One of the most difficult tasks in drawing is sketching people. Unlike various still lifes, landscapes and other types of paintings, people are the most difficult figure. Drawing a person in different poses can completely change the perception of the painting itself. But in order to draw a person correctly, like the great masters, you first need to learn how to create sketches. Quickly and correctly.
Getting started, choosing a position
By regularly sketching a person, you can develop a sense of scale. Since the human body is divided into certain proportions, it often happens that beginners who have never drawn before sketch a person with an excessively large head or a small body. This skill comes with experience, when you feel lightness in the pencil.
In order to study the human body and its main features as quickly as possible, it is necessary to experiment with angles. For a start, you can take the most common ones.
| Angle | Image Description |
| Profile | Only one side of the human face is visible. |
| Half a turn | When the model's face is turned only three-quarters. This angle is one of the most difficult, but even with it there are many variations for a pictorial drawing. |
| Full face | A position of the face that is directed directly towards the viewer. The person turns so that his body appears completely symmetrical to the artist. |
Next, such sketches should be drawn from memory. Until the fixed image remains in the head. Do not stop at just one position. It is better to draw several simple sketches at once, but in different positions of the body and head. Then it is worth drawing each of the positions from memory, thereby consolidating the acquired skills.
At this stage, only familiarization with the human body and its features occurs. Differences in the structure of the female body from the male and so on. Such anatomical differences should be firmly fixed before moving on to complex sketches.
How to Draw a Sketch of a Person with Pencil: Proportions
Proportions are what allow the finished work to be perceived more realistically. Everyone knows the popular work of Leonardo da Vinci "Vitruvian Man", where the artist showed the proportionality of the human anatomical body in all its power.
Determining the basic proportions
The basis of human proportions is the "Seven Heads" rule, which states that the human body is the size of seven of its heads. In other words, for the human body to look realistic, its length must be equal to seven heads.
For example, if the head length is 2 cm, then you need to make 6 more of the same marks down. This will be the correct proportion of a person of average height. Next, you need to pay attention to each "section" of the body, which is highlighted according to the above rule.
Head and face
For greater convenience, each of the sections should be numbered.
To sketch the head, you need:
- The human head is shaped like an egg. For beginners, it is better to use a regular oval. You should not try to make it perfectly even, because this is just a sketch.
- To make the head look like it's not a simple oval, it needs to be narrowed slightly at the chin. This way, the sketch will acquire the features of a real face. Here, you need to start from the appearance of the model for the sketch, because someone's chin is wider, and someone's is narrower.
- To distribute facial features symmetrically, draw a midline. It should pass through the middle of the human body. Thanks to this line, the body acquires a right and left side.
- Next, you need to draw the line of the eyes. This axis should be located slightly above the middle of the oval. It will help you to place the eyes more easily.
Don't try too hard to draw the facial features. Just a few pencil lines for a schematic indication is enough. Since this is a full-length sketch of a person, the correctness of the facial features is not important here.
Hair can be shown not only schematically, just depicting the general mass, but also detailed - with carelessly falling curls and strands of hair. This decision depends on the desired result in the sketch.
Neck
Pencil sketches of this part of the body are always important. People turn their necks differently in different poses, so its angle is so important even at the first stages of the sketch.
The main thing to know when drawing a neck is that it cannot be thicker than the head itself. If the drawing is done full face, the neck initially looks straight, and then has a smooth transition to the shoulders. You can schematically indicate the collarbones and tendons for greater realism.
If you need to sketch the neck in profile, then the beginning of the neck is taken from the middle of the jaw. It goes a little lower and then smoothly passes into the neck itself. The back part starts from the back of the head, having a very slight bend.
It is worth considering that if it is a man's neck, it should look more muscular than a woman's. Also, a woman's neck has more of a bend. Don't forget about the Adam's apple on the neck of guys, which must be highlighted.
Shoulders
Men's shoulders should appear wider than the hips and be large even on thin models. Women's shoulders should be roughly the same size in relation to the hips, but can sometimes be narrower.
The shoulder should have a rounded shape, but not look like a solid oval. In order to correctly depict the shoulder joint, you need to roughly understand what muscles are in it. The shoulder has several curves that must be conveyed in the sketch for greater realism.
The shoulder should not be too sharp, but not too sloping. This parameter depends either on the model itself or on the artist's wishes. However, it is not possible to convey the structure of the shoulder correctly the first time; everything comes with experience.
Torso and pelvis
The structure of the female and male body in this part is significantly different, so it is necessary to analyze each of them separately. It is believed that it is much better to learn to draw a male body after studying the female body than vice versa. Therefore, you need to start with the female physique.
- Torso and pelvis of a girl. The chest starts from the shoulders. The place where the shoulder ends should be the chest, which is also shown only schematically in sketches. A distinctive feature of the female physique is the waist. However, you should not get too carried away here, it is enough to emphasize the graceful curve of the body. The girl's pelvis usually has a rounded shape. The girl's hips should stand out and emphasize the femininity of the body.
- The torso and pelvis of a guy. The guy's body vaguely resembles a rectangle, narrowing towards the hips. That's why many beginning artists use it as a support. The chest of men is much wider than that of women. Don't forget about the chest, which is also noticeable in guys, especially when it comes to drawing nudes. The guy's hips are narrow and unremarkable, unlike women's. But despite this, don't forget about this part of the body.
Hands
Most beginners who try to draw hands have great difficulty drawing not only the forearm, but also the palms. You shouldn't try to achieve the perfect result at first, because the skill of drawing hands comes with experience.
