Drawing the human form is a crucial skill to master as a developing artist. Though some people have an innate talent for being able to capture the human form, most people need some kind of instruction to master the basics for drawing human subjects.
Instructions
1. Master proportion. Before you begin, take an anatomy class or purchase an anatomy book to understand the different parts of the body and the way they connect to one another.
2. Start with a lightly sketched stick-person until the pose and proportions are correct. Make faint pencil marks on your paper that can be easily erased until you pick final lines.
3. Leave the face blank for now. Use the standard egg shape to help determine proportions against the size of the body sketch.
4. Adjust proportions for gender, age, and any other physical traits that would alter the basic proportions. For instance, children have larger heads than adults and have softer, more simple edges because their muscles are not as developed as they are on an adult.
5. Flesh out the character with light contour lines. Use basic polygons and then add detail. For instance, use long ovals to suggest arm muscles or muscles in the legs. Connect these simple shapes with outer, darker lines.
6. Add depth and highlights with structure and shading. Choose a light source and shade each element of the basic shapes of the body like you would shade three-dimensional objects, such as spheres.
7. Try different methods for drawing a body. Use dark, simple lines to draw a cartoon-like body or use fine lines to add detail to a realistic looking form. Practice your skills by copying other images to help you develop your own style for drawing human forms.
