Figure Drawing: Learn to Draw the Human Body Step by Step

1. Introduction: Hello, and welcome to this course. I'm truly happy to have you here. In this class, we will focus on one of the most rewarding subjects to draw, the human body. You will learn how to simplify the figure into basic shapes, understand the proportions of the body, and build a solid foundation that will make drawing people much easier. We will also study individual body parts, including the hand, back, chest, and more, learning how to approach each one step by step. Finally, we will put everything into practice with two complete projects a drawing of Michelanglo David and a female figure viewed from behind. Whether you are new to field drawing or looking to improve your skills, this class will give you practical techniques that you can apply to any future drawing. Let's get started right now. 2. Analysis of the human body: Before drawing the human body, it is essential to know how to simplify it with basic shapes, just like we could do with every elements like objects, animals, landscapes. Every human body can be divided into simple forms like rectangle, squares, trapezoid, circles, et cetera. So the first thing that we are going to do together before actually drawing is analyzing several human bodies and try to identify how we could simplify it, divide it into basic forms. So that's the first thing that we will do with several photos. And then we will be drawing together some human bodies with simple shapes. Before focusing on the contours and the details, it is important to learn how to simplify it. And once we are finished with this figure drawing with simple shapes, don't throw away your drawings because we will use them again to progress and work on the more precise and more refined contours. So grab your pencils and let's get started together. Drawing a person, it's usually best to start with a simplified representation before refining the contours in detail. So let's see how we can proceed with this woman. First, the head can be enclosed within a more or less oval shaped circle. Then for the neck, of course, this depends on the person. A trapezoid could work well. For the arms, I can use simple rectangles like this. To connect the neck to the shoulder and the elbow to the forearm, I like to use circles for the joints. Then for the forearms, I continue again with rectangles. The hand can now be represented with simple shapes as well. Before drawing them more precisely. The torso can be divided into two polygonal shapes. The upper part is not exactly a trapezoid, but we do find one for the lower section. Next, for the legs, they can also be broken down into simple shapes. I use rectangles down to the knees, marking the knee joints again with circles before continuing with rectangles for the lower legs. And at the ankles, as it is a joint, again, I also place a circle. So we now have a fairly basic figure, and we can see how easily it can be broken down into simple shapes. Now, this is our next model. What I would like you to do next is to take your sheets preferably printed and first, take some time to imagine how this person could be broken down into simple shapes. And once you have done that, we'll do it together brown person to break down this person into simple shapes. And this approach will help with better understanding and training. So let's get started. Okay, so we'll meet again in 30 seconds. You have the timer displayed at the top. If you're ready earlier, feel free to skip ahead in the video to start breaking down this model. Quite simply, I can start by drawing a circle for the head, followed by a small trapezoid for the neck. For the torso, I can use a trapezoid as well. You don't necessarily have to start from top to bottom. If there's an element that seems easier, you can absolutely begin with that instead. For the upper part, I can group it into a rectangular shape. And within this rectangle, I can add a few small polygonal shapes to divide it. That's also a perfectly valid approach. The key is to keep it as simple as possible. For the legs, I will do the same as with the woman we broke down earlier. So this is an approach I suggested for this man, but if you did it differently, that can work just as well. So now let's move on to the next model. But this is our next model with this woman looking on the side. So just like before with the man, I'll let you 30 seconds before we start breaking down into simple shapes. I'll start with a novel. It's the work we'll do on the head later that will make it appear tilted and looking on the side. So for the torso, there's clearly a rectangle that stands out, and for the visible part of the arm, I can draw a small triangle. On the other side, I can represent the shoulder with a sort of circle followed by rectangles for the arm and the forearm as well. For the lower part of the body, there are a few visible elements due to the skirt. I can start with a simple trapezoid before continuing with a long rectangle. Also, keep in mind that there's not necessarily a single assign shaped for each body part. Often, the same shapes will be used, but we adapt based on what we see. So here is our new model, and once again, take 30 meseconds to think before we begin. And This time, the shape is a bit less obvious, so we can start with the head using novel as usual. One thing I often say is to begin with the most evident elements. And once those are in place, the rest falls into place more naturally. One of the more obvious elements here is the lay, which, like before, can be broken down into simple shapes, though it is positioned in a rather unusual way. Another clear element is the shoulder joint, which can be represented with a circle like we did before, and we can do the same on the overside for the over arm using rectangles for the arm. Next, we have the neck area, which can be represented with a small trapezoid. As for the torso, I can group it into a sort of broad rectangle. As you will see, this rectangle shapes the upper part and then a small triangle fits in for the lower section. So this is one way to break it down. Now let's move on to this new seated model. Let's move on to this man and start by representing his head with an ovel shape. Then I will group the torso into a large shape which resemble a rectangular trapezoid. Inside, I can draw the arms using simple shapes just as we have been doing so far. Next, I can have this small triangle next to the i thigh. For the phi itself, I can divide it into a slightly rounded rectangle for the crad receps while the chin, the sin can be represented with a rectangular cylinder. The Oleks comes together more naturally. Now let's move on to our second to last model, once again, a seated man. Moving on to the head, so I can use an oval again for the head for the torso I can group everything into a slightly rectangular shape while inside, I will represent the arm once again using simple shapes. On the side, the left arm can almost entirely fit within this triangle shape with a circle again for the elbow. The thigh is slightly shortened due to the perspective, but that's okay. I can still mark it like this. For the right leg, I initially grouped everything together, but inside, it might have been better to clearly separate the knee. Now let's move on to our final model. For this final pose, I will once again start with the head using an ovel. Then I think the entire torso can be represented with this rectangle before moving on to the arms. I mark the shoulder joints with circles and once again, use the small rectangles for the rest of the arms. Even though this pose might have initially seemed complex, we can see that it's actually quite simple to construct using basic shapes like circles and rectangles for the entire body. Now that it's finished, it is time for practice. 3. Drawing the human body with simple shapes: Now that we have finished analyzing these different models, I have an exercise for you to put this into practice. For a limited time, 2 minutes with a timer displayed on the screen, you will need to try drawing the person that will appear using only simple shapes. New models will also appear, so feel free to pause the video to analyze them before starting. Then in exactly 2 minutes, try to break down and sketch the figure using simple forms. This exercise is designed to help you work quickly. By doing it rapidly, you won't have time to overthink or worry about making your outlines perfectly precise. The goal here is simply to construct the figure using basic shapes. It is an excellent way to train and to get better at this. So let's get started with this woman as our first model, and we analyze it before this one. So let's get started. Well, let's get started. Personally, I decided to begin with the head area using an oval, followed by a trapezoid for the neck. Then I moved on to the arms. I decided to start with these elements because progressing from top to bottom felt more natural to me. However, if for any reason you prefer to start somewhere else rather than the head, that's completely fine. Choose the approach that works best for you. Important thing with this exercise is that it doesn't matter if your result isn't perfect or if you feel like you might struggle, what matters is practicing? You have to start and try. Your shapes may not be perfect on the first attempt, but we repetition and after working through a few more models, you'll likely improve significantly. The key here is to focus only on the basic shapes, keeping it as simple as possible. We avoid worrying about details like clothing folds, hair texture or precise contour. The goal is to capture the essential structure, especially with this model who has a fairly neutral pos now I am almost finished, and the timer is also about to run out. Looking at my drawing, what I noticed is that I might have made the pelvis a bit too wide. So if I have the time, that's something I will adjust on my drawing. Okay, so we are reaching the end of the exercise. I'll just erase the adjusted contours and then we'll move on to the next model. So here we go now with this new model, I'm going to use the shape breakdown we did earlier and starting with the head and then with the chest section. So we saw that the chest could be breakdown into two kind of trapezoids or rectangle, and that's exactly what I am beginning to do. You will notice that at times when drawing my shapes, especially circles, to make sure they are well rounded, I tend to mimic the motion before actually drawing. This helps me ensure a better stroke, and I also apply this technique to other lines, as you can see in some places. So here we go now with the second drawing. For joints like the knees and elbows, I tend to draw them using a circle, even if they aren't necessarily visible. It's somewhat reassuring and I like doing it because it helps me clearly distinguish them from the other parts of the leg. It's just a habit I have developed. If you find it useful, feel free to use it as well. But if you don't feel the need, don't force it. It's entirely up to you and how you prefer to work. So I have finished drawing this man, but the timer hasn't quite run out yet. If you haven't finished, take your time to complete your drawing and we'll continue once you are done. Now, let's move on to the portrait of this woman. Her head is slightly tilted to the side, so I can also tilt a little bit my circle, slightly to the right to indicate the direction of her gaze. However, it will mainly be the facial features that define the rightward direction. For the torso, we previously so that it consists of a large rectangle. Now I place the shoulder and elbow joints, which is helpful because it allows me to position the different elements of the drawing in relation to each other. That's also one of the reasons I like to mark these joints. Next, we have this large trapezoid for pelvis, which is slightly accentuated by the flow of a dress. From there, I can work on the forearm, which aligns with the trapezoid. And for the left side, where we can only see a small portion of the arm, I can complete it with a triangle. Finally, I finish with address. Once again, the timer hasn't completely run out, but that's not a problem. Take your time to complete your drawing. If you haven't finished yet, no rush, there's still more than 40 seconds. And otherwise, you can skip forward 40 seconds in the video to move on to the next model. Let's move on to this new model featuring a man in a somewhat unusual position. This is great because it has variety and slightly increases the difficulty level. For his neck, due to his posture, we need to create a relatively white shape, a large trapezoid extending to the shoulders before continuing with the torso, which takes on a more rectangular form. As I progress, stopping at the arm here becomes a useful reference point since I know that the leg will need to pass through both the torso and the arm at this spot. Using other elements as guide can be really helpful in entering proper placement. So when working on the man's right leg, I know it must pass through the specific area near the arm, and I can always adjust it later. For the proportions of your drawing, while drawing with shapes right now, don't overthink it for now. We are just getting started with drawing the human body. So at this stage, focus on doing your best with these simple shapes. Later, I will share tools that will help you ensure proper proportions, but we'll get to that a bit later. Now I finish my drawing with this last leg. The timer won't run out completely, but if you haven't finished yet, don't worry, take your time. And also, if you go beyond the two minute mark, it's not a big deal. The key is to develop a certain speed when working with these basic shapes. But if you do a little bit more than 2 minutes, well, that's okay. You will get better with time. Let's move on to this new drawing of a seated man, a position that can be a bit tricky. However, by breaking it down into simple shapes, it suddenly becomes much easier to tackle. So for his neck and torso, I connected both elements, resulting in a somewhat unusual polygonal shape. From there, I continue working on the different parts of the figure. As I mentioned earlier, starting with simple shapes using a marker made the process much more manageable. But with practice, you will see that you won't always need to sketch these basic shapes with marker on your reference. Instead, your brain will naturally break them down before you even start drawing. This will make the process feel much more intuitive and much quicker. This approach is especially useful for pauses like this one, which are slightly unusual. In such cases, body parts unusual or you may feel a bit more uncomfortable that when a person is standing in front of you. In such cases, body parts may appear foreshortened or positioned in ways that differ from what we are used to drawing. Using simple shapes as a foundation as we are doing here, make the whole process much more approachable and much more easier. And here, even though we are only using simple shapes, we can already recognize the person we see that matches this reference photo. The position looks correct and the proportions seem fairly accurate, even though I haven't specifically measured or checked them. This shows that by using simple shapes, we can establish a solid foundation for the figure, ensuring that everything falls into place naturally. So let's get started with this new model, ano seated pause. As usual, I begin with the head and work my way down. This has become a habit for me, and over time, you'll develop your own preferred methods as well. You'll likely find yourself approaching each drawing in a similar way. For me, working from top to bottom helps maintain good proportions throughout the drawing. In this case, using reference points by comparing elements to one another makes things much easier. For example, I know that this hand resting on his seat aligns with the crease of his elbow. Well, this hand resting on his shirts, I mean, yes, it aligns with his elbow. So I place it accordingly. Similarly, his overhand, which hangs down along the side of the chair, reaches about the same level as his leg. So by constantly comparing different parts of the body to each other, placing them correctly becomes much simpler. I also notice that his knee isn't very far from his hand, so I can position the joint accordingly. I'll be sharing various proportion techniques related to the human body, but one that I always rely on and that is universally useful is comparing elements relative to one another. That's something I do a lot in these drawings. When sketching with simple shapes like this, it's almost like putting your brain on autopilot for a few moments. You shouldn't overthink. Just draw instinctively without hesitating too much. This stage should be quick and almost feel like a rough draft. Once it's done, you can move on to refining and making adjustments. The key is to move forward without second guessing. And of course, with a graphite pencil, you can always go back and modify things later. That's the big advantage. Now, let's draw the sketch and simple shapes for this man who is jumping. We previously saw that despite being an unusual and potentially intimidating pause, it's not necessarily difficult to break down into basic forms. So I start with the large rectangle that forms the torso. Then for the shoulder, I use a circle. In this case, marking the shoulder with a circle isn't just a habit. It's actually useful because in this particular position, the shoulder is very visible and has a distinct shape. So emphasizing it helps maintain accuracy. A good reference point for this arm, this one I am drawing right now, is that the sleeve of his suit aligns roughly with the level of his hair. So when drawing the final outline, I need to ensure these elements match up. Similarly, for this leg, I am drawing. Connecting the calf and the thigh becomes easier when I first mark the joints with simple shapes and with this one as well. So that's important, I think, to mark the knee, the shoulder, the elbow, these joints. They really help to draw the simple shapes with accuracy, I think. One important tip I haven't mentioned earlier is to keep your lines light. Even though we are just working on rough sketches and not a final piece, it's crucial to draw with a light touch because later when we create artwork, these construction lines are meant to be erased. So keeping them faint ensures they won't interfere with the final outline. So now just more 10 seconds, and we'll move on to the next model. Next model, we haven't broken it down into simple shapes beforehand, so take your time to analyze it carefully. And if needed, feel free to pause the video to study before starting drawing. Let's move on to a new model, one we haven't seen yet before with the analysis, analysis, sorry, not sure of how you spell it. This pause allows us to work with shapes from different angles. And since it is a bit unusual, it adds some extra challenge, which makes it all the more beneficial to practice. So I start with a large circle to represent the head. His shoulders are very close to the head and to his body, and due to his muscular build, they are well defined, his shoulders. So I can emphasize them with circle. For his back, it forms a slightly rounded trapezoidal shape, which I try to capture. However, I noticed that my initial placement isn't quite right, so I need to make some adjustment right here. In this case, with a subject like this, these simple shapes alone might not immediately make the pause recognizable. That's because the shading will play a crucial role in defining the figure and making the position clear. But that's okay. Sometimes, when starting a drawing, you might feel like it doesn't look quite right at first. However, unless you notice a major mistake, trust yourself and keep going. It's only once all the elements are in place that the final contour is drawn, the shading is added that you will truly see if the drawing works. So for now, give yourself time to trust the process. Unless you clearly see an issue that needs fixing, keep moving forward with confidence. Now 25 seconds to go for this model, and we'll move on to a new one. So here's another new model. Once again, take your time to analyze it carefully and don't hesitate to pause if you need to before starting your sketch. So as usual, I begin with the head. This is a particularly unusual pause, and without breaking it down into simple shapes, it will be very difficult to draw. Even with years of experience and hundreds of model drawn, there are always certain pauses like this one where overlapping elements, unusual curves, and complex positioning make it quite challenging. That's why relying on shapes basic shapes, sorry, is so helpful. Even though the arms are in a unique position, we still use the same approach circles for the joints for the elbow, and rectangles for the biceps and forearms. For the torso, I represent it with a trapezoid and another differently shaped trapezoid for the pelvis. And step by step, we can see the drawing taking shape. For the hip, I'm going to use a slightly rounded triangle before moving on to the leg. And gradually the portrait comes together, and we almost finished with this woman's figure. For our leg right here, knowing that her leg stops at the knee helps with placement, making the whole process much easier, for instance, with this leg right here. I know that her knee stops at the leg, so that was easier. And that's about it. I've reached the end of this drawing about 20 more seconds, and then we'll move on to our final model. And we finish with a slightly complex pose featuring this man holding his knee. So once again, take the time to carefully observe the model before starting your sketch. So I begin by drawing the head and a very small triangle to represent the neck, which is quite hidden. Since this is a somewhat complex position, several limbs will be either obscured or take on unusual shape unusual, sorry, shape. To help with the sketch, it's very useful to compare the elements to one another once again. For example, I noticed that the small visible part of the knee here aligns with the bicep. Then is bent right leg, which is the overside of the arm at about the same height as the knee near the triceps. The right foot, which is in the air, also seems to align roughly with the left knee. And by using these visual references, the sketch becomes much easier to execute. So I'm making progress, and we are almost at the end of this drawing. So I've provided several models for you to practice with, but practice is never too much. So if you want, feel free to look for other images and models like this one and practice recreating them, working on these simple forms. If you don't feel completely comfortable yet, this exercise can be very helpful. So keep practicing over and over if needed. Right here, I think I have a little bit misjudged my paper space. And unfortunately, the foot will end up slightly short at the bottom, but that happens. Redoing it will make it perfect. So we have just worked with about ten reference models, which is pretty good to get really familiar with the simplification into basic shapes. Now, what I recommend you is to work again with some different models. Like 50 would be super great. I'm going to add some pictures to the course so you can practice and train with that. But you can also do it while drawing from life like your brother or sister in the house or your parents on the couch, or, for instance, this person that you saw in the public transportation, you can draw it. You don't have to be very accurate or very realistic. Just trying to draw these persons with simplification into basic shapes is all that I ask you to do. And the more you practice, the more it will feel natural for you to do this process and to draw these basic shapes. What you can also do is when you don't have a paper or a pencil, just try to imagine and to think about how you would simplify this person into basic shapes. What shapes would you see when this person is sitting like this or when she's standing like that? So doing this will really help you to get better at this because when you will be facing your paper, it will go it will be even quicker for you to do this process. So all you have to do just like with every element of drawing is, practice, practice, and practice again to get better at it. So thank you for watching this video. The next video will be about how to get a better contour when drawing the human body. But first, you have to practice and do your homework. So see you next time. 4. From simple shapes to a precise contour: So previously, we worked on how to draw the human body with some simple shapes, which is very important to build a strong foundation. Now we are going to see how to create a more precise and more accurate contour. To do this, we'll be using the models that we drew earlier, and we'll be using two of them for the videos. I didn't record for the ten different models because the process is basically the same for the eight other ones, and it wouldn't make much more sense to draw the eight on camera and do the same thing again and again. But I strongly encourage you to do it once the video is finished, work on the other models, and to the over 50 I recommended you to draw before. Remember? So this step is very essential to progress and to help us to build with precision the final outline of the person. So let's do it right now. Now, let's take a closer look at how