The easiest way to draw a character from behind is to take everything your front view has already decided and translate it into what it becomes on the back. The hair parting becomes the position of the whorl and the flow of hair over the back of the head; shoulder width becomes the slope from neck to shoulder and the spacing of the shoulder blades; the way the outfit closes at the front, and its collar, become the back center line and the back of the collar. Draw it in five stages: block-in, head, shoulders and back, clothing, hair.
If you have only ever drawn your own character from the front, you can also build a 3D model from that one front-view drawing and rotate it to get a feel for the back before you draw. Keep in mind that the back of such a model is filled in by AI, because the drawing never showed it, so treat it as a reference to check against, not the right answer.
Note: Figmee currently provides figurine-style images made from your drawings, 3D model data (GLB / 3MF) and turntable videos of the model. Ordering physical 3D prints is Coming Soon. Photographs and images that look like photographs are not supported as input.
What should you decide first when drawing a back view?
Decide first what each part of the front view turns into when seen from behind. A back view shows neither the face nor the front of the outfit, so the character has to read through the hair on the back of the head, the neck and shoulders, and the back of the clothes. Write the correspondences down before you start drawing lines and you will not stall halfway.
| Settled in the front view | What to decide for the back view | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Bangs and where the hair parts | Where the whorl sits, and how hair flows over the back of the head | Place the whorl where it agrees with the parting, and let the flow fall from there |
| Head size and chin position | The bulge of the back of the head and the base of the neck | Seen from the side, the back of the skull sticks out behind the neck, so do not draw the head too small |
| Shoulder width and neck thickness | The slope from neck to shoulder, and where the shoulder blades sit and how far apart they are | Neck and shoulders join in a gentle slope |
| How the outfit closes at the front, buttons, collar | The back center line, the back of the collar, the back of the hem or belt | Front details disappear from behind; collars wrap around to the back |
| One-sided accessories (hair clip, single shoulder guard) | Which side they appear on from behind | Left and right swap when seen from behind |
The idea of lining up front, side and back views is covered in detail in our guide to drawing a character turnaround sheet. This guide focuses on drawing a single back view.
In what order should you draw a back view?
Draw in this order: block-in, head, shoulders and back, clothing, hair. Hair goes last because it falls over the clothes and shoulders, so settle the body underneath it first. Each stage takes roughly 5–15 minutes.
Step 1: Block in the figure (about 5–10 minutes)
Using the same head-to-body proportions as your front view, place the head, neck, torso and hips, and draw one vertical center line down the middle of the back. If you have a front-facing standing pose drawn without perspective, flipping it horizontally and using it as an underdrawing gives you matching outline widths.
Step 2: Draw the head and the back of the skull (about 5 minutes)
Add the bulge of the back of the head and the base of the neck to the head circle. Settling the skull before the hair stops the hair volume from making the head look too big or too flat.
Step 3: Draw the shoulders and back (about 10–15 minutes)
Run a gentle slope from the base of the neck out to the shoulders and mark where the shoulder blades sit. Make the back center line a soft curve following the spine.
Step 4: Draw the back of the clothing (about 10–15 minutes)
Draw the back of the collar, any seam or zip running down the back center line, and the back of the hem or belt. Anything the front view cannot tell you, such as a bow tied at the back, gets decided here and added to your character notes.
Step 5: Draw the hair (about 10–15 minutes)
Fix the position of the whorl, let the flow fall from there over the curve of the back of the head, and split it into locks. Long hair falls along the shoulders and back.
How do you draw the back of the head and the hair?
For the back of the head, decide the flow spreading out from the whorl first, then draw the locks. The whorl is the spot where the hair on the head swirls; it is found mainly on the top of the head, and it can turn either to the right or to the left (Wikipedia (Japanese), "旋毛"). Place it where it agrees with the parting of the bangs, and let the hair fall from there over the round of the skull.
The hair tutorial on Art Rocket, Clip Studio Paint's official tutorial site, makes the same point: each strand of hair comes from a specific point, so mark a reference point or line such as the parting first, and make the locks wrap around the head following the curves of its surface. It also notes that the back of the head has several layers of hair that fall subtly around the neck (Art Rocket, "How to Draw Hair: 3 Tips for Beginners").
Three things to watch:
- Draw the skull first: add hair volume outside the round of the head. If you draw only the outline of the hair without the skull underneath, the back of the head tends to look flat.
- Match the height of tied hair to the front view: a ponytail or bun sits at the height you can see in the front view. From behind you see the tie itself and the hair gathering toward it.
- Long hair splits at the shoulders: hair worn down over the back divides in front of and behind the shoulders, or falls along the curve of the back. Keep gravity pulling it downward.
How do you shape the neck, shoulders and back?
Join the base of the neck to the shoulders with a gentle slope. That slope is the trapezius, a large trapezium-shaped surface muscle of the back. It runs from the back of the skull down the spine to the lower thoracic vertebrae, and attaches to the outer third of the collarbone, the tip of the shoulder (acromion) and the spine of the shoulder blade (Wikipedia, "Trapezius"). When a back view makes the neck look thin and long, this slope is usually what is missing.
On either side of the back sit the triangular shoulder blades. Art Rocket's anatomy tutorial explains that they help move the arms and that the shape of the back changes with their movement, and that the spine is not a straight line but a curve (Art Rocket, "Learn Anatomy to Improve Drawing the Human Body").
