How to “Draw Well”, By Someone Who Can’t

Written By Buddy! Magazine
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Asher Sevy (ISB 9)

Asher is the kind of kid that would headbutt a former US president. Actually, he has. No, really. Nobody ever believes him. I can’t seem to figure out why...

In his very first Buddy article, Asher covers the basics of drawing “well” from the perspective of someone who, well, CAN’T. This tutorial shows how to rise higher than stickmen and draw decently recognizable humanoid figures.

(PS: it was George Bush Jr. Don’t worry, Asher was only three at the time.)

Have you ever wanted to “draw well”? Now, I know what you’re thinking: ‘There’s already thousands of articles and videos on the Internet about how to “draw well”, so what’s so important about this one?’ Well, most how-to-draw videos or articles are made by someone who can ALREADY DRAW. They demonstrate drawing techniques FLAWLESSLY, and you think, "Well, I bet I can do that." But when you try it, you FAIL MISERABLY because you can’t replicate professionals. This video below proves just that.

This article is not one of those tutorials. You know why? It’s written by someone just like you. In other words, it’s a drawing tutorial written by someone who can’t. Let’s get started...

Part 1: The Stickman

Today, we’re going to be drawing a person. First, grab some pieces of paper and some drawing materials. I recommend using an HB or #2 pencil for sketching (HB is lighter, but #2 is easier to find), a black ballpoint pen or felt pen for the final drawing, and one of those big pink erasers (cuz you’re going to be making LOTS of mistakes). We’re going to start at the very bottom, with the basic stickman. The average adult is around 7 or 8 heads tall, with the average child being 5 to 6 heads tall. Just lightly sketch a circle for a head and lines for the body, like this.

Part 2: Geometry Class

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Next, turn the body into a series of different shapes. Think of each limb or body part as a different shape, with rectangles for limbs and an inverted triangle for the torso. Since there are many different body shapes out there, you can use different shapes to get a specific figure. For a skinny, scrawny look, thinner rectangles for limbs and a thinner torso shape would work, and so on. If you’re going for realism, then using an inverted triangle for the torso is a good choice for men, and using more of a curvy shape might work better for women. If you’re drawing cartoon characters, literally any shape will work, like squares, circles, and more.

If you want to show movement, the more exaggerated it is, the more visible and recognizable it will be. Although it can be harder to show exaggerated body language, it’s a lot more interesting to look at (and a lot more fun to draw!).

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Worried about balance? Draw a vertical line down from the neck. If the neck lines up with the supporting foot, then your person will look balanced. If they don’t line up, your figure will look off-balance.

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I’m just going to draw a figure standing still. Once you’re done sketching out all the shapes, then connect them, make them more round, and add more detail such as shoulders, hands, and feet. Make sure to keep your sketches light, so they’re easier to erase.

Part 3: Adding Details

Now comes the details: the eyes, nose, ears, mouth, hair, clothes, and more.

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Remember, even with simple facial features, people will still recognize what the drawing is (hopefully). Just like with body language, the more exaggerated the facial expressions are, the more visible and recognizable they’ll be. However, if you’re going for more of a cool and composed style, then using subtle facial expressions works best.

Once you’re satisfied, use your pen to carefully draw over the lines you want to keep, and leave out the extra lines. It’s best not to include sketch lines in the final product, because that will make the drawing look hastily sketched, unless that’s the look you’re going for. Once the ink has dried, erase the pencil lines.

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This is why it’s important to sketch lightly, because if you sketched hard, marks will still be visible when you erase the lines. Make sure you have all the lines you want before moving on to the next step.

Part 4: Your True Colors

Finally, add COLOR! You can use a variety of different colored stationary, such as colored pencils, markers, crayons, pastels, and even paint. After choosing your colors, try them out on a practice sketch to make sure they look the way you want them to. I lightly colored in my figure, then slowly darkened each section until I was satisfied.

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There are different styles of filling drawings in, one of which is VERY helpful. If you keep your strokes in the same direction, the colored area looks more uniform and polished.

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Also, the more force you apply to your pencil, the harder and darker the lines look. You can utilize that to portray different moods. You can also utilize force for shading. If you start out shading softly, and then slowly darken the shading in one direction, it creates more value and form, and makes the drawing look slightly more 3D. Also, one tip I’ve heard a lot is: If you keep your hand off the paper or canvas, you leave your arm more free to have long flowing strokes, and if you keep your hand on the paper, you can control your strokes better. Make sure to stay inside the lines!

Part 5: Look Ma, I Signed My Name!

Don’t forget to sign your drawing! This step is SUPER important. Keep in mind that signatures vary widely in style. You might choose to sign your name in big strokes, like Walt Disney:

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You might use giant loopy cursive, like John Hancock:

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Or you might simply write your first name, like Vincent van Gogh:

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I would also recommend writing the date, so you can remember when you made it!

Conclusion

I hope you’re satisfied with how you’ve progressed throughout this tutorial. I’ll show you before-and-after photos of MY drawings.

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These pictures CLEARLY show that you don’t need natural talent to “draw well”. All it takes is practice, practice, and more practice, until you have your unique drawing style locked in your muscle memory. Sure, your drawing might not be a Van Gogh or a Picasso, but it’s still better than a stickman. Hope you’re happy!

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