How to Draw A Stickman

Throughout history, there have been many gifted artists. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Jim Steranko, Alex Ross, etc.

You are not one of these people.

That being said, it is still handy to know how to throw out a few doodles now and again. The cornerstone of doodling is the mastery of the stickman.

The stickman is an important aspect of many artistic genres: drunken scribbles, graffiti, even games of hangman.

The following is a brief tutorial on mastering the art of the stickman.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A pen or pencil
• Paper, napkin, etc.
• No discernible artistic ability

1. 
    

   Draw a rough circle. This will be our stickman's head.
   
   The circle need not be perfect, nor does it need to be close to perfectly round. Roughness adds character to the stickman. He likes to stand out from the crowd.

2. 
    

   Now we need a torso. A big floating head works in sci-fi but far less so with stickmen. In fact, it can be downright scary.
   
   Draw a vertical line below the circle head.

3. 
    

   Without arms, our stickman cannot achieve many of the goals rattling around in his lopsided head.
   
   Let's give him some arms, shall we?

4. 
    

   Now our stickman (he doesn't have a name yet, but I am quite partial to "Harvey". How about you?) needs some legs so he get down and boogie.
   
   Harvey feels the beat of the rhythm of the night. He likes to dance until the morning light.
   
   It goes without saying that Harvey is a fan of 1980's R&B band DeBarge.

5. 
    

   Harvey probably has some opinions he would like to share. Maybe even some astute political commentary.
   
   Or maybe he just wants to tell you all about his passion for DeBarge.
   
   In any case, he's gonna need a face.

6. 
    

   Basically, your rudimentary stickman is now complete.
   
   Some people like to add a little pizazz. How about some hands?
   
   The number of fingers depends completely on your personal taste and/or your ability to accurately count.
   
   I gave Harvey a mere three fingers because I got bored at that point.

7. 
    

   I'm sure you are now aware of Harvey's love of dancing to the lively music of the 1980's R&B singing group which hailed from Grand Rapids, Michigan, DeBarge.
   
   To properly shake his blues right away (possibly underneath electric stars) he will need feet.
   
   Let's give him a pair.

8. 
    

   Recently, Harvey found a suitable stickmate named Susan.
   
   The two bonded over their love of DeBarge and the work of solo artist El DeBarge. Specifically his lovely tune from the soundtrack of "Short Circuit" entitled "Who's Johnny".
   
   For their first date, Harvey wants to look nice.
   
   Let's give him a stylish hat.

Resources

• The Debarge Network