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Inside you'll find...

●Hundreds of figures

in varied poses

●Step-by-step drawings

●Artists’ secrets for

bringing drawings

to life...and much more!

Art Instruction$19.95 US

$25.95 CANADA

ChrisHart

ChrisHartBooksFigure

ItOut!

The

Beginner’s

Guide to

Draw

ingP

eople

ChrisHart

Art Instruction

CHRIS HART is the world’s best-selling author of how-to-draw books.

Do you want to draw the human figure, but you’re intimidated by learning anatomy? Frustrated by

figure-drawing books that focus more on

bones and muscles than people? If so,

Figure It Out! is the book for you. This fun

and friendly guide teaches you how to

effectively draw male and female figures

without learning anatomy. You’ll start by

learning to draw the head and facial

expressions, then move on to complete

figure poses, including clothed people and

bodies in motion. This inspiring and

entertaining book shows you everything

you need to know to start drawing the

figure—and nothing you don’t!

Sneak Peek

You can communicatea variety of attitudesjust through body language. Take a lookat these figures in various poses. Noticehow their posture,hand and foot positions and headtilts tell you exactlyhow they’re feeling—even without facial features!

Body Talk

More Inside

Tons of tips and techniques for drawingpeople—theeasyway!

Annoyed

Waiting

Friendly

Curious

ChrisHart

FigureItOut!The Beginner’sGuidetoDrawingPeople

Best-selling

author ChrisHart...

...is known for making drawing

fun and easy. In Figure It Out! he

applies his trademark approach to

drawing the human body. You’ll

learn quickly and easily how to

draw men and women in lots of

natural, lifelike poses. And you’ll

also discover how to portray facial

expressions and body language.

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7

Introduction 8

Start at theTop! Drawing the Head 10Be an Egghead: The Basic Head Shape 12Sculpt the Head 13Natural Contours of the Face 14Shading the Face 15The Eyes 16The Nose and Mouth 18The Ears 20Jaw Shapes 22The Chin (Yep, It’s a Muscle) 23Natural Angles of the Neck 24Check Your Proportions! 25The Idealized Face 26Expressions 27

Break It Down!Step-by-Step Heads 28Front View 303/4 Right View 363/4 Left View 40Profile 44

Get Back to Basics! Drawing the Body 46Average Vs. Idealized Figures 48Drawing the Rib Cage 49Front View 50Side View 54Rear View 58Construction Poses 62

Express Yourself! Body Dynamics 70Shoulder-Hip Tilt 72The Natural Way to Stand 75Bending 76Carrying a Weight 78More Poses 79Body Language 80

Strike a Pose! Drawing Women 82Ballet Pose 84Introverted Pose 86Athletic Pose 88Graceful Pose 90Hands on Head 92Leaning Against Wall 94Standing 3/4 View 96Backward Glance 98On the Move 100Kneeling on Stool 102Seated 3/4 Pose 104Sitting With Legs Entwined 105Seated on Both Knees 106Sitting Propped Up 108Sitting With Legs Extended 109Sitting on Stool 110

Get in Position!Drawing Men 112Classic Standing Pose 114Back View With Hands Above Head 116Standing Profile 118Hands in Pockets 120Heroic Pose 122Seated Pose in Perspective 124Standing With Hands Behind Body 126Thoughtful Pose 128Olympic Stance 130Bend and Stretch 131On One Knee 132Muscle Interaction 134Standing With Arms Out (Side View) 136Relaxed Figure (Side View) 138

CONTENTS


10


he head is often the first part of a figuredrawing an artist will complete once his or her initial sketch is in place. And it’s a

good place to begin when learning to draw people. In this chapter, we’ll familiarize ourselveswith the basic shape of the head, then learn how to draw the eyes and other features and see exactly where to place them for correct proportions. Let’s get started!

Start at the Top!

Drawing the HeadT

Chapter

1

11


Be anEgghead:The BasicHead Shape

n order to place the featurescorrectly and end up with arealistic-looking head, we

need to start with a good shape.And it has to be one that can beeasily reproduced at many angles.A circle is just too cartoony for a realistic drawing of the head,but an egg shape is very close.We’ll need to make some minormodifications to this basic shape,but it works as a starting point.

I

12

Profile Left

3/4 Left View

Front View

Profile Right

3/4 Right View


Sculpt the Headow that we have the basic outlineof the head, we need to sculpt it to make it more closely resemble

an actual head. Happily, all that’s requiredare a few minor adjustments.

N

Here’s a hint that will help make your characterslook more feminine or moremasculine. When the malehead is posed in a 3/4 view,there are “bumps” on thefar side of the face—thecheekbone, the cheek muscle and the chin. Weeliminate the cheek musclein females, for a sleeker,more feminine appearance.