to achieve a slightly more precise outline. So far, our drawing has been in simple form. I have slightly softened it with the needed eraser to make it lighter and less visible. Now we are going to use the technique called the blocking technique. This won't be our final outline right away. We are simply going to refine it a little. To do this, I will focus on marking all the angles. For example, from the neck down to the shoulder area, I noticed that I can break it down into four lines with different angles. At this stage, I am not aiming for short or curved line. As I mentioned, I will be working with angles using rabo straight lines. With this approach, we are already getting much closer to our final outline. Then I can do the same on the other side with the head. Even though the head is originally more spherical shape, we can still break it down using simple angles, especially around the skull and the hair. For example, I can also use an imaginary straight line in this area. From there, I can compare the spacing up to the forehead, since the lower part will have roughly the same distance. This method helps me when sketching your head quickly. I always try to look for reference points. Next, I can break down the side of the head into two angles, one leading up to the nose and another from the nose to the forehead. And then I can continue from here with the arm. Keep in mind that you don't necessarily have to follow the order in which the elements appear. If I find that a certain angle is easier to draw, I can skip apart and come back to it later. As I often say, it's usually simpler to start with an element that feels easy. Once that is done, you already have an extra reference point, making it easier to draw the parts that initially seemed more complex. And it's really only at the very end once I have completed all the blocking technique that I will refine my outline. Even then, my final outline, we closely resemble what I had created with this blocking step because at this stage, my lines are already in place and almost finished. The only thing left to do will be to soften the lines and shift towards more curved line, which are more common in most areas. If we take a closer look, whether it's the jeans, the sweater or the men's you can see certain angles, but they won't be as sharp as what we have now. We won't have these very pointed angles. Instead, all the elements will be much smoother and more rounded. Now we can start working on our final outline. As you have seen, I have slightly lightened my lines with the kneaded eraser so that they are barely visible and only my final outlines remains. Now I am using a dark pencil to emphasize all the small details, whether it's the fingers of the hand or later on the folds in the pens. The goal is to have an outline that is as precise as possible and as close to reality as we can get so my character looks truly realistic. So I will be paying close attention to that. In theory, I should be much lighter with my lines, but to make sure they are clearly visible on camera, I've chosen a fairly dark pencil. However, we still need to maintain a certain lightness in a certain lightness or in everything we draw because sometimes depending on the elements you are drawing, you don't want to see the contour or the outline of the person. So when working on the small folds in the jeans, I carefully observe the shape they take but I don't necessarily have to to trace every single fold down to the millimeter. I try to get as close as possible to the final shape, but if there's a slight discrepancy, it's not a big deal. My drawing will still look realistic. So I will keep going with this. We'll finish this character, and then we'll move on to refining the contour of another model. And after that, I encourage you to redo everything we have worked on so far with the work on the shapes to improve your skills and make all of this second nature, making the process much easier for you. With this paper, we won't draw the contour of the other characters, but if you want, it would be something very great to work on the final outline of these other human beings. Et's move on to the outline of this woman. I chose this pose because it's a bit more complex, and unlike the men we had in who had a more standout position. I found it interesting to work on this one and see how to approach it. So once again, I'm going to use the blocking technique, and I'm really focused on marking all the possible angles, variations and inclination that stand out. I'll make sure to add them. For example, if we look at her forearm, we can see that it's not completely straight. There's a slight curvature near the area close to the end, and if there's a small curve, it means that it forms an angle. So I'll do my best to mark this angle to ensure that my drawing stays as faithful as possible to what I see. Now, it's true that with the blocking technique, one might think that it's a bit tedious that it takes time to create the outline and trace all the different elements, and that we could go faster by directly working on the final consour even without breaking it down in shape. With time and experience, it's possible to do that. However, I still think blocking the angles, blocking the angles is really useful because it allows us to create a more accurate outline. And the same goes with the work with the different simple shapes. In both figure drawing and drawing in general, the outline is the very first fundamental element that helps us achieve something realistic. In most cases, if we get the outline right, we can already recognize the person even before adding shading. That's why I believe it's worth taking those extra minutes to ensure solid control rather than skipping this step and taking the risk to have an outline that is not faithful to what we see in reality. I just realized that the buttock is not positioned correctly. Well, the buttock of this woman to be precise. And how did I notice that? I noticed because if I draw an imaginary line from the head down to the buttock, I can see that these elements should normally be aligned. However, in my drawing, I can see that it's not really the case, so I'll need to adjust my drawing slightly to ensure proper alignment. Something you might not see in the video because well, because of the editing and occasional cuts is that I actually take a lot of time to think and analyze where each angle should go. Sometimes I spend several seconds just asking myself whether I am about to draw a line in the right direction or not. I don't include those pauses in the video because it will make it too long, but taking that moment to reflect, asking yourself where the next line should go, how you should execute your stroke, and what the correct angle should be is something I do constantly, and it really helps me achieve a more realistic drawing. For instance, when I noticed that the buttock wasn't align, I started comparing it with other elements. Does this part match with that one? Is that element well positioned? Is the spacing between these parts accurate and continuously asking these kind of questions to allow me to maintain proper proportions in my drawing. Of course, we'll explore other techniques for proportions later on, but this habit of checking and comparing constantly is a great way to improve accuracy. Now we are reaching the final stage of this blocking technique, and I can start erasing some of the control lines that I no longer need. Now let's move on to the final contour for this woman. Before drawing this final contour, as you can see, I have largely erased my construction lines because I want them to be less visible in order to focus on the final contour. At this stage, I am relying on the blocking technique which allowed me to structure the body with well defined angles. Now we are going to refine these shapes to give them a more natural and fluid look. This is a gradual transition. We don't erase the bulking abruptly, but instead, we use it as a foundation. Now all the lines we are going to emphasize should be curved because the human body does not have rigid or angular contours. I usually try to keep a light touch with my pencil. Here, my lines are more pronounced so that you can see them clearly. But the goal when working on the final contour is to keep some light and subw lines. One of the most common mistake I see is having the contours is having contours that are too strong, which makes a drawing look pretty much unnatural. And this is a frequent issue, not just in figure drawing, but also in portraits where people tend to draw overly defined lines for the mouth or the nose, for instance. In reality, these lines are not visible. They should only serve as a guide for shading and should not be apparent in the final result. That's why even though I am pressing harder here for demonstration purposes, in real light drawing, I will apply much less pressure. Additionally, I will later soften my lines using a kneaded eraser. In many cases, once I have completed the shading, I will even completely erase the contour with a precision eraser. Once we have completed the blocking stage, as you can see, the process is not very complicated. It's just a matter of following the guidelines we initially traced. Now I will finish this female figure. The video will be slightly sped up for the rest of the steps since there isn't much left to explain. I will simply refine the curve lines. At this stage, you might also make minor adjustments if you notice anything that needs to be changed. In this case, there shouldn't be many corrections to make. The control looks quite accurate and realistic, which is great. And finally, I encourage you to practice consistently. Work on refining contours, using all the basic shapes we have studied, all these different models we did. Try applying this method to all the other models we worked on. Once you have done these two models, the process is very similar for the next one. That's why I didn't film them. But the key is practice, practice, and more practice. The more you draw, the better you'll become at mastering body contours, and it will feel much more famius for you. So now I will finish up this contour and we'll meet again in the next video for the continuation of these tutorials. The 5. Draw all the positions : This video, we are going to see how to draw the human body in any kind of positions. So before that, we have worked on how to construct the human body with the simple shapes. And so we will continue working on that. But this time with more dynamic pauses, and we will see how to imagine how to invent some positions from our head. And so that's what we are going to do right now. Let's get started. So when we want to create invent a pose to design a body from imagination, what will greatly help us is something called the line of action. So we are going to take a look at what the line of action is and practice with several photos to try to identify it. Before we analyze several photos, let's start with the basic. What is the line of action? The line of action is simply a fluid and dynamic guide that defines the main direction and overall movement of a character's body. It helps us organize the pause and avoid overly rigid or static position. When working from a reference model, we could technically do without it. As we've seen that using simple shapes alone works just fine. However, when creating a character from scratch, things get a little bit more complex. In this case, using the line of action becomes more essential, an essential reference to properly construct all the forms and ensure they flow together naturally. It acts as a guide and around which all the shapes will be placed. We'll explore this fervor and start designing based on the line of action. For now, if we look at this woman, where is a line of action, and that's what we are about to analyze. Here, we have a line of action that is truly dynamic and fluid. It follows a graceful curve that runs through the entire body, from legs to the torso and up to the head. This really enhances the sense of dynamism and reinforces the feeling of movement in the pause. We can see that the movement is created through the full stretch of the body, from the head to the torso and down to its leg. Meanwhile, the over legs more serves more as a supporting leg. So the movement doesn't really come from that leg, which is why the line of action follows this particular curve. The line of action plays a key role in unifying all the body's movement and providing a coherent structure to the whole pose. If we wanted to draw this pose, the line of action would really help us avoid a character that looks too stiff or unbalanced. It is a great example of how to exaggerate the body's curve while maintaining believability without falling into unrealistic distortion. Okay, now here is a new model, and then I invite you to take a few seconds to try and identify where the line of action is. Good. So here we have a line of action that forms a very pronounced heart. This helps express an extreme tension and a full body openness. It really gives the impression that the body is suspended with the movement extending throughout the entire figure. If we look at the photo, we can see that the arms further exaggerate the dynamic. They don't follow the line of action exactly, but they enhance it by extending the curve, creating a sense of continuity. Once again, this pose is a fantastic example for learning how to draw a body in extension. You could apply the same method we've used so far, working on a different shapes first, then refining the contour with this type of model before eventually inventing similar poses yourself. Now, let's look at another example and once again, try to identify where the line of action is. So here is the new model. Take a moment to think about where the line of action is. So here we finally have a line of action that forms a sort of C shape which is both fluid and well balanced. We can see that the movement is primarily created by the back leg and the arch back while all the weight is supported by the over leg on the ground, providing stability. Once again, this would be a great exercise if you want to work on outlining this pose before moving on to creating your own poses, models, and eventually working from imagination. Now that we have gone through a free example, I think that's a solid foundation for understanding the principle of the line of action. So now let's try inventing our own poses based on the line of action. So let's get started and see how to do that right now. Now let's see how to draw our own character starting just from a simple line of action and inventing a pose from it. For example, let's say I want to create a character who is dancing with their body in a strong off balance position, following this kind of line of action. So at the end of my line, I could place the neck and the head, tilting the head slightly since the entire body would be leaning if we imagine someone dancing. From there, I can also imagine a guideline for the arms. With the arms extending in different directions. Since the character is dancing, the arms wouldn't be static. They would naturally follow the movement of the body. With this base, I can start placing the other elements. Along the lines, I sketch for the arms. I can build the actual arms using simple shapes and then do the same on the other side. This process assumes a good familiarity with proportion and the ability to compare the relative size of body parts accurately. This means that before reaching a level where we can confidently draw characters from imagination, we need to have observed and practice a lot using photo references and other tools to study figures in multiple positions. At first, inventing poses can be quite challenging without end of practice. Now for the torso, I can also tilt it to match the movement. Since the character is off balance, I know I won't be using a straight line. Instead, the torso will also be slightly inclined. For the legs, I have this line of action that serves as a guide for the first leg since it's part of the movement. Then I can draw a second guideline to position the over leg as both legs can be can't be placed on the same single line of action. Next, I can start finalizing my character using simple shapes to structure the body. And once that's done, we would apply techniques like blocking and contouring, as we've seen before, to refine the outline and make it as realistic as possible. Okay, let's do a second example. This time we have a character standing upright and delivering a knee strike. We can imagine that the entire body is engaged in the motion of the knee strike with the torso following the line of action and leaning slightly backwards. So we use a line of action as a central guide to structure the pose. One leg will act as the supporting lead, providing balance and stability for the movement while the other initiates the strike and say, Yes, I have to admit I really like combat sports and have practiced them quite a bit. So coming up with a pose like this felt natural and I wanted to draw something like this. So to enhance the movement, what we can do also is sketch an O guideline to define the motion of the second leg and use it as a reference for positioning the striking knee. Then we can build the rest of the leg from here. Then we can place the arms with one arm moving backward and, in fact, both arm going toward the back. We can imagine that these arms help generate momentum and maintain balance for the person delivering the knee strike. As for the other arm, its shoulder might not be visible, but we can imagine that the arm extends behind the back with only a small portion visible. To position it correctly, we can first catch it as if it were passing through the body, then extend it to the proper length. And finally, I can refine the contours using the blocking techniques, for instance, just like we practiced earlier in the course. At first, drawing from imagination can seem a bit challenging. That's why I strongly recommend practicing a lot and training consistently before anything else. To do this, there are several tools available. Of course, there's the classic wooden mannequin, which helps in studying the body in different positions. But thanks to the power of the Internet, there are even more incredible incredible resources. Are various websites where you can configure characters and pose them in countless position from the front, the back, standing, from a higher or lower angle, and much more. This gives you endless possibilities to practice. I've included a list of links in the attached files so you can train by drawing a wide variety of pauses. I truly believe this will help you reach the next level and gradually develop the ability to draw from your own imagination because the truth is, it doesn't come naturally. There's no magic trick. You just have to practice and train. 6. The proportions of the human body made easy: We are now going to explore method that will help us to get the right proportions while drawing a human body. The system that we are about to discover is called the eight heads system. It's like if you divided the body of someone into eight equal parts, or if you stacked up eight heads of this person, you will get the total height of this person. Some artists prefers variations like the seven head system or 7.5 system but personally, I think that the A head system is very useful because it helped to divide the body into evenly distributed sections. But it is important to understand that this system is a very useful reference, not something perfect. Every individual has unique proportions. But this system will help you to get some solid framework to work on the proportion of the body. Every individual has some unique proportions, but this system provides you a helpful framework that then you can adjust to the person that you are drawing. For instance, if you drew somebody that has um, five heads that were five heads tall, you would know that something is incorrect, that these proportions are not right. And thanks to this system, this method, it will be helpful and very useful to know what is wrong with your drawing, for example. This system helped us to compare the length of the different parts of the body to create some accurate ratios between the different elements of the body, and to know what are the common imbalances in figure drawing. It's also worth noting the width of the body is generally equal to three or two heads depending on the person from shoulder to shoulder. So now let's dive in more deeply into the system to understand exactly how it works and to create some kind of ratios between the different elements of the body. Here is my grid divided into eight squares in height and three in width to represent mannequin following the eight heads systems, as I just described in the introduction. Now, let's see how to draw a character while respecting this system so we can examine the proportions of each body part in detail. So let's begin. First, I can draw the head with a well rounded shape within this square. Additionally, what we can do is draw a vertical candline to divide the body into two halves. Since in general, the human body is symmetrical. Except in cases of certain deformities, everything on the left side will be myward on the right. And so as we discussed earlier, the head represents one eighth of the total body height. Starting from the head, the neck will be positioned within the second square. From there, I can also draw the shoulder line, which helps define the upper body. One key observation is that in general, the width of the torso for an average male is approximately equivalent to two head width width. And this is because there is about one head's width in the center plus roughly half a head on each side. At this point, we have the torso fully represented. If we consider both the torso and neck together, they occupy two out of the eight total squares or two eighth of the body height. This can also be expressed as one quarter of the total height of the person. So the neck and torso combined make up roughly one quarter of the body. Next, I can place the shoulder, and as usual, I represent it with a circle to indicate the joint. From the shoulder, I can start working on the upper arm. Generally, the elbow aligns roughly with the bottom of the torso. In other words, when drawing the arm, the elbow joint will be positioned at about the same height as the top of the pelvis. This makes for a useful reference point. When sketching the elbow, it should be placed around the level of the upper pelvis. Speaking of the pelvis, I can now outline it and it will fit entirely within the next square. So we can say that the pelvis occupies one eighth of the total body eyes. You can see that on the paper, I mistakenly wrote one quarter, but the correct proportion is indeed one eighth of the body dedicated to the pelvis. The legs are divided into two almost equal parts. In the next two squares, the phi area extends down to approximately the knee. We can see that the phi is significantly wider than the lower leg, the calf area. And to represent this, I can use a rectangle for the pi. Then as I move down to the calf area, I will use another narrower rectangle to illustrate the shape. And as before, I mark the joints with small circles, one for the knee joint, another one for the ankle joint. And so we can say that the pi area represents one quarter of the total body height, and the lower leg, the alfa area also represents one quarter. I had forgotten to draw the fore arm, so I will had them now. Another useful reference point is that the wrist joints aligns approximately with the level of the pelvis. This is why when standing naturally, a person's hand naturally reach their pockets. This placement isn't random, but rather follow the body's proportions. So in the end, another useful guideline is to remember that the elbow joint aligns roughly with the top of the pelvis while the ends reach about where the legs begin. This can serve as another helpful reference. And finally, if there's one key takeaway from this entire diagram, it's that the lower limbs make up about half of the total body height and not just a quarter I mistakenly wrote earlier. Likewise, the upper body also accounts for half of the total height, and this is an essential proportion to keep in mind. So now let's see how this applies to real people. What I find interesting about this proportional system is how these theoretical elements can be observed and apply to actual individuals. So let's examine these two models, one male, one female, to see how these proportions work in practice. So here are two completely ordinary people that I found on the Internet. I didn't go out of my way to select them. I simply went to a website called Free Peek which offers free and royalty free images. I searched for Standing Man and Standing Women, and these were among the first results that came up. Both individuals are standing upright, and in reality, we don't know their actual height or wherever they are particularly tall because we don't have any reference point to establish a precise scale. However, for the sake of this demonstration, we'll assume they represent average proportions. So now let's see how the proportional system we just explore apply to these real people, to these two persons. So this is a female model divided according to the eight head system. This might look a bit strange at first, but it's important to visually ignore the stacking of the eight heads and focus solely on the proportions of