Fitting two figures into a tight bust composition without losing the sense of scale between a small girl and a large dragon is the core challenge in this tutorial, and it is part of what makes learning how to draw Chihiro and Haku in dragon form so rewarding to work through. The scene comes from the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away, where Haku wraps around Chihiro protectively as he carries her through the sky.
A Close-Up Scene That Tests Your Sense of Scale
The tutorial builds the composition across 18 steps, ending on clean line art rather than a colored result, so every step focuses on getting the shapes and proportions right. The dragon curves around Chihiro in a tight frame, which means managing overlapping forms and making the dragon read as large without having its full body visible. The dragon’s elongated snout and spiky mane sit right next to Chihiro’s face, so the contrast in texture and scale has to come through in the linework alone.
What Chihiro and Haku Look Like in This Scene
- Girl with short chin-length hair
- Wide round eyes, open mouth
- Loose long-sleeved top
- Dragon with elongated snout
- Spiky mane running along dragon’s neck
If you want more practice with paired figures and overlapping characters from the same film, Haku and Chihiro standing together covers the full upright version of these two. For a different kind of pairing challenge, Princess Mononoke and Moro works through a similar dynamic of a human figure alongside a large creature, and Totoro with an umbrella is a good follow-up for practicing soft, rounded Ghibli forms.
Reading the Step Colors in This Guide
Each step image uses a three-color system to show exactly 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 Chihiro and Haku in Dragon Form: Step-by-Step Tutorial
Finished the Sketch? Share It and Keep Drawing
Once the line art is done, drop your finished drawing in the comments below. Seeing how different people handle the dragon’s mane and the overlap between the two figures is always interesting. New tutorials go up on Facebook and Telegram as soon as they are published, a new YouTube video based on existing guides goes live every single day, and Pinterest stays updated regularly if that is where you collect references. For more Ghibli character pairs, Sheeta and Pazu is worth trying next, and chibi and big Totoro side by side is good practice for drawing two figures at different scales. If you want to support the site and get access to unique hand-drawn coloring pages in return, the Patreon page is the place to do that.
can you do the coloring part