Artistic drawing tutorial - human figure
DRAWING TUTORIAL
Chapter One: General Ideas
Hello, first of all welcome to this small drawing course that I intend to organize. You will not need many materials to carry out everything that I will tell you: for now, find yourself a pencil and a paper, nothing more.
I am going to try to introduce you to drawing through what for many is its key piece, the human anatomy. Our body has fascinated us since ancient times and has been the main theme in practically all of the works.
I'm not going to tell you how to hold the pencil or anything like that, but I am concerned
about making the line issue clear. The line must be firm and continuous, we will not get anywhere if you use successions of broken lines to draw. We have to differentiate what it is to frame a drawing and what it is to define it. If you are going to frame it (that is, make the base approach of it) there is no problem, but when you are making the final line try to use continuous lines. If you have calm pulse problems, the pencil allows all kinds of corrections, but be careful with the ink.
A good way to correct any problems with the stroke is to make quite a few series of continuous lines on a sheet, both horizontal and vertical; but always on the pulse.
Practice makes a master.
Regarding the quality of the pencils, I make a recommendation: buy an HB pencil and a 2H pencil, depending on whether we are going to frame or finish the drawing, because one is softer than the other (you will surely notice it if you make a few lines). I think that's all to start with. Even so, I will briefly explain the plan of the tutorial: I intend to start with the focal point par excellence of the body, the head. From there we would go on to analyze the male and female anatomy, their proportions and fundamental features. Then I would like to focus on specific aspects, such as hands, eyes or hair ... Once this part is finished it is important to acquire certain notions of perspective and spatial representation in order to integrate all those sketches in which (in theory) you would have been working. At the end of this, the base would be consolidated and each one could already begin to work on their own style, which is the most important part, since the clones of cartoonists are not usually very appreciated today (be careful, do not think that by finding traits of Some draftsman in another drawing is imitating him, the problem arises when he draws exactly the same as the model). Finally, we would move on to secondary aspects such as clothing, objects, character design ...
I'm getting tired of just reading everything I have to do, but for my part I will not give up.
Much courage and warm up your engines, that soon everything will begin.
Chapter Two: Heads
Well, now we are going to start. For the drawing of heads it is very important to have a good spatial perception, as they have a greater volume than the extremities and we must take care of this aspect. First of all, you have to appreciate the general shape of these, if you look closely they are made up of a higher sphere to which the jaw is added. If you are able to think in a geometric way, you will see that it is very easy to see this detail. So I recommend starting the drawing at the top, completing the semicircle of the skull before continuing. In Figures 1-4 you will see that although we see them from different perspectives, they are still the same.
Once you have completed the upper part, sketch the jaw, remembering that (except for artistic or character design requirements) it will always be narrower than the skull itself. At this point, draw a thin vertical line that divides the face in two, in order to be able to place the eyes or nose further forward. The eyes are in turn a focal point inside the head, therefore you should draw the line perpendicular to the previous one that will define their height. Keep in mind that if the head is tilted up or down this line will be more curved (see figures 1 and 3).
Now let's stop for a moment. Look at your drawing and check that the head has a shape
more or less regular. If you like, go to the next step, if not, try changing the lines that deform it or start over (no one said it was easy). One tip, it is always easier to make a frontal drawing (figure 2) than a 3⁄4 (figure 1); and in turn easier than figures 3 and 4. Okay, now let's move on to the details. Try to define the lower area of the forehead, where the eyebrows would be, highlighting it a little outwards. Take a good look at figure 5. Now move on to the cheekbones and highlight them too (this varies greatly from a man to a woman). Finish off the chin, pronouncing it or retracting it as you see. Add the ears but don't get too hung up on them for now, oval shapes will suffice.
As you can see, I have made some very cold features on my face. Those of you who know how to draw something, put your eyes, mouth, etc ... whatever you want, my main intention is not to create students for me, but to teach you to draw. For those of you who do not control the subject so much, I will explain the meaning of this. The eyes as 2 circles allow you to frame them in the face and perceive a little better how they are placed in space. The mouth as a fine line and the nose as an equal shading. Later we will see how these parts are made in greater detail.
One thing, look at how the eyes that are in the farthest part of the face are drawn smaller and more landscape than the close ones. Stay with the data, but as before we will go deeper.
Finally, since you are all lynxes, you will have verified that I have proposed you some "bald" models. Well, this is an important point. Never start with the hair or draw it until you have finished the skull. The hair conforms to the shape of the head and not the other way around, check figures 6 and 7. As before, we will delve into the subject of hair. For today it is enough. Do not forget to practice a lot, it is the only way to advance.
Chapter Three: Torsos
The next point we need to focus on is the torsos. It is not yet time to do a study of the muscles, so we will continue with geometric shapes. The female and male torsos differ not only by their muscular configuration, but also by the bone structure underneath, which largely determines their shape.