this woman. We can see that the system fits our body perfectly. I made sure not to take the thickness of a hair too much into account, as hair can distort the perception of head size. When we talk about the head in this system, we are mainly referring to the skull, and as a result, the hair may slightly extend over the chin area in the diagram. But if we set this minor detail aside, we can see that this system is accurately followed. Now, if we observe the different proportions discussed earlier, we can see that the body is well divided into two parts, the upper part, which includes the torso and head and the lower part, which consists of the legs. Additionally, we can note that the neck and torso together make up one quarter of the total body height, just like the thighs and the lower legs, including the feet. And finally, the pelvis area accounts for one eighth of the total body. And finally, let's talk about the width of the body. So I cut the face without taking the thickness of the hair into account too much for that. And we noticed that the width from shoulder to shoulder, which roughly corresponds to the width of the hips is about 2.5 heads, just like we saw during our analysis with the simple shapes. And that concludes our analysis of the female model. So now let's see how this system applies to the male model for this man, we can notice that his width is approximately 2.5 heads or even three heads in reality when we have a closer look. And even though he isn't very strong, he has a pretty much balanced and normal body, we can see that free heads seems like the right choice for his width. And just like the women, we can see that the width of his shoulders almost matches the width of his pelvis. If we examine his body, we can see that it is almost perfectly divisible into eight equal heads. However, his legs appear slightly shorter than those of the previous model, bringing its total height to approximately seven and three quarters head. Despite this small difference, it remains very close to the eight heads system. We also notice that his torso as expected represents about one quarter of his total height. His thighs maintain proportions similar to those of the previous model, but the main variation is in his legs, the entirety of his legs, all the legs, which are slightly shorter overall. Even so, his legs could almost be divided into two equal parts with the thighs and calves being of comparable size. So the figs and calves each represent nearly one quarter of the total body height. It's not exactly a perfect quarter since as we observed, its height is closer to seven and three quarters heads rather than a full height. In the end, we carefully examine the proportions when we carefully examine them. We can see that the height of the upper body is generally equivalent to that of the lower body, slightly different. So we could apply the eight heads system to this figure, but we have a slight adaptation, and this is exactly what should be done every time, just the system to fit the specific person being drawn. In conclusion, even if the eight head system isn't perfect and doesn't adapt to every single human being, it is still a solid landmark, solid reference that you can use to know whether your drawing is right or not. Like for instance, if you realize that your chest is twice longer than the length, you will than the legs, I'm sorry, you will realize that something is wrong with your drawing, and that thanks to the eight head system and the different ratios that you know now between the different elements. The goal with this method isn't to draw eight heads every time that you draw a human body, even if it can be very useful at first when you're beginning. But what is very important is to remember the ratios and the balance between the different elements that we saw during this video. And to do that, comparing the elements between them is very important and very helpful to get the right proportion. Comparing the length of the torso with the legs, the position of the elbows in comparison with the waist that can be very helpful. Comparing the elements between them will really help you to get the right proportions. And, of course, you can also use the elements that we mentioned during the fundamental course of the basics of drawing, like the grid technique, sighting, and using all these elements together can really help you to get the right proportions with the human body. The most important thing is to get this structured approach to use all these tools that I have shared with you and to develop your ability to observe things, to compare elements between together, and finally, to adjust to make sure that you have the right proportion. 7. Drawing the hand part I: In this video, we are going to work on the hand, and for that, we'll be working on an A four paper, that is to say, 21 centimeters by 30 centimeters. Hand is one of the most complex elements to draw, and it feels sometimes quite intimidating for people to draw it and for some good reasons. It has many folds joints. It requires some volume. Position can be different depending on the angle. And so it requires quite a lot of observation to draw it properly. But as always, we will take a step by step approach and we will try to simplify it into simple shapes before trying to create something very realistic. The goal here, like always isn't to create something perfect at the first attempt. It is to try to understand how we can construct it and how to create some volume so that it gets realistic. So we are going to take our time and try to do it in a simple way. So grab your pencil and let's try to draw it together. Let's get started with this new project. And now let's see how to draw this hand, a clearly visible and open hand. What I'm going to do as usual, is start working on the hand with a simple shape. For that, I will draw a polygonal shape that looks like a mix between rectangle and trapezoid. That will represent the entire palm of the end. Next, I can draw small circles to mark the finger joints. These little circles on where each finger will begin, and from there, I can draw the fingers. The problem with fingers is that a lot of people struggle to make them look natural because they go about it the wrong way and draw the whole finger as a single solid piece. But if we look at our fingers, we can see that they are actually divided into three parts, each except for the thumb. That's what I'm going to do in my drawing as well. If I start with the pinky, I can draw it with three small lines. I observe the direction of those lines. I observe the direction each of those lines take, and then I draw them. And then I estimate the spacing between the finger and place myself accordingly to draw the three small lines again for that finger. This way, I think I will get better result than if I try to draw the finger all in one go because in the end, the finger has slight curves that shift its trajectory along the way. Right now, I'm not fully satisfied, so I'm redoing it a bit because I thought it looked a little bit too long. To make sure my finger was the right length, I simply compare the length of the pinky with the length of the end, and by comparing those two elements, I felt that my pinky was too long. Then for the other fingers, I will do the same drawing them in multiple strokes. And that way, I will get fingers with the right curves and natural movement. Even though I'm only working on the initial outline for now, not the final one, I will go back and refine it later with smooth lines, nice curves, and rounded edges. At this stage, I'm focusing more on straight line. Next, I can draw the middle finger. And as we all know, the middle finger is longer than the other. So that gives me another reference point to make sure I'm placing it correctly. Then I can draw the index finger. And I also notice that the spacing between all the fingers is pretty similar at the joint. I mean. And so for this one, I do the same and draw it in free strokes. After that, starting from the index, I can start refining the right contour of the end a bit more. I had previously built it with a simple shape, so now using the block in approach, I observe the angles and adjust the outline slightly to make sure it flows in the right direction. For the foam, I will do the same, draw it in multiple strokes, but this time only in two, knowing that I will start from this point right here. The right here for this area, for the over side, I start right here because the lower area is still part of the palm. Here I do the same thing on this side, two strokes, starting from a slightly higher point. Then I can work on the left side of the end, slightly adjusting the angles using the blocking technique once again. So I refine my initial shape before getting to the final outline. One more reference that will help me position the slope we see right here on the right, is that it aligns with this point here on the left. And by comparing elements to one another as always, it becomes easier to place the different parts of the hand. Now that I have my outline, which is already well done with the right angles, I'm going to refine it even further and draw a much more precise contour, trying to capture all the little irregularities you can see around the end. There are slight curves visible here and there, so I'm going to highlight those as well. And for the fingers, I will try to carefully work on their curves, too, even though I would say they already look pretty good overall. Next, I can draw the small folds we see inside the fingers. These folds often follow a curve line, like if small circles were placed at each joint. Just like we did earlier for the lower part of the fingers, we can imagine little circles at the joints and draw a line that goes through them. Now, I'm going to focus on the inside of the hand and the inside of the fingers with all the small lines we can see here and there. These lines help to make the hand look more detail. So I will start with the ones on the fingers, like I said before. They will follow more or less the same curve, but each fold is placed a bit differently and can curve in its own way. So you can see that they don't have exactly the same trajectory, even though they would be placed on the same curve passing through these little circles. Now I'm going to draw the main lines of the palm of the end. I won't draw every small line, the visible the most visible ones. Most of them are in the center of the end and some are a little bit on the side. The less visible lines, I will have them later when I will start shading and we'll be working on the details. To place the lines, I use some points of reference. For example, I can see that one line starts where two fingers are separated. You're going to see it with the next one. Yes, right here, you can see that it starts in the middle of these two fingers. I can draw these imaginary lines and draw it. The same thing goes for this one. It can start right here between these two fingers, so I can draw it. And this will help me place the lines more easily using these reference points and comparing elements between each other. Alright, now let's move on to the shading. We will start with the finger on the right, the index finger. What we are going to do here can be done the same way on all the other fingers. So we'll begin with this one to see how it works. You might have noticed that I slightly changed the shape of the finger because I realized it could be improved. So I am starting with a very light shading using an HB pencil, since there are a lot of light areas here, HB is a good choice to begin with. This will be my lightest value, and I will have Darkatons on top later. You will also see that I kept the outlines quite dark, and I didn't didn't erase them with my needed eraser. And the reason for that is because the edges of this finger are a bit dark, which helps it stand out from the background. Normally, I go for softer outlines, but this time, I left them darker for good reason. Of course, I might need to lighten them a bit in some spots later. Once I finish the first layer with the HB pencil, I blend it to get a smooth base to work on. Now, I am going to use a two B pencil to had slightly darker areas. On the first part of the finger, the lower phalanx. I'm sorry about the spelling. I'm not sure. The right side is a bit darker. Well, the left side, sorry, is a bit darker. On the second one, the entire area is a little darker overall. So I will go shading it with the two B pencil. After using the two B, I switch to a six B pencil for the darker parts because this area is generally much darker. So I apply the shading with that, and then I will blend everything again. At this point, we're still working on the overall shading, not the details or the texture yet, so I don't want the pencil marks to be too visible. That's why I use the blending tool to smooth everything out. I am now going to work on the finger with a bit more precision. The base is already quite good, but I want to see things more clearly. So I can start by drawing the small lines that separate different challenges. I observe their curves carefully. I look at them. I look at how dark they are, and then I draw them. You can notice that along this line, the darkness isn't always the same. For example, as you move to the right, the line may get a bit lighter. Paying attention to that is both interesting and important because it helps make the finger look more realistic. So I'm going to be careful with that. Now I'm going back to work on the shading. I noticed that the edge of the finger should be darker. Right now, it doesn't stand out enough, and even the whole finger overall, isn't dark enough to pop, so I'm going to work on that. At this stage, I am still improving the shading, and that's really important because it is what will give the finger more volume and look more realistic. In the upper area of the finger, there are parts that still need to be darker, so I make sure to mark them clearly. I'm not afraid to do that. Don't worry too much about making things too dark. If needed, you can always lighten them a bit with the ed eraser. So I have blended those areas, and now I'm going to keep working on the texture. In the lighter areas, you can notice small and slightly darker touches. These sort of variations in tone help give the finger realistic skin texture. So I also make sure to add them along the edge of the finger. All these little details I am adding help improve the skin texture and make it look more lifelike. I will also add small details between the lines I drew earlier. You can see that between these main folds of the finger, there are tiny and dark lines and elements here and there. So I will add a few of them to enhance the realism of the drawing. But I don't need to draw every tiny line with perfect precision. Just a few carefully placed details are enough to make the drawing feel realistic. In the end, it's up to you to decide how realistic you want your drawing to be. You can choose how far you want to go to make your work look as true to life as possible. So it's really up to you to add the amount of detail you want for your drawing. The index finger is done. So now let's move on to the rest of the end. For the other fingers, we'll use the same method, so there's no need to repeat it. Since the end is large and slightly complex area, I'm going to work on it section by section. I will start with the top part, then move to the middle and finally to the lower part on the right. So I begin by shading the top part of the end, where there are several light areas. I use an HB pencil to mark those bright parts. Then I switch to a darker pencil because not the whole area is equally light. With a two B, I darken the areas that need a bit more depth. After that, I will move on to an even darker pencil since the left side of the end is more shadow. So I really try to adjust my pencil to get the right level of gray for the different areas of this top part of the end. Once all these tones will be in place, I will blend everything with my blending tool. I will skip showing that step in detail since you have already seen me do it many times. So you will see that the area will be blended. So feel free to pause at this moment and do it on your side if needed, if you want to blend it as well, to get the same result than me. Next, I refine the shading by adding more precise shadows. We already created a general shading, but now we want to spot the smaller, more specific shadow areas and darken them carefully. So I observe my hand to find those slightly darker spots and shade them using the side of the pencil tip. Shading the pencil with the side of the pencil tip helps me keep the shading light and easy to blend afterward. While doing this, I am working the skin texture since all these small changes in value, the light and dark patches help improve the realism. Every little adjustment adds to the overall look of the hand. Now, I am going to work on the palm of the end with more detail. At this stage, we are getting into the final touches for this area. So I will start by drawing the small folds that we can see here and there. These lines help me help make the area look much more realistic. So I observe the folds carefully and draw them. I am using the tip of my pencil, but I still try to keep a light touch because I don't want the lines to be too strong. We can see these lines slightly, but they are not extremely dark. So it's important to stay live. Plus, if I ever need to erase them later, it will be easier since I didn't press too hard. Next, there's a large cries that stand out, this one. For that, I press a bit more with my pencil, and you can also notice that this main line changes thickness. So parts are thicker than others. So I have made sure to show that in the drawing to make it look more natural and more realistic. Now, I'm going to use my eraser pen for this final step of this part of the hand. I am adding the lighter details, the bright areas you can see next to the folds. This is really important because those light spots give depth and volume to the lines. I have added them using my eraser pen. And finally, I'm going to use my needed eraser to improve the texture even more. So I gently tap on the area to bring out slightly lighter spots and add more softness and realism to this section. Now this section is done and we can move on to the lower part of the end. We'll start by creating a basic shading just like we did for the upper area. Since it's more or less the same process, I will skip over the shading part a bit. Feel free to pause here and work at your own pace, and we'll meet up again to work on the detail section of this next area of the hand together. Now I am going to work on the lower part of the end, but before that, I want to go back and refine the central line a bit. As I mentioned earlier, it's slightly thicker and that thickness come from many lines that cross each other. So I'm going to add those and refine the area to make it look even more realistic and closer to what we see in the reference. As we move toward the upper part of the end, that central line fades slightly with some lighter elements around it, so I try to show that as well. Now I am adding all the little lines we can see in the lower area of the hand. This will help add more detail. There's nothing too complex here. The area is already well defined. So for the texture, I'm doing pretty much the same thing as I did earlier with the upper part. I had small lines here and there. I look at what I see on my reference and at them. I'm also going to use the eraser pen to erase just next to these lines and bring out the lighter areas which will help the lines stand out more. 8. Drawing the hand part II: And you can see that this use of the erasopen really makes a difference. It makes the details pop, and that's really satisfying. Now I am also going back over the large prese we worked on earlier. I am using the erasopen again to bring it out, but I don't want it to be too bright either. So I take my blending tool and go over it again to soften it a bit and spread the graphite. That way, the area will look less bright and more natural. Now let's move on to the section below, which is a bit more complex. Let's move on to the lower part of the now. This area is a bit more complex, just like I did for the upper parts of the, I'm going to start with a light shading. I begin with an HB pencil since the upper part of this area is fairly light. Then for the lower part, we have some darker elements. So using a six B pencil works well. That's what I'm starting with for the shading. When the zone seems complicated, like this one, I usually begin with the most obvious part. In this case, I notice that the area is quite light over so I apply the soft layer of shading. It gives me a clear starting point. From there, I keep going. So now I'm going to use the six B pencil again to darken this lower part. I want it to stand out more. It's darker, but not too dark, just enough to make a noticeable contrast with what we did earlier. Then I lend I blend it all tog a smooth base I can build on. And next, I start drawing the different lines found in this part of the end. There are quite a few, and adding them helps bring more clarity to the area and make it stand out better. So I carefully observe where each line is, compare their placement, and that makes it easier to position them correctly. As I draw this line, just like the ones we added earlier, I make sure they are not too dark. Most of them should be drawn lightly. I also look closely to check if the same gray tone applies to the entire line of if it varies along the way. This helps make the drawing more realistic and true to life. In the end, you can see that this part of the end is starting to take shape. I'm still adding a few darker touches here and there, and that's enough to build a realistic texture. What we can see overall is that drawing a realistic end doesn't require a huge amount of work, just the right approach. If you start with good proportion, stay consistent with the gray values across the drawing and had a few details carefully placed like the folds of the end or some fine lines of texture. You can achieve a very realistic result very easily. On the left side, you can see that the lines are a bit thicker and darker, so I'm going over them again. But once more, even if they are quite dark, I make sure not to press too hard with my pencil. I apply just enough pressure to get the right darkness, but I don't want the lines to be too heavy or dug into the paper, even with the right value that usually doesn't look very good if I press too hard on my paper. So I keep my touch like I like to draw with the tip of the pencil slightly tilted to the side. Even the central lines, I find they need to be a bit darker, so I go over them again, as well. In this area, like I did earlier, I will use my eraser pen to erase next to some of the lines and create small highlights. That way, the lines will stand out even more. In the end, the process for the drawing of this hand is more or less the same for the whole hand. First, we start with a light based shading, then a more precise one. We work on the texture by refining the shading. Then we had detail with the folds and lines. And after that, we leave some graphite using the eraser pen to bring out light. And we can see that by taking your time, we see that the result all comes together very naturally. Now, in this area between all the thick and dark lines I have already draw, I'm going to add some finer and subtle little lines. All these small additions help make the drawing look even more realistic. So I'm doing a few last touch ups here and there. But overall, I would say this part is finished. So now I can move on to the next section. For this new area, I'm going to try a slightly different approach. So far, we have been working on each section as a whole, blending the entire surface, then adding shading, then adding small details. And yes, but you can also do it differently. For example, you can start by adding the main detail line first and then shade around then afterwards. And it's another way of working. That's what I'm doing here, and it's really up to you to choose what works best for you. Another option would be to work on the entire area all at once. For example, you would shade the entire area first with something very light with the HB, then you will gradually build up the darker values across the whole surface, then add all the small details in the entire area. But this method I think requires more experience and confidence in your drawing. And if you're a beginner, I wouldn't really recommend doing it that way. Personally, I really like working section by section just like we have done so far because it lets me see each part of the drawing take shape right away, and the hand slowly comes to life before my eyes. When you try to do everything at once, it takes more time before you can really see the full result of your artwork. I'm continuing with my drawing. There's a darker area on the lower part of the end that really stands out. So I'm using my six B pencil and go over it again to make sure I have the right value. So I keep adding these dark elements in that section and I'm shading it carefully with my pencil. So yes, I keep my shading and we'll had the details later on. You For the details we see on this part of the end, we can notice that the lines tend to follow a certain curve. They are curved line close to each other. You could almost say that they are parallel, so I go ahead