How to Draw People: Step-by-Step Lessons for Figures and Poses

by Jeff Mellem

The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Drawing Figures!

To draw an anatomical figure, you don't need a stack of weighty anatomy books. Just take it step by step!

In How to Draw People, author Jeff Mellem teaches beginning artists how to draw the human figure, from stick figure to anatomically accurate person, in clear, easy-to-follow lessons. More than just a reference, this book provides the step-by-step instruction to teach you to draw the human figure and the anatomical knowledge to draw it realistically.

In each chapter, called "levels," you'll learn core concepts for drawing the human figure. Each new chapter builds on the previous one to give you the skills you need to add complexity to your drawing. By the end of each chapter, you will be able to draw the figure with greater detail. By the end of Level 5, you will be able to draw an expressive figure with defined muscle groups in a variety of poses both real and imagined.

   • Clear goals to progress from stick figure to anatomically correct
   • Exercises and assignments to practice new skills
   • Level-Up Checklists in each chapter to assess your skills before moving on

With clear step-by-step demonstrations and check-ins along the way, How to Draw People is the beginner's guide to drawing realistic figures.

Genres: Art

131 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 24, 2018

Reviews

[Andrea Bøe Abrahamsen]

I now see I should have read this one before I read Figure Drawing: Design And Invention, as this is a more gentle introduction to the figure drawing process and the most prominent muscles. I will be working on the assignments in this one before going back to learning the process of Figure Drawing: Design And Invention.

[Roxanna López]

I already read this book once and liked it very much. Now I am progressing through the exercises and liking it even more. I will write a full review once I finish all the practice exercises. I already see my technique improving as I go.

[Jarryd Smith]

Fantastic book, easy to understand exercises. An excellent starting point for beginners.

[Cpt Hawk]

Perhaps I'm too dense for this book (or I've been doing this too long??), but this book does strike me as a bizarre way to learn how to draw people. On one hand, for someone who doesn't draw at all, maybe starting with basic shapes and gesture line-- and slowly drawing even more and more shapes until you're finally drawing some part of a person--is an ideal learning method. On the other hand ... well. I did detest this and was rolling in boredom. Maybe I HAVE been drawing too long and this was not the book for me. Maybe I'm a hater. Either way, only pages 80-107 felt usable because that's when the book finally got into anatomy and how different parts of the body connected and functioned, and that's useful.

I also found that I did not like the author's art style, nor did I find myself particularly impressed by it. Going forward, not liking the author's art is probably a sign that I will not like their book about art. Whoops.

[Hamster YumYum]

I did enjoy this book, it was simple enough to understand but also really improved my skills. Before this I did not think much about what is underneath the skin, but once you do it takes the shape to the next level. One thing that bugged me though was the reference drawings being super pale and hard to see, atleast in ebook version.