Beginner's Guide to Figure Drawing

1. Introduction: Welcome to our basic figure drawing course. We are delighted to welcome you to this course on basic figure drawing. In this course, you will start by getting acquainted with the fundamental principles of figure drawing. You will learn how to create several figure sketches, and as you progress, you will also delve into the art of line drawing. Our aim is to help you gain a comprehensive understanding of the essential concepts of figure drawing. We hope this course will be both enjoyable and highly beneficial for you. To become a professional in figure drawing, you can enroll in our advanced figure drawing courses, wishing you great success in your artistic journey. Before we want to start our work, I'm just going to tell you about the tools that we need for our work. It's just a usual etch of eraser, a normal pencil, and a basic pencil. So with only these three tools, we are going to start our work. So let's go. 2. Principles of human figure drawing: Hello to all of my dear friends and welcome to a new part of tutorial with me. Okay. This time we are going to work on figure sketching, and I'm going to tell you about the principles and basics of figure sketching. So let's start together. First of all, we'd be starting with the head. For all of the figures or basically most of the figures, we will start with the head. So first, I'm just going to make the head just like that. And then I'd be placing the neck under the head based on the width of the head. And over here, I've got the shoulders. And I'm working on the shoulders. Then I also consider this part, this area for the upper body part. And then with a stepped line, I connect the waist to the shoulders. Now, this would be the waist. And of course, below the waist, we've got abdomen and pelvis area. So I just create a line over here. Then I connect these two corners together. And here we've got our abdominen pelvis. Here in the center would be the end of our pelvis area. Then I create these two lines in order to add the legs later. Now I should determine the length of the leg. This area would be the placement of the knees and in here, I would have the ankles. Okay. Now, in the place that I've determined the knees, I should create the knees or say the knee joints. And then from here, very easily I connect the pelvis to the knees. So I've got my upper leg, the thighs, and so on. Okay. Now, over here, it's our shin or our calves. Then I come down with a bit of steep. And here we go. That's it. It would be from the knees to the ankles. Okay. Over here, I've got the ankles and of course, below them would be the feet. Now, don't forget about the arms. This area is the botox area, so just going to make it around for you to understand. And if I want to divide this upper body part into two parts, this would be the placement of the chest or the breast, if it's a female. Then I place the shoulder joints with circles, and then the length of the arms would be up to here. You see a little below the pelvis. This would be the whole length of the arm. So it's going to be from the shoulders to a little below the pelvis. So if I want to consider my elbow, it would be here in the center of the body or basically the placement of the waist. And then I come down all the way to the fingers and the hands. Just like that. Then I'd be working on this other hand exactly the same way. So this is a general shape of figure sketching, and we should just do it over and over again. We're considering the same method. Creating the figure's body with these proportions, and then you can also create your figures in different postures and positions like, for example, if they're sitting, walking or any position and posture that you like. This was the most basic figure sketch that we've got here. Okay. Now we are going to work on another one with a bit more angular shape. So first of all, I'll be starting with the head again, of course, as I told you. Just like that. Starting with the head. And then you see, this is the neck. And then I went straight to the upper body part. Now, why is it shaped like this? Because this time, I want my figures hands and arms to be raised. So my figure is raising his or her arms, therefore, the shoulders are coming up and the neck cannot be seen. Then I also shape the upper body part up to here. Here we've got the chest. This would be the abdomen. I've got a little bent here in the waist area. I complete the abdomen area until I get to the waist, the end of our upper body part. And I've got it over here. And as I told you, the back or the waist is a bit curved or bent, as you can see. Then over here would be the end of the pelvis. So I've created the abdomen, and then after that, the pelvis is done here. So that would be the end of pelvis. That would be my spine. I'm just going to create it not to lose track of my body and make sure that the angle and the direction is perfect. From here I come down, it would be my first knee. I come all the way down to the foot and the knee. I want this leg to be a bit more open. You see? It's like they are on a crescent shape. They are on a