Drawing Tutorial 011 - Drawing female figure(part 3)

Today we are going to draw a full female figure with some strain and stretches on the body, however keeping the overall proportions more or less same. Stick figure is one of the easiest method to start drawing a figure. Stick figure can be really helpful in putting the proportions and the pose of the figure, angle of torso and position of limbs(hands and legs).

1. Here we draw the oval head. The rectangular torso is bent, in left side it is compressed with a ‘bent in’ and on the right side it is stressed with ‘bent out’ shape. Therefore in the stick figure, the shoulder line and hip line is not horizontal. The shoulder line rises towards right and hip line lowers towards the right. This tilts also define the legs position. The leg in the left(aligns with the bent in) will take the weight of the body in this position and therefore shall be more or less straight. The right side leg is more free and can have an angle. Also if required it can bend at knee as there is no weight on this leg. The hands are free, and can be placed theoretically in any position. We are positioning them in such a way as if it will hold a microphone stand.

2. We can have a separate hands and leg tutorial later on. For now we will stick to basics. The thigh portion from hip to knee is cylindrical tapering towards knee. The leg portion is cylindrical tapering towards ankle, but have a swelling at calf area. If the leg is seen from front the swelling of calf can be seen moderately at both sides. However when the leg is seen from a side, the calf area’s swelling is seen more prominently, but only in the hind side of the leg.

3.  The hands are drawn following the stick figure. As we are drawing the left side hand folding up to hold a rod, the arm from shoulder to ankle is obstructed by the hand. The swelling of the bicep is seen below the swelling of the deltoid muscle in both the arm, but is little more prominent when the hand is folded at elbow. At the fold of the elbow, the muscle is squeezed and therefore swells up.

4. Volume of hair is added. This is very much flexible and there may be a variety of hair by volume and style. Here we kept her hair short and waved. Note that since the head is turned away a bit, less hair can be seen to the right of the face.

5. Lets add the top for the lady. Here we go for a simple top with short sleeves and a ‘V’neck. If the dress is not body hugging will always dangle from the point where it gets support like shoulders in this case. So it will not follow the curves but will hang straight down from below armpit.

6. And finally we add the features of the face that is somewhat looking up.