How to Sketch the Female Breast

Bather with Towel (Detail)

Drawing breasts may sound easy, but it is actually a lot more difficult than just drawing two ball shapes on a woman's chest. Most breasts are not round orbs. The breast comes in three distinct shapes: half-spherical, tubular and conic. Here is how to draw a natural-looking breast for a woman in your drawings.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Paper

Instructions

1. 

   Draw half-spherical breasts. Think of a ball cut in half. The flat side is what attaches to the chest wall. Avoid heavy lines; use shading to indicate the roundness of the the breast. The nipple is typically on the center of the rounded area.

2. 

   Draw tubular breasts. Think of a tube attached to the chest by one end. The nipple can be at the other end, or higher up on the breast. Make sure that the nipples line up properly if they are higher up on the breast.

3. 

   Draw conic breasts. They are rounded cone-like shapes, with the flat side against the chest wall. Make sure not to draw these types of breasts too pointy or very big. You want them to look natural. The nipples are usually placed on the tips of these types of breasts.

4. Draw a convincing nipple. Start by drawing a foreshortened circle. Then, draw a line coming from the edges of the circle and down to the breast. Add a slight C shape to the top of the foreshortened circle and shade it. The closer nipple should always be a little larger than the one farther away.

Tips & Warnings

• Exaggerate the breast only when there is good reason too, like when drawing a comic character.

Resources

• More tips on drawing breasts