How to Draw Real People
Learning to draw real people is the best way to learn how to draw anything. Although you can draw real people with any media, it's best to learn with a good old pencil and paper. You not only learn the hand-eye coordination you need, but you also learn how to really see a real person in order to draw him or her. Your approach is to first draw the collection of shapes that make up a person–not try to draw a person. And remember, you need to practice, practice and then practice even more.
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Things You'll Need
- Model or high quality photographs
- Paper
- Pencil (regular or in the H series)
- Eraser
- Sturdy, flat surface for a drawing board or easel
- Pencil sharpener
- Straight edge, like a ruler (optional but recommended)
Instructions
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Learning How To See All Over Again
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1
Gather your materials, including having the model sit for you or by using high-quality large and clear photographs.
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2
Study the model or photograph and try to look at the person as a series of shapes and textures as opposed to a person. For example, instead of trying to draw an ear, you would be drawing a series of curves, with some of them highlighted and some in shadow.
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3
Do a quick gesture drawing with a light pencil such as a 2H or even a regular school yellow pencil. This is quickly drawing a series of lines and loops just to suggest what position the person is in and where all the parts are. No detail is applied here. This should only take a few minutes.
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4
Go back and add layers of detail, never getting too carried away with just one little detail over the rest of the figure.
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5
Periodically step back from the drawing to see whether the proportions are right. If they look off, then use a straight edge to help guide you. However, even "mistakes" can lead to some very interesting visual results. Get the basic overall feel of the person before you go into great detail.
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6
Repeat.
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1
Tips & Warnings
The skills you learn in drawing real people can also be used in drawing objects, still lifes and animals.
If drawing stick people works for you as your way of doing gesture drawing, then go for it.
As you go on, you will learn which pencils you will like to keep sharp and which you will prefer to keep blunt.
If you take more than a few minutes for the gesture drawing, then use a timer to help remind you that this step is to be quick. Besides, you can always erase mistakes!
If you're not good at sketching hands yet, draw the model's arms behind the back or (if they're clad) in their pockets.
Keep in mind that one side of a person's face often looks different than the other side. Another thing to keep in mind is that for every highlight, there is a corresponding shadow.
Don't think about what you are doing–just draw.
Don't worry about getting the drawing "right"–just draw.