Look at figure 1, that is, the male torso. I recommend you start with the pectoral area so that you can visualise the width. We will see the shoulders later along with the arms, but for now look at how they are mounted on the pectorals and not the other way around (it is usually a typical error). I have not defined the abs but the area they occupy. Also note that on the sides there are two curves that connect with the shoulders from the back. These are muscles of the back, but they must also be drawn from the front. Finally, keep in mind that the hips are born very abruptly, unlike in the female.
As for figure 2, the first thing that should be highlighted is that the torso itself is narrower and longer. Likewise, the shoulders should not be so marked, even if you doubt, try to make them a little more droopy than usual. With regard to the abdominal area, try to narrow it at the end, in order to better highlight the hips, which, unlike in the previous case, are more rounded and softer. Figures 3 and 4 show the profiles of the bodies. Here I highlight how the shoulders are born from the back area and not from the center as those who start usually draw them. Compare the thickness of the waist of one and the other model, as well as the abdominal relief.
Obviously I have exaggerated the ways to help you, but for me it is an essential resource. In drawing you must always have a bit of a caricaturist, but think about how the lips of a man and a woman are usually drawn when in reality they are the same. And the same happens with eyelashes, hair ... So for my part I recommend you always highlight everything that defines the anatomy of men and women (and I am not just referring to the breasts).
The back view does not differ too much from what I have already given you except for the muscular structure, which as I have already said, we will see. For now, stick with the basic shapes and proportions of the torso for each sex, which is ultimately what matters for now.
Chapter Four: Proportions
This time it touches a delicate subject. Many of you will have seen that Greek sculpture in general gave tremendous importance to proportions, well, it is something that has not gone out of style. As a main rule we can say that the body is the measure of 7 heads. Let's look at Figure 1 for a moment and I'll explain it to you:
I have taken the head as a standard measurement, which goes from 1 to 2 (even if it appears slightly inclined). Having seen this, I am going to tell you how the rest of the proportions are distributed. The torso is carried 2, that is, from 2 to 4. Remember that it is also important that the shoulder area has to be a little wider than the hips. The legs, on the other hand, take the rest, although we must distinguish: up to the knee from 4 to 6, and from the knee to the feet from 6 to a hypothetical 8. (If someone who knows how to really draw were to stop by here He was going to have a good laugh with this drawing, because it is full of anatomical imperfections, but it is so that you can see it more clearly) As you may have noticed, this topic has no greater mystery, so I am going to tell you something interesting about proportions.
The first of all is that as soon as you make a drawing with a chopped plane, for example, none of this works, because the perspective is deformed. With which you will have to use your talent more than a millimeter rule. More things, I don't really agree with this "classic" system of proportions, in my opinion it is best to loosen up a bit and try to do something proportionate. Finally, the manga influence weighs and in all of us more, so nothing happens if you glean the figures a little by adding a canon of 8 heads and putting the latter in the area of the legs.
Chapter 5: Arms
Little by little we are advancing in the construction of the figure. Today it is the turn of the arms. Quite unlike the legs, the arms are usually represented in most of the drawings, or at least a good part. I suppose that due to influences from the cinema, both in advertising and in the comic, the "American plane" or even more closed is chosen.
In order to fully understand the functioning of the arms, it is necessary to look at the shoulders.
The arm itself is not too complicated. Look at figure 1, where you can see that the construction is simple. A sphere serves us for the shoulder, it is a point of reference to later position it with respect to the torso. The arm in turn is made up of two oval sections, one longer than the other, and the elbow. Once you have drawn this in the perspective that suits you best, go smoothing the lines until you have something similar to figure 2.
You may have noticed that this time I have given greater importance to muscle building, although I admit that I am not very given to drawing all the muscles that make up the arm. In the figure 2 I have exaggerated the triceps a bit, so that you notice that it is not identical to the biceps, a mistake that is usually made.
Well, let's move on to the next thing, the area of the junction with the torso. Here a lot of things come into play, the pectorals, lats, etc. Any movement of the arm affects the muscles of the torso and that of the arm itself. Figure 3 shows the basic construction of the stretched arm. More of the same, I have separated the arm more than the account of the torso so that you can see how everything is, but remember that it is much more stuck. In figure 4 we see the same thing but from the back, the back muscles are a difficult time, so I will explain it to you. Notice how the triceps has the elbow splitting it in half.
Figure 5 shows how the muscles are altered by the movement of the arm. Remember that the pectoral remains firm at its birth, that is, the center of the chest, but that it tightens in relation to the arm area. Figure 6 represents just the opposite, the arm in a resting position. Finally figure 7 I put it simply so that you can see that when an arm is very bent, it is the forearm that rides on the biceps and not the other way around. Look at how the curved line at the elbow is that of the forearm and not that of the biceps. With this we have enough, later we will see the muscles in depth, remember that at the moment we are only with the structures. Hard work will come later. And from here we come to blows.