semicircle line or a crescent line. But as I told you, it's going to be an open leg. If I want to make it even more complete, I can complete the legs here. It will come out shaping the buttock and all the way to the knee. Then from the knee down, again, it's got a curve, a beautiful curve until we get to the ankle. Okay. Here we go. And for this side of the leg, we also want to show that it's been seen mostly from the side because it's opened its leg a bit toward the side. And, of course, I don't forget about the calf, the shin, and the whole thing, all the way down to the feet. Okay. Well, there's only one thing we've forgotten here, and that's completing the upper body part. So these would be the shoulders. As I told you, the shoulders have came closer to the head 'cause it's raising the arms. Okay, now. This is the head, right? The ending part of the head would be the placement of the elbows, or better say the top part of the head would be the placement of the elbows. So if I stretch the arms up, the elbows would just go above the head and right on top of it on the same level. And then these would be the wrists so I connect the elbows to the wrist from both sides, and then I create the hands crossed over each other above the head. It's like maybe our figure is dancing or something. Okay. So with the same method of angles and lines, you can even create different postures of figures, you know. For example, this time, I want to create a figure which is turned around and we can see its back, but the head is also turned and twisted. Mostly turned. The head is facing us, but we can see the back of the body. I want the head to be more angular this time, tilted as well. Then from here I come down. As I told you, I just create a spine in order to make sure my lines are correct in their places. Also from here, it should come down to there. You see tilting the body. Here we place the back of the chest. Here, I would have the shoulder that I don't want to work on right now. Then I want to work on the abdomen, the waist. See? If I continue that down, I would get to the waist in here. Then it should cross the botox area. I should pass the body area and go down. Okay. Now in this area, this would be the shape of the botox, you see. We've got two parts for it, and we've connected it to the waist. Okay. Then it comes to here for this part. You see from here the movement of the leg would be towards this side. So I should also get the shape of the back of the shin or the cals. And that would be just like that. Then I get the other leg placing more in front. It's like moving forward. So this figure is moving forward by tilting the head and turning it, so one leg is in the back and one leg is in the front. Alright. And then also, don't forget about the foot, is the easiest part, basically. I just have to make a better shape for this botox area because we're looking at it from behind. So the behind should look better. I just want to form it and shape it a little better. That's why I erased it. You can always edit your work, too, you know. Okay? Now, this would be the chest. So here goes the arms, and I want the arm to move back up in front of her face. And then I'll do the same thing on this side. I bring down the arms. The elbows are around the chest and again, it turned up again. This is again another general figure shape just in a different position, but it's still very general figure. I mean, it doesn't contain any details. So that's why we call the general figure shape. It's not so basic 'cause it's got an angle and a posture, but, you know, it still does the work, okay? So I hope that I've enjoyed the figures I've created for you so far. Let's follow up. 3. Continuation of the principles of human figure drawing: Hello again, and welcome to another part of figure sketching Tutorial with me. Now we are going to work on some different other figures. So, of course, as usual, in the beginning, I'd be starting with the head. So I'll just do it. I start with the head, and then I work on the neck. Then I also work on the angle of the head and the shoulders, what angle and what posture I want them to be in. So this would be the ending part of my figures upper body part. And just like that, it would be placed. Then I would have to work on the lower body part, the pelvis area, and do not forget to connect these two with the waist. If you want to be a bit more specific, here would be the chest area or the breasts in this case. Then the back. And if you take a look at our figure, you can see it's kind of it's a three pass view, kind of. So I just place the breast, the back, the waist, connecting the upper body part to the pelvis, and I even drag it out a little bit to shape the thighs. Then pay attention. These would be the placement of the knees. So one of them would be here, I bring this down shaping a nice leg. Okay. And the next knee would be over here on this other side. Then again, I connect right a little bit above my pelvis to the knee just to shape the pelvis area, the buttock, and the thighs a bit better. Okay. Now, my dear friends. This leg is a bit more forward. So I shape it like