and add them in. I pay close attention to the shading and the value of these lines to make sure they are not too dark. But overall, this part isn't really more difficult than the rest. I'm using the same method I've been following up to now. So I don't have much more advice to give here except to keep practicing the same way we have done so far for this section of the and at this point, we are almost done. Just keep the same level of focus and patience to maintain consistent quality from start to finish. And if you think you need to take a break, then take a break. It's always best to stop when you think you need to stop instead of keeping going and having a result that is a little bit disappointing. Since the work in this area is quite similar to what we have done so far, I'm going to speed up the video a bit and we'll meet again for the work on the foam. Mm Et's move on to the foam. The foam is quite similar to the first finger we worked on earlier. The main difference is that it's generally darker, so we need to pay close attention to the values. I start by marking some lighter areas with an HB pencil, and we can see that there are a few light parts. But now I'm going to switch switch I'm switching to a darker pencil to shade the rest of the area. Once that is done, I will blend everything to get a smooth surface to work on. Now I can start working on the darker areas we see on the foam. You will notice that the entire right side along the edge, has darker tones. So it's important to mark those. I also work on the left side of the foam, where we can see some darker elements as well. And I'm still in the shading stage here. So all these areas will be blended afterward to create a smoother surface. And this is how we give the foam a three dimensional look by building up the shading just like we have done with the rest of the end. Also, just a reminder we covered in the basic course. When I blend, I always use circular motions. This gives a cleaner result and helps fully soften the lines so they are no longer visible. Now let's work on the line that separates the two phalanges of the foam. You can see that this crease is a bit thicker at the beginning and to the left of it, there are some darker areas, so I will make sure to define those well so the shape stands out clearly. Over time, you will notice your eye will become really good at spotting value changes, and that's key. If you want your drawing to look realistic and three dimensional, you have to be able to see all these subtle shifts in tone throughout the image and throughout the model you are drawing. Now that the main elements of the film are in place, I'm going to add a few darker touches here and there. There are small dark spots that I can draw in with the pencil. I will blend some of them, but not all leaving a few unblended will help create a bit of texture. These skin textures also comes through with tiny lines that you can add here and there, almost some kind of scribbles. Then as with the other areas, we notice a few lighter spots on the fumbs and that appear in the skin texture. So just like before, I will use my kneaded eraser to lighten some areas. But overall, I would say the thumb is about to be finished. There are still a few small details. I can had to get a realistic result, but that should be enough very soon. Let's move on to the wrist area. The end is almost finished, but we shouldn't overlook the wrist, as it is essential for a polished and complete result. I'm starting with the shading using a six B pencil to mark the darker areas we see on both sides of the wrist. Both sides are fairly dark, so I try to be precise with my shading to make sure the values are placed correctly. Between those darker areas, I will shade more lightly, and then I will blend the whole section. While blending, I focus on keeping everything in its place, a ltozone in the center and the darker areas on the side. Never, never, never, never, never Now, I will start working on the shading lines found on the wrist. There's a dark area top dark line, yes, a pretty curve line. On the left side, we can see that this line is especially dark. So I will go over it with an eight B pencil. And as the lines move towards the right, it gets slightly lighter and thinner. So it is important to pay attention to those subtle changes in order to reproduce this line as accurately as possible. I'm going to keep working on the wrist. As you can see, there are lots of small lines of varying thickness to add. And next to this line, you will also notice lighter areas. As I did before, I will use my eraser pen to gently erase just below the lines to make them stand out better. We can also see that on the left side of the wrist, there are many small details and fine lines. All these lines should be drawn with care. So are thicker, other thinner, so paying close attention to that to get the best result possible. With patients, you can add all these details, and bit by bit, the wrist will take shape and reach its final look. Next, we also need to add the small hairs that appear around the wrist area. What we can observe with these hairs is that they don't have all the same value. Some are a little bit lighter and some are darker, so we need to pay attention to that. When drawing this air, we will also have to observe the direction they're going in before drawing them to make them look natural. And so I will check the direction. You will also need to check the tone and the thickness of the hairs before drawing them. Of course, it's not necessary to draw every single hair perfectly. That's not a big deal. As long as the overall impression is there, your drawing will still look faithful and realistic. Once those few remaining elements are added, I move on to drawing the other fingers. I didn't film that part because it's exactly the same process as with the first finger. So there's nothing new, and I'm sure it won't be a problem for you. If you've made it this far, there's no doubt you will handle this perfectly. So just a few more things to add, and the drawing will be complete. Then we'll take a look at the final result. Thank you very much for following this tutorial all the way through. I hope you enjoy it, and most importantly, found it helpful. So see you very soon for another tutorial where we will draw other parts of the body. 9. Drawing the breast: This section, we will be working on the breast. We'll be doing that on a small paper, ten by 15 centimeters. This subject is particularly interesting because it requires a lot of control on the work on the shadow because this is what will create volume, and you have to be precise enough so that you don't create too much or you if you don't create enough volume, it will look too flat. So it's really the right adjustment on the work on the shadow and light that will help to create some volume with the breast. The nipple is also very interesting to work on because it has a very specific texture with some very subtle details to work on. And you also have to create some volume with the nipple. And to create this volume, it is the work on some very subtle details, just a few well placed here and there that will help you to create some volume such a small surface like the nipple is. So this exercise is really great to refine your work on the shadow and light and to be able to create some volume facully. So let's work on that right now. Let's get started with this new lesson, a new exercise where we are going to draw this woman's breast. And to begin, I would draw it using simple shapes. If we had to identify a basic shape for the breast, the first thing that will come to mind is a circle. So I'm going to draw a large circle, and below that circle, a straight line mark the lower part of the chest area. Then I will also draw the outline of the other breast, which is half hidden on the left to had a bit of a context, and so it doesn't look odd to have just one isolated breast with nothing around it. Now that it's done, now that this is done, I will try to draw the different angles that we can see on the breast. Since it's not a perfect circle, there are so clearly defined angles, and so we are working on this blocking technique once again. And we can see that, especially in the upper part, you can see that once you get to the level of the nipple, the breast becomes more straight again. So that's what I did in this area. And on the other side as well, I can work on the shape using the blocking technique really focusing on emphasizing the angles. And once again, you can see that due to the angles, we are no longer dealing with a true circle in this area. It deviates from that shape in this area. So that's it for shaping this particular breast. Of course, whenever we are working with a different model, we would adapt according to what we see and the shape it takes, since this can vary depending on the woman we are drawing. Now I am going to place the nipple area and to place it correctly, I can use that straight line I mentioned earlier as a guide. You can see that it roughly reaches this height, and on the right side, it is more or less aligned with the straight line we drew under the breast. So these can serve as reference points to help trace and position the shape from the start. Okay. Now still using this blocking technique, I refine the shape more precisely because as we can see, it's not going to be a perfect oval. There will be some angles to emphasize. So basically, my shape is really just the starting base, but there's a whole process with the blocking technique that helps us get closer to the final result. And for the nipple itself, I can also represent it with a small circle like this. So that's the outline for now. At this stage, it clearly has no volume. It appears flat. And it's really the shading work that we'll be doing next that will give volume to our drawing. O. Now that I am done with the blocking technique, I'm going to try to improve my outline and make it a bit more rounded now that we have the final shape. So I'll go over it with my pencil, but I soften the line so that it's barely visible before starting the shading work. And I will do the same with the nipple area, and we'll be able to begin the shading now. So I start the shading by working on the lightest areas which are in the center around the nipple, and I'll do that by using an HB pencil while applying very light pressure, since this area is extremely light. I want it to be barely visible. But as we move away from the central area, we can see that from the nipple, it gets a bit darker. So I'm still using the HB now, and I'll press a little more in those areas, so they stand out slightly more like this. And that's the same on the side. We can see that as we move away from the nipple, it gets a little bit darker. However, for the rest, as we move further Ray, the areas become even darker. So I think the HB won't be enough, and we need a darker and more intense pencil. And this is a fairly large area that we are shading, and we'll be blending it afterward. Since I don't want my lines to remain visible when blending, I'm still going pretty lightly with my stroke so they can blend smoothly later. So really, working with the side of the pencil and keeping a soft touch is important when doing this. So for this area, this one, we can see that it's much darker. And as I said, the HB is no longer enough. That's why I switched to a four B pencil to work in this area. So I will shade the entire area with the four B and then we'll blend everything to get a smooth surface, which we'll use as a base to work on more texture later. So I am going to blend the entire area, and since it's quite large, I'm afraid the result won't be good enough if I do it using a blending stump. That's why this time, I am using a brush sweeping across the whole area. It's going to take a little while, so I suggest you post the video before continuing now with the more detailed work on the texture. I've cut part of the blending process since I was doing exactly the same thing throughout, and now we are back to working on the breast, and I will refine it a bit more. For example, with the pencil, I would had some texture elements pressing a bit harder in areas where I want them to stand out more. That's what I am doing now. I can see that the entire edge of the breast is darker, so I'm going over it again with my pencil, making sure the marks are more visible. I'm still using a four B, but applying a bit more pressure so that it stands out more. The key when working on breast is really to manage to give them volume so they look realistic. Giving volume simply means identifying the shadow areas and working on them properly. That's what I'm doing now by going over all the shadow area again because I feel they don't stand out enough. And once they are applied, I will blend everything again because I don't want the pencil marks to be visible. I think the result would be better without those visible marks, and so I'm blending everything once again with my brush because this area still is pretty large. What I am going to do now and it's really going to help me determine whether there's volume in the skin tone I've worked on and whether my shading is effective, is simply work on the area underneath, since it also contributes to creating the sense of depth. We can see that along the entire edge, there is a very dark line. Then as we move away from that line, it becomes slightly lighter, especially as we move to the right, that shadow eventually fades away. Even though the edge is still a bit darker, the shadow is clearly no longer visible and no longer as defined as it is on the left side. And clearly, what I have just added here really helps to give volume in this area. I can also go back and refine the upper area a bit using my 12 B pencil. I'm thinking that adding a few details here and there could work well in that spot. And finally, this area here also needs a bit more work lower down, and we can see that once again, as we move even lower, it gets lighter. So I have set the 12 B pencil aside, and I'm working again with the four B to define these features in that area. These marks will also be blended, but since this area is smaller this time, I will do it with the blending stump rather than the brush. You Now, I am going to work on the nipple area, and we can clearly see that all around the nipple, there's a slightly darker, somewhat brownish area. That's why I'm going over like this. But be careful. The shading around the nipple isn't uniform. Some parts are darker than ulvar so you need to make sure the intensity varies. It's important to adjust and ensure that um, that the values are accurate in those areas. Next, I would work on the inside of the nipple itself of this area, and I am applying a very light base. I'm still using the four B pencil, but I'm keeping my strokes very, like, very minimal pressure. Then I would blend all these to get a smooth surface we can build on and adding a bit of texture here and there. Now that it is done, we can also try to blend the skin area and the nipple together because we have to keep in mind that there's no sharp edge between the nipple and the surrounding skin. That's why I didn't hesitate to lend to use my blending stone to softly merge the two blending the skin and the nipple together. Then I will refine it a bit more precisely. I can see that on the left side, there are some slightly darker areas and similarly on the right a little bit. So I'm working on those two. And again, I will blend everything to ensure a smooth transition between the two areas, creating a natural flow. Now, under the nipple, you can see a few shadow areas, some small darker spots that help add volume. So I will work on those as well. And inside the nipple, I can also add a bit of texture by lightly scribbling a few marks like we see in the reference photo. That way, it gives us a realistic texture and a result that is very close to real life. And it allows us also to add a few slightly darker marks in a certain place because we can see some just dark elements here and there that help to create some texture. Now I can start working on the nipple and on the central part. You can see that the edges of the nipple are a bit darker, and so that's why I aim to emphasize. Now we are going to work on the shading inside. We can see that the entire contour on the left side is quite dark, as well as the upper part. And it's really the work on these different values that's going to create volume in such a small area. So I'm carefully working on that. Even within the darker area, the values aren't completely uniform. So I'm being mindful of where to place the darker tones and where to leave the lighter ones as well. Then I'm going to use my eraser to bring out those lighter details in the center, those highlights, which will help add even more volume. And that's about it. There's no real need to add much more to create a good sense of depth and volume in this area. Now that this is done, I will finalize my work by refining the shading here and there, because you can see that in some spots, it's not quite dark enough. The shaded areas aren't standing out enough, so I'm going to enhance them by adding darker elements. First, I am adding some shadow under the breast, but I will also need to add quite a bit more on the breast itself because from a distance, now that we have nearly all the main elements, I find the shading isn't prominent enough. So to make it stand out more, I'm going back over all these dark areas. And, of course, I will blend them out so that my pencil strokes are less visible. Since we are working on a small area here, I can use the blending stump instead of the brush. To clearly make my work stand out, I also need to work on the surrounding area, the arm. Along the entire side of the breast, there is a very dark shadow. So I emphasize that clearly with my pencil and begin working on the shading in there. You can see that it's very dark on the left side, and as we move to the right, getting closer to the arm, the shadow becomes slightly lighter. So I apply less pressure with my pencil in that area. As for the arm and the overbeast, I didn't record that part, first because the arm isn't particularly difficult to draw and second, because we only see a small portion of the overbeast and the approach is pretty much the same. So here we are with the final result. There are just a few small details I'm not completely satisfied with in the outline, and I'm going to refine that a little because I think it needs a bit of improvement, and then we'll be done with this piece, and we'll be ready to move on to creating another artwork together. So, yes, these final adjustments, that will conclude this tutorial. Thank you very much for watching. I hope it was helpful. And so see you next time with another one. 10. Drawing the back: In this video, we are going to work on the back of the human body, working on an A four paper that is to say 21 centimeters by 29, and I will probably be only using half of it in height in total. This area, the back is particularly interesting to work on because it is full of volume due to the muscle that are big in this area. So even if it isn't full of detail, it is an area that is essential to work on precisely and to work on the shadow properly to create some volume bring realism to the overall piece of the drawing. The shoulder area will also be very interesting to work on because it connects the body, the back to the arm, and there are a lot of subtle transition, a lot of subtle elements that are a little darker, so that will be interesting to work on. And finally, what will also be very interesting to work on with this drawing is that this back, the person that will be drawing has a very dark skin. And so it will be a great exercise to improve our shading and the value scale that we have been created for for the drawing course, the basic course. So a lot of interesting elements to work on. So grab your pencils and let's draw this person together. So let's start drawing this man. And to begin with, what I'm going to do is sketch some simple shape to represent his body. When what we can notice is that he's back can simply be represented by a large trapezoid. We can see that this man has quite a strong back. So the trapezoid seems like a good fit to represent it. Next, I can move on to the rest of the shape. So here, with this bend arm, we can see that a large triangle works well. And then for the overall arm, since his muscles are really well developed, I would say that we can start with a small trapezoid for the shoulder then a rectangle for the upper arm and bicep area, and then another long rectangle for the forearm area before finishing with a simple shape for the end. And now our drawing is built using simple shape. That's great. And we'll move on to representing it more accurately using the blocking technique, which allows us to mark the various angles we can observe. Before using the block in, what I do is erase my lines. They won't really show on camera anymore, but I will still be able to see them very faintly, just enough to work on my angles and make sure the initial construction lines made with simple shapes don't show anymore. Now that I have erased my line, I'm going to really start working on the angles we can notice in the back area. And since the back is muscular, the muscles are very pronounced and really create distinct and sharp angles. That's why starting with the blocking technique seems even more relevant when dealing with a back like this. So I'm going to apply it across the entire back, and then I will erase all of those lines again to really focus on the final outline, making sure we no longer have sharp and angular muscles, but instead soft and curved lines that closely match what we see in reality. Now I'm moving on to this area to this other arm to the tricep and bicep. And we can see that it is a bit less pronounced than it was in the back area, but still somewhat marked, so I will keep going. For the end, I'm not going to draw it completely. I will just catch a simple shape with straight lines. Then later, when I work on my final outline, I will draw the end more precisely. I'm continuing with the blocking technique, and we can see that on the forearm, the shape narrows a bit as we get closer to the end. That's normal. The wrist is like that for everyone. Then I can mark the bicep and the shoulder on this side as well, which are really well developed. I mark them in, and overall, that will do it for the blocking technique for this part. So now what I am going to do is erase my lines again and start carefully refining the outline with well defined curves. I no longer want to have straight line like we do at this stage. That's what I'm going to do now. I keep the lines very fluid, I am not trying to make the outline too visible, even though in this case, in this man has a dark skin, it wouldn't be really a problem if the outline were a bit stronger, but out of habit, I will make sure the outline there is fairly light, and in any case, it's better for it to be light. That way, if we need to adjust it, it will be easier to erase the outline. Now I can start working precisely on my outline. You can see that the fingers are close together. So I'm going to group them as one. It's basically like a rectangle with a few lines inside. So that's what I'm drawing. Then there's the thumb, which has quite a long shape that I can sketch. Actually, it looks like there are only three fingers visible. The fourth one seems to be hidden, so for now, I'm just working on that. Now I'm going to draw the inner lines. I will outline the shadow areas. This way, it would be much easier for me to shade later. I'm trying to identify the main ones. I'm not going to mark all of them, but, for example, you can clearly see your crease at the lower back that stands out. Also on the lower left side of the back, there are several areas of shadow and light. And by doing this, my shading work will be easier. So I am adding the main ones. If you want, you can go into more details and add all of them. It's really up to you It's really up to you how much you want to include. So I'm just adding the key ones to have a few guides before starting the shading. Let's now move on to shading or drawing. We'll start with the shoulder area. It's a really interesting area to work on because there's a lot of variation in shading. It's also a small section, so it's a good place to start the shading. Since this man has a very dark skin, will need to use very soft pencil. So I'm starting to shade using this area with eight B pencil because I figure everything will be at least that dark if not darker. So it seems like a good base to begin with. Then, as usual, I blend everything before working more precisely and in more detail. I could have started by applying eight B over the entire back and as I said, everything will be at least as dark as eight B, but if I had done that, it wouldn't have made sense to outline the shadow areas earlier inside because my lines will no longer be visible. So now I'm going to shade this area with darker tones. What we see is that right next to the end, it gets very dark because of the end shadow. So I go in with something much darker like a 14 B pencil. And as we move away from the hand, going to the left, it becomes a bit lighter, so I am lightening my pressure with the pencil accordingly. On the lower part of the shoulder, there's a sort of a bang or fig dark line. So I added that too, and I will keep going in this way. I'm trying to add all the darker elements I can see in this