Chapter 6: Hands
The hands have a special complication in relation to the rest of the body parts. They are full of joints and are small and detailed. As if this were not enough, they can adopt endless positions that complicate everything even more.
We will start with figure 1.
In it we can see the basic structure: a kind of square with rounded edges from which the fingers come out. Notice that it is the middle finger that is always higher, both in the
knuckle as at the tip. This is followed by the index, ring and pinky. The thumb in turn has its own structure on which it rests, that is, the oval shape that you can see in figure 3.
Figure 2 represents a profile, so that you can see how the fingers are distributed in relation to the thumb. Figures 4 and 5 show the closed fist, the first from a lower perspective to show you how the thumb adapts, and the 5 an absolutely frontal; I care about the distribution of the knuckles, stick with that. Let's now turn to Figures 6 and 7 to understand fingers a little better. I recommend that you start with the knuckle, which is represented by a sphere. From here we will draw phalanx by phalanx up to the tip. Notice that the phalanges tend to be smaller on the inside than on the outside, in order to draw the joints (those little triangles that you see between each one). Doing so will make it much easier for you to articulate your fingers, going from 6 to 7 is a matter of repositioning the elements, but the essence is the same. It is a complicated way to do it but it will help you if you are starting or the hand is in the foreground. One more note, the tip of the fingers is not round, it is rounded at the bottom and a little sharp at the top, look closely at the one in figure 6.
In figures 8 and 9 I have drawn a male and female finger so that you can appreciate the differences a bit. It is still something relative, and it will depend a lot on the characters you are doing, so look at it in a general way. Another note, do not make the nails too detailed, try to simplify them as much as possible.
And as a sample of this that I have been telling you, look at figures 10 and 11, made freehand and without prior planning. Remember that there are a few lines that define the hand and that you don't have to draw each finger. In addition, the further away the hand is, the fewer lines have to be used, even if it is far away it is better that you only draw its silhouette. Finally, figure 12 is a slightly more artistic hand, which only contributes to the basic folds of the skin. So remember, hands are complex but not difficult for that, don't forget not to overload them with details, especially if they look small in the drawing. The more hands you draw, the less you will need to resort to creating a previous structure like the one we have seen. Practice and practice!
Chapter 7: Hands (annex)
Given the complication that this part of the body represents, we are going to pay a little more attention to it. This time we will focus on the hands in relaxed positions, in which the main thing is to convey that feeling. We start with figure 1, which represents a hand resting on a surface.
The main thing is that it does not appear that the palm of the hand is completely glued, as it does not look natural. The fingers rest only on the tips, so that the most prominent is the end of the first phalanx. The thumb is supported on its outer side, never on its inner side. Do not forget that all this is conditioned by the rest of the arm, since the hand depends in any case on how it is.
Figure 2 is a hand at rest without resting on any surface. The important thing is the doll's play, which must be loose. The fingers will always have a curved shape, do not draw them rigid and always curve them at each of their joints. Likewise, draw the thumb in parallel with the palm of the hand, which serves as a guide.
Finally, figure 3 represents a hand resting on some less regular surface. My advice is to make a rough representation of the thing on which it will rest, and then a basic approach to the hand. Or what is the same, that you adapt your hand to the figure and not the other way around. It is always difficult to mix the human figure with objects, but it is necessary.
If you have doubt the best you can do is try to find a similar object that you have nearby and look at your own hand. It is a cheap resource but it can get you out of trouble if the drawing is complicated.
Chapter 8: Legs
Unlike the arms, the legs have a more limited range of motion, since the play of the shoulder is not the same as that of the hip. That is why in this part of the tutorial, in which we have not yet entered the musculature, the structure of the legs does not have many complications:
In the first 3 figures I show you a front, side and rear view. Although the part of the thigh is longer than the rest, try not to exaggerate it too much and reserve that resource for drawing women, because you will achieve a more differentiated effect. The structure is simple, it consists of an oval for the aforementioned thigh, another for the knee, and another for the calf area. I do not recommend that you extend the latter to the foot, but that you draw straight lines for the ankle as I show you. It is a good way to better define the leg. What I point out to you with the arrows is a trait that usually goes unnoticed, and that is that the leg is not completely straight. If you look closely you have to bend a little bit (don't overdo it) the structure of the bone. The rear view does not present major problems either, more than anything I include it to complete the other two perspectives.
Now the interesting thing, figures 4 and 5. In my opinion, structurally speaking, it is difficult to represent a leg from behind being slightly bent. The way to fit the perspective of the two articulated parts is complex. Figure 4 is a rear view from an angle greater than 5. I have drawn the leg with a kind of boot so that you can better see how to follow the perspective lines.
As I already told you, I do not think they are very complicated, we better reserve ourselves for the feet, which will come later. At that point, the structure explanations will finish and we will get serious with the muscular anatomy (to start again with the torsos).