this, a bit bigger, obviously. And this leg is a bit further. So it would be placed in this position and also a bit smaller than the one in the front we also need perspective for this. To arms are coming to this side, so I want to show that it's holding its own hands, and I want the hands to be both toward one side. First, obviously, I should determine the placement of the elbow. Here would be the placement of the elbow. Okay. And for this other arm, this would be the placement of our elbow. You see? It's definitely crossing over the body. Okay. I also raise the extra line so you can see the vein work better. See? This would be the elbow of my other arm crossing in front of the body. And then from here, I want to use I want to create, actually, the rest of the arm all the way to the fingers and hands. See, the hands are in each other and both arms are toward this side. Exactly as I said, I would want it. Okay. Now, this was our first figure. Now, let's start working on our second figure this time and see how different we can make him. This time, I want my figure to be half seated. So it's like my figure is down on one knee, like this posture for proposing. So I want the figure to be down on one knee this time. First of all, obviously, I'd be starting with a head Then I bring the neck down a little. I should consider an upper body part, of course. Then I continue the leg line and I come down with a big curve until I get to the waist area, and then I get another curve but a smaller one. This would also be the shoulder again. Here would be the chest area. I got a dent going in. So here we've got the abdomen, and of course, the pelvis. Which gets the joint for the leg, the thigh joint. If that would be my leg, the beginning of my leg, this would be the placement of the knee and that would be the ankle. Right from here, I bring down these nice lines in order to complete my leg and bring it down and from here, I go up a little in order to create the calf and here would be the ankle and the foot, of course. Just don't forget to follow the neck line for the main part of the body. Now, for the other leg, I continue my buttock line or say the pelvis line, and I bring it out forward a little. Then I place the knee over here, and then I bring the lines down in order to attach it to the ankle. So I come forward first. Then I've got the knee. Then very easily I bring it down to the ankle. See now my figure is down on one knee. And can I say posture in proposing posture in position. So you see, you can even make a story with your figures just to, you know, give them a better shave. It's like now two of my figures are proposing. They don't have any details. Right now, I'm just telling you the basics, but that's how you can do it. I should just make this part a little bigger, and of course, you know that you've got to erase the external line so that your main figure would pop out better and more. Okay. Now let's work on the arms that will be the shoulder. Here, I can get the elbow of this arm, which has gone behind its back. And this other arm is extending forward to hold the ring maybe. Okay. Yep. Make a beautiful story there. It's simple, simple figures. You just have to be a little creative, the basics of the figures are the same. Proportions are the same. You just have to be creative to create them in different postures. I bring the head a little bit down in order to make it look better based on the sorry we've just mentioned. Okay. Here we go. Okay. Let's start working on the third figure and see how we can make that one different. So I'm going to create this one again a standing pose. Again, of course, I start with the head. So here I have the neck and I want the figure of the upper body part to be in this shape with the spine. So don't forget about the shoulder line that will help you a lot in your sketching and in positioning the body. Then from here, it comes a little bit toward the inside in order to shape my figures upper body part, see? That was the placement of the arm here, I've got the abdomen coming down from here. Then with a circular shape, we come down in order to shape the pelvis here. My dear friends, you see, over here, the thigh and the leg is in this shape. Right from the beginning, I'm extending it a little bit. Then this other leg and this other thigh, again, is a bit open toward forward. Then from here, it would be like this. Bring down all the way to the foot. Okay. And over here, I've got the other handle calf and bringing it down to the ankles. Now, the ending of this part and the shape of the foot, even the position of the foot. M see, my dear friends, even the shape of the arm in the hand is like it's leaning towards something. I want the position of the arms to be in a way that it's leaning towards something, for example, a wall, a tree, or something, anything. Okay. I would also work on this other arm bringing it all the way down, and the rest of it from the elbow down is going behind the leg or it can be on the side of it. That's your choice. So just as easy as that, we also created another figure three figures in three different angles, directions, and postures. I hope you've enjoyed it. So try to practice a lot. And let's do the next episode with more figures. 