area. For instance, on the left side, there's also a dark area, and in the center, we have two fig slightly dark lines. So I'm trying to apply my shading precisely in this area, placing the right values in the right spots. Now that all my elements are shaded, I'm going to blend everything because I don't really want the pencil marks to be visible. I want a softer look. So that's what I'm doing, blending it all. Then what we can see on this part of the shoulder is a small lighter area on the lower left side. I'd like to bring that out, too. And to do that, I'm going to use my mit eraser and gently tap that area. Now I'm going to move on to the next Erica area because I would say that the shoulder part is done. We are going to work on the left side of the back. It's a relatively large area, so I will start shading with my eight B pencil again to mark the lighter elements. But this time, since the area is large and the darker sections are also quite broad, I'm going to try to be precise for the start. I will mark the ito zone with eight B and then also define the darker areas that are spread across the region. Once those darker areas are marked, I will blend everything to mix the different shades of gray and dark gray. That will help create a smooth transition between the tones, letting the grays blend naturally. Blending really helps with that. As for the darker elements, we can see that the lower area has a fold in the lumbar region. Then just under the hand, there is a really dark section. And I'm going to shade it as well. We also notice that the entire contour of the back is slightly darker, too, so I will make sure to emphasize that as well, so it stand out nicely. So I'm blending everything in this area, and with me again for the rest of this drawing, once that's done, feel free to pause to do it slowly and making sure you blend everything smoothly. Now that everything is blended, I realize the area is a bit too light. So I'm going back over the whole area with a ten B pencil to get a much darker tone. I will blend all of that again, but that also means that the darker areas I had previously marked are no longer visible enough. So I will need to go back over them and rework them. That's also the case for some parts of the shoulder. So I will reblend everything again once I will have added these darker elements on top of it. Honestly, it's pretty rare to get the It's pretty rare. Sorry, I'm not sure of the spelling, to get the exact value on the first try. For me, I often have to adjust once, twice or even three times until the gray value is just right. That's part of the process. It's better to take your time and make sure you have the correct value in the right place than to rush and settle for something that's not quite right, quite right, because if the values aren't accurate, your drawing will lack depth and volume. So it's really important to pay close attention to that and take the time to get it right. Just a quick reminder, whenever I blend, I use circle and motions. This gives a better results and helps make sure the blending marks don't show on the drawing. Now that I have marked all the darker elements, I'm going to add the lighter ones that appear in the area. This is one of the key principles of light and shadow. If you want the dark areas to stand out and create volume, you need to have lighter areas next to them. So that's what I'm doing. I'm lightly tapping with my kitty eraser to bring out some of the lighter elements. Now you might said, but that's going to be too bright. The areas will stand out too much, and that's true. The elements will appear too light at first, but that's okay. What we'll do next is take a blending tool and go back over those areas to redistribute the graphite. That way, the zone won't look too light and will get the right value we are aiming for. So that's what I'm doing. I'm tapping all over the with the needed eraser, and whenever I see an area where some lighter texture should come out, I tap there. I don't use a precision eraser for this, my eraser pen because that would make the areas way too bright. It will remove too much graphite instead of just softening it. More importantly, the precision eraser will create sharp details, and that's not what I want here. I want a loser softer feel to suggest subtle skin texture that's lighter but not sharply defined. Now with the pencil, I can go back in and redefine some areas a bit more adding a little details here and there that will make the area look more textured and realistic. Then we'll be able to move on to the next section, the one on the right. This next area is very similar to what we just did on this side and the other part of the back. So I'll start by shading it with my ten B pencil this time to get those really dark elements in right from the beginning. So I have covered this whole area with the ten B pencil, and now I'm going to work on the inside part where there is that fold in the middle. You can see that it's much darker there. So I am using a 14 B pencil to really define it and make it stand out. Then I will blend everything and start working on the details more precisely. In this case, the areas are quite narrow and need more precision. So I will focus on them after the initial blending is done. So now the blending is done. Take a moment to pause and do that part yourself as well. Then I can move on to the finer details and the finer shadows. What I notice right away is that the central fold has a line in the middle that's much darker. So I go over it again, pressing harder with the pencil, and I can start marking the overdog areas within the zone now. We can see that along the side of the back, there are some darker elements. There are also some slightly curved lines like right here. That are a bit darker and these lines will help us define the volume created by the muscle. So I am adding those two. Then I observe the different areas and mark all the shading elements. Now I am continuing and adding all these darker elements. At this stage, it's really about observation. I am trying to identify all the slightly darker areas that stand out within the zone. And as soon as I spot one, I mark it like this. So I pay close attention to their thickness, their direction, and also their value because even though they are darker areas, not all of them have exactly the same value. So that's something to watch out for as well. And by doing this, I gradually work my way across this entire area. Now, I would say this area is fairly well worth with all those dark elements in place. And just like I did earlier, I am now going to bring out some of the slightly lighter areas here and there, again, by tapping gently with the needed eraser. As you can probably guess, this area will end up a bit too light after tapping with the eraser, so I will redistribute the graphite across the area using the blending tool. Finally, I will also do a sort of overall check on the entire big area I have worked on. I ask myself, are there any darker elements I could add? Could the area be improved by enhancing certain shadows or highlighting a few more lighter details? And that's what I do. But overall, I would say this part of the big is well done and nearly finished because we have managed to define most of the elements and give them volume. So now we really get a sense of a strong and muscular big, which is great. And once that's done, we'll be ready to move on to the next area. H. Now let's take a look at how to work on the area around the head and then on the shoulder and bicep of this man. I always skip the part about the forearm and hand since there's an entire section of the course dedicated to that. So I'm started by marking the very dark areas in this region. You can see that along the entire edge of the arm, there are very dark elements that help define the muscles around the shoulder and bicep. So I am marking them clearly with a 14 B pencil. And I start with this because I generally like to begin with the darkest areas. They are easy to identify and give me solid reference points within the zone. Because you can compare the value of lighter elements against these darker ones. And since we know they are going to be very dark, almost black, I am confident about the value here. So I can judge the other grays accordingly with this one. Next, I move on to the area at the back of the head. We can see that there are some dark elements that are not as dark but still a bit shaded. So I make sure to define those as well. And I try to work with precision in that area. Now that I have blended the area, I'm going to work on the small details that are just slightly darker in some spot. You can notice that in the crease of the arm, there are some areas that are a bit darker. Also here, which helps define the contour of the head. So I'm going to mark those. Along the side of the thumb, as well, there are some dark elements, and between the fingers, we also have some strong dark areas, so I make sure to emphasize those too. Overall, this area has really taken shape, and that's very satisfying. There are still a few details to had, but I would say the back is just about done. At these points, the little details I am adding are really small ones. So it's important to observe carefully all those subtle value changes we see in the area. In this area of the head, I am adding the final little highlights using my kneaded erasor. I am tapping very gently. I apologize if this wasn't very visible. It to be tricky to be precise with the needed eraser and also make sure you can clearly see where I am tapping. But you can see the result. I have added a few lighter touches here and there. Let's move on to this area of the arm now and this is the last part we work on together. After that, I will show you the final result. Here, you can see that the arm is very dark right next to the black line we previously drew. Then it gradually lightens a bit with a few subtle shifts in value. So I go in gradually using lighter pressure. Now, I realize that it gets lighter, so I have light in it, and I also realize that the control of my arm isn't the best one. It's not quite right, so I am adjusting it to make sure it matches the shape of the man's arm more accurately. So we have this edge of the arm that's a bit dark and here as well, in the shoulder area, there's a part that's really quite dark. So I am marking that. Then you can see that in the central part of the arm, there's a highlight that stands out to bit, so I will add that as well after. Between the bicep and the shoulder, there's a small dark area. You can see that I have added a little curve line there that's slightly darker. And so I go back in this area with my ten B pencil applying lightly, and then we blend everything before finalizing the details in this section. Overall, I would say that after blending, the result is looking pretty good, but it can still be improved because the dark areas aren't quite dark enough. I need to make them stand out a bit more. So I'm going back over certain spots with my pencil. There's also the highlight in the shoulder area that's way too bright. It stands out too much, so I'll go over it again with my ten B pencil pressing a bit harder to make sure I get the right value there. But overall, I would say it's almost done. I might also touch up the head area a little. There are some parts that I feel aren't dark enough and need to be brought out more. So So we are reaching the end of this area, and for the rest, I didn't shade the arm and hand in this final part of the tutorial simply because the goal of this section was to focus on the back. But if you like to go further and draw the full figure with the arms and hand, feel free to do so. I really hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that it was helpful and help you make progress. So don't hesitate to share your finished drawing. I always love seeing your results. So see you very soon for another tutorial, and thank you for watching. Oh 11. What is foreshortening ?: In this video, we are going to explore a new thing that some people are a bit afraid of, but that is very important key, that is called foreshortening. It might sound hard at first, but depending on your point of view, parts of the body can seem unusually short or kind of compressed. And this isn't a drawing mistake. It is something natural due to perspective. When the part of the body is pointing toward or away from us, it's apparent proportions change. And so we need to adapt our drawing to make accurate with the right new proportions. So we'll look at several real life examples of foreshortening to try to understand how we can adapt this to our drawing and make sure that we apply for shortening correctly to our drawing. And so I'll show you a few methods to learn how to create proper foreshortening with your drawing. So let's see how to deal with. 12. Foreshortening, how it works: To begin this work on foreshortening of the body, here is a short video where I put myself in the frame and show how far my arm can go backwards, so I can bring it about to about here. Then here is my arm stretched to its maximum. Then moving forward, and then I can bring it back to this position on the side, just like any human being can do, basically. Let's take a look and focus on the length of my arm in these different positions. When my arm is stretched like this to the side at its maximum, here is the length that appears along my arm, and you can see it represented by this red line. This time, my arm is positioned backwards, and you can see that it's still the same arm. I haven't shortened my arm. I haven't cut off a part of it. But because of this foreshortening effect caused by perspective, my arm appears smaller. If we compare the red line representing my arm when it's fully extended to the side with how it appears here going backwards, we can notice that the red lines look shorter. That's what I observed. When my army stretch forward, well, we observe the same effect. It's even shorter. And yet each time the red line starts from the same point, I make it go from the shoulder to the end, but this foreshortening effect still appears. And finally, when I move my arm to the other side, it is fully stretched again, and we can once again see it in its entirety. And the red line is probably the same length as in the first case. Here, I made an edit with the different positions of my arm, so you will notice that I am not the best artist in Photoshop, but it should be enough to illustrate what I want to highlight. So here we see my arm in all four positions and also the one where the arm goes toward the back. You can just about make out the end. It is slightly visible. So if we take a close look at these different positions of my arm, which covers all the possible placement, we can see that they could be organized around an ellipse. This ellipse would go from the arm position behind my back to the one stretch out to the side, passing through the position where my arm crosses in front of my torso. And thanks to these ellips I will be able to place and draw my arm correctly in a way that looks accurate in perspective and properly conveys the foreshortening effect. Now, let's see an example and draw one. Here, I have drawn a wooden mannequin with the arm stretch out, and now I'm going to draw the same ellipse we saw in the photo before. So it goes roughly from this point just after the shoulder to the end with about this width. And this is going to help me properly draw the arm and get the correct foreshortening effect. So for example, here, we will imagine our character is making the stop gesture with the arm extended. So starting from the shoulder, I know the end will be positioned along the ellipse to make the stop gesture, and so the arm will be significantly shortened. We can imagine this would be my right and raised right here to make the stop sign. And here I get the foreshortening effect that looks totally believable and realistic for my character. So now let's see how we can also apply this method to the drawing of the legs, for instance, and apply this foreshortening effect as well. For the leg, I'm going to imagine that my character is sitting on the ground, and I will start by drawing the ground because at first it looked like the character was jumping. Now my character is clearly sitting on the floor, and to draw the leg with foreshortening, I'm also going to use an ellipse. I know that if the leg were stretched out as if doing the splits, it would go roughly this far. And on the other side, I could extend my leg about the height of the knee of the oral leg. So that's for the stretch lady. Now, let's suppose I want the leg to be placed in front of me. So I can imagine the foot that would be raised about here. Just right here, my foot raised right here with the leg in front of me. Then I can draw the file quickly with a small cylinder and the front part of the leg, the calf and chin placed just right here. And to know where to position the knee properly, I can also imagine an ellipse that would encompass up to the knee joint. So this is the foreshortening technique which can be really useful when you are inventing characters and don't have a model in front of you. And the character end up with limbs like this that are shortened because of the perspective. Sometimes we might also find ourselves wanting to draw character seen from more extreme perspective like here with a view from below or on the contrary, with a view from above, which also involves dealing with foreshortening. However, in this case, we won't be able to use the Ellipse technique, and we will need to rely on other methods. But before we see how to do that, let's first briefly analyze the proportion and spacing of the different limbs of a person using my mankin in a normal standing position as an example. So here is my wooden mannequin with red lines that separate the different areas of its body. This is supposed to represent a completely standard, perfectly normal person seen from a front view with a photo taken at eye level. Now, let's look at these different lines positioned on our two previous models. So for the one on the left, the mannequin photograph from below, what we can notice is that the lines separating the torso are clearly shortened, just like the line of the head. In the end, the spacing between these parts looks much smaller, whereas the spacing at the level at the level of the legs appears a little longer. For the mannequin next to it, the one on the right where the photo was taken from the bow, it is the opposite. Here, the legs are clearly shortened. We only see a very small part of them. Which gives the impression that the legs are about the size of the head, even though in reality, the legs are much longer, but because of this distortion caused by perspective, we are only going to draw a little part of it, a little part like that. And these red lines you see here will really help us later on when we want to draw characters placed in slightly more extreme perspective like this one that we are seeing currently. So let's see how to do that. So now these two models that we saw with the extreme perspective, we are going to try drawing them as well. And to draw them correctly, what I'm doing first is to draw those lines we saw earlier that separate the different parts of the body and help us define the fore shortening. We saw that at the level of the head, it was slightly shortened. Then the neck and torso area were very compressed while the legs appeared much longer. So that is exactly what I'm going to try to reproduce as I draw the shape of my mannequin, recreating the arms as they were, and then the torso as well and the legs. For the other mannequin, it's the opposite. Seen from above, on the lower limbs were extremely shortened. So I'm going to have the spacing between these parts be quite reduced. One thing I wasn't able to implement on the photos because I have to admit I am not an expert in Photoshop and I struggle a bit to create curve lines. But what we could notice was that the lines separating the different areas of the body with this extreme perspective and the distortion it creates had a slightly curved shape. So that's also something we can do when drawing these mannequins with this perspective. So there we go. Just a few more pencil strokes, and my mannequin will take shape, and we will have managed to represent it fairly well in a rather quick drawing with this extreme perspective. And this will conclude this section on foreshortening, an effect that can be quite tricky to achieve in drawing. So don't hesitate to practice with a mannequin like the one I used here. Draw it dozens and dozens of times in slightly extreme position like this. And with time, if you ever want to invent your own characters, it will feel much easier and much more natural to give them realistic pose as these ones that we have created. 13. Drawing the woman: In this video, we are going to see how to draw a standing woman seen from the back. It is an excellent subject, I think, to conclude, of course, on the human body. And what is great with this subject is that we'll be able to draw the entire body from top to bottom and work on all the elements, the back, the legs. We can work on every element of the human body and try to create the right volume. So I think that's a great subject to conclude this. And for this drawing, we'll be working on an A free piece of paper. That is to say 42 centimeters by 30. Now, let's get started. Let's move on to the final drawing, which features this woman seen from the back. To start my drawing, I will construct it using simple shape just as we have done so far. I use an oval to define the head, even though it's seen from behind. The oval fits well for this part. The neck is quite long, and we can see that the head is well stretched due to our posture. So a small rectangle like this works well for that. Next, I use a polygon that somewhat resembles a rectangle, but with a slanted side. The right side of our body will not necessarily be straight. I can outline this entire area which will represent the back. One thing I notice is that I can place the woman forearm at the height of the pelvis. I use this as a reference point and draw it accordingly. Then I see that her elbow aligns roughly with the height of the ribs slightly above the pelvis, so I have positioned it accordingly. For the pelvis, I can represent it with some kind of trapezd as is often the case. Due to her postures, she has a pronounced curved on the side, which makes the right side more diagonal in my simple shape. The buttocks can be represented using this long rectangle, as you can see here. For the legs, I use a long rectangle for the left leg, long rectangles, plural, sorry, while the right leg will be slightly more concealed. What I can do here is slightly adjust the side because I initially made the pelvis and buttocks too wide, so I am correcting that. The next step will be to define a more realistic outline of this woman. But before that, I will need to erase some of my lines to make them less visible. Regarding the large rectangle I had drawn for the back, I can also include the arm which fields wells in this position. Oh Now we can start refining our outline in more detail and begin by marking the different angles using the blocking technique. For the head, we can observe that when seen from the back, the top of the skull appears more rounded while the sides look straighter in this position. I can also mark the ear on the right side. It is visible while on the left, it blends more into the outline. I can now define the airline and to position it correctly. I observed its alignment relative to the ear, and I noticed that it is roughly at the same height as the right ear, which helps me place it correctly. For the shoulder, since this woman is quite slender, we can see that our muscles and bones are very pronounced. And this is especially visible at the shoulder where a distinct small angle is formed. Moving to the inner part of the body, I can refine the arms. On both side, there are subtle angular changes. The arm is not perfectly straight, and it is even more noticeable on the right one. These slide angles help define the different muscles in the arm, whether it is the deltoid area around the shoulder or the slight curve created by the triceps. Then moving to the lower part, it is important to carefully define the angles that creates the curve of the pelvis. This is crucial for giving her figure a graceful curvature later on when we will refine the outline. Another key observation is at the knee, where a small indentation forms, changing the angle, and it is essential to pay close attention to these details and mark it properly. We can see that right here, we'll be creating a nice curve around the knee of this woman on the right leg. Next, I can continue with the overlay. On this leg as well, we can see a pronounced indentation at the knee highlighting the difference in volume between the thigh and the knee at this point. I then proceed with the ankle and will work also with the foot area. With the foot, we'll need to be careful because the foot is foreshortened due to perspective, so I'll have to pay close attention to it when drawing it. Then I can define the calves from the inside and work my way up to the line of the buttock. Once again, in this area, it's crucial to be mindful of the width of the different elements as there are small curves that help create the volume of the thigh. For the buttock, I can mark distinct lines to clearly separate the different forms. Now just a few more