Female · 3/4 · Crying

About This Reference

Three-quarter view of a female anime face crying with visible tear trails.

1. Construct the Three-Quarter View

At a three-quarter turn the head is still anchored by one circle, but the symmetry is broken. Shift the vertical centerline toward the far edge of the face: features on the near side stay wide, while features on the far side compress toward the profile. The far eye narrows and tucks behind the nose bridge, while the near eye keeps almost its full width. The jaw sweeps from the cheek down to a chin point that sits closer to the center of the page.

• The far eye appears noticeably narrower than the near eye.
• The bridge of the nose overlaps the far eye socket.
• The far edge of the jaw tucks behind the profile line.
• The mouth shifts toward the near side of the centerline.

2. Anatomy Notes for a Female Face

Female anime faces read through softness and larger features. The jaw tapers to a gentler, rounded chin, the cheeks are softer, and the eyes are larger and sit slightly lower on the face for a youthful look. The nose is small and subtle, the lips are fuller, and the upper lashes are drawn with a thicker, cleaner line.

3. Breaking Down the Crying Expression

Crying pushes sadness into overflow. The brows scrunch inward and upward, the eyes squeeze closed or well up with tears, and the mouth opens into a wobbly downward shape. Add glossy tear tracks from the inner corners of the eyes, a reddened nose tip, and occasional tear blobs. The key is contrast: scrunched brows against a very open, wet mouth.

• Brows: deeply scrunched inward and upward.
• Eyes: squeezed shut or full of pooled tears.
• Mouth: wide and wobbly with the corners down.
• Tears: glossy tracks running from the inner corners.

4. What to Watch for in This Reference

In a 3/4 reference, the most important thing to study is how the far-side features compress. Notice how much narrower the far eye is compared to the near eye, and how the nose bridge overlaps the far eye socket. These two overlaps are what make the 3/4 turn readable — without them the face reads as flat.

Crying references show the face at its most compressed. Study how the brows scrunch together at the inner corners, creating horizontal crease lines across the forehead. The tears are not just lines — they are glossy, rounded shapes that catch light. The nose reddens because of increased blood flow, which is a detail many artists miss.

5. Common Mistakes at This Angle

The most common error at 3/4 is keeping the centerline perfectly vertical or drawing both eyes at full width. The far eye should compress to about two-thirds of the near eye, and the centerline should curve toward the far side.

Drawing tears as simple diagonal lines. Tears in anime are glossy teardrop shapes with a small highlight on the upper curve. They also tend to pool at the inner corner of the eye before falling.