How to Draw Girls in Swimsuits

Girls wearing swimsuits are all over the media. From magazines like "Maxim" and "FHM" to the famous "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit edition, there is an undeniable appeal to capture the image of a woman in a swimsuit. Photography doesn't have to be the only way to go about this, though. Illustrating a woman in a swimsuit can be a great way to practice human anatomy and fashion design in your drawing. The main thing you must do is break down the image into basic shapes so that you keep the form proportional and beautiful.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Colored Pencils

Instructions

1. 

   Draw the head of the woman with an oval that comes to a point at the chin. Add a "T" or cross shape inside the face. Below the horizontal facial guideline draw a small dash for the nose guideline. Add another horizontal dash just below this for the mouth. Create the chest with a rectangular-shaped oval below the head. Create the hips with an upside-down triangle

2. Add the arm and leg guidelines with straight lines. Add the neck with a slightly curved line under the chin. Add a curved line connecting the torso and hips. Make the right-hand side arm bent so that the forearm is perpendicular to the upper arm. Bend the left-hand side leg so that the shin is almost perpendicular to the upper leg. Add circles for elbow, hand and knee guidelines.

3. Create volume on the figure by adding cylinders for all of the limps. The upper portions of the cylinders should be wider than the lower portion. Add these cylinders to the upper and lower arms as well as the upper and lower legs. Add a slightly curved cylinder for the neck. This cylinder should be wider at the bottom than the top. Make sure that the upper legs are a good deal wider at the top to make the legs more feminine.

4. 

   Add eye guidelines with two ovals on the horizontal facial guideline. Add the nose with a small sideways "V" shape on the nose guideline. Add a curved line under the mouth guideline. Add an ear with a small circle on the right-hand side of the head. Add the breasts with two ovals on the chest.

5. 

   Draw the hair with a curved line that goes around the head and down to the upper arms before disappearing behind the the woman's back. Add the irises and pupils inside the eyes with a circle within a circle in each eye. Add the bikini top with two parallel lines for each bikini strap. These lines should run from the top of the shoulder to the top of the breast. Draw a curved triangle on each breast for the bikini. Add the bikini bottoms with an upside-down triangle coming up from the pelvis and stopping before the stomach. Add two diagonal lines to each side of this triangle for the bikini bottom straps.

6. 

   Erase all the guidelines. Use your pencil to darken in the pupils and add shading under the chin and to the left-hand side of the face.

7. 

   Color the figure with colored pencils. Use a flesh-colored pencil for the skin, yellow for the hair and blue for the bikini. You can add shading with brown for the shadowy areas of her body, such as the underarms, inner thigh and under the chin.

Tips & Warnings

• When you finish step 6 you can make a photocopy of the illustration to try different swimsuit ideas.

• When moving your hand across the page make sure you don't rest it on the illustration. This will cause the picture to smudge.