How to Draw People
Latest Update: Just removing a broken link.
Even people who can draw other things fine often think they can’t draw people, for a number for reasons…
- We draw in symbols – we think we know what an eye and a nose look like, so we tend to draw what we know rather than what we see – the person who you’re drawing probably doesn’t have a nose that looks like the nose you draw.
- We’re often more worried about getting it wrong – if you’re drawing a tree, you don’t have to worry about the tree being offended at your drawing.
- People are curved and folded – and these things actually are quite tricky to draw.
Books
In Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, Betty Edwards uses a self portrait before and after teaching to show people how much they’ve improved, but she insists that most of the secret is just teaching people to see and draw what they see.
- Get Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain through Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk
Tips
Drawing Eyes
Many thanks to Buns-N-Moses from the creativity thread at the All Things Considered Slash! forum for these great tips. Visit the forum to see his portraits of Slash, Matt Sorum, Axl Rose and Scott Weiland.
- The lower edge of the eye always begins before the point where the upper edge ends. The edges never meet at a single point; instead the upper edge protrudes further than the lower one.
- There are always definite lines above and below the eye (observe).
- The inner-most part of the eye, the pupil, is the almost infinitely dark, and is surrounded by the less dark iris.
- There is always a little bright point in any eye, unless the person is dead. This gives life to the persons face.
- The edge closer to the nose is slightly rounded, as the tear ducts are there, and is always to be shaded slightly dark to give the eye its complete shape.
- Try observing your own eye and you’ll automatically find out for yourself – it’s the smallest things that matter.
Tutorials
- The Animation Learner’s Site – general tutorials, but some good specific coverage of the human figure. Doesn’t cover faces, but for that you can look to Learn to Draw…
- Learn to Draw has an excellent tutorial on drawing faces. Only part of it is free, but the free part contains plenty of really good information, and guides you through the basics step-by-step.
- Polykarbon offers tutorials in Manga/Comic Art style drawing, but has a good page of basic instruction for drawing people.
