body.
This step is typical of drawing her hair; make a curve (which is not a perfect curve but slightly bent) above the oval shape of the head attached to the side of her ears.
Add another curved line to the end of the curve’s left side, forming the lower part of the left ear.
Draw a curved line on the right side of the head so that it is aligned with the shape of the head; add a zigzag line on the curved part of the head joining the line you drew on the right side of the head so that this zigzag line forms her hair on the forehead.
Finish up the hair by drawing a curve from the zigzag line to the extended line of the jaw at the left side of the head and add lines to the right ear showing the pattern of the hair on the right ear.
Now that we already have a sketched image of Yasuko’s upper part, we can proceed to the next step.
Add Details to the Yasuko Drawing
Draw a little horizontally curved line at the sides of the “V” shape so it serves as Yasuko’s neck bone.
The step is to add details to the drawing, which you can start by adding a smaller circle inside the pupil of the eyes to make it more realistic.
Add lines coming together to form a sharp edge like the upper part of a triangle in the shape of the right ear.
Use thick lines for the border of the outline and outfit and erase all excess lines and dots used for the body’s construction, which might not be necessary anymore.
Add Color to the Yasuko Drawing
Finally, add colors to the drawing by using the best and most attractive color that suits Yasuko; use white for the inner outfit while you use blue for the outer outfit. Yasuko’s hair is black.
Shade the pupils of the eyes while minding the smaller circle inside the pupil, and shade the eyebrows too so it makes your drawing look more realistic.
Add shadows, exposures, and warmth (if you like) to the drawing, which makes it look more enhanced.
Conclusion to Yasuko drawing
Drawing Yasuko Kusakabe from My Neighbor Totoro isn’t hard at all. I just made it simple for those who want to learn how to draw this character.
Drawing this character is very easy, and that’s why it is popular among people of all ages; you have to ensure you have all the necessary equipment and drawing materials ready, so nothing slows you down while drawing.
So go ahead and have fun drawing your favorite character!
