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meltyrice ➡️ ANYC T24@meltyrice · Nov 17, 2025

also, here's a thread of my favorite head refs 🧵⬇️

19 tweets2 min read♥ 18.8Koriginal

Summary

A comprehensive guide to head reference resources for drawing anime faces, including rotatable 3D head models, character sheets, lighting references, and tips on anime face anatomy like plane shading and foreshortening. The thread emphasizes that drawing is a continuous learning journey and provides links to multiple reference tools and a larger megathread of resources.

Summarized by ThreadOut AI from the full thread. May miss nuance — read the thread below.

  1. #1

    also, here's a thread of my favorite head refs 🧵⬇️

    no context memes@nocontextmemes · Nov 14, 2025
  2. #2
    お絵かき講座パルミー@palmie_oekaki · Aug 26, 2023

    難しいアオリ・フカンを図解しました❗️顎の長さが違います👀✨ palmie.jp/courses/203/lp…

  3. #3
    安野将人(ｱﾝﾉﾏｻﾄ)土曜日東A-25a@atasom · Jul 14, 2024
  4. #4
    安野将人(ｱﾝﾉﾏｻﾄ)土曜日東A-25a@atasom · Jul 13, 2024
  5. #5
    김타쿠@_Kim_Taku_ · Jan 20, 2025

    그림 그리기에 너무 유익해서 공유합니다

  6. #6
    Alfie 🦋🌙@JookpubStock · Jul 17, 2022

    Here are some old references for glasses. 👓 Other angles are in the thread below.

  7. #7

    referenceangle.com - rotate head, get refs of that angle - filter by gender, age, expression

  8. #8

    gamesfashionarchive.net/viewer -for anime face planes ✨ - in browser - includes models from genshin, hsr, nier, persona, xenoblade chronicles 2 -swappable outfits, zoom, rotate, can also isolate oufit pieces

  9. #9

    williamnguyen.artstation.com/projects/6a0Par -in browser rotatable head -face planes -primary and secondary light source

  10. #10

    setteidreams.net/settei/ -official character ref sheets from the animators -includes different angles and expressions of characters

  11. #11

    sketchfab.com -user uploaded, fanmade models -in browser rotatable

  12. #12

    not necessary but it can help you visualize the head more (how the eyes wrap around, the nose and mouth align, where the ears go)

    Tanjeronie☎️@tanjeronie · Feb 1, 2023

    improved my facial perspective tenfold

  13. #13

    anime faces simplify planes a lot, usually the core area to shade/focus is the nose very nice plane shading here:

    ファジョボレ/Fajyobore@fajyobore323 · Mar 31, 2021
  14. #14

    rare angle i don't see often, but it is very intricate and beautiful:

    Yukina@Kimura_731 · Mar 19, 2025
  15. #15

    another instance of the face angle:

    HareV@Hare_Zzv · Feb 20, 2025

    👀 Got you

  16. #16

    in summary, drawing is a journey! I also struggled on this piece and i will continue to struggle and that is okay. I think the frieren they drew is beautiful. You can tell there's attention to detail. They understood there was foreshortening and the face had to stay aligned! Anime drawing is quite difficult, because the style simplifies a lot. The shading tends to stay with the nose and neck, so you some planes stay unshaded. You can also apply a soft gradient to show the dip of the cheeks. Because of this, I use a lot of references, from illustrations to animations to real life photos.

  17. #17

    thank you for going through my thread 🙇‍♂️ i also have a megathread of resources here:

    meltyrice ➡️ ANYC T24@meltyrice · Feb 19, 2024

    I'm a self-taught anime illustrator and streamer. Growing up, I used a lot of online references and resources that helped me improve. To return the favor, I will be making a thread of my favorite resources, tips, and tricks! This will be updated over time. Hopes this helps ❤️

  18. #18
    ✨ Nou 🌱🌷✨@nouconcept · Aug 3, 2025

    quick silly tip! ✨ If you feel that your face looking upwards doesn't look right, try erasing the chin lines and adding a shadow following the direction of the perspective!!

  19. #19
    schmoder@schmod1056 · Nov 19, 2025

    Even though many artists have jumped on the Frieren face angle trend, I haven't seen anyone explain how to actually draw this angle, so I've written a few things to note about it.