Anime coloring usually uses flat areas of color with hard-edged shadow shapes and a few small highlights, instead of smooth gradients. This guide explains that look, then walks through skin, hair, eyes, and clothing on printable pages, with tips for colored pencils and markers. It works for any anime page, including characters from series such as Naruto, Demon Slayer, and My Hero Academia.
The ideas come from published tutorials by Clip Studio artists, a definition of animation cels, and the coloring guides used in the coloring tips article. The Clip Studio tutorials are written for digital tools, and the steps here adapt them to pencils and markers. Where a point is marked editorial, it reflects the site’s own judgment and not a source. The sources were last checked in October 2026.
What Makes Anime Coloring Different
Classic animation was made on cels, which are transparent sheets painted by hand and laid over a still background. Traditional anime was produced on cels, and the flat color look carries over from that process: each area is one color, and shadows are simple shapes. Clip Studio’s anime coloring tutorial describes cel shading as simple shading without blending.
In practice, a colored anime page has three kinds of areas:
| Area | What it is |
|---|---|
| Base color | The flat main color of skin, hair, or clothing |
| Shadow | A darker shape with a clear edge, placed where the form turns away from the light |
| Highlight | A small bright spot, often the white of the paper or a white pen mark |
This three-part split is an editorial way to organize the work. The tutorials follow the same order: base color first, then shading shapes, then highlights on a separate pass.
Pick a Light Direction First
Clip Studio’s tutorial by animator Nicca uses the sketch to work out light direction and shadow placement before any color goes down. On a printed page, do the same in pencil. Decide which side the light comes from, and mark it with a small arrow in the margin. All shadows then fall on the opposite side, which keeps the page consistent.
Color Plan for Each Area
| Area | Base | Shadow | Highlight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skin | A warm, light tone | Darker, with the hue shifted slightly toward red or pink | Small spots on the tip of the nose and on the lips |
| Hair | The character’s hair color from the official art | A darker shade in the gaps between hair chunks and under the bangs | A curved stripe of white paper or white pen near the top |
| Eyes | The iris color | A darker band across the top of the iris | One or two small white spots |
| Clothing | The outfit color | Under folds and on the side away from the light | A small shine on glossy parts such as buttons or belts |
The skin row follows a Clip Studio skin tutorial by the artist KashafDefault. It picks a shadow by moving the base color toward red and darker, uses a deeper purplish pink for the darkest zones, adds a peachy pink blush, and places small highlights on the nose tip and lips. The other rows are editorial suggestions for pencils and markers.
Character colors: use the page’s own art or the series as the reference for hair and eye colors, since designs can differ between the manga, the anime, and merchandise.
Step by Step
- Choose your reference. Find the character in the official art or the anime and note the main colors.
- Fill the base colors. Color each area in one flat tone with light, even strokes, and leave a gap where you plan highlights.
- Add shadow shapes. Use a second, darker color and draw the shadow as a shape with a clear edge on the side away from the light. With pencils, keep the pressure light and build the shadow in two layers. With markers, add the shadow as a second pass that stays inside the shape.
- Add the blush. For skin, place a small soft blush of peachy pink on the cheeks, as the skin tutorial does.
- Add highlights. Leave white paper in the planned spots, or add them at the end with a white gel pen or paint pen.
- Check the edges. Redraw any lines that were colored over, and correct stray color with a clean light layer.
Tools
These notes are based on the guides in the sources, plus editorial suggestions.
- Colored pencils give control for small shadow shapes, and layering with light pressure builds color without crowding the paper (Mont Marte, Clark).
- Markers fill large flat areas fast, which suits the base colors. They can bleed through thin paper, so place a spare sheet under the page (Clark).
- White gel or paint pens add the final highlights. Clark prefers fine point acrylic paint pens because they skip less than gel pens.
For more on layering, blending, and workspace tips, see the coloring tips guide.
Mistakes to Avoid
These points are editorial.
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Shadows blended into smooth gradients | Keep the shadow edge clear and avoid blending it into the base |
| Shadows on random sides | Pick one light direction and keep every shadow opposite to it |
| Highlights colored over | Leave white paper in the planned spots, or restore them with a white pen |
| Too many colors on one character | Use the reference colors and add one shadow shade per area |
| Hair as a single flat color | Add a darker shade between hair chunks and under the bangs |
Pages to Practice On
Start with pages that have large, clear areas. Browse Anime Coloring Pages, or choose a series such as Naruto, Demon Slayer, or My Hero Academia. To print a page at the right size on Letter or A4 paper, follow the printing guide. Some series are made for teen or mature audiences, so check the rating of a show before choosing its pages for a young child.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I color anime characters?
Pick a light direction, fill each area with a flat base color, add shadow as a darker shape with a clear edge on the side away from the light, then finish with small highlights. Avoid smooth gradients.
What is anime shading called?
It is usually called cel shading. The name comes from cels, the hand-painted transparent sheets of traditional animation, and Clip Studio’s tutorial describes it as simple shading without blending.
How do I shade like anime?
Draw shadows as simple shapes with a clear edge instead of blending. For skin, shift the shadow color slightly toward red or pink, and keep the highlights small, on spots such as the tip of the nose and the lips.
What colors should I use for anime skin shadows?
A darker shade of the base color shifted toward red, with a deeper purplish pink for the darkest zones, as one Clip Studio skin tutorial describes. Test the colors on scrap paper first.
What should I use to color anime pages, pencils or markers?
Markers fill flat base colors quickly, and colored pencils give more control for shadow shapes and detail. Many people use markers for the base and pencils or a white pen for the shadows and highlights. Markers can bleed through thin paper.
Sources
- Wikipedia, “Cel”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cel
- Nicca, “Simple Anime-style Coloring Techniques,” Clip Studio: https://www.clipstudio.net/how-to-draw/archives/162911
- KashafDefault, “Anime skin shading tutorial,” Clip Studio TIPS: https://tips.clip-studio.com/en-us/articles/4413
- Sarah Renae Clark, “Easy Coloring Tips” (March 10, 2022, updated February 5, 2024): https://sarahrenaeclark.com/easy-coloring-tips/
- Mont Marte, “Coloured pencil techniques” (June 5, 2022): https://montmarte.com/blogs/tips-techniques/coloured-pencil-techniques
