Q&A for How to Draw People

Use pencil for the wire frame and the details so that you can erase as necessary, then go over the details and outline with something more refined and not eraseable so that when you erase the wire frame you only erase the wire frame and not the actual details.

Refining (in art terms) means to "clean up" the sketchy mess underneath what's going to be the proper piece. This usually involves erasing sketches, darkening outlines, etc.

Study photos of people in various poses, and note where the crease are. In general, they appear at the joins: ankles, wrists, knees, and elbows.

First, choose an angle that the light is coming from. The side where the light is should be lightest, and the opposite side should be darkest. Shade the in-between parts going gradually darker as you move away from the light.

Females are basically the same as males, but have rounder faces and smoother muscles. Their clothes are generally more flattering, and their hair is an even more important feature.

All of them are good. You will want an artist's graphite pencil box to do this as professionally as possible. Though if you only want one a F, HB or B will be fine, or you could just do this with a #2 pencil.

Yes, these techniques work with a computer or tablet. You'll want to use layers for the base of the body, coloring, etc. so you can easily remove parts you do not want.

You made need to see this explained a different way. Search YouTube for tutorials on drawing people and see if you can find one that's more helpful.

You should study photos of people in various poses, and note where the creases are on their clothes. In general, they appear at the joints: ankles, wrists, knees, and elbows.

You draw the triangles with pencil, and use them as a rough frame with which to draw feet in pen. Then, erase the triangles and the pen-drawn feet will remain.

Have it fit their head until it passes their shoulders, then it should fall freely, but still quite uniformly.

You can draw a smooth line by making sure your hand is steady and drawing lightly at first, then going back over the line to make it darker. Go slow and make sure your arm is resting on a sturdy surface.

Buy a drawing tablet or get computer software like Photoshop or Krita.

Basically the same way, though female noses are often a little smaller and more delicate. Everyone's nose is different, though. It's best to look at photos and try to copy whichever type of nose you want to draw.

You can try to draw with your feet or by using your mouth instead.

There are no "perfect eyes". Every eye is different. Even a pair of eyes on the same person are slightly different. It helps to look at pictures of eyes to use as reference images. Just keep practicing!

Draw over the revised lines darker. That way as you erase the frames, if you accidentally erase the revised lines you can redraw them.

Follow the steps here and keep practicing!

Anything under something should have at least a little shading. For example, the neck can be a little shaded because it is under the chin. But you really need to think about where the light source is to help with shading.

Use a program like Paint or FireAlpalca.

You could use correction tape or a correction pen. Otherwise, there's nothing you can do except start over.

Not if it doesn't help you. It just helps some people determine the level where the elbows should be. And you end up erasing those shapes once you've drawn the full body anyway.

Drawing a female is not that different from drawing a male. Shorten the length of the line that portrays the shoulders on the third step of the third method. Females have larger and wider eyes than males, and if you're drawing the eyes of a younger person, they should be even bigger.

It basically means to trace over your pencil drawing with an ink pen.

You could study from real life, or you could look up pictures on Google. Sometimes the eyebrows can define a person's face. If you're talking about the body, experiment with different poses, like if the person's slouching, they're probably tired/annoyed. For the face, you can tilt it, or experiment with different shapes.

Use a really good eraser and erase as good as you can, but try not to rub a hole in the paper. It should be good after a couple seconds of erasing, and it doesn't really matter about the lines underneath unless they're clear as day.

Methods one and two are probably easiest. What you could do is draw the frame etc, but with one leg, and then do the other leg separately once you've finished the rest.

Use your pointer finger and thumb to hold the pencil, while letting the pencil rest on the side of your middle finger. Grip the pencil closer to the sharpened end. Also, a pencil grip sold at most office supply stores can help grip a pencil.

I typically draw a kind of rectangle for the palms and then ovals of varying sizes for the fingers and thumb as a base.

Follow the steps here and keep practicing.