Draw

ing the Head

Add mass to back of head

Indent jaw line

Make eye socketconcave

Basic Egg Shape Modified Egg Shape

This “bump” is the cheek muscle

13

Head Shape: Male Vs. Female


14

3/4 View RightProfile Right

Profile Left3/4 View Left

Natural Contours of the Face

he head is not flat, nor is itperfectly round. The dottedlines in these drawings show

you where the planes of the facechange angles. It’s sort of a “map” of the head. Let’s take a look at thesechanges of planes at various angles.

T

Front View

Notice how the contour lines travelalong (are continuations of)

the natural path of the cheekbones.


Draw

ing the Head

Shading the Face

ost light comes from above, in the form of sunlight oroverhead lighting. The light

hits the protruding parts of thehead, causing them to cast shadowsbelow and to the side. These shadows add a sense of depth and a feeling of solidity to the head, making it look like it was carvedfrom a block of stone.

M

Eye socket

Side of nose

Underside of nose

Shadow of nose

Underside of chin

Upper lip

Underside of bottom lip

15


The Eyeshe eyes are arguably themost important features ofthe face when drawing the

head, because they appear closeto the middle of the head and because they're so expressive. Effectively drawn eyes create adirect link between the viewerand the image on paper.

The shape of the eye in thefront view is totally differentfrom the side view. Vary the tone(darkness) of the pupil, iris, eyebrow and eyelids to bring theeyes forward. The lines of the eyelids are usually drawn darkerthan the other lines of the face.

T

The upper eyelid casts a subtle but nonetheless visible

shadow on the eyeball, which adds a feeling of depth

and roundness to the eye.

Profile

Front View

FemaleThe woman’s eye

is almond-shapedwith thin, archingeyebrows. The eyelashes brush softly to one side.

MaleThe man’s eye is

also almond- shaped,but he has a heavierupper eyelid and aheavier eyebrow. Youcan omit the eyelashes.

▼

FemaleThe eyelashes extend

significantly forward andbackward. The eyebrowarches from high to low.

MaleThe eyelid extends

slightly over the eyeball.The eyebrow is flatterand lower.

▼

▼▼

16


17

Draw

ing the Head

Male Eyes

Female Eyes

You can’t go wrong with almond-shaped eyes.

They’re expressive and look correct on

most facial types.

Rectangular eyes are masculine and

work well on square-jawed guys.

Droopy eyes are common on

middle-aged men.

The almond-shaped eyehas a subtle curve tothe top eyelid that is

emphasized by thesweep of the eyelashes.

The slender eye hidesmore of the pupil

underneath the topeyelid for a sexy look.

Round eyes are a cute, pert look.

Feather the eyelashesaround the eye.

There are as many types of eyes as there arepeople who have eyes. However, for drawingpurposes, there are three basic shapes for menand three common types for women.

Common Eye Shapes


The Nose and Mouth

like to think of the nose andmouth as a unit because thenose anchors the mouth in

place. Match up the bottom of thenose with the “cupid’s bow” of thelips (the depression in the middleof the upper lip) to get the alignment right.

Here are a few practice examplesof noses and lips, at various angles.There will be opportunitiesthroughout this book to draw features at different angles as oursubjects take on a wide variety ofposes. Remember that angles notonly include left and right, but upand down as well.

I

When drawing men, youcan add more detail to thenose than when drawingwomen, and they’ll stilllook appealing.

Men

18

3/4 Right View

Up Angle

Front View

Profile

Down Angle

Left

Right

Front

Left,Down

Right,Down

Male Noses

The “thumbprint”on the upper lip, justbelow the nose, ismore evident on menthan women.

In the “up”angle, the mouthtends to curvedown.

▼

In a 3/4 view, the lips are alwayslonger on the nearside than the far side.

▼ ▼


19

Draw

ing the Head

The idealized female nose is actually quite easy to draw, because you leave out most ofthe lines! The more detailed thenose, the less feminine it looks.So use fewer lines and let theviewer's eye connect the missingones to flesh out the image. Tryto use softer, sweeping curves,without hard angles. And keepthe tip of the nose small.

Women

The nose tip anglesup in a profile.

Front

Melding topand bottom

lips is an attractive look.

Down

The lipstend tocurve

upward atthis angle.

Profile

The lips are always shorter in

the side view.

3/4 Left View, Up

3/4 Right View, Up

Front

Left

Female NosesRight

In any 3/4view, the femaletop lip wedges intothe bottom lip.

3/4 Right View

3/4 Left View

▼


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Documents

seated pose

heroic pose

athletic pose

graceful pose

introverted pose

thoughtful pose

right view

rear view