How to Draw the Human Figure

The best way to start learning body proportions is to study the classic division of the human body into eight equal parts, from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet. Each of these eight parts is roughly the size of a head.  The four lower parts are the legs. The knee cap is places on the second division. The waist is on the fifth and the top part consists of the head. Remember that these are idealized measures. No two people look exactly the same (with the exception of identical twins) so you have to change the body proportions slightly if you want to depict a specific model. For example most people have a slightly larger head and shorter legs than this classical template. On the other hand if you want a more exaggerated look, like a comic superhero, you might want exaggerate specific parts (especially those related to his/her superpowers).

That's all relatively simple if you’re drawing a person just standing straight up. But in most cases you'll want to add perspective and action to the character; make him bend, jump or crunch for example. Then it gets much more difficult to compare the sizes of the different body parts, an arm extending towards you will seem shorter and so on. To get around this problem you have to think of the human body as a collection of simple shapes. If you think about the arm as a cylinder it will be much easier to figure out how it should look like in 3D.

Buy a wooden drawing mannequin (model , can be bought from stationary shops) and place it on your desk. The mannequin is made up of simple shapes and is a great way to learn how to keep the body part sizes in perspective as it moves in different ways. Keep practicing and you’ll soon notice you get the hang of it.

Once you practiced enough using drawing mannequins , it's time to perfect your abilities. Drawing from real life is an excellent way to perfect your skills in drawing the human figure. Not only will you improve your knowledge of the shape and proportions of the body but you'll also learn where to add shadings and shadows and how to draw all those small details that make a drawing more lively and natural.

When drawing with a model it’s a good idea to vary the times for the different poses. Longer poses, perhaps 10 or 15 minutes each, which will give you time to focus on all details and shading, alternated with quick 30 second poses. 30 seconds might sound extremely quick and absurd, but this will force you concentrate on the main forms. You will learn to quickly see what is important to create a realistic drawing, and what is not.

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DRAWING A FOOT

A lot of things must be considered in drawing the feet. First, the feet’s shape must be portrayed with an accord to the size of the character. It can be fat or slight, large or small depending on the size of the other parts. Second, the views and situation affects the outward looks of the feet. Lastly, proportions and shapes must be exact. The curves are emphasized as well as the bending of the fingers.


 

Geometric Structure
The first step we’re going to do is to divide the feet into three parts. Each has their own geometric shape depiction. As you can see, the heel is represented by a trapezoid, and a triangle is horizontally divided to represent the upper part of our feet and the lower part which includes the fingers as it is shown in the figure.
And then, by rotating the figure 180 degrees horizontally we can see that the other side of the feet shows another picture different from before. This is the inner part of the feet. Instead of doing the same way as we did before, we draw an arc passing through the intersection point of the three geometric figures to indicate the hollow part under our feet.
Fleshing
Those geometric figures would be fine if we are to draw robots. But since we’re not then we will add some flesh on it. Fleshing is adding curves and irregular shapes to our feet for it to look like one. Observation is very useful when drawing something as complex as the feet. Study your own real feet for you to learn how these curves are depicted on your drawing.
Final Retouch
The final shape of the feet must be properly outlined. Unnecessary lines or sketches must be erased to see the clear picture of your work. You may add some detail on your drawing to make it more believable, shade portions to indicate tones and shadows. Finally you are done with your master piece.

Feet can be difficult to draw because they are an odd combination of shapes as well as the other body parts. But mastering the methods of drawing body parts is the beginning for one to be a skilled artist. Now that you learn one of these methods and practice mastering it you will soon realize a method of your own. Drawing will be no more problem no matter what views, no matter what action poses. Be creative, just practice drawing, practice more and practice always.

DRAWING CARS

Drawing a car is easy but if it comes on drawing one that looks real then that is another issue. There are three major steps on drawing real looking car. Choose your car model first, one that you like the most and which you think is easy to draw. After deciding what to draw start depicting the image on your clean sheet of paper.
Making it as a Perspective Drawing
A perspective drawing is one way of representing a three-dimensional image on a plane where it appears as realistic as possible. It is a way wherein you are to choose a vanishing point and project all the possible lines or edges of the car from it. In that manner it will appear as if it is projected on some views rather than just facing the viewers. There are two rules to be noticed in this method. First, parallel lines or the edges of your car must meet at your vanishing point. Second, objects become smaller as they appear closer that same point. This is a simple way on building a mental impression on your viewers even if they don’t have any art background.

 

Varying the Tone and Contrast
Another way on producing a good quality drawing in black and white is varying its tone and contrast. Just imagine how an image would appear in a two-dimensional plane with only straight lines and curves, would it be beautiful? The answer is no. As an example, people are being attracted on portraits that convey different color intensity, brighter or darker. In reality thing that we see become blur if it’s farther. To apply this on our drawing we are to shade some portions of our car with the use of different types of pencils. After doing this we are now ready to draw our car’s shadow.
Adding Shadows
Shadow is a space with the absence of light or light can’t reach because of some obstacle. Every object can create its shadow if light is projected to it. Drawing a shadow is easier than the varying the tone and contrast. Try to think of a point where light is to be projected to your figure. From that point draw lines that extend on the vehicle’s edges and draw the same image of your car with those points and shade it.
These three tips will be a big help not only in drawing cars but also in sketching other objects. If you find some difficulties on drawing your own model after some tries then you can have a picture placed in front of you as your guide. It is more preferable for a first timer to have some picture as a reference. In that sense they can think of better images and a way of drawing the next time they would draw a car.
Drawing cars and other images involves different kinds of techniques. With your drawing skills and knowledge on these techniques you can almost draw anything. It requires a lot of practice in order to improve, so next time you draw a car place the driver or a passenger in it.