details need to be added, particularly the foot which I mentioned earlier, will be slightly shortened, foreshortened. And after that, I will refine my contours. So far, I have outlined them in a fairly structured way, mostly straight, though I've already added some curves in certain areas, making it a mix of the blocking technique and final contour. So I will go over these lines again to achieve my final contour. Next, I will also define the interior lines that will help establish the shadow areas for precise shading later. To do this, I will likely arraise my initial lines. I want them to be barely visible, if at all, so I can emphasize the final contour while maintaining a light touch. This will help recreate the graceful curves found in different parts of the body. Ultimately, the goal is to have a delicate final contour that blends seamlessly with the shading. I don't aim for a strongly outlined figure as often reduces the realism of the drawing. A heavy contour can make the artwork feel less natural. That's why I refine it with a very light touch, ensuring that the final contour solely subtly integrates with the shadow. I I took a step back to assess my drawing, and with this fresh perspective, I noticed that the right buttock was slightly too white. So I made a slight adjustment to refine it a bit. Taking a step back is always useful. It helps identify small elements that can be improved. Next, I'm going to mark all the interior lines that will guide my shading to achieve a realistic effect. To position them correctly, I will use the different elements in relation to one another. On the left side, there will be a larger shadowed area, and within this shadow, the values won't be uniform. We'll have different shades of gray, which will be essential for creating the proper volume in this region. We can also see some shadow areas around the ribs on the right, which help define the natural curvature in that part of the body. For the neck, which contains many muscles, shadow will play a key role in creating depth. When it comes to the buttock, shading will be crucial to enhancing its volume. Similarly, for the pis, these shadow areas are important in transforming a simple oval outline into a realistically cylindrical shape. There will be significant shadow areas in this region. So I mark them carefully, ensuring that I highlight the most important ones, those that will truly help me bring my drawing to life. I am only adding the ones that feel will be helpful for me. But if you think that outlining some other shadowed areas will help you, then feel free to do it. Now, let's start shading. I will begin with the upper area. For now, I am not focusing on the air. I will handle that later. The neck area is relatively light, so starting with HB shading seems like a good choice to outline the lighter parts of this section. Next, I will blend these lighter areas using my blending stump, which I have cleaned and refreshed with sandpaper. I will use circular motions to create a smooth surface, making it easier to a darker shading and finer details later. After applying the HB layer, I can see that there are slightly darker elements in some area. To enhance those, I will use the two B pencil to a subtle and darker touches, making certain areas stand out just a little more. I am going to take the kneaded eraser and lightly tap on the left side because this area needs to be extremely light. The HB pencil I used was already fairly light, but not quite enough. The kneaded eraser allows me to create a slightly grayish effect while still being lighter than HB, which is a great advantage. That's why I really like using it. Now we are going to work on the back. This is probably the most complex part of the drawing, since it has a lot of relief and folds, making it a bit tricky to render. When I face an area like this one, I like to start by shading the darkest parts and laying down the base for these elements. Once these key areas are marked, it becomes much easier to work on the rest of the drawing. Here, the dark areas stand out well. So I'm going to carefully mark them with the side of my needed with the side of my pencil. Then I want to apply shading across the entire area using an HB pencil. But for now, I am focusing on the darker sections, and it's only afterward with my lighter HB pencil that I will spread the shading evenly across the whole surface. Then I will blend it with a blending stump to achieve a smooth texture similar to the human skin. Of course, everyone has their own method. So prefer to work with different texture and avoid blending altogether. And for example, some people prefer hatching, for instance, with the drawing. Personally, I like to lay down graphic base, blended, and then add finer texture details that I want to blend afterward. You can choose the approach that suits best your desired, final result. Because in the end, it's really up to you to choose the style that you want for your final artwork. Personally, I really want to have something very realistic and close to reality. So I am blending everything, and once that my base will be blended, I will refine the details, and I will focus on the central fold of the back. You can see that this fold is quite dark at the top and gradually lightens as it extends downward. So I will make sure to soften this transition accordingly. Similarly, you can see that as you progress on the left of this fold, it gets a little bit lighter as well. So I will create that effect as well, applying less pressure on my pencil as I will move on the left. Now I'm going to go back and refine all the shadow areas in my drawing. I had already marked and established a basic structure, but I can see that my darker elements aren't standing out at all. I need to emphasize them a bit more. Initially, I set a few reference points, but clearly, they are not enough. Looking at the lower part of the shadow area right here, we can see that it is quite dark where it meets the arm and also a bit dark along the small strip that defines the end of the shadow near the center of the back. This line, this strip that I have just made a few seconds ago. And however, between these two areas between the strip and the dark area near the arm, you can see that the shading is slightly lighter, so it's important to pay attention to that. There are many subtle variations in gray values throughout this area. These small shifts are crucial because they are what make the rendering truly realistic. Carefully observing all these subtle changes in value is what really set you drawing apart in terms of realism. Some elements here are very dark, so I make sure to mark them clearly. And as we move away from these dark areas, the shading becomes lighter, so we either need to switch to a lighter pencil or simply apply less pressure when drawing. And that's what I'm doing right here. These shifts in Greton that you observe throughout different areas are what will allow you to take your drawing from being just decent or somewhat realistic to truly realistic. In fact, when you fully immerse yourself in drawing, one of the biggest breakthrough comes when you start noticing these subtle value variations. That's really what makes a difference in my mind, because it's what's give your drawing volume. And if your drawing gains volume, it gains realism, and you move from something flat on the page to something that creates a sense of free dimensionality. And in the end, that's really the goal to bring life to your paper. So the key is to train your eye to recognize all these small nuances in shading as they are what truly make the difference with your drawing. From my drawing, I realized that this area appears quite smooth. There won't be a lot of visible skin texture. It's going to be fairly even. That's why I'm going over these elements I have just added with my blending stem just slightly to enhance that smooth effect. Now, I am going to use my secret weapon, my eraser pen. This tool will help me refine the texture because while the skin area is quite smooth, there are still some subtle textural details that need to be added. With the eraser pen, I can achieve that. First, it allows me to highlight certain lighter areas that naturally appear on the skin. Additionally, it helps accentuate the darker elements by creating contrast, giving them more depth and volume. Since the darker areas stand out more next to lighter ones, this technique enhances the overall realism of the drawing, and it also helps create texture. By tapping lightly here and there with the tip of the eraser pen, I introduce small irregularities that mimic the natural variations found in the skin. I also complement this by sketching a few extra marks with my pencil, adding small scribbles and details that I won't blend in the final rendering. This approach reinforces the idea that skin is not perfectly uniform. There are always subtle darker areas scattered throughout. These small variations are really enough to make the skin look realistic. Next, I will work on the side area where the ribs are visible. To create a rounded effect, I will a subtle shading along the side, helping enhance the three dimensional look of the form. Next, I'm going to work on this part of the back. We can see that in the central area, we initially applied shading with an HB pencil, but that alone isn't enough. I also need to add some slightly darker elements because there are a few visible bands of darker skin in these sections. Once these elements are in place, I will blend them to create a smoother finish. Then I will gradually add more detail without necessarily blending them. So I will, some I won. Between these details, I will add small scribbles here and there, refining the drawing as I go. When drawing, I constantly refer to my model reference photo, asking myself, have I included all the necessary details in this area or is something missing? And I keep adding elements until I am completely satisfied with the result. For instance, in the shadowed area on the side, I can see that I need to darken certain parts slightly to enhance the contrast and make the shadow stand out more. So that's what I am doing right here. This variety in shading is what gives the drawing its realistic appearance. If we were to closely examine the human skin, we would notice a mix of beige and brown tones that created its natural texture. Similarly, as I did earlier with the eraser pen, I will refine the texture with small strokes here and there, making sure the details feel as lifelike as possible. And at this point, the back is nearly finished, and by taking it one step at a time, the process naturally comes together without feeling overwhelming. Starting with the most obvious elements, making adjustments based on the reference and refining as needed, all lead to a complete and realistic drawing. Now moving on to the right arm, I begin by applying a very light and subtle shading on the left side of the arm. This is where the eyelight is marking the area that's fully illuminated. 14. Drawing the woman part II: On the right side of the arm, we can see that the shading is much darker. So I switch to a six B pencil, which allows me to achieve the necessary depth. Once I have blended all the shading in this area, I can begin refining the details. Looking at the section I shaded with the six B, I noticed that some areas need to be even darker. To enhance these parts, I press a bit harder on my pencil. One key spot is the crease of the elbow where there is a distinct dark mark. Additionally, the contour of the arms stands out more, especially in areas exposed to strong light. So I will carefully go over these edges to make sure they are well defined, but I don't want them to be too dark either. I then gently blend these elements, which help smooth out the transition between different values. Blending also ensures that the shading connects seamlessly, creating a natural and fluid texture. In the center of the arm, I notice a particularly bright bend. To make it stand out, I lightly tap with my kneaded eraser. Then I will go over the area with the blending stump again to avoid any harsh straight lines. In the human body, highlights and shadows don't form rigid geometric shapes. They blend into each other gradually, and my blending stem helps me create these soft transitions, making the shading appear more natural. And finally, I refine the texture entering that the shading and highlights interact harmoniously. With that, the arm is complete. Now I will move on to the overarm and after that, we'll continue with the next part of the drawing with the buttock. For the buttocks area, I start with a light shading. I use an HB pencil for the brightest areas where strong eyelights are present, especially on the left side and also a little bit on the right buttock, but on the left side of the right buttock. For the upper part, I think a two B pencil will be more suitable. There is a noticeable difference in value here, so a slightly darter tone helps define the form better. On the right side, the shading deepens even more, even more slightly ev. Since this area is darker but not as intense as some parts of the back, I would use a four B pencil as a balanced choice. Since I use the six B pencil for the back, I think the four B for this area will be right. To make sure I use the right value, what I could use would be the value scale as I showed it in the basic course, remember? And once all these values are established, I will blend everything to create smooth transitions between the different element. And after blending, I will refine the details as this is a key area where achieving volume is essential for a realistic effect. Now that my shading has been blended, I can refine it with slightly darker touches here and there. One thing to notice is that just above the buttocks, there are small, slightly darker marks that resemble the natural creases of the lower back. And I emphasize these areas with my pencil to create a bit more contrast. On the right side, on the right buttock, the shading appears darker, and this is what helps give the buttock its volume and rounded shape. This deeper shading is especially noticeable in the center of the right buttock and also um, along the right side of the left buttock. So that's what I am shading right now. And with these darker elements in place, I now have a solid base to work from. Next, I will blend these areas and further refine the details to enhance the realism of the form. With my slightly darker pencil, I'm going to refine the central fold of the buttock to make it stand out more and ensure I don't lose clarity in my drawing, allowing for a clear distinction between these two areas. And as I work on this, I notice that the shading along the entire line isn't uniform, so I need to be careful with how I handle this fold. Next, there will be a pronounced shadow in this area, which I'll be able to refine further later on. For now, my goal is going to emphasize the darker elements within this section of the buttock. And as you can see, I've worked on the central fold of the buttocks right now. And I will work also on the right side because there are multiple small shadow areas. However, I don't want the lines of the shadows to be too visible within the shadows. So I will make sure to blend them smoothly with delicate strokes with my blending stump, making circular movements to have something to make the lines of my shading disappear. Now, using my eraso pen, I'm going to lightly tap here and there with irregular strokes to bring out the highlights in this area and also create some texture in the skin. I first observe the specific areas where this technique is needed, then apply random and even strokes. This irregularity is key to achieving a realistic skin texture because real skin has natural imperfections and variation, and that's what I am trying to capture. Next, I will set aside the erasopen and switch to the needed eraser to soften certain areas. Now, you may wonder, why did I use the erasopen first and then the needed eraser? Reason is simple. The erasupen allows for more precision, helping me create the fine irregularities in the skin texture while also making certain highlights stand out more. On the other hand, the kneaded eraser is used to subtly tone down some areas without making them as bright as with the razor pen. And with that, once I have finished that, the section will be complete and we'll move on to the next one. Now we can move on to working on the right leg. I will start by continuing the shading from the area I had already worked on near the buttock. We can see that there was a very dark shadow in this section, and as we move downward, it gradually fades. I will keep using the same pencil, though, a six B, but I will apply much lighter pressure when shading the softer and lighter areas of the leg. However, on the entire left side of the leg, there are slightly dark tones. So to maintain consistency, I will try to keep the same pressure on my pencil in that area to ensure it stands out properly. So I begin by strongly defining the darker elements in this section, and then I will continue refining the shading while still using the six B. The key difference will be that I will lighten my touch, applying less pressure to create a softer and more gradual transition in the shading. As you can see, when we progress on the right side, the woman leg the woman's leg becomes a little bit lighter, so I lighten as well the pressure that I put on my pencil. Now I am going to refine the shading on the buttock a bit more. We can see that this very dark area gradually fades as we move away from it, but there is still some shadow present in a lighter tone. My goal here is to carefully mark this transition to ensure a smooth and realistic gradient. In the lower shadow area, we can also notice that the outer edge of this shadow is slightly darker. So to enhance this effect, I will accentuate it, making sure that the transition between tones remain natural and well balanced. Now I am refining the area fervor. I notice some additional slightly darker elements, so I go ahead and emphasize them. In this section, along the edge of the leg, there are also a few darker areas just like in the crease of the knee as you may have noticed. I don't want my shadow areas to have harch and defined edge, so I go over them again and blend everything smoothly using my blending stump. To further refine the transition, I can also go back in with a pencil as I am doing now and had small scribbles here and there within the shaded area. This technique helps create a more seamless and natural transition between tones. Now, I am going to highlight the lighter areas of this section using the azo pen. Sometimes when using the azo pen, it can make certain areas too bright. This has happened to me several times, but it's not a problem at all. A simple technique to fix this is to take a blending stump and lightly go over the area. This just redistribute, sorry, the graphite, making the section slightly darker, but not as dark as it was before. And this way, I can still achieve the desired effect while maintaining a natural transition. At this point, the shading on the leg is essentially complete. The last step is making a few final adjustments with the needed eraser to enhance some darker elements here and there. That's what I will do next, followed by a few small corrections with both my pencil and eraser where needed. And overall, this leg is finished. We've successfully given it depth and volume, making it look three dimensional, and that's a satisfying result. And now we can move on to the second leg. So now let's move on to the overleg and to begin with, I'm going to do a very light and quick shading with an HB pencil. This gives me a clear base across the whole area and will represent the lightest gray we will have here, knowing that all the elements on top will be at least as dark or darker. Now I have laid down my elements, and I can really start the shading. What we can notice is that there will be a more defined shadow in this area around the buttock. We will have darker elements because those are the ones that will help give volume to the buttock and also give it that slightly rounded appearance. So I go back over that area with my pencil to really emphasize those parts. Next, what I notice is that all along the leg, there's going to be a fairly dark band in the center, so that will need to be added. But before that, I also work on the contour of the leg because as we can see, to make it stand out nicely and have a good contrast against the white background, we have this entire edge on the side that will now be a bit darker. Now I go back to my central element, as I mentioned a bit earlier. We can see that this whole area here will be slightly darker. So I really emphasize that, and I make sure to leave a slightly lighter area in the center to act as my highlight. And worst case scenario, if I go over it, that's fine. I can always erase it afterwards using my eraser pen. At the level of the hill as well, we can see there's a small, slightly darker band that thickens as we go up the lay, so I mark that. Then I will blend all these elements together so that we really have a smooth transition, connection between all of these darker elements and lighter one. So it looks as natural as possible. I don't want any areas with harsh lines, so by doing this, it softens them a bit. With my eraser pen, I gently erase along the side of the leg. You can see this little highlight taking shape as a fairly light line, so I go ahead and define it like this. I am now moving on to shading the foot. So this is going to be this is not going to be a very complicated area to draw. We can see that there is an edge that's quite dark, so it stands out a little bit more. So I will draw that. Then I will add a few small shading elements here and there. But overall, it's not going to be complicated because on one hand, on one hand, we can't really see much of it. So it's just a few small details to add. And there's not going to be much to do. And secondly, it's clearly not the focus of this model. In fact, we don't see much of this foot at all. It's located at the bottom of the page, and so when the viewer looks at our drawing, their attention won't be drawn to it at all. So we don't really need to linger on it too much. The eye will really be drawn to the rest of the body, to the curves of the lady, her beautiful silhouette, but in the end, the foot, not so much. So unless we make a horrible scribble in that area, the eye has no reason to be drawn to it, and that's why it can be done fairly quickly. Next, I move on to the face. And for the face, we're going to work on the ear. So here, the ears are seen from the back. We don't see much of them either. What we can notice is that there will be clearly defined shadows along the edges of the ear. So I had those in before working on the ear. The air isn't going to be the simplest thing. So what I'm going to do for the air is start by shading the entire area around the bun, and I will apply a fairly dark base using the ten B before I can really start working on all the hair in more details. Now I am going to work a bit more on the details of the air. What we can notice is that there are some really dark areas in certain spots. So here, I'm simply going to take my 14 B pencil, the darkest of my pencil, and I'm going to emphasize all these dark areas. We mainly find dark elements in the lower part, also a little on the left side, and we also have the entire outline of the bun on the upper part, which will be very dark. So with the tip of my pencil, to be very precise and to get really deep darkness, I'm adding all these elements before moving on to marker to marking lighter ones in the area. So now I can go ahead and had some lighter elements in the area. And for that, I am using my eraso pen to really mark those highlights that we can see here and there. But overall, for this area around the bun, I would say that we are good. There's no need to add a lot more. Now I will move on to the bun itself. And in the end, the bun isn't that complicated. We'll notice that there are some lighter line which acts a bit like highlights and stand out nicely. So I can start by marking them. Well, they're not exactly highlight, but let's say they stand out a little bit. I will mark them in, and then I will work all around them. What I will also do afterwards is add a few stray hairs here and there that stick out and cross over the neck. But overall, that's going to be it for this drawing. I apologize, but for that part, it was a bit difficult to make sure you could see every single pencil stroke. That area required a lot of precision, so I had to hold my pencil very precisely at the tip. So yeah, it's not super visible, but I'm sure that you will manage it just fine. And that's it. This marks the end of this tutorial. I hope it was helpful to you and that you enjoy it. And don't hesitate to share what you have drawn. It always makes me happy to get your feedback and see what you're working on. So again, thank you for watching and see you very soon for new Tutorial. 