4. Drawing human figure with linear method: Hello again and welcome to a new part of this figure tutorial with me. Okay. In this part, we are going to work in another method in order to create our figure, and that method is division or separation. So first of all, I just draw a straight vertical line, which is also very long and tall. And then I separate this line into nine parts with ten lines, of course. So I use ten lines, ten horizontal lines in order to divide and separate this vertical line into nine parts, seven, eight, nine, and S one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. And the ninth part should be smaller than the other parts. So all the parts are more, you know, similar to each other. They're almost the same size, but the last part, the ninth part should be smaller. So we divide this into nine parts and the ninth one would be smaller. Okay. Now, what should we do? We should consider that in each part, what body parts we can place? Or basically, we can say that, how many of these parts do we need in each body part. Now, the first part is the head, obviously. As I told you, we always do that. So I'm going to create the head over here, right next to these lines. So I place my model's head right over here. Now, the second part until its middle parts would be our neck, until the middle parts of our second part, until the centre of our middle part of our second part, sorry, would be our neck. Now, from this center of the second part down would be our shoulders. And then it will continue until the center of the third part. You see? This would be the shape of the shoulder until the end of the chest area. One, two, three, and we are on the fourth part. The fourth part is our abdominal part. Okay. Then I come a little bit lower than the fourth part. Then over here, I would start the pelvis area. I place the pelvis over here. Okay. Two, three, four, five. So in the fifth part, I've generally created from the top of the head until the end of the pelvis. Now, from the fifth one until the seventh one. See, this would be sixth and seventh. Until the seventh one, it would be the position of the knee. Okay, so over here, I've got the knees. Then from the knees until my ninth part would be the rest of the leg, the calves. So the ankles are basically on the beginning of the ninth part. And that is why I told you to create the ninth part, smaller because that would actually be for the feet, which are smaller body parts, as you know. Okay, now, let's see how is it for the arms? The arms definitely will be starting from here, the shoulders, so they start in the second and half. And then in the abdominal area would be the elbow, the placement of the elbow. And then from here, it comes down and until the end of the pelvis would be the wrist. And of course, the hand below that. Okay. I'll do the same thing for the other side as well. See? This was just so easy. Now let's try to create our figures in another posture but with the same method. Almost the same method. But the point is that I do not want to create the line again. You can do it in order to make yourself practice. You can also have this vertical line for each one of the figures that you create. But I'm just going to move on and move past that to make my work quicker and you can sing more. But you can create your vertical line alongside each one of the figures that you want to create. So I've got the head and neck, and this time the shoulders are a bit sideways stip. So definitely the ending part of the chest area would be the sideways, too, because the upper body parts just tilt together. This would be the placement of the abdominal and stomach, and then I also want my pelvis to be a bit tilted, but on the opposite angle. And then I connect this area. Okay. These parts would be, the lowest parts, and those are the placement of the legs, so I want to create this leg like that, and this one would be a little bit more open. Okay. So first, I should determine the placement of my knees. And then I should complete the whole leg. So I come down from all these parts to get these shapes pretty well. Okay. This is one of the legs. For the next one, I'll do the exact same thing. Okay. Here we go. Now, how do the arms look like? Let's see. The first arm is going to be just very normal. I just drag it straight down. From here, I've got the elbow. That would be the wrist, of course. And just like that, it's thin. Now, I want my other arm to be a bit more bent and, you know, coming up from the elbow. Again, it's like my elbows are in a crescent shape. From here, that will be the wrist and that will be the hand placed on one side of the pelvis. So just like that, we could actually create our figure in this very easy shape. Okay, we're going to create another shape for that. How can we work on these figures when we want to make them sit? Let's see how we can do that. So I want my figure this time to be seated on the sideways. So I got the head, the neck, then I start creating the chest area. Again, I insist that