Sketching landscapes, still-lifes, and objects...Easy. Humans, not so much. This article will help you draw and sketch humans with ease.

What artist hasn't had the urge to draw the human form? But wanting to draw it and actually accomplishing a realistic version are two separate things, unfortunately.

But there is help! This article is here to cover all the basics, from the proportions of the human body to how to find subjects.

1. Proportions

The human body comes with easy to follow standards to use as a guide when drawing. The basic rule of thumb is:

Average Male:

7 1/2 heads tall

Shoulders are 2 heads lengths wide

Hips are a little over 1 head wide

Average Female:

7 ½ heads tall

Shoulders are 1 ½ lengths wide

Hips are 2 heads wide

On both female and male, the hand is generally as long as the length from the hairline to the bottom of the chin and from the point of the chin to the back of the neck.

See drawing for clarity, below.

2. Choosing a Subject

This can be hard, most people don't like to be stared at. You really don't have to ask to draw someone, but don't make a show of it. The more covert you are the better. Try getting a back booth at an all-night waffle house and drawing the characters you see there. Or sit on the back pew of a church service. My favorite sketching time is to sit in the parking lot of a shopping center and drawing the people passing. They can't tell you're watch, or drawing for that matter.

3. Getting Down the Important Stuff

When sketching a person you really just want to catch the things that make that person unique. Whether is their quirky smile, loose legged stance, or their unusual attire, you want to cement that part on the page before adding anything else. Humans are flighty, they may not stand still long enough for you to get all of it.

4. Practice!

Here are a few of my early sketches leading up to my most recent.

Notice how they got better with time?

5. Get Variety

I've known some artist to specifically only draw ballerinas or football stars. As you can see from my sketches above they aren't the same subject over and over. They are of different types of people. This is how you get good. You try everything, not just a the "pretty stuff." Why? Because not everyone is pretty. Most people have lines, wrinkles, bulges, scars, etc. If you want to get good at drawing people, draw real people.