15. The drawing of David I: Wrap up this course on the human body, we'll be working on the final subject, which is fascinating the statue of David created by Michelangelo. And for that, we'll be working on an A free paper, that is to say 30 centimeters by 42, because this bigger format will help us to work with more comfort and to be more precise and to work with more precision on all the different elements of the body. This is an excellent subject because it brings together everything that we've been working on so far. Uh, proportions, shading, postures, structure, and volume. So everything that we've seen so far is gathered into this fascinating subject. And the statue of David is often seen as a benchmark for its ideal proportion, making it a perfect reference for this final exercise. So it is a great opportunity to put into practice everything you've learned so far, so grab your pencil and let's do it together. Let's get started with the drawing and begin by sketching the outline of this David. First step, we are going to draw him using simple shapes just like we have done so far. It's a great chance to apply everything we have learned about drawing the human body, using this model, one of the most famous bodies in the world, thanks to this beautiful statue. So I start by breaking it down into simple forms. And what we can see, we can see that one leg is resting on the platform. The calf can be drawn using a straight rectangular shave, and the thigh branches out from the groin area with something like a trapezoid. That felt like a good approach. For the knee, as usual with joints, I marked it with circles like this. As for the other leg, I noticed the knees are aligned. That's a good reference point before drawing them, and that's what I use. The same thing goes for the ankle. There's a nice alignment there, too, and I used that as a guide to place it. What you can also notice is that the second foot, this one is right at the edge of the platform, which is also a good reference point to making sure that we position it correctly. From here, I can close off the groin area with a small triangle, then move on to the pelvis with another small shape trapezoid. For the tosaur area, we'll use whiter trapezoid as we can already see the body widening a bit at the top because David has well developed labs, well developed back. And this is even more noticeable around the pectoral area where we also see the shoulder on adding to that width. Next to place the bicep, I will use other elements as reference points. I noticed that the elbow joint, the end of the bicep area is roughly at the same level as the pelvis, so I use that to position it more easily. And there we go. Since the army is almost fully extended, the reaches down to around the fi area, which is similar to what we saw earlier in the course in the part of the course of the proportions with the mannequin model that helped us understand average human proportions. Next, once this is done, I can move on to the head. For now, I'm keeping it very simple, just a circle, and we'll develop it in more detail later. Then I can continue with the other arm once this is done. Since this arm is bend, the perspective makes the bicep appear shorter, so it is important to draw it with the right proportion. And that will be it. We are pretty much done. And even if we are just using simple shapes, when we know this is the model we are trying to draw, we can already start to recognize them a little. Now that I have a fairly precise outline using simple shapes, we are going to try to refine it even further and get even more accurate. If you have been following the course so far, you know we are now going to work with the blocking technique and try to clearly define the different angles we can observe in the body. I start with the elf area where you can see the muscle really widens as you move upward. So I try to capture that myself. Likewise, in the thi area, there are some strong angles that stand out, and there's also the line of the groin that I can define more clearly and make more visible. On the overside of the thi around the quadriceps area, I am also going to work that part and start shaping quads that get bulkier as we move further to the left. The position of the hand might not be entirely correct, so I will need to come back to that and refine it more precisely later on. Next I move on. I move to the overside of the body and continue with the overleg again, working on the thigh and then on the calf. You can see how sculted and muscular the calves are here. And that's why I'm going to try to express as well by using sharp angles so that we can already start to feel the muscle structure just from this control made entirely of straight lines. Next, I can move to the overside and connect with the rest of the pi. You can see there that the muscle is a bit developed, so I made sure to emphasize that. Around the pelvis area here, there's not much happening, a small angle at the top, over rises the straight line that I was able to draw. Then we have the rib cage and the pectoral area. Here we can notice the shadowed zone, but it's actually the shadow cast by the pectoral muscle, so I simply outlined it like that. I likely mark the shape of the pectoral, while on the side, we have the shaded area that stands out more clearly. Around the elbow, we also get quite a few angular shape since the muscles are well developed and clearly defined, which creates these small and noticeable angles. Then I can get to the end and I can sketch out a few fingers that are visible. Two of them stand out clearly while the other two form more of a mass. I also quickly drew the object he's holding in his hand, and now we can move on to the blocking of the face. From the chin up to the nose, we have a fairly straight line, and the nose breaks that line slightly, and then the cheek bone connects up to the forehead. That's the approach I went with here. Of course, we could have used the ums method at this point. It would have worked just as well, but since the goal of this part of the course is really to focus on the body, I didn't want to spend too much time on the face. So I kept the things simple using the blocking technique just to place the volume, and at the end of this tutorial, we'll shade quickly and draw a little bit of detail for the head. I can also work on the outline of the air. As for the face, I won't spend too much time on the blocking taking here either. We'll just mark the main feature, so the airline, the eyebrow. Then for the eye, I'd like to work on it in more detail later. It is a bit tricky, especially since the eye is coated in stone. It's not like a regular eye, which makes the facial work in this portrait a bit more delicate. Next, I can continue blocking in the overside of the body. Here, we can see that the shoulders are very muscular. You can notice that both at the top and along the side around the deltoid area, it has some muscles that are very well developed. Even though it's not as defined in the outline, the shading work will really help to bring out the muscularity of the arm and the triceps. Because for the triceps, the contour alone doesn't show them as clearly, so I will need to rely on shading to convey the strength in these arms. As for the end, it is quite large. It takes up a lot of space, so I will try to draw it accurately. And one thing I noticed is that the fingertips reach about where the two this separate, maybe just slightly below that. And that gives me a solid reference point for placing the end correctly. Then I can finish up the blocking in the blocking by working on the fore arm, which is very strong and bulky. And I can define it with an over sharp angle, just like I did with the bicep, like I'm doing right now with the bicep. Now, once all these lines are in place and the blocking is truly finished, I will soften them and move on to creating the final clean outline of the body, just like we have done in all the previous lessons. So I've erased everything, and I'm going to draw the clean outline quickly, and we'll meet back right after that to start giving our David some volume through shading. Now that the outline is well defined, we are going to start adding the inner lines that will help us later when building up the volume. I begin by sketching the area of the pins, and you can see that it forms kind of a hard shape. That's the shape I try to give. From there, I can start defining the various lines that will guide me in constructing the abdominal muscles. So that's what I will draw next. On these lines, I am adding now all the ones that will later define the shadow areas, and they help me create depth and volume. These lines are really important because they will act as key reference points before we start shading. So that's really what I'm trying to do here. Set down as many useful guides as possible before moving forward with the rest of the drawing. Next, I can draw all the abdominal lines in the stomach area. We can clearly see that they are well defined on the state. So we'll aim to define them clearly as well and work carefully on our shadow areas. So I start outlining them. Now keep in mind these lines I am drawing here are just there to help with the shading, but later on, I absolutely don't want these lines to remain visible. They might get erased or simply disappear once the shading is in place because if you look closely at the abdominal area, there aren't really any lights that define those forms. What defines them is actually the shading done in that area. That shading doesn't take the form of a pure and clean line. It's made up of subtle dark grays and lighter grays that we need to try to create. But there shouldn't be any kind of clearly visible geometric line or hard edge. And that will apply to most areas we will be working on. So we need to be very careful about that when we get to shading. Here, I can also define the pectorals with some lines for now, but again, those lines shouldn't remain visible in the final version. At this stage, I'm trying to draw quite a few lines. I try to define each element in every area of the body. But I might not mark 100% of the details of all the shadow areas. For example, on the hand or around the genital area, I won't sketch every single little vein or hair we can see there, and it's the same for the air. I block in most of it, but if I want to I can choose to at some parts directly while working on the final shading. So really, it's up to you to find the right balance, choose the details you want to include early on and decide which ones you prefer to you might prefer to add gradually as you go. It depends on what makes you feel more confident and comfortable. And as for the face, I can mark the main shadow lines. There's a line that runs from the chin to the ear that helps define the volume of that area, so I will go ahead and draw that in. I can also sketch the eye in free quarter view, the bridge of the nose and the mouth, also in free quarter view. So there you go. I'm adding in the main elements that we will see across the different areas of his body and also his face. I can now position David Snipples. You will notice they are not actually centered. This is a common mistake to watch out for. They are placed more toward the outer sides of the pectorals, and they follow more or less the same horizontal line in terms of alignment. Next, I can also draw the outline of the of the inner contour of the knee, which is clearly visible. It's a bit of a tricky area to shade, so I try to give myself a few reference points by working on its inside outline a little bit. I can also move on to the feet carefully sketching the toes. The big toe is the most visible one, so it's the one that we need to focus on and work with the most precision. The other toes are less detailed with much sort of shading, and it's the same for the other foot. The feet aren't the focal points of the drawing. So while we do need to shade them properly and do the work, we won't need to spend too much time on them during the drawing process. The end, on the other hand, is very detailed and sits roughly at mid height of the drawing. And because of that, the viewer's eye will naturally be more drawn to it, so we really need to spend time getting it right. And you will also notice that the shading of the end is very well defined, and it plays a key role in giving the hand volume. Et's start the shading work now. I'm going to begin with the chest area. Why start with this area? Well, it's quite simply because I don't think it's necessarily the most complex one. And starting a drawing with something relatively simple, I would say is the best way to build confidence when beginning your drawing, starting with an area that will quickly take shape and start to look like the reference. That's the reason why I'm starting here. So I did a very quick shading of the whole area using my HB pencil because we can see that some parts are going to be very, very light. And with the HB, I know everything will be at least as dark as the HB or even darker. So I can apply this base, knowing that everywhere else will have either this value or darker ones. As you saw, I blended everything, and now I'm working on the shading more precisely, starting to add darker elements that will stand out more and help define the area better. Already, we can see that on the entire left side and the lower part of the pectoral, there are these darker spots that help create volume. Similarly, on this left pectoral, you can see that it's right edge as a slightly darker part, which again, helps give a sense of volume. So I shaded that. Then I continued with the left side of the pectoral, where there are quite a few dark elements that once again help define the volume of the area. The corner on the left, where the arm separates from the pectoral, which was very dark is really helping to express the division between those two elements, the arm and the pectoral. And here under the pectoral in the left corner, there are some very dark area because the, the lats that are in the back, they are a bit bulky and they shift so to speak, they help create volume behind the pectoral. So we can see them a bit as well. And all these elements that I added, I blend them so that the pencil marks aren't visible in the area. And you can see that I use the two sides of my blending stem, the sides for the darker areas, and the other side for the lighter elements. Switching signs for the blending stumps allow me not to spread too much dark pigments over the light areas. Now, let's start working on David's nipple. You can see that all around the contour, there are slightly darker areas. The contour is a little bit darker, so I start by marking those, which makes it stand out a little more from the general shading across the pectoral area. Then what we notice is that most of the shadow is on the lower and left part, so we need to emphasize those spots. And since we are working in such a small area, it's really important to have a well sharpened pencil because it requires a lot of precision. So now I'm shading the lower part with darker tones, and I'm using multiple values here because it's not the same level of darkness everywhere. And right around the nipple itself, there's a very small, very dark circle you can clearly make out. Like, right now, you can see it. It's a little bit darker. And as for the ylights in this area, I'm being very careful not to go over them with my pencil. I leave those parts white. My precision eraser wouldn't be enough here because the area is just too small and I wouldn't be able to erase with enough accuracy. So there's no need to add a ton of details to render the nipple. It is very small, and just those few little elements I added are more than enough to give a realistic impression. Next, let's move on to the other pectoral. Again, I'm going to start by shading the area, and I'll mark the darker parts on the lower section, which help define the pectoral more clearly. Be careful, though, because once again, the values won't be the same across the whole area. So pay close attention to those small shifts in value that are crucial for creating depth and form in the area. And so to make sure I have different value, I apply more or less pressure on my pencil to have more or less darker gray. Also, between the two pectorals, there are a few dark marks that are important too. They help clearly separate the two pectorals. So I will add those in and almost like I will add those in almost like little scribbles because I don't want obvious lines there. I want it to feel like texture, and this texture is creating by adding little patches of gray here and there, and that's more than enough to create a realistic surface. At this point, I have pretty much finished with the pectoral area. What I can do now is start working on the shadow that appears underneath the end, and right after I will also work on the nipple in that area, which will be done in the same way as the one on the other side. 16. The drawing of David II: In this area, I can add also I can also add a few small shadows here and there. For example, there's one we can notice near the collar bone just above the two pectorals. But overall, I'm not going to focus too much on that area right now. We'll work on it in more detail later when we get to the neck area. Now let's move on to the rest of the torso. So we continue working downward. There's a shadow that starts just below the pectoral that we did earlier and continues down into the abdominal area. Here we are dealing with some really dark and well defined shadows. So I think the eight B pencil is a good choice for working in this area. So I'm starting with the eight B, and you will see it extends down the lower part of the torso roughly down to the upper pelvic region. So I'm marking in these shadows. They represent the shadows cast by the ribs and the abdominal muscles. I started with the eight beat, but as we get closer to the central area, we can see it gets a little lighter. So I thought the fourth bead would be a better fit to continue with that part. I am adding shadows here and there, working with the side of the pencil tip since I will be blending these lines afterward. I don't want them to be too visible. So make sure to apply the pencil very gently and lightly so that everything blends nicely later on. I also darkened the area around the pectoral quite a bit. You can see that it is a very pronounced shadow there. So I worked carefully on that part. Now for the section of the abdominals, I actually chose a slightly different approach than I did for the pectoral area where I had started with the lighter elements. Here, I felt that the abdominal zone was a bit more complex with lots of shadows and reliefs, and the darker elements really stand out. They are clearly visible and easy to identify in this area. Within this area. So as usual, I like to begin with the elements that seem most obvious to me. And in this case, I find the darker areas. I find that the darker areas are the ones that stand out most clearly and are easiest to place. So placing them first, give me a few reference points to work from. At this stage, it's true that we have added some elements and the area might not look like much yet. But you have to trust the process and remember that once everything starts to come together, we'll end up with a result that really looks like David. For now, it's important not to be too hard on yourself. Trust yourself and wait until all the elements are in place, and the entire area is completed before saying, This doesn't look right, I need to redo it. Unless there's something that seems completely out of proportion or clearly in the wrong place, I would say it's best to have confidence in yourself and wait for everything to be in place. So I am blending all those initial marks that I had in this area. This gives us a basic shading that's already a little detail. Then we will start working over the entire set of small shadow areas, all the little slightly darker elements here and there, which will help us define the area well and really create a sense of depth. Now, I am going to work on the shading in a much more precise way, aiming to establish the final value and the final shape of all these small elements that help create depth in the area and give it to very muscular abdominal belt. So I am starting by adding the really dark elements found in the zone. And for that, I have chosen to use the ten B pencil. It seems like the right choice for adding very dark details like this, which will make the shadow area stand out well and create strong volume. You will find them on the side under the left pectoral and also around the ribs on the lower part, both on the left and right side. I am marking all of these elements, and I am working with my pencil slightly tilted so I can use both a part of the tip and one side of the lid, which allows me to be precise while also creating strokes that can be blended easily. And with the ten B, I would say that's about it for the darkest elements that we needed to be marked. I have placed all the darkest values in the area, and I am going to work on the lighter ones that can be found elsewhere. But you can see that I am using a kind of scribbling motion for this area so that the shapes aren't too defined because skin texture and the shading you get on skin doesn't really have a clear shape. It's made up of lots of little marks here and there that gives the impression that the skin has uneven pigmentation in different areas. I can also work a little bit on this on the upper area near the pectoral since the shading there isn't standing out enough because it's not marked enough, the volume in that area is a bit weak and the pectorals don't seem to be too much muscular. So that's why I need to shade a little bit more in here. And we are getting close to the end of this part now. Just a few more small details to add, and then I will blend everything with my blending stem to soften the pencil strokes and make the results look smoother. And finally, I will also add a few highlights in my brighter spots by tapping with my kneaded eraser. Um now let's move forward and work on the entire abdominal area all the way down to the pubic area. I'm going to start by marking the shadows. In the lower part, we can see some fairly dark elements, and I'm using a ten B pencil at first to lay those down. Then I will apply a lighter shading over the rest of the area and blend everything once that is done. That will be my base. For the blending part, I will skip ahead once it is completed. It won't take too long, so feel free to pause here and we'll meet again afterward to work on the abdominal area in more detail. So this is it. My area is blended, and we can start refining the abdomen. It's not one of the most complex area, but there are a few shifts in value that we need to take into account and define properly. Specifically in the central area, there is a slightly darker line that I am marking using the side of my pencil. Again, I use the word line, but it's not meant to be a clearly defined one. It should be very soft shading, almost like a bit of scribbling. That's what I always do when I work with the side of my pencil tip. Anyway, all these elements will be blended later. And I look at the area when I work here and ask myself, where do I see little dark elements I could have that will help create volume? And that's exactly what I'm doing here. For example, just below the navel, on both the left and right sides, there's a slightly darker band that stands out a bit, so I had that in, and that's the same for the elements of the side. These are fairly light shadings. The differences in value in this area aren't huge, but they are important for creating a true sense of volume and showing that the body is well skted with a slightly rounded belly. So I add all these elements, and as usual, I don't want them to be too visible. So I'm going to go over them with the blending tool and the blending stump. Remember, when working with the blending stump, we always use circular motions to get the best possible results in the blending process. Now that it's done, we can now move on to the navel. It's not a complex feature to draw, but it really adds to the overall look of the area and makes it feel more realistic. Looking at the navel, we can see it has a small oval shape, which we can recreate with two slightly curved lines, one at the top and one at the bottom. The lower one appears darker, and that's pretty much it. What really matters here on the small shading details around it, in this case, there are actually very light areas. So I use my eraser pen to lighten them and then use my kneaded eraser to erase a few more subtle highlights in the region. Now I'm going to work on the genital area. What we notice is that around the pubic hair, especially in the lower parts surrounding the genitals, the area is much darker. It's a bit of a confusing zone, the air zone with lots of elements going in different directions. So what I do is try to identify the different dark lines in the area, and then I try to add them in. I work around those line I will work around those lines afterward. I start by marking a few of those lines quite darkly, using the tip of my pencil carefully so they stand out enough and so and so I am accurate. Then I apply shading between those lines, a bit lighter, slightly lighter in the lower parts than those lines I added. And as I move upward, it becomes even lighter. So I'm being very gentle with the pencil in that upper area. Next, I can move on to working on pins. And what we can notice here is that there is a fairly pronounced shadow underneath and also along the side. So that's what I am adding now. On this testicle, I'm starting with a fairly light shading, which I blend, and then I had a few slightly darker touches over it to build up the shading and give the area some volume. You can notice that the lowest part is the darkest, and that's what helps create a slightly spherical appearance. So