There is no one, right way to go about drawing Japanese-style characters, but here are some steps you might want to try for a start:
1. The Shape One way to start is with a realistically proportioned head. Just a simple, egg shaped oval divided vertically with a line so everything ends up symmet 14514w2211o rical. A line to mark the eyes should be half way up, no higher. The line for the nose half way between the eyes and the chin; then one for the mouth about half way between the nose and then chin.
2. Exaggerate The trick to this style is exaggeration. Now that you have the start of a normal head, there are a couple major changes. First, exaggerate the shape of the head by sharpening the chin so the jaw tapers down abruptly from the eye level. Then the eyes: unlike a normal face where the eye line marks the middle of the eyes, the eyes are stretched down to a little above the nose. An easy way to block in eyes is with lines for the upper and lower lashes, and a rectangle for the iris.
3. Add Details Start cleaning everything up and adding the details. Simplicity is part of the trick: a small mark for a hint of a nose, keep the mouth small, with a little shadow to suggest the lower lip. Give the lashes some flare and a downward turn and the end. The Pupil should be elongated and black, the iris somewhat shaded, and there should be a highlight (on the same side of both eyes). Add simple lines for the eyebrows, and you can block in the hair.
4. Clean Up Clean up any stray lines, and add the neck (keep it thin). The bottoms of the ears should be about level with the nose. The hair should be very exaggerated--think big: if there is a part that curls up, it should curl WAY up. Don't draw individual hairs, think of hair as volumes that can be defined.
The hardest part about drawing bodies is getting the proportions right. If you use the height of the head as a unit of measurement, the average human is about seven heads tall. The bottom of the torso is general about half way up. Women usually have longer legs and smaller torsos than men (if you compare a man a women with the same length legs the guy will probably be taller). I'm sure I don't need to tell you that longer legs look more feminine.
As with faces, the Japanese animation style body is just an exaggeration of a regular person. The amount you want to exaggerate your figures is up to you and the style you like. Vertically, the main changes are a shorter torso and longer legs. Other than that, you just have to take the features of an idealized woman and make them even more ideal: long and thin arm and legs (some folks like their legs very long, but it isn't necessary), small body and slim waist (yeah, yeah, and a big chest--but that isn't necessary either), usually the hips are pretty slim, and a long thin neck. Make sure to keep the head fairly large--the human head doesn't change in size over a life time as dramatically as the rest of the body (I'm sure you've noticed little kids have big heads), so the smaller you make the body in proportion to the head, the more "little girl" like your character will be.
1. Block it out There are many ways to block out your figure, but I recommend the bubble method (it's the one I use, and I think it's the easiest and most effective). Just scribble in some ovals like the ones in the diagram to rough out the form, keeping it as lose and light as possible. Make sure you get the proportions like you want them before you move on--it's more than a little frustrating to spent a load of time on the details and then realize that those perfect arms you just finished are way too short. If your not sure about something you can use the proportional diagram to check. If you're worried about getting it right you can start by drawing the head a good size (I did these drawings with a 1 inch head unit) and marking where the arms should reach and where the knees should be and all that. You might also want to draw a line right down the middle so its easy to make sure both sides are symmetrical.
2. Contours You might want to do all the details on the head before you move on; getting the face in proportion to the body can be hard and its easier to modify the roughed in body to match a finished face than to try and correct things latter on. Once you have the figure all roughed in you just need to draw the nice smooth contours of a person over the bubbles.
3. Clean up Clean up all the stray marks and you're about finished. You don't need to do too much in the way of details--the belly button is even with the point where the waits stops tapering in and the hips start curving out. Breasts can be just simple partial circles, most defined on the lower outside edges. Don't worry to much about hands or feet--they can take a lot of work, but a lose suggestion will usually be good enough.
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