- Standing poses: through clothing, a light shadow or a few folds are enough to suggest the shoulder blades.
- Arms raised or reaching forward: the shoulder blades move, so the shape of the back and the direction of the folds change too.
- Strongly stylized characters: skip the muscles and show only the slope from neck to shoulder and the width of the back, so it matches the style.
Which parts of the back of the outfit should you draw?
Settle three places: the back of the collar, the back center line, and the back of the hem or belt. Front details and buttons are not visible from behind, so do not try to show them; let the collar wrapping around and the flow of the fabric show that it is the same outfit as the front.
- Back of the collar: a shirt collar wraps around the back of the neck, and some collars, such as a sailor collar, hang wide across the back. The collar tells the viewer what kind of garment it is more clearly from behind than from the front.
- Back center line: some garments have a seam or zip down the middle of the back. Even without one, a faint center line helps you keep the left and right widths even.
- Hem, belt and bows: a bow or apron tie at the back, a vent at the back of a jacket — elements that exist only on the back cannot be read from the front view. Decide them as you draw and add them to your character notes so you will not have to decide again next time.
- Hoods and capes: for clothing that covers much of the back, decide first which way the fabric falls over the head and shoulders.
How can you check the back of a character you have only drawn from the front?
You can build a 3D model from one front-view drawing and rotate it in the browser to get a feel for the back. Figmee makes a 3D model from a single drawing (your first model per account is free, then 5 tokens per model), and you can stop not only at the straight back view but also at a three-quarter back or a high angle to see how much back hair shows and how the shoulders read. The full steps for making the model and finding your angles are in our guide to using a 3D model of your own character instead of a drawing mannequin. The back, however, was never in the drawing, so it is filled in by AI and may not match your design; how that filling-in works is explained in what happens to the back when AI makes 3D from one drawing.
On the artwork page, "Save reference sheet (4 views)" saves one PNG on a white background showing the 3D model from the front, right side, back and left side, without using any tokens. Because the views have no perspective distortion, you can compare the length of the back hair seen from behind with its thickness seen from the side in a single image. Instead of copying its back view, use the sheet to spot where the back differs from your own design and to list what you need to decide yourself when you draw.
How do you fix a back view that is not working?
Work backward from how it looks wrong to find what to fix. Common problems and fixes:
| What looks wrong | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The head looks small or flat | The bulge of the back of the skull is missing | Redraw the head circle and add hair thickness outside it |
| The neck looks thin and long | No slope from neck to shoulder | Join the base of the neck to the shoulders with a gentle line |
| The back looks like a flat board | No shoulder blades and no curve in the spine | Add a light shadow at the shoulder blades and curve the center line slightly |
| It does not read as the same character | Hairstyle or back of the outfit contradicts the front view | Check the parting, collar and accessories against the table at the top |
| Accessories are on the wrong side | The front view was copied without flipping | Left and right swap from behind; recheck one-sided items |
| The amount of back hair changes every time | The back hair volume was never decided | Record the volume in your character notes once; the 3D model can serve as a guide |
Frequently asked questions
If I flip my front view horizontally, do I get the back view?
You get the outline. For a standing pose drawn without perspective, the flipped front outline almost matches the back outline. The flow of the hair, the back of the collar and the position of one-sided accessories are not decided by flipping, though, and need to be redrawn.
Can I draw exactly what I see on the 3D model's back?
Use it as a reference for blocking in, nothing more. The back of the model is AI filling in what your front view does not show, so it can differ from your design. Also, a back view can read better as a drawing when the hair volume or the slope of the shoulders is pushed further than the solid form shows. Draw the back view yourself while looking at the reference.
How much does it cost to check my character's back view in 3D?
On a newly registered account, you can get as far as checking one character's back view without paying. The 5 free sign-up tokens (valid for 3 months from registration) cover the figurine-style image (1–3 tokens), and your first 3D model per account is free. To check another character or another pose, each further model costs 5 tokens ($5.99 for 5); the details are in the FAQ of our guide to using a 3D model of your own character instead of a drawing mannequin.
Summary
To draw a character from behind, translate what the front view settles — the parting of the bangs, shoulder width, how the outfit closes — into the hair whorl, the slope from neck to shoulder with the shoulder blades, and the back center line with the back of the collar. Work in order: block-in, head, shoulders and back, clothing, hair. Leaving the hair for last keeps the body underneath from drifting.
For a character you have only drawn from the front, you can rotate a 3D model to get a feel for the back before you draw. The model's back is an AI guess, so where it disagrees with your design, your design wins, and the back view is yours to draw. The full route from drawing to 3D model is covered in our complete guide to turning an illustration into 3D.
Sources
- Wikipedia (Japanese), "旋毛" (hair whorl): what a hair whorl is and where it sits
- Wikipedia, "Trapezius": the trapezius's shape, extent and attachments
- Art Rocket, "How to Draw Hair: 3 Tips for Beginners" (Clip Studio Paint's official tutorial site): reference points for hair, locks following the curve of the head, layers at the back of the head
- Art Rocket, "Learn Anatomy to Improve Drawing the Human Body" (Clip Studio Paint's official tutorial site): the shape and movement of the shoulder blades, the curve of the spine
