Princess Mononoke gave Ghibli fans one of the studio’s quietest creatures, and the forest spirits from that film have stayed with audiences long after the credits rolled. This step-by-step guide covers how to draw a Kodama, one of those small white tree spirits, with the full walkthrough available alongside the rest of the Studio Ghibli drawing collection.
Four Steps and Almost No Curves to Worry About
The tutorial runs through 4 steps and ends on clean line art with no color added, so the focus stays entirely on getting the proportions right. The Kodama’s shape is mostly rounded and symmetrical, which sounds easy, but keeping the head oval balanced and the asymmetric eye placement deliberate rather than accidental takes a steady hand. The legs are the final addition and the smallest part of the build.
What a Kodama Looks Like
- Large rounded oval head, wider than body
- Two asymmetric black dot eyes
- Small single dot for the mouth
- Stubby rounded arms at each side
- Two small rounded legs at bottom
If you want more Ghibli creatures to sketch after this one, the Totoro with an umbrella tutorial shares a similar compact and rounded build, and the Soot Sprite walkthrough is another short session with a small forest-adjacent character. For something with a bit more complexity, the Chihiro and No-Face together guide is worth trying once the simpler forms feel comfortable.
Reading the Color Coding in the Steps
Each step image uses a three-color system to show what is new and what came before:
- Red Color: lines added in the current step.
- Black Color: lines completed earlier.
- Gray Color: base sketch for structure.
How to Draw a Kodama: Step-by-Step Tutorial
Finished Your Kodama? Share It
Once the drawing is done, drop it in the comments section below. It is always good to see how different people handle the eye placement and the head oval, since those two small decisions change the whole feel of the character. New tutorials get posted to Facebook and Telegram as soon as they go live, a new YouTube video based on existing guides goes up every single day, and Pinterest stays updated regularly too. If you want to keep exploring Ghibli characters, the No-Face tutorial and the guide to drawing Haku from Spirited Away are solid next steps. Supporting the project on Patreon helps keep new tutorials coming and gives you access to unique hand-drawn coloring pages as well.