Easy! Drawing Lesson 3: Rough Sketches
Hello. I am Tofu no Kado, your manga illustration instructor🍀
This time, I would like to explain the "rough sketch," which is absolutely essential when drawing pictures😊
What is a rough sketch?
When you want to draw a picture, it is like a "marker" you draw to roughly decide
① where on the canvas,
② how large,
③ what kind of composition or pose, and
④ what you are drawing.
The necessity of rough sketches
By using a rough sketch, you can easily grasp the overall image of the picture and check the balance and proportions before drawing in the details. Because you can refine it until you are satisfied at this stage, you can avoid the failure of thinking, "I worked so hard on this, only to have to redraw the whole thing!" after you have already started adding details. From beginners to professionals, rough sketching is a basic and effective technique for drawing.
From beginners to professionals, rough sketching is a basic and effective technique for drawing.
How to draw a rough sketch
Basically, you draw with simple shapes. When drawing with a pencil, draw
lightly. You can also use a blue pencil that can be erased with an eraser. For digital, draw with a light color from the start, or lower the layer opacity later. There are different types of rough sketches for figures that are easy for different people to draw. I will list various types, so please try out the rough sketch that suits you♪
Draw the pose you want to draw using simple shapes. Be conscious of the proportions and the center of the body, and once you get used to it, the center of gravity as well.
Types of rough sketches
As you can see, there is actually no fixed shape for a rough sketch. Simplifying the human body can be difficult, but first, try imitating a rough sketch that is easy for you to draw, and from there, arrange it into a shape that is easier for you to grasp.
How to draw a person from a rough sketch
When you draw only with simple lines in a rough sketch, it is easy to forget that the body is three-dimensional, so please make sure to add flesh to it properly. The body moves freely, so it feels difficult, but the chest and waist parts hardly change shape even when they move. (What moves are the parts with joints and from the neck to the spine.) Even if the balance is bad and you want to fix it, it is easy at this stage, so draw until you are satisfied.
Summary
Rough sketches are very effective not only when you are not used to drawing the human body, but also when drawing pictures with movement.
It is easier to grasp the torso and hips if you think of them as separate blocks.
Please try to make your rough sketches using simple shapes that make it easy for you to capture the human body.
Thank you for reading this far again this time!
Next time, I plan to cover how to draw men and women differently😊