Learn to Draw Action Heroes
Page 5
Notice the differences between the male and the female arms. The male arm consists of more angular and abrupt changes in direction, whereas the female arm is made up of smooth curvatures in the lines. This holds true for much of the body, not just the arms. The male arm can be finished with more shading and heavier line weight. The female arm can be drawn with less line work, conveying a certain softness.
Drawing Male Legs Standing
Powerful legs are a necessity for superheroes who leap, run, kick and do all that other stuff that heroes do with their muscular legs.
1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES
Draw the basic skeleton. Notice that the distance from the hip to the knee is only slightly longer than the distance from the knee to the ankle. A lot of artists will make those distances the same, so this is merely a style choice. Draw a line from the heel of the foot to the point where the toes begin, then add a small line to represent the toes.
2 BUILD THE LEG STRUCTURE
Draw the cylindrical shapes over the rough lines. The pelvis can be drawn as a wedge-like shape with ovals where the legs attach. Make sure to taper the upper leg toward the knee and to taper the lower part of the leg toward the ankle. Then draw the foot using a distorted pyramid shape.
3 SKETCH THE ANATOMY
Gently erase some of the construction lines and begin to draw the anatomy. It’s okay to start with angular shapes. There will be time to smooth out the lines in the next steps. Concentrate on where the muscles start and where they end. Notice how the two larger muscles in the upper leg are not straight across from one another but rather on an angle. The one on the inner part of the leg sits on the knee area, while the other is higher. Little observations like this make a big difference even when drawing stylized artwork.
4 REFINE THE LINES
Gently erase more of the construction lines and start to draw the more organic and confident line work. Here you can focus on line weight and clarity of the forms. You can remain open to changes at this stage, but by now you should have a better idea of how the forms will come together.
5 DRAW THE SHADOW SHAPES
Add the shadow shapes. The best way to get better at these is to study from life. The same goes for improving your knowledge of anatomy. Just remember that once you learn how to do this realistically, there is no reason you cannot overdramatize the effect for your comic illustrations. Notice how I added an angular effect to my shadows. That was merely a style choice.
6 ADD FINAL DETAILS
Now to fully render the piece. Remember to curve the final lines around the form to add depth and to crosshatch any areas that need to be slightly darker than the other areas. There is no right or wrong way to shade in this fashion. Just play around with a variety of line weights and overlapping effects until you find your desired style. Always keep a light source in mind when rendering your comic art!
Drawing Male Legs Crouching
In this lesson you will draw the male legs in a squatting position. You don’t want to get into the bad habit of only drawing our heroes and villains standing straight up. Even they have to rest their muscle-bound legs once in a while.
1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES
Start by drawing the basic skeleton. Get in the habit of drawing the lines and circles even for the areas that may be hidden by other parts of the body. This is helpful for accurate placement of the forms in the following steps.
2 BUILD THE LEG STRUCTURE
Draw the cylindrical shapes to determine the proportions and perspective. Notice that I leave a good amount of the previous step in the sketch to help place the back foot behind the right leg. These sketch lines will help you to envision where to place parts of the body in perspective so don’t get rid of them too quickly.
3 SKETCH THE ANATOMY
Gently erase the guidelines from the previous step and draw the anatomy of the legs. Keep the drawing loose. It is best to sketch roughly in this stage of the drawing so you are open to changes. Remember, if you find this type of pose tricky to accomplish, don’t hesitate to study from reference. Taking your own photos is a great way to combat these tough perspectives. Always keep a mirror by your art table or workstation.
4 REFINE THE LINES
Erase the guidelines again and draw the more defined line work. Here you can use curved lines to give a more organic feel to the muscles.
5 DRAW THE SHADOW SHAPES
Fill in the shapes of shadows. Do your best to avoid giving each muscle the same curve as the outside edge. This will only make the muscles look like bubbles. You have to vary the shapes of the shadows to show the dynamic curves that the muscles make. This is another thing that you get better at when you study from real life.
6 ADD FINAL DETAILS
Add crosshatching and more line weight. Draw these lines coming from the shadows of the previous step and taper them as they get closer to the light source. These lines are a great way to texture various materials as well, a topic we will cover in more detail very soon!
Drawing Female Legs Standing
In this lesson you will draw the female legs in a basic pose—with the weight shifted to one side. Characters often lean to one side or another.
1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES
Draw out the skeleton. On a pose like this one we will tilt the hips a bit to show the lean of the posture. Keep in mind that superhero legs can be overexaggerated, so play with these measurements to find the best option. Notice that I have made the front leg longer than the back leg. This is to help reinforce the look of depth in the drawing.
