Ever wondered what you would look like as an anime character? American artist Robert DeJesus has spent years answering that question for strangers. People email him a photo, often a selfie with a cat, dog or more unusual pet, and he sends back a pencil sketch that turns them into a cartoon version of themselves.
The results went viral in 2014, when sites such as Laughing Squid and TechEBlog shared them, and new batches kept circulating for years afterwards. What makes them so appealing is that nobody is turned into a generic anime face: the glasses, beard, hairstyle, cap or quirky expression in the photo always survives the change of style.
Who is Robert DeJesus?
DeJesus is an American illustrator who works under the name banzchan on DeviantArt and runs a YouTube channel called HowIDraw, where he posts drawing tutorials. According to a Bored Panda profile, he got into cartooning and anime in high school and later became a regular guest at anime and manga conventions across the United States, where fans started asking for drawings of themselves.
The portraits grew into a side business. In 2014 he explained that clients send a single selfie-style photo by email, and that he replies with a price when a slot opens. Prices were reported to start at around twenty dollars for a digital head-and-shoulders sketch, with extra charges for posting the original pencil drawing or adding more of the body. He has also sold custom portraits through eBay auctions, and he has said openly that he cannot take every request without burning out. His DeviantArt page is the place to check whether commissions are currently open.
The sketches: people, pets and personality
Below is a selection of his photo-to-anime transformations. Each pairs the original snapshot with the finished pencil drawing, so you can compare exactly what he kept and what he exaggerated.
A young woman lying on a carpet with a grey tabby kitten becomes a flying heroine with her cat perched beside her. DeJesus keeps the side-swept hair and calm half-smile, then adds a sense of motion the original photo never had.
A curly-haired toddler in a polka-dot dress, holding a plush Pikachu, is redrawn as a chibi-style character with the Pokémon life-sized at her side. Turning the soft toy into a real companion is a typical DeJesus touch: he often brings props and pets to life.
One of the best-known images in the series: a grinning man taking a selfie with a quokka, the small Australian marsupial famous for appearing to smile. In the sketch both faces become broad cartoon grins, which makes the joke of the original photo even clearer.
A bearded man in a backwards cap holds a tiny hedgehog. The drawing turns his stern look into a comic scowl and gives the hedgehog the same deadpan expression, so the pair look like partners in a buddy film.
A woman with blunt black bangs, red lips and a pentagram necklace is reimagined with curled ram's horns. The gothic styling of the photo becomes a playful fantasy character while the fringe, choker and expression stay recognisable.
A smiling young man in glasses with a grey cat draped over his shoulders. The cat's sleepy, slightly unimpressed face is pushed just a little further in the drawing, a reminder that DeJesus treats pets as characters in their own right.
Sometimes the pet is the whole portrait. This flat-faced, long-haired kitten (it looks like an Exotic or Persian type) is turned into a wide-eyed, fluffy cartoon with its famously grumpy mouth intact.
A woman with long pink hair, heart-shaped sunglasses, a floral dress and a frilly parasol becomes a tiny chibi figure. Chibi, a Japanese term for small, big-headed versions of characters, suits outfits that are already bold and playful.
A little girl wearing toy glasses and a toy stethoscope becomes a confident cartoon doctor. The oversized round frames and the bow in her hair do most of the work in keeping the likeness.
A woman with a mass of red curls and a lip piercing. In the drawing the hair is built from layers of hatched pencil strokes, showing how DeJesus translates colour and texture into black-and-white line.
A man with a waxed handlebar moustache, cap and plaid shirt stares wide-eyed into the camera. The sketch exaggerates the intense stare and the steepled fingers into a comic villain pose.
A childhood photo of a boy in front of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mural becomes a drawing of the boy as a turtle himself, with a mask, shell and swords. It is a neat example of a portrait built around what the subject loved as a kid.
A man pulling an exaggerated grimace for the camera is drawn with an even bigger set of teeth and a squashed, rubbery face. Silly selfies give DeJesus room to push the cartoon caricature furthest.
Why the likeness survives the change of style
Anime and manga use a shorthand: large eyes, simplified noses, strong hair shapes and clear silhouettes. A good portrait in that style cannot copy every feature, so the artist has to choose the few cues that make a person instantly recognisable. In these sketches they are usually the outline of the hair, glasses, facial hair, headwear and, above all, the expression.
That is also why pets work so well in his drawings. Animals are already read by their silhouettes and expressions, and a single tilt of the head or narrowed eye can carry a whole personality. By drawing owner and pet with the same emotional tone, DeJesus makes the relationship the real subject of the picture.
Thinking of getting your own anime portrait?
If you want a drawing like these, a few practical points follow from how DeJesus and similar artists describe their process:
- Send a clear, well-lit photo. One person (plus pet) with a visible face gives the artist the most to work with.
- Expression matters. A genuine grin, a pulled face or a pet doing something silly makes a livelier sketch than a passport-style photo.
- Check the artist's current terms. Prices and availability from 2014 are not a guide to today; read the artist's own page before sending anything.
- Support the original creator. Commissioning or buying from the artist directly is the best way to make sure the work stays sustainable.
Whatever style you choose, the charm of these portraits comes from the same place: an artist paying close attention to what makes one face, or one cat, different from every other.
Sources: Robert DeJesus on DeviantArt; HowIDraw on YouTube; DesignTAXI; Laughing Squid (2014); TechEBlog (2014); Bored Panda. All drawings by Robert DeJesus.
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