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Description
Since I had all of these stages from a recent sketch saved individually, I thought putting them all together might help some other artist out there.

This is how I draw people, or specifically, males.

1. I always work to get a clean body first. No clothes or anything, just a "blank" body to work on. Why? Because I like to have the anatomy somewhat realistic, and it also helps to be able to see the muscles, joints, how a limb is bent, etc. Just lately, I have been adding the facial features in this stage but waiting to do the hair until later.

There are different methods for achieving this stage: the balloons (or "bubbles"), stick-figures, blocks, whatever. Click Here For An Example.

I prefer to use blocks myself, and I used a reference photo to help with this pose. (Maybe someday I will demonstrate that...)

2. It is only after I am completely satisfied with the blank body that I begin drawing the clothes. For men, I always start with the pants. For women, I always start with the shirts. Call me a prude, modest, or whatever, I just like respecting my characters' dignity. Clothing, unless it is skin-tight, should have some wrinkles and folds. Also, this is where I add hair.

It is alright to look up reference photos for clothes and hair.

3. After that, I just slowly continue to add little details, building on top of what I already did.

If you use a Tablet, remember to save as you go along! For those drawing traditionally, have a good eraser handy... one that erases clean ...to touch up and fix mistakes. I prefer a soft white eraser, myself.

And I recommend using light, feathery strokes when you first sketch. Then, when the shapes and details look good to you, darken the lines by using harder, longer strokes.

And that is pretty much my method of drawing people, as demonstrated by this fellow here.

I hope you found this little step-by-step useful. Feel free to comment.

© Jacquelyn Fisher . 5 March 2008.

Description
Since I had all of these stages from a recent sketch saved individually, I thought putting them all together might help some other artist out there.

This is how I draw people, or specifically, males.

1. I always work to get a clean body first. No clothes or anything, just a "blank" body to work on. Why? Because I like to have the anatomy somewhat realistic, and it also helps to be able to see the muscles, joints, how a limb is bent, etc. Just lately, I have been adding the facial features in this stage but waiting to do the hair until later.

There are different methods for achieving this stage: the balloons (or "bubbles"), stick-figures, blocks, whatever. Click Here For An Example.

I prefer to use blocks myself, and I used a reference photo to help with this pose. (Maybe someday I will demonstrate that...)

2. It is only after I am completely satisfied with the blank body that I begin drawing the clothes. For men, I always start with the pants. For women, I always start with the shirts. Call me a prude, modest, or whatever, I just like respecting my characters' dignity. Clothing, unless it is skin-tight, should have some wrinkles and folds. Also, this is where I add hair.

It is alright to look up reference photos for clothes and hair.

3. After that, I just slowly continue to add little details, building on top of what I already did.

If you use a Tablet, remember to save as you go along! For those drawing traditionally, have a good eraser handy... one that erases clean ...to touch up and fix mistakes. I prefer a soft white eraser, myself.

And I recommend using light, feathery strokes when you first sketch. Then, when the shapes and details look good to you, darken the lines by using harder, longer strokes.

And that is pretty much my method of drawing people, as demonstrated by this fellow here.

I hope you found this little step-by-step useful. Feel free to comment.

© Jacquelyn Fisher . 5 March 2008.