2 BUILD THE LEG STRUCTURE
Draw the cylindrical shapes. Here you can draw a bit of curve to them to help get the feeling of the natural bend of the legs. Draw the knee area as larger circles for now. Draw the feet using simple wedge-like shapes. Always draw the feet pointing slightly outward. They will never point in the same direction unless you are drawing a soldier at full attention.
3 SKETCH THE ANATOMY
Gently erase your lines and draw in the anatomy of the legs. Make sure each segment of the leg tapers downward. To make the legs look longer without redrawing at this stage, make the knees and ankles thinner than the rest of the leg. This gives the work a unique style.
4 REFINE THE LINES
Refine the lines and add some additional lines for the flexing of the muscles. We want these legs to be more fit, so we will add more definition to the leg muscles. Then give her some suit markings so we know she is truly a superhero!
5 ADD FINAL DETAILS
Refine the lines a final time and add in small amounts of rendering lines by crosshatching. This helps to convey more style. Notice how it also does a good job of bringing out the suit design.
Drawing Female Legs Jumping
Now to draw the female superhero legs in a popular pose. With one leg up, the hero appears to take flight. This is a pose you will use quite a bit when drawing comics, so practice it often.
1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES
Draw the basic skeleton of the pose, drawing circles for the joints and lines for the limbs. Condense the leg that bends toward us to illustrate foreshortening. Make sure to give a bit of tilt to the hips.
2 BUILD THE LEG STRUCTURE
Draw the cylindrical shapes over the guidelines. This time draw ovals at the halfway point for the upper and lower leg. This is a helpful technique for feeling out the three-dimensional form. It also helps to better convey the direction of the limbs.
3 SKETCH THE ANATOMY
Gently erase the guidelines and begin to draw the muscles. The trickiest part of this pose is getting the bent leg to look like it is coming toward the viewer. You can rely on the cylinders to help you visualize tough perspectives like this one.
4 REFINE THE LINES
Erase the rest of the guidelines and redraw the forms with more line weight. Line weight can also help to convey depth for foreshortening. The closer the object is to the viewer, the heavier the lines will be around that part of the drawing.
5 ADD FINAL DETAILS
; Clean up the work a bit more and add crosshatching and final line work. Notice how the suit lines around the legs also help to show depth or direction of the forms.
Drawing the Male Torso
Here you will draw the male torso. You have to give our characters that strong upper body to hurl large objects at their foes, right?
1 DRAW THE UPPER GUIDELINES
First draw the upper chest as an oval with a line down the middle. Chop the bottom off so we have an ending point for the chest. Then draw two ovals for the shoulders. The dotted lines help you visualize how much the one shoulder is covered by the upper chest mass from this angle.
2 DRAW ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES
Draw another oval shape for the rib cage with a centerline from the chest. Then add another oval where the stomach muscles will go. Segment this area into eight parts. Draw an arc on the top for the trapezius muscles. Then add cylinders for the arms, though you will only focus on the torso.
3 DRAW THE TORSO STRUCTURE
Gently erase the lines in the middle chest area and redraw the shape of the chest muscles for more accurate anatomy. They tend to taper inward toward the middle of the chest. Now draw the lines to represent the lats and obliques.
4 SKETCH THE ANATOMY
Gently erase the construction lines and start to draw in the anatomy more clearly. Study bodybuilders to learn where the muscles go and also where certain muscle groups start and end. Through repetition you will start to make sense of it.
5 REFINE THE LINES
Gently erase the rest of the guidelines and draw more defined forms. Use line weight to really push the shapes toward the viewer. By darkening the lines on the lower parts of forms and using thinner lines on the top edges you help to convey depth, size and shape to your line work.
6 DRAW THE SHADOW SHAPES
Add the shadows. Study from life. Remember that every object should have a different size and shape of shadow. The shadows should look and feel organic.
7 ADD FINAL DETAILS
Add your final lines with crosshatching and shading to further round out the shapes. You can taper the lines as they move toward the light to round out the forms.
Drawing the Female Torso
In this lesson you will be drawing the female torso. The same rules apply as with the male counterpart but with different proportions. The forms are more slender and elongated.
1 DRAW THE UPPER GUIDELINES
Draw a rounded box-like shape for the chest, much like you did for the male torso. Draw a line down the middle along with an oval for the bottom to show that this shape is rounded. Draw two more ovals for the shoulders and notice the dotted lines to illustrate the overlapping shapes.