However, to avoid some mistakes, you should remember:
- The hands have relief. Depending on muscle mass, the shape, volume and relief of the arms may change. In order to fully master this skill, you need to carefully examine the shapes of the arms of different people.
- Palms and their size. Many artists, even those who have been drawing people for a long time, can make a mistake in the size of the palms. According to the proportions of the body, the size of the palm should match the size of the face.
In the early stages of the sketch, the palms have the appearance of a square. Later, they acquire the outline of a mitten, from which the phalanges of the fingers and the hand are drawn. To begin with, you should draw the hands in a relaxed position. After that, you should move on to more complex poses of the hands, which will add more dynamism to the finished sketch.
Pencil sketches of people in different poses often focus on the hands. Thanks to the action of the hands and fingers, one can determine the emotional state of a person or his intentions even in drawings.
Legs
The final stage in the sketch. It is necessary to start the drawing of the leg from the hip. If the model is standing in profile, then do not forget about highlighting the buttocks among the back of the thigh.
Women's hips are more rounded than men's. Don't neglect the curves, as the thighs and shins should not look like sticks. Pay special attention to the knees, which connect the shin and thigh.
The inner part of the shin should have a slight bend inward, and the outer part should bend slightly. The size of the bends depends on the physical mass of the model. If the model has open shoes, then do not forget about the ankle, which needs to be highlighted.
In sketches and drawings, the feet are not given much time, but are only shown schematically as 2 ovals or rectangles, depending on the angle.
Sketch of a person in simple poses
Sketching people in pencil in different poses helps develop speed in drawing not only sketches, but also full-fledged works. After the basic concepts of the human body are firmly established, you can move on to sketching people in simple poses. For example, sitting or walking.
Man sitting
The first, most basic pose in which you can make a sketch is a sitting pose. In this pose, many artists depict both men and women in equal numbers. When drawing a sitting person, you need to rely on the above-mentioned "seven heads" rule, which is discussed above.
At this stage, it is important to correctly distribute the body. To begin with, it is worth practicing on photographs of models, or drawing from life. In a sitting position, it is important to consider the position of the hands. The sketch or the finished work will look better if the palms are not hidden behind other parts of the body.
The position of the head and body plays a significant role. Depending on the position in which the model is sitting, the head and body should not appear too arched or turned.
Complex positions
Sketching people in pencil in different poses is a difficult task. Especially when it comes to difficult positions. However, this practice is necessary in order to fully study the human body from the outside. Gymnasts or ballerinas depicted in photographs in aesthetic poses are perfect for such training.
Dancing or jumping bodies are in poses that can be difficult to draw due to unusual hand positions, back and leg curves. These sketches look beautiful, but they take more time than a person in a normal pose.
Pencil sketches of people in different poses are difficult to convey the dynamics of movement. The problem is not only to correctly convey the features of the body, but also to give them movement and freedom. You should not immediately demand an ideal sketch, since this skill appears after hundreds of sketches of people in different poses have already been made.
Nude figure
Drawing a nude is a little more difficult than drawing a clothed model. In order to sketch a nude model correctly, it is necessary to observe the human body and its features. Every fold or bend on a naked body must be transferred to paper.
To make it easier to draw a nude, you can use large format paper. For example, if regular sketches of people passing by are done on A5 or A4 format, then for drawing a nude model you can use A3 or A2 format.
At first, you need to make sketches in unlimited time. However, after you feel some courage in your sketches, you need to set a limited time for one sketch. For example, 2 minutes are allocated for one position in the sketch, later the time is reduced. Let such training sketches be imperfect, but they need to be drawn in a certain, rather short period of time.
Many artists advise initially making only a few lines sketching the main figure, and then starting detailed work from the part of the body that attracts the most.
Thus, it is possible to trace how important detailing is even in sketches. However, this method can knock down the proportionality of the body. But even in this case, it only adds charm to the finished sketch.
One of the important details is the choice of position when drawing. It is necessary to arrange yourself so as not to make strong head movements in order to look at the model. A sheet of paper, a tablet or a notebook should be opposite the positioned model.
In clothes
Sketching clothes is much easier than nudes. However, you should not relax here either. The first thing that is very important in the image of dressed people is the transmission of folds and texture of things.
The best people to help you draw people in clothes are models who take part in fashion shows. Since they are professionally trained in posing, drawing them will be easier. It is better to use a hard pencil for sketching clothes.
Also, if we are talking about a stylized sketch, then the rule of "seven heads" can be increased to eight, and the "extra head" can be used to increase the length of the legs. Thus, the model in clothes will look more luxurious.
Detailing in clothing is very important. For example, if a model is wearing a checkered shirt, it is important to draw the checks. The same applies to jewelry such as necklaces, bracelets or rings. They all need to be depicted, otherwise the whole image will lose its charm.
Peculiarities of drawing a person from life
A full understanding of the human body comes only when you have to draw from life at least a few times. Because Photos can distort the model's real body quite a bit. It is impossible to master the skill of drawing people in clothes if you have no idea what a person has under their clothes and what a naked body should look like.
It is not necessary to call a special model as a model. You can ask a loved one, for example, your significant other, to pose for practice. You can also pose yourself. All you need is a large mirror and desire. In addition, no one will get tired of posing for yourself, because you will need to delve into the whole process head-on.
Easy pencil sketches of people, regardless of the complexity of the pose, are a mandatory part of a complete study of drawing. In order to achieve the desired result, it is important not to stop there and improve your skills daily.
Article formatting: Vladimir the Great
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