here I am adding some darker elements in that area, and on the upper part, I lightly brighten it with my erasupen so we can see that it is generally lighter. As for the pens itself, we can see that there is a small dark spot at the tip, which helps give it some volume. There and there are a few slightly darker areas along the sides which also help to suggest the form and give volume. And overall, I would say that's pretty much about it. In the growing area, we can also see some folds that are quite pronounced and dark. So I am adding them using my AB pencil. You can notice that the left side is a bit darker than the right side. Using the same pencil, I'm simply applying a bit less pressure on the right area to create a slight difference in value between the two sides, though it remains quite subtle. Then between these two leg, we can see that it is really dark. So I start by adding that black line, and from there, we can begin working on the first five, the right one. And with this five, what we can see is that along the entire left edge, we can see some fairly dark areas, though not as dark as the growing zone. So I apply less pressure here so that we get a visible gradient. And as we get closer to the knee, again, we can see some slightly darker parts. For me, the goal when working on this Pi is to try and define the areas of varying darkness to determine the right values because those alone will already give volume to the Phi. We can also notice that around the knee, there are very dark shadows. So I try to define them accurately to get the most precise shading possible even after blending. Then as we move more to the right, the shading becomes much lighter. So here, I put aside the darker pencil and switch to a to be, and it's that difference in value between the areas that create volume and gives the phi its seal a cylindrical appearance. That's thanks to how the shading and darker zones are distributed. For example, that slightly darker shadow in the center also helps make the thigh look round and full. Around the knee, even though the entire area is quite dark, it's not uniformly dark. On the left side and elsewhere of this area of the knee that we haven't shaded yet, I'm going to use something like the four B pencil next to those deep shadow because, yes, this knee is dark, but it's not the same darkness throughout the entire knee. Now that all the areas are marked, I'm going to blend them using circular motion so that all the grays I have added here and there, blend smoothly together, giving us a soft surface we can later use to add some texture. Now that everything has been blended in this area, I'm going to work a bit more precisely. Even though we had already done quite a detailed job, I'll go back in with the pencil to refine the zones and look for places where we have slightly darker or slightly lighter elements that stand out. You can see that there were a few on the left side of the leg, but there are quite a few as well in the knee area. It's a small area, but it's actually very detailed. So it requires a fairly high level of precision. So take the time to carefully observe all the elements in order to render them as accurately as possible. And that's what I am doing here with the knee area. Then we'll move on to the calf. But before that, what I am also going to do in this area is use my eraser pen to hide a few slightly lighter touches here and there. That also helps improve the skin texture because as we have seen the skin has irregularities and these slightly lighter areas that I'm going to will contribute to that effect. For the calf area, I had a small recording issue, so I wasn't able to film what I had done. Fortunately, it happened on a part that isn't the most complex to draw, as you will see, but take your time with it and make sure to get the shading right. You can see that in the central part, there are a few slightly darker areas. As you can see, I have already marked while on the right side, there are some lighter elements. So take your time, and then we'll move on to drawing the food together, which is also going to be quite simple, you will see. For the foot, I can mark this slightly darker band that helps define the ankle joint. You can see it continues slightly on the right side. Then in the central part of the foot, there are some darker elements that I'm going to add here, which will help get the food a sense of free dimensionality. There are also dark lines that separate the toes. In fact, it's mainly the one between the big toe and the others that's quite dark. The rest are fairly subtle. To give the foot volume, I also had the shadow underneath it, which makes the foot appear lifted and free dimensional. Then I can sketch in the overtes quite simply, and without overthinking it. You can see that there are a few light and subtle lights between each toe that I will add along with some occasional shadow areas that help give each toe a bit of dimension. As I mentioned, the food is fairly simple. There aren't that many details to add. And since it's placed at the bottom of the artwork, it's not really where the viewers attention is going to be focused. So it's okay to spend a little less time on it, and in any case, there just aren't that many elements to include. So I am just adding a few small touches here and there, and that should do it for this food. As for the other leg, I didn't record the process on purpose, since it's exactly the same as what we did on the first one. So we meet again for the work on the arms. So take your time and proceed the same way as before. It won't be difficult, you will see. And finally, for this foot, I'm adding a few lighter touches with my eraser pan to enhance the free dimensionality effect even more. So let's work on the arm now. What I start with is marking the slightly darker areas on the arm. They are quite visible and really important for giving the muscles a sense of volume. You will notice there's a fairly pronounced shadow in the shoulder area with the deltoid muscle standing out clearly. The elbow joint is also well defined, which suggests a raised bicep and on the muscular bicep. And on the side, we can see some darker areas that I am now adding in as well. Between all these elements I have added, I'm going to shade with something like the HB pencil to have something pretty light because this area overall is pretty much lighter. So the HB seems like a right choice for these elements. And I'm going to do the same for this lower zone, and I will add some darker elements. On the sides as well. Then I will blend everything and we'll start working on the texture. But you may wonder why would you work on the texture since it's made out of stone? And that's true, but this totone used for the creation of this culture is really close to the skin texture and has some little elements, little bit, lighter and darker that make it look very closely to what the human texture skin actually looks like. So that's why I try to work it out in the same manner that what we did earlier in the course with the work on the hand, the back, et cetera. So I work the texture on the same manner. Now I have blended everything, and you might think that this bicep is darker than what I had earlier. And actually, it is. But we will see in the end how it looks. Like I said before, with this tutorial and within the entire course, it's only at the end of your drawing that you can really tell if something is wrong or not. So for now, it may seem a bit too dark, but we will see later on when I had some highlight with my erasure pen, how it looks. And I'm going to add the small veins that we can see here and there. And by the way, it's pretty much incredible to see some veins silted like this in the stone. So, wow, congratulations to Michel Angelo. And yes, so I'm going to try to draw them in the best way possible, these veins, and we can see that how it's created. There is some dark lines on both sides of the vein, and in the middle, we will have a highlight that I will be adding later with my eraso pen. But before doing that, I'm going to blend everything because I want a pretty smooth surface in the area. So with my blending stump, still using some circular motions. I know I repeat that a lot, but that's really important because you really get better results with circular motions. I blend everything. And now I can have these highlights next to the veins that will help to make them free dimensional and I can add a little bit of I can erase here and there a little bit of my graphite. This will help to create a better texture. And I think that my bicep with these small highlights I have added, will look pretty right. There won't be no, there will be no need to erase much more. 17. The drawing of David III: Now let's move on to working on the hand. It's true that drawing hands can feel a bit intimidating since they are among the most complex parts of the body to draw. And in this case, it's even trickier because the hand is quite small, so there's not a lot of space to include other little details. But you will see it's not going to be too difficult. Taking it one element at a time, we manage to create something nice and convincing. So toward this end, what I started with was adding the shadow around the foam, which helps gives a sense of three dimensionality. Then I can move on to the foam itself and mark the outline of the nail like this. On the whole left side of the thumb, there's also a fairly strong shadow, so I can add that in as well. Then there is a darker shadow along the entire left side of the hand, which is very clearly defined. I begin by marking that one, but be careful. The value isn't uniform throughout, which is why I didn't extend the shadow fully along the finger or only slightly with this one only. So here, I can work on this line which has the same value. But between these two darker areas, the shading is a bit lighter, so that's what I try to do, avoiding something too dark in between. Then I can shade the rest of the hand with a fairly light base, which seems appropriate for the whole area. I blend it all, and then it will be easier to come back and have the small details found in the hand. Now that I have blended everything, we can start working on the details of the hand. What's important here is to carefully observe all the lines we can find here and there. They help give volume to the end. I try to notice on my reference the different lines. Some of them are related to veins or bones that are visible on the surface of the end, and I do my best to place them accurately. That said, if they're not positioned with malemetric precision, it's not a big deal. Your drawing won't be ruined. Don't worry. So I try to place them as best as I can. But what really matters is to emphasize those slightly darker elements and especially once that is done, to come in with the eraser next to them in order to create volume as we always do when working with light and shadow. I felt that some of the shadow areas we worked on earlier weren't dark enough and that the finger didn't stand out properly, so I went back in and adjusted that. And as I mentioned earlier, it's now important to highlight the lighter areas with the eraser pen in order to enhance the volume on the hand. So that's pretty it and just a few final details, some small lines here and there, and then we'll be done with this hand and can move on to the second arm. Let's move on to working on the over arm. I will start by applying my overall shading to the area. What we can notice is that there will be a very dark section on the left edge of the biceps. While the higher we go, the more we get into a very light area. And that's what I'm trying to achieve. On the forearm area, there will be a lot of dark elements. The light element will be quite minimal. I will aim to apply a base shading across all areas before refining the other elements. This area, as with the rest, we always proceed in the same way. We apply our first layer of shading to establish a base before working a bit more precisely and in more detail to work more on the shading in the details and refine everything. Next, I'm going to start working on this area of the arm in a much more precise way. I will define the different dark lines that we can see. For example, here we can notice that along the entire right side, there's a fairly dark strip. There's also one at the top that slightly separates the forearm from the end. Then around the elbow, there's a small darker element as well as a separation between the forearm and the biceps. And all these small elements will help make the arm look more realistic. So it's really important to keep a sharp eye, so to speak and try to observe all these small changes in value that lead to an ideal result. And overall, for this arm, I won't have too much more to add. I will try to bring out a few strong highlights, for example, on the right side of the foreharm and also on the left side on the left side, where there is a small line that helps clearly distinguish between the full harm and the biceps. This one I am adding. Then I'm going to dab here and there to remove some graphite and improve the texture of the arm. And once this is done, we can move on to the end area. And to begin this end, I will apply a fairly light shading using an HB pencil across the whole area before working it in more detail. B. Now that I have applied my base shading with an HB pencil, I've blended everything, and we can now start working on it in more detail. To begin refining it, what I will start with is marking the very dark shadow areas, those that really stand out. So I can use them as reference point to place other elements. So here we have the shadow areas around the fingers that are extremely dark. Then we will see a whole series of lines here and there on the end that mark the finger joints and the connection between the fingers and the end. There are also some small shaded areas like the one I just added around the finger. So it's important to pay close attention to all of that, especially around those lines, you will notice that sometimes we have a clearly defined dark line and right next to it, a small gap followed by a slightly lighter line. All of these plays a key role in making the elements stand out properly. So I'm going to try and add those ditta lines here and there. On the side of the end, I also have some shading, but overall, it's not going to take too much time to achieve a fairly realistic result. That's also one of the benefits of working on the entire body. The individual elements are smaller, so you can get a pretty good and realistic outcome fairly quickly just by adding a few details here and there. Now that the body is finished, we are going to start working on the head. This is what will really allow us to finalize our work and clearly define David. So what I am starting with is his hair. And why am I starting with the hair? Well, because David's hair is very distinctive, very distinctive feature of the character. It's one of the things that is most recognized by. And so I feel it's a good idea to begin with that, since it's such an important part of his face and therefore the overall portrait. And I'm also afraid that if I were to complete the portrait without the error at first, seeing the result might make me doubt it a bit, and I'd rather avoid that. So I figured that starting with the air, which isn't necessarily the most complex part to draw can help build confidence with this portrait and already provide a recognizable figure. And as you may have seen, I started by adding the more strongly defined elements of the hair. Then I began working on the different areas where they are more intermediate tone, which I can define using, for example, a four B pencil. For the air, now that I have placed quite a few lighter elements using the four B pencil, I'm going to work over it and had some small lines in the lighter area. These lines will be dark but not as dark as we previously did. So I am using the pencil with a lighter touch, and I'm observing my reference to see where those lines are located, how dark they are. And then I place them accordingly. That said, you don't need to stress too much about the exact placement of every single line. Just do your best. And even if they are not placed perfectly to the millimeter, it's okay. You should still get a good result. So try your best, but don't overthink it. I'm convinced that I'm convinced that with a few lines placed here and there, it will work out and you will get a solid outcome. Then what we observe is that the upper part of the air is really very light. It's completely baffed in light. So here, my strategy is to leave a lot of light areas and just mark a few slightly darker elements to give it volume. As you saw, as you are going to see, I will use my erasure pen here. Since in those darker zones we previously worked on, there are some visible highlights, so I add them. And as I mentioned, in this upper part in these specific areas, I'm adding a few slightly darker elements to create a sense of three dimensionality while still keeping the overall tone fairly light. Now that the air is done, we can move on to the rest of the phase. I will start with the neck area to connect the head properly with the body and everything we previously worked on. In the neck area, what we can notice is that since this head is turned this way, it causes many folds and a lot of muscles to be under tension in the neck. So for us, in order to capture that, it means there will be quite a few small shadow areas and lines to work on. It's a slightly complex area. So what I choose to do first is mark all the darker elements that we can see in this area. That way, it gives us reference points, and I would say it becomes much easier to work around those elements once they are in place. Then I will apply a fairly light shading in the area to creating a base on which we can continue working and had more detailed elements. Now that the area has been blended, I can work on it with more precision. What we can observe is that the folds in the neck are going to be darker and more defined. So I'm going to go back overdose area. Having multiple values, the initial graton I laid down in the area, and now this darker value helps create more volume and makes the neck look more realistic. Then throughout the neck area, there are small shadow zones that I hadn't added until now, and they will help all these elements stand out better. And overall, with just a few pencil strokes, I would say we now have a realistic neck to support the head. I'm going to add a few highlights using my eraser pen, and that will do the job. Now we can move on to another area, and why not work on the ear just next to everything we have done so far? In the ear area, what we can notice is that there is an extremely dark element shaped like a curve. And starting from that curve, I can add an overline which is also quite dark within the ear. And after that, there won't be a lot more detail. The main thing is to pay close attention to the different shadow areas. Here, we can see that the upper part of the ear is rather dark while the lower part is lighter elements, so be mindful of that. And this part should be fairly quick to complete since it's just a small section of the face. And yes, well, so now the ear is done, and we can move on with the rest of the face. Now that the ear is done, we can move on to shading the face. I'm going to try to give volume to the entire face by marking the main shadow areas, and we can start with the jaw. We can see that there is a fairly dark shadow area around the jaw and the chin. And in this zone, there's also a slightly darker line, a darker shading in the upper part, which I'm going to try to accentuate as well. And within the shaded area around the jaw, I'm adding a few slightly darker elements that just like right now, and these elements, I'm going to blend them. Then we move on to we can move on and shade other areas. We can notice that the cheek also has a fairly pronounced shadow, so I'm adding some small touches in that area, too. Next to the ear, as well, the shading is rab dark, and I'm trying to emphasize those areas, too. Around that zone, the shading is a little bit lighter, so it's important to make sure that the value is a little less dark, and I can continue by going back toward the chin area as I did. And also, I'm going toward the nose where the shading becomes lighter. So I think that the HB pencil works quite well for that zone. Next, I am going to work near the air and on the forehead area. We can see that there is a very dark shadow wherever it meets the air, so I will make sure to emphasize that properly. At this point, with just the shading of the skin area, it's still hard to tell whether it really looks like David or not, we really need to add the nose, the eye, and the mouth to see whether the final result really works or not. And that's what we'll be working on in just a moment. M So now the tricky part begins with the work on this eye. I say tricky because the eye won't be easy to draw, given that it's very small in size and also because it's an eye carved in stone which makes it a bit different. So it's not going to be the easiest part to do, but we'll give it a try and see how it turns out. To begin, I can draw this line just above the eye. It's very dark, so I can emphasize it like this. One important note, your pencils need to be extremely well sharpened to draw it precisely. Overas it will be much more difficult. Almost impossible. Then I continue and mark the corner of the eye, which is quite dark. And I also work around it. We can see that the contour of David's eye is a bit dark, so that's what I try to bring out. Next to the iris, the white of the eye is slightly grayish, so I did that as well. I then go back over the upper part of the eye again to make it stand out more and appear darker. In the center of the iris, we can barely make out the pupil. It stands out just a little, so I try to mark it, and now I am gently blending the area all around it, adding a little bit of shading all around this pupil. Oh. Finally, I can add the lower eyelid and also the eyebrow, which is bit dark and located in the upper part. And overall, I would say the result is pretty good. We can start to recognize our character a little, which is great. Now the other elements will also need to be defined in order to put everything into perspective and determine whether the result is good or if a few adjustments are needed for this eye. Now I am going to work on the nose, starting by marking the nostril, which is really quite dark. So I'm doing that with my pencil and we can see that the value inside the nostril is fairly even overall. The outside of the nostril is also a bit dark, which helps create a sense of volume. So I'm adding that as well. Along the bridge of the nose, we can see the slightly darker element that helps separate it from the rest. What I can do here, since the area is a bit light is use the graphite from the element I just added, along with the graphite already on the blending stem to lightly shade the area and get a relatively soft result. Then we can see that on the lower part of the nose, there are some fairly dark areas. So I will go ahead and mark those. And we can see that these dark elements extend down toward the mouth area. So I'm working on that shading and little by little, the elements start to come to life. Finally, I am going to work on the upper part of the nose and the forehead area because I feel that part of the forehead doesn't stand out enough. It needs to be darker, and by making it darker, it will help give him that slightly more intense or stern look just like the folds I am adding because the truth is David doesn't exactly have a very friendly expression, and it's by adding all these shading elements that we'll be able to capture that in our drawing. Next, I can also work on the other eye, even though we see very little of it in the end. There are still a few visible elements, so it is important to add them in order to reflect the slight free quarter view. What I am also going to do is reinforce the shading in the area of the first eye I worked on because those elements aren't dark enough yet, and adding them will help create more volume, more depth in this area. And finally, I worked on the lab, starting by marking the small central line that is visible. Then what we can observe is that the upper part is darker than the lower part. And with that, the drawing is done. However, this one be my final result because after a few days and even a few weeks, actually, I realized there were some elements that didn't look right, so I went back and made some changes. You'll be able to see those in the final result. It's always a good idea to take a step back from your drawing to identify what needs to be corrected. And in about 10 minutes, I was able to fix quite a few things that I had noticed weren't working. So I corrected the nose, which was a little too long. Also adjusted the eye. The gaze needed to be more intense and darker and made changes to the shading on the head around the draw as well, since the shape of the draw wasn't quite right and needed to be slightly altered. So you can see the final result right now, and that brings us to the end of this tutorial. I truly hope it was helpful to you and that you made it all the way through that you drew your own David, and feel free to share it with me. I always enjoy seeing your final results, and I'll see you again very soon for new Tutorial, and thank you very much for watching. Bye bye.