I've never really drawn people much. Most of my childhood, I've just doodled dinosaurs. This year, however, I really became interested in drawing people. I'm still fairly new at it, but I thought I'd ask, what do you think of this line drawing? Not really any shading; I'm practicing line figures before I really start shading. Are her proportions correct? Any tips on how I can improve?

Overall, it's a great job. I think her shoulders are a bit too broad for a woman and her legs may be a big too thick.

DDDTrooper: I can understand the desire to draw the human body. It is infinitely interesting. I think you are doing well - the proportions here are all right.

As Trying said, however, there is something about her shoulders and arms. They slump, and there is no indication of the bones underneath. And generally I think that is what is throwing this drawing a little off. Even when doing a linedrawing, it is important to think of the underlying structures. Why does her body go slimmer at the waist? Because the ribcage stops. And then it widens again, because of the hipbones. (oh and with women - the hips are usually wider than the shoulders) It is the same with the shoulders. I have scanned an image for you from a site called posemaniacs - they have cg poses that show the placement of muscles in different positions - to illustrate what I mean.
[attachmentid=8162]
Notice how her shoulders end in an angle where the arm starts. The neck is not so straight a line. And also, generally, the elbow joint is on line with the navel.

I hope this helps. And I think you have done really well with this drawing. Her legs look fine.

DDDTrooper,

You've gotten some good advice so far - have you actually studied the human body? It is well woeth it to know what is underneath the skin.

What makes your shoulders look weird is the left axilla (the underarm on the right side of the pic). It is too wide under there as though the arm is set on wrong. Try to get a book on the body's underlying structures for artists - look around and find one that suits you.

The other main thing is to take a pen/pencil & pad with you everywhere - sit down at every opportunity and sketch the people sitting around you/walking by etc. Don't worry about being polished - just get the gestures and the feel of the person down. It will get easier & easier and you'll develop your own style as you sketch.

Have fun with it.

Sue

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll keep practicing.

DDDTrooper
It has been posted on here before not sure by whom. but this site is well worth looking at for drawing the human body.
http://www.posemaniacs.com/blog/pose/
I am sure you will find it good.

Dors

I've been practicing a little bit. I did some rough sketches of male and female figures, and then a female's head and shoulders. Do these look any better?

well ... yes, they do look really good

Thank you.

Okay, this is my first shaded figure drawing (the man's body isn't very good...). Comments?

I've been practicing a little more; working on proportions, shading, and faces (my faces usually look "cartoonish"... ). See anything that needs improvement? I know the baby and child sketches aren't very good; that was my first try drawing anything other than an adult.

Hey, it is a big improvement. Just from an independent point of view, looking back at your previous drawings!

Hi, nice improvements from the previous ones. A trick that I use very often is to try and see the human figure into basic simple lines, then I draw each part of the body in basic geometrical shapes on top of the lines. For example the head in an oval shape, the arms in cylindrical shapes and so on and at last i give it the final and definite shape, that is the muscle underneath the skin. The more you break down the human figure into simple shapes and lines the better you will be able to draw it accurately. The following are a few references from Adrew Loomis's book on figure drawing. Hope this helps.