Put pencil to paper and start drawing people
The human figure is one of the most common subjects in all of drawing. Whether it is just a face or a full body, every artist should have some grasp on draw people. Like all of drawing, mastering the art of drawing people comes with patience and practice. There are several common techniques that can be used to help you get a feel for drawing people, body and face, and improve upon each new drawing.
Instructions
1. Set up a wooden mannequin near your drawing station. These are essential in helping an artist learn the proportions of the human body. These come in a variety sizes, but anything from 6-12 inches tall will work just fine.
2. Sketch the mannequin. Using a light pencil and free flowing strokes, try to capture the correct proportions of the mannequin on paper. Position the mannequin in different poses and draw each pose. By drawing the mannequin over and over, you will train yourself to draw accurate proportions of the body. When drawing, see if you can sketch freely without lifting your pencil. Don't be too rigid drawing only solid lines. Letting your pencil move across the page will help you in the sketching phase without getting you too frustrated.
3. Practice drawing different parts of the body. Use reference photos as needed. Similar to the mannequin, you should practice drawing each body part in different positions. For example, spend one day working on drawing hands, then another day working on torsos, then arms, legs, until you have practiced the entire body. Use the same technique of free flowing strokes during the practice sketches until you get good at it.
4. Learn the proportions of the face. By this point, from your practice sketches you should be pretty good at drawing different noses, mouths, eyes, and hair styles. You know the proportions of the body, but now it is time to know the proportions of the face. Every face is different, but somethings are always the same. For example, the distance from the eyes to the top of the head is the same as the distance from the eyes to the bottom of the chin. The distance from the eyes to the top of the nose is the same as the distance from the bottom of the nose to the bottom lip. Continue sketching in the same manner as before to practice.
5. Draw people! Now that you have practiced drawing different body parts and know proportions, you can put your skills to the test and start sketching actual people. Start out by drawing people from various ads in magazines. Keep practicing and you'll get better with each drawing.