it's on the sideways and it's sitting. That will be the abdominal here. I've got the pelvis. Just like that. And then from here, I should create the legs. Now, let's see how we can have the legs. So this would be actually the leg. That would be the knees, and it comes down to create the other foot. But the other leg would be stretched out. I've got the knee and then it comes down again to shape the ankle and the foot. As you can see, one leg is higher than the other, and one leg is more stretched than the other. Now what happens to the arms? Well, the arms start from here very easily. I drag one of them toward behind. And again, I drag it even more. And then I place the hand on the same level as my pelvis or my body area. And then for this other arm, I'll do the same thing. So this is my figure in sitting position. See, my dear friends. Now, you can actually create any model that you like, any posture, any position that you like that you can even see. So first try to determine the joints like this, place the lines correctly, or even as I told you, you can create your vertical line. It's just like creating a map. See? This analyctic method, it's easy just to create your figure like a map. And then you can actually do and perform what you see on your paper with this very easy method. It's really easy, but you should actually practice a lot to get a handle of the proportions to know where everything goes, and get the sizes and angles correctly. Okay, let's move on into the next part, which I'm going to work even more figures for you. I hope you've enjoyed this part of my tutorial. And you would follow us in the next part. So don't forget that for all of these tutorials, as complete as they are, as easy as they are, you should practice it at home over and over again in order to get more skills and be more advanced. So follow us in the next part and practice more. 5. Continue drawing the human figure with the linear method: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the last part of figure sketching tutorial with me. Okay. And this part, again, with the method of our previous session and our previous part, we are going to create more figures in different postures in different positions, so you get to know it better and make your hand easier with it. Okay? Just like usual, I start with my model's head and then I want my model to be very normal standing, but I want it to be in the three faces view. So I just created those lines for you to understand it's in a three faces view. I placed the neck. I want to work on the shoulders. Until the end of the chest area. I want to work on it. I want to give it a bit of volume in order to show that my figure is in a three pass view. You see? That's why it's upper body part looks like a cube. So then I got the abdomen with that line coming down connecting to the pelvis. Again, I give some volume to the pelvis as well in order to show the angles better. Okay? It's fine. Then we should determine the placement of the legs, of course, very easily. I just place the legs in their own places coming down to the ankles and feet, obviously. Okay. So as I told you, it was a very normal posture, but it was just in a three faces view. So most of our right arm is behind the body, so most of it cannot be seen. So I just bring it down. We can see the elbow, and we can see a bit of the hand because it has came out. So most of that arm could not be seen because our figure is in a three faces view. But this time for this other arm, we can see it completely. So we've got the shoulders coming down to the elbows and coming all the way down to the wrists and the hands, of course. Let's work on more figures together. Again, I start with placing the head over here. Okay. Then this would be the face of my figure like that, the neck, the shoulders. This time, my cube is going to be toward this side because my three faces view is on the opposite angle. That's how it is. Then I've got the pelvis of my model which has turned a little but it still has its volume. Then I also determine the lower body part, the pelvis, here would be the joint of the leg, and here would be the joint of the other leg. So I want to create it like this, so it comes all the way down. Again, my knees would be on a crescent line. So that shows that one of the legs are more open. The si toward back. And here I've got my foot. Okay. Now over here, I have a standing pose. See. Denies more stretched and then the foot. It's more of the weight is on this. Then for the arms, here goes the shoulders. They come down from here and from here, they come to the chest, having the hand on the chest actually. Exactly, again, on a crescent shape, I place the other elbow over here, and then I bring the other arm straight down. Okay. Then let's start working on our third figure. You see how many different figures you can create with this very easy method and easy postures. You can even create hard postures with this easy method. Okay. The third posture is like my figure is walking. Let's see how we can create that. Obviously, first, again, we start with the head. This time, I want my body to be in the