How To Draw On A Matlab Figure

Figure cartoon is a fundamental skill for artists, but 1 of the hardest to truly master. In this article, I explicate my personal process and offer some advice to assist you meliorate your effigy drawings.

On this folio we'll walk through how to draw a female person figure. Jump to page 2 for a step by step guide to cartoon male figures, or folio 3 for a closer look at gesture drawing.

Although having knowledge of the proportions of a human being figure is of import, comport in mind that these are only a guide. Trying to shoehorn every person you draw into an eight-head-high ideal is a shortcut to uninspiring figure drawing.

To attain style we need to work with gesture, the spirit of the pose, the fluid nature in line. If nosotros have gesture too far, though, our drawing will look wobbly. To counter that we need to likewise work with a solid structure, just besides much structure can make for a strong drawing. Therein lies the great balancing human activity of effigy cartoon that we volition explore here.

For a more basic guide, see how to draw a person .

In a higher place you can watch i of my-depth video tutorials where I explore how to get the about from references. For stride-by-stride written instructions on how to draw a female figure, read the tutorial beneath.

After more drawing tips? Have a look at our guide to how to draw pretty much annihilation, or check out our essential advice on foreshortening in fine art or fifty-fifty these charcoal cartoon tips. Alternatively, become yourself kitted out with the best pencils around.

With that out of the style, allow's become started on how to draw the female figure…

Click the icon in the top right of each image to enlarge it.

01. Beginning with simple shapes

Roughly drawn nude female figure — Offset establish your basic proportions

Start with your attention level set to high. I use a small, two-finger wide piece of charcoal for my initial sketch. Describe the basic proportions, making any adjustments required – especially if you're working from a photo.

02. Add more sophisticated lines

Line drawing of a female figure — Employ a gestural grip for this phase

Starting your figure drawing with basic shapes makes information technology easier to draw more than sophisticated lines on top. Here, I've drawn the face up using small shapes inside a large shape. This is two of my disciplines in action at one time: big to pocket-size; and simple to sophisticated.

Annotation the gestural grip in action. Cartoon with our gestural hand enables us to use the rhythm of our arm rather than our stiff wrist to make our marks. It gives usa the freedom to draw long fluid lines on the paper (for more advice, see this article on how to hold a pencil correctly).

03. Exaggerate the curves

Female figure with more detail added — You don't demand to re-create exactly what you lot see

I'm constantly analysing the photo reference. On closer inspection, what appears to be a foot is actually the talocrural joint twisting. I decide to depict the classic shape of a foot to make the drawing more than clear. I'thousand improving what I observe in the photo in terms of artistic mark-making. Note how many times I exaggerate the curves to make the drawing more lively.

04. Lay in broad tones in charcoal

Female figure with shading added — Fourth dimension to add some depth

At this stage I pace back from the art to cheque the drawing has solid construction. I lay in wide tones with my charcoal. Remember, our goal here is to interpret the reference. If we guess success on how close nosotros re-create, we'll end upwardly with a stiff drawing that looks similar a distorted photo.

05. Alloy tone into form

Hand smudging charcoal to form shadows — Blending the cartoon means you tin adjust anything you want to

Up until at present I've juggled gesture with structure. It's an okay drawing, only naught fashionable. This is the journeyman stage, from which we can postage our own manner. Using tissue, I alloy tone into grade, this also fades the drawing and gives me a 2nd chance to draw better on summit.

06. Add together more tonal gestures

Finger smudging charcoal — Make some final tweaks to your figure cartoon

Here I'chiliad making small-scale structural adjustments and adding more than tonal gestures. This second time effectually goes apace – but a matter of minutes, which is a small investment for an 60 minutes-long cartoon. From this point onwards, my quest is to farther explore style in the drawing.

07. Recollect, if it looks incorrect, it is incorrect!

Figure drawing with ribcage area corrected — Sometimes parts that are anatomically accurate volition look wrong

I use shadows to push the gesture, but omit the shadow of the xiphoid procedure (the small bone under the pointed curvation of the ribcage). Information technology looks odd here. Even though it'south correct, it violates ane of my art laws: If information technology looks wrong, it's wrong, even if information technology'due south right!

08. Use a paper stump for adjustments

Hand using a drawing stump, with paper underneath to prevent smudging — Push charcoal around rather than adding more

Using a newspaper stump, I push around the charcoal that's already on the paper rather than lay more charcoal downwards. This keeps the drawing light and fresh. I'm also mindful to always be drawing even when blending. I use a sheet of paper to prevent me smudging the cartoon.

Struggling with to make the medium work for you? Check out our ten adept tips for charcoal drawing.

09. Create highlights with an eraser

Charcoal figure with highlights added — Think of the eraser as another cartoon tool

I 'describe' highlights with a kneadable eraser. I call back of the eraser as a cartoon tool rather than a correction tool. Slowly does information technology, especially in the early stages. Drawing fast is a imitation economic system – if we rush a cartoon and so nosotros inevitably spend nearly of our fourth dimension fixing mistakes.

10. Take a break

Charcoal figure — Taking a suspension means y'all'll spot inaccuracies more easily

I take a brusque coffee intermission abroad from the drawing and come up back with a fresh eye. A break helps me encounter the bugbears more than conspicuously when I return. I come across the breasts are likewise close in shape while the lower rib cage is too smooth. I make modest changes to both bugbears and am ready for the large finish.

11. Add in a background

Charcoal being smudged using a chamois leather — A chamois leather is useful for creating abstruse marks

I lay down a big swath of charcoal, and then smudge it with a chamois leather textile, playing with textures as I become. I learned of the chamois from Glenn Vilppu a few years back and it's been role of my cartoon armory e'er since. Hither I utilise it for abstract marks to footing the figure and add way.

12. Introduce the elements of fantasy

Female figure with breastplate and jewellery added — The figure here is reimagined as a vampire

For my image, I imagined a vampire in a bloodlust trance. With large charcoal sticks I draw abstruse shapes then pencil in the breast plates and jewellery using hard erasers for highlights.

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