How to Draw the Female Shape Structure
- 1). Draw a circle for the shape of her head and draw a line from the circle downward in your preferred pose. This line from the center of the head represents the woman's spine and stops around halfway down the body at the tailbone. The top of the line also forms part of the neck.
- 2). Draw two small circles to the side of the circle for the head and slightly down the length of the line. These represent the shoulders. From the shoulders, draw a bubble down about half the length of the arm. The bubble is widest at the top and narrowest at the bottom. Overlap that bubble with a second similar bubble so the area in the middle forms a slightly indented area and a circle. The circle is the elbow joint. These bubbles should go into your pose, so if the elbow is bent, draw the second bubble at an angle to the elbow joint.
- 3). Sketch in the neck and shoulders. Once the proportioning lines and bubbles are in place, shape the neck and shoulders around it. The neck should slope from the head to the shoulders; never make a sharp angle, but rather form a gentle curve. Think of a swan and the graceful curve of a swan's neck when drawing the neck of a woman and mimic that curve in miniature. The pose will in part dictate the shape of the neck and shoulders as well as the way the woman holds her head. For example, if she is looking downward, the neck will have a slightly outward curve while looking straight with the body facing straight will have equal shape on both sides of her body. A side view will show the back of her neck and one shoulder, but might hide the other shoulder, depending on the specific angle. Look at your reference picture for pose specific detailing and note the positional changes to the body.
- 4). Add a light line across the bottom of the line representing the spine. This line represents the hip bone. Depending on the body shape you are trying to draw, the hips will vary slightly. For example, a pear shaped woman has a small upper body with a very curvy lower body, so the line should end up slightly larger than the shoulders while a girl with a boyish shape should have thinner than the shoulder hips. A woman with an hourglass shape is perfectly proportioned and should have equal shoulder to hip ratios. Draw two circles from the outside of the line to the center to mark the hip and buns area of the body.
- 5). Draw a bubble shape from the middle of the circles drawn for the hips so the circle has a downward curved line from the middle and that curve widest around the top and middle and are thinner at the bottom. This is the thigh. Repeat for the other side and then draw another bubble shape slightly overlapping the previous bubble to shape the lower legs. This bubble is thinner than the top, but only slightly.
- 6). Sketch two crossing lines at a 45-degree angle from the middle line starting from the shoulders and turned downward. This is the appropriate angle for a woman's chest in drawing. To avoid looking like the woman in the drawing has balloons at the chest area, shape the chest around the 45-degree angle. Shape the chest around the angles formed by the lines and similar to a half sphere rather than a circle for a natural appearance. Draw the outer lines for the torso from the chest. The stomach should curve inward and then shape around the circles for the hips, connecting at the bubbles for the legs.
- 7). Erase the inner part of the bubbles and adjust the body so that it forms around and between the outer lines. Adjust the legs to connect naturally to the body and draw in your hands and feet. Add details as you prefer around the shape of the woman's body.
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