three faces view again. Or maybe even some kind of side view. Let's just make it into a side view to make it more different. So that will be the volume of the body part for me because it's on the side view. And then the abdominal as a line, and of course, then we get to the pelvis, again, the side view. So it also has some volume as a cube shape. Okay. No. Let's see. My figure over here is walking. The legs are actually colliding together, but it doesn't matter, it's just practice. I just try to make it walk. The other leg, the leg in the back should be a bit more angular from the knee down. It's a bit open from the thighs and then from the knee down, it's a bit bend toward back. Then also the ankle, we do the same thing. Here we go just like that. Then I also create the arms in a very normal and usual way. Okay. Now, I get the other hand and the other arm with a bit of angular, just like the leg of that side. Okay. Let's work on our fourth figure and see how that can be done. I want the fourth figure to be lying on the ground. Well, let's see how it's done. I want it to lie on the stomach. Well, let's see how we can actually get it done. So over here, I just create a line at first in order to show the surface of the ground. Okay. So because I should consider my figure's body to be on the ground, this time, first of all, I want to work on the body parts first, and then I create the head or other parts because I want to definitely place the body part, the upper body part on the ground. So this is one of the rarest times that we don't start with a head. So that would be the stomach or the end of the upper body part, then the neck, then the head above it or on top of it, better say. In this way, the stomach or the abdominal area would be definitely touching the surface on the ground. Then also the pelvis would do the same. Again, touching the surface. And then both legs until the knees again, are on the ground and touching it now. One of the knees are coming up completely in 90 degrees, and the other one would be little bit more angular. So raising the knees, raising the legs basically from the knees up. Now let's work on the arms. This would be the place of a shoulder coming down. Here, the elbow will be placed on the ground and then stretched forward in order to have the wrist and the hand. For the other side, it's the exact same, but most of it cannot be seen because it's in a side view. So this is my figure in a lying down position on its stomach. Okay. I've got another figure shape that is sitting but has turned so we can see it's behind or it's back. Okay. So first of all, again, I want to work on the head. This time, my figure is a bit hunched and it's like sitting very loose and not stretching anything special. So that's why I don't have any neckhe because it's hunched and the shoulders are up. Then I bring it down to the end of the chest area. I drag this line in order to show the abdominal area, and then I connect it to the pelvis the pelvis is a bit more stretched to the sides because it's sitting. Over here, I've got the shoulders, obviously. Now, over here in the shoulders, the arms would be shaped like this, and then right from here, it comes toward the front of my body. So it's like both hands and both arms are going toward the front of the body and in the middle or between the legs. Then for the knees, I want to drag them out. And then bend them toward inside again. It's like, I don't know, my figure is sitting in a butterfly pose, maybe. We can see it from behind, so that's what we guess. The ankles are not showing obviously. So here it is. This is the figure in a sitting pose. Okay. Let's do another figure together. The figure we just sitting, but it's in a three faces view this time. So this figure is also sitting in a sitting posture, but in three phases so we've got some volume for the upper body parts, the shoulders area. I've already created the head, the neck, and now it would be the shoulder, then I work on the abdominal shape, and that goes my models pelvis. Cause it's sitting, it's a bit sideways, you see? It's not a straight. Okay. Now, we work on the legs. One of the legs should come out from this side obviously. I want the knees to be bent and angular. They both come up to this position and then also they come down in this position. That would be the ankle and the foot the other knee will be exactly on this one, so we cannot see it properly. But the other leg also is extending forward. It's just like the both legs are on top of each other. You see? If I've got the shoulders over here, I place the elbow here. It will be bent from here and there I can have my hands, and then I'll do the exact same thing from this side, that will be the shoulder. Extending the arm here, I've got the elbow, and then the rest of the hand is crossing the other one on the knees. Placing the arms on the knees in a cross shape. So just that easy and that enjoyable. You can create your figures in different postures and different positions that you like. So I hope you enjoyed this season and this chapter of figure creating and figure sketching. See you in next courses.