Block out the basic shapes that make up the bodies of children and other short characters.
Many artists want to draw people. Capturing the myriad shapes and sizes of the characters that populate the artist's world is a simple process once an artist understands accurately capture the proportions on paper. When it comes to drawing people short in stature, artists have a number of drawing methods available to them. One of them allows artists to draw the character in rough form first and then refine the character as they go.
Instructions
1. Look for some reference pictures of short characters. This could include pictures of children, anthropomorphic animals or funny characters like Tweedledee or Tweedledum from "Alice in Wonderland."
2. Observe the shapes that make up the character's body. Most objects can be broken down into basic shapes, like circles, squares or cylinders, which are combined to create the form. For example, create a short character by drawing an oval for the head. This sits on a squash-shape, which forms the neck and a squat body. Two short, fat cylinders create the legs. Look for the shapes that make up your character.
3. Block out the character using basic shapes. Make sure that you draw the shapes on the center of the paper.
4. Scribble in the details of the character. This is called gesture drawing. Use a series of scribble strokes to capture the character's physical characteristics. Go to the short character's face. Make light scribble marks in the middle of the face where you think the eyes go. Keep making scribble strokes until you find the right placement for them. Scribble in other face and body features.
5. Refine the drawing. You should be able to see the form of the character's body under all the scribbles. Emphasize physical characteristics that make the short character look short as you work to refine the drawing. These include short legs, a short neck, or pudgy hands at the end of short arms. Look at your reference picture. Notice how the lines curve to form the character's body. Draw lines with the same curve on your paper. Draw what you see. If you don't quite get the curve or the angle of the line right, draw it again.
6. Compare your drawing to the reference picture of the short character. Your eyes will tell you which lines need to stay. Erase the unnecessary lines and reinforce the correct ones. Gesture drawing always nets more lines than you need.
7. Shade the drawing to create contrasts. Map out the spots where you see the darker, shaded areas. Use the side of the pencil lead to draw in these areas. Move your pencil back and forth, using steady motions. Once you've mapped out the lights and darks, darken the areas that need it until the tones match the tones on the reference picture. Don't forget to shade in areas like shadows on the ground next to the character. You'll create the illusion of a short character by not only how you draw his body, but also by the details like this, which give you a sense of scale.
