Whenever you start out drawing a figure, you have to think about the human body’s proportions right from the get-go. Some of these are pretty universal, linked to how our skeleton is made up. Others depend on our individual body shape, and so can vary enormously from one person to another. It’s these that make us all unique, and which will give you a sure way to put a lot of personality in each character!
A head is more or less round, and is joined to the shoulders by the neck. In reality, the neck muscles actually start right below the ears, while the shoulders are always wider than the head. But when you’re drawing, you can change all that.
Next, comes the torso. Remember, you need to leave enough space for:
a. breathing
b. eating
c. going to the bathroom
The bend of the elbow is halfway down the arm. But if you include the shoulder, the upper arm is then a little longer than the forearm.
With the arms down, the ends of the fingers will come roughly to the middle of the thigh. And by adding just a few more details, you get a guy ready for a swim!
