Home / Art Tutorials / How to Draw the Human Figure – Mannequin
The human figure is one of the most complex forms you can draw. To draw it well without reference, forget about it, well, almost. Even artist that can draw the human figure well without references will admit that they will need it for their more serious drawings, especially when lighting is applied. Reason is simple, the human body is too complex, too many moving parts. That being said, you can still draw a decent looking figure without reference. Lots of things goes into draw a nice figure, and the first thing should be the mannequin.
The Basic Mannequin
Most beginner art classes on figure drawing will talk about drawing the mannequin. The mannequin is just like what you see in the department stores, but simpler. The mannequin for drawing will compose of only basic geometric forms like cylinders and boxes. Each geometric shape will represent a limb, and the connecting joints can be omitted. The mannequin setup drawn by each individual artist will vary slightly. Here is how I like to draw the mannequin.
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