The female body.

How to draw the female body.
Body proportion-female nude-life drawing.

Body proportions.
A Woman's body outline. PT2..

We now have our wireframe or stick man with its body proportions. With that done, I am now going to attempt to turn our stick person ( stick female ) below into something that I hope will vaguely resemble the female body. We are not looking to draw the perfect female body as after all, we are beginners. Drawing the perfect female body will come with practice, although realistically; is there such a thing?

The first thing I am going to do is clean up my stick person. Then remove any lines that I feel are no longer required. In fact, instead of cleaning my original stick person up I'm going to place another sheet of paper over the top and trace it. You'll notice that I have left the centre line down to the groin area on the upper body. This will be used as a guide for getting the correct symmetry when I begin to outline the upper body. Not that all bodies are perfectly symmetrical. Before I began my outline I also did a little research on the female form. I then built a small file of pictures to use as reference points throughout the draw. To build a small file of images put the female body or the perfect female body into your web browser and search images.

Forming the Torso and limbs Body types.

Once I had the basic outline of the outer body I focused on the inner leg and thigh up to the groin area. I started at the ankle and slowly worked my way up making sure that my line curved naturally over the calf muscle up to the knee. I then curved the thigh out more giving it a slightly more rounded larger look up to the groin area. See below. As shown below, it is also important to allow a small space just below the X at the bottom of the centre line to form the base of the groin area as thighs do not meet at the top of the legs.

This may take several attempts but don't worry as the more you draw the more natural it will become. I am finding it difficult to form the natural curves of the body and am needing to refer to my reference picture collection quite a bit. We are not trying to draw the perfect female body and please also remember that we are not all the same. As can be seen on a daily basis, our body shapes vary greatly. Draw what is natural for you then fine tune later.

Once I had finished the inner thighs I then moved back up the body to the arms, using the centre lines and points I had marked for their positioning as a guide. I also moved the left arm over slightly to allow me to draw the hand in full view.

I did the same for the lower legs making sure that I emphasised the shape of the calf muscle on the back of the leg. This will give it a more feminine look.

Body proportions: Breasts.

Once I had the basic body shape I then moved back up to the neck.

Using the centre line again, I marked a right angle with its point at the base of the neck between the shoulders sloping out toward the armpit area. I will use the point where it crosses the D to mark the nipple area of the breast. I also marked a gently curving line just below the D. This will define the lowest point of the breast. See the above sketch.

The next step is to add the head and a face.