2 DRAW MORE GUIDELINES
Draw additional ovals for the rib cage area. Notice that the stomach muscles look like an elongated football at this stage of the drawing. Add more curved lines for the lower side of the waist area. Then add a curved line for the top of the shoulders and a partial cylinder for the upper arm. Then divide the stomach into eight parts. This can all be very loose at this stage. Remember these are just guides to help you draw the next stages of the artwork.
3 SKETCH THE ANATOMY
Begin to draw in the anatomy and gently erase the guidelines as you go. Use more curved lines when drawing the female body. Try to think of the shapes as fading in and out of the other forms. That helps you to not trace everything with the same line weight and intensity. Add areas that are soft and less defined.
4 REFINE THE LINES
Now draw the shapes in with more clarity and line weight. Thick to thin lines will help the artwork pop off the page with more dimension.
5 ADD SHADOWS AND FINAL DETAILS
Mark the shadow shapes. Draw some crosshatching but make sure to use less on the female form than you did on the male form. Over using the rendering lines here will make the forms look harder and therefore less feminine. In this case less is more!
Drawing the Male Back
In this lesson you will draw the back of the male superhero. The back is where much of the power in the figure comes from, so let’s make sure we show it.
1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES
Since this pose will be drawn straight on, let’s start with a centerline that represents the spine. Then draw a somewhat rounded shape for the upper back, with a cylinder shape at the base to represent the waist. Notice the V-like shape to the back even at this stage.
2 BUILD THE STRUCTURE
Draw the basic forms of the shoulders and a perimeter or outline of the back. Also draw the half cylinders for the upper arms. Notice how the latissimus dorsi, or lats for short, cover the arms from this angle. Then draw in a rounded shape for the top of the shoulders meeting a tapered cylinder for the neck.
3 SKETCH THE ANATOMY
Gently erase the construction lines and begin to sketch in your anatomy. Study from life, but make sure you beef up the proportions and give it your own style. At this stage of the drawing you can make all kinds of fun style choices. Experiment to see what you like for your superhero proportions.
4 REFINE THE LINES
Gently erase the rest of the construction lines and refine the work. Further enhance the definition of the muscles using different line weights. Use line breaks to keep the muscles from looking too segmented across the back.
5 DRAW THE SHADOW SHAPES
Draw your shadows. Try to imagine where your light source is coming from at all times. If it helps, draw a mark on the page to stay focused on the placement of the light.
6 ADD FINAL DETAILS
Now add crosshatching to further bring out the forms. This is another area where experimenting can be fun and is very important to finding your style. Just try not to create distractions in your work. If it doesn’t read well, get it out of there!
Drawing the Female Back
In this lesson you will learn to draw the female back. Although the anatomy is the same as the male’s, the proportions are very different.
1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES
Draw the basic shapes the same way you would for the male back. Draw the centerline, the V for the upper back and the cylinder for the waist. This time make the shapes a bit thinner from left to right to illustrate the smaller torso of the woman.
2 BUILD THE STRUCTURE
Gently erase marks you made in the previous step and start to draw in the basic shapes of the body. Notice the definition of the shoulder blades at this stage. The trapezius muscle, a muscle extending over the shoulders and back of the neck, is usually less visible on most women. This makes the shoulder blades more visible.
3 SKETCH THE ANATOMY
Sketch in the anatomy with a bit more detail. Take note of the diamond-like shape at the top of trapezius muscle, or traps for short. Also notice how the lats muscle in the lower part of the back creates an arrow up the back.
4 REFINE THE LINES
Erase again and draw in the anatomy with more clarity. Notice how the hips are wider in this step. This gives the form a bit more of an hourglass look that is more feminine. Don’t be afraid to make small tweaks as you draw.
5 ADD FINAL DETAILS
Draw the shadows and add your line weight and crosshatching. When drawing in the shadows and lines, don’t cover the entire form. This will help to soften the form compared to the male back. Just like that, you have drawn the female back. I knew you could do it!
Drawing the Male Torso Bending
We have covered the male torso from the front and back but now we will create one with a bend. It is very important to stretch these poses as often as possible and this is a great place to start. To stretch the pose you want to extend the parts outward away from the whole. In this case move the shoulders away from the torso as well as extending the abdominal area, stretching on one side and pinching on the other. Can’t draw that superhero punch without some bend to the torso for maximum power!
1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES
Draw the torso as a bean-like shape with a flat bottom
. Then draw a line across the top to connect the shoulders. One side should be higher than the other. This will help you to show the stretch and flexing of the muscles in the pose.
2 BUILD THE STRUCTURE