How to Draw People

How to Draw People2 How to Draw People Many artists and painters take the learning process to draw people as one of the ultimate challenges of proving their creative skills. This is because it incorporates all that one learns about perspective, proportion, shapes and shading. Moreover, it is a subject area in which both the person and the artist are intimately acquainted. Hence even the slightest mistake can come into notice of the viewer, which further adds to the challenge. When drawing people, the common errors that occur is about the proportion since every individual is unique in both size and shape. Your drawing has to be the mirror image of the actual person is not what basically counts for the subject.

But there are a few basic concepts which should be familiar to the artist regarding the basic human figure. Such notable features and aspects that holds good for this subject are discussed in brief under the following subheads: -

Drawing Materials and Environment

It is always advisable to start your drawing using light shaded graphite pencils. This is because you can rub the unwanted scribbled sketches or lines without leaving any marks on the drawing paper. A relatively soft eraser should be used to avoid leaving any roughness on the surface of the drawing paper. Otherwise such rough areas will be visible on the sheet after adding colors to the outline drawn. There is every possibility of darkening your lines as your drawing begins to take a shape during the process. You should try drawing your subject in a place where there is adequate amount of light. Besides it is countable if you pick a place which is comparatively silent and peaceful for your drawing. This is because often minute observations are laid down while drawing a human figure as your subject which demands a calm and quiet environment to gain more concentration. All these factors add more life and value to your drawing.

Specifications and Proportions

There are some specific parts of a human body which needs more attention while drawing them on a sheet of paper. You can put some simple mathematical method for drawing the human face. Draw an oval shaped structure on your page and trace a horizontal line directly through its centre. This is the line the eyes. Divide the horizontal line just drawn into five equal sections. The structure of the eyes will fall in the second and the fourth sections. The nose will fit just in the middle of the two eyes you have just drawn. But make sure it will be a little below the line of the eyes. You can draw the ears on both sides of the head, going about one-third down the head. The tip of the ear holds the beginning line of the upper lip in a human face. There are also a few simple rules governing the proportions of the arms, hands, legs, and feet which are found valid in a basic structure of a human body. Roughly a hand bears the equivalent length as the face starting from the chin to the center of the forehead while the foot is almost equivalent in size of the forearm. These specifications should not have to be accurate but holds good in drawing a human body.

The above mentioned points and features should be pursued by an individual while sketching the different parts of a human in his subject. You can also surf the Internet and some relevant books on drawing human beings to add more details in your subject.