30th October 2K8, Thursday – Late evening.

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I, Ms.Aya the sheep is so sorry for the long overdue tutorial. <x_x>lll

Finally, I present to you… A basic guide on how to draw a full-body for your manga characters! \<^x^>/

Just before I begin this tutorial, allow me to clarify certain things:

1. I’m an amateur and inconsistent artist. My tutorials are meant for absolute beginner’s who are just starting out. Suppose you are an expert artist and you find this tutorial pure trash — That, I wonder how did you end up here.
2. My human anatomy outlook is retarded and deformed. However, I see it as an art to defy reality. And seriously, it doesn’t look too spastic to me.
3. This is a very quick guide that requires less than an hour. <^-^>v

Above all — I humbly admit.. I’m lousy in drawing a full-body. <;__;> But I’m confident that the technique I’m about to teach you is more than enough to pass your artwork with compliments. <^v^>/

Now that I’m clear… Moving on…

Note: Click on image to enlarge view.

I’ve already taught you how to draw the face and create facial expressions in my previous tutorials. Now, we’re going to draw a full body for your lovely manga characters!

First off… Please draw the following graphic shown below. ↓

Kickstart by drawing a mannequin/body line structure as shown above. This enables you to have a rough figure laid on your paper and most importantly, work out on your character’s anatomy.

• Some people may find it easier to draw a character straight away without defining the construction in the beginning. However, if you are truly new to drawing — Then it’s better that you build your structure. Because once you are done, all you need to do is just give it some skin and put some clothes on.

Back to the tutorial…

When drawing the body is concern, here are a few things that you need to focus on when constructing the figure of the body:

• The width length of the shoulder - Always start with the head. Because the head determines the balance and size of the body. You need the help of the head to move on to the shoulders. So just how big or small should the shoulders be? This varies on the posture that you intend to draw. But in this case, we’re starting with a normal upfront pose. Therefore, your shoulder should be in align with the ears. (There are no ears shown in the example given but I’m positive you know where they are!)

Above is how you measure the width of the shoulders. Line 1 is to measure the vertical height to meet the shoulders. After you rely on your due diligence to decide how long/short you want your neck to be, take the same length from Line 1 to create Line 2.

• The chest – Follow the steps shown below. ↓

Step 1a and 1b: The sides should be drawn inwards, giving it ample space for the character to move her arm freely. (Not that we want to show off her armpit though) We just want to give her a nice shape. <^x^>lll

Step 2: This is the collarbone line.

Step 3a and 3b: These are guidelines to ensure your body is facing the direction that you desire and to keep its balance.

* Important note: The length of the torso should be equivalent to the length of the legs. The legs can be slightly longer but please don’t overdo it. We’re not drawing Dragonball characters here! <T_T>

Next… <.___.>

Once you have completed imitating the whole body structure given above, proceed to the following progress. ↓

As you can see, our character here is taking shape slowly. What I did was I started giving her a face… and a proper pelvic area. (Laughs) <x_x>

There’s more. I gave her boobs and formed her limbs properly. <^.^>lll

Now, continue to form her body then erase the initial guidelines. ↓

Now we’re heading somewhere~! \<^ε^>/

Before we move on, here’s a short tip on how to draw the arms. ↓

Arm structure – The size of the upper arm (from the shoulder – Elbow) should be fatter than the lower part of the arm (Elbow – wrist) Same goes when you draw the legs. Thighs should be fatter than the lower part. This shapes up your character in the proper and logical manner.

Here’s a closer look on how to build the structure for the back-hand (or palm) and fingers.

The wrist is the thinnest part of the arm. At the end of the wrist, the hand should be as fat as the lower part of the arm. (What am I saying?) <@_@>

The 5 tiny balls represents the knuckles, which will help you move on to the fingers. The balls between the finger tips and the knuckles marks the finger’s phalanges. With that, you can decide how you want your character’s fingers to pose — whether she’s holding a weapon, clutching her first and the victorious ‘V’ pose. <^-^>v

Ok, so just how big and long should a hand/palm be? ↓

Answer: It should be around the length of the head, or slightly smaller. Suppose you are drawing a male character, it’s alright to create larger and wider palms for him. But when it comes to a girl character, small would be beautiful and just right~♥

After you have finished outlining her body and every part of her is agreeable to you, then you may proceed to clothing her.

Here’s how I did mine. ↓

About the feet, I’m sorry I can’t help you there for I totally can’t draw them myself properly. But for starters, you can try drawing boots or overly huge shoes because they are easier to draw. (In my opinion)

Baa.. <u_u>

We’ve come to an end in this tutorial.

It’s not the best tutorial out there however, it’ll get you somewhere. <n_n>

As usual, I’ll end my tutorials by giving out my personal practices and exercises so that you can be independent in drawing and exploring the art of manga~

Ms.Aya’s Practice Methods

In order to improve further, I suggest that you gather some hard copy pictures and trace the initial body structure.

Take a piece of paper and lay it on top of your chosen completed image. Instead of tracing the whole image — just draw the body line structure as shown earlier.

Example:

Pick a really nice picture and trace over the original foundation and body structure. And then, try to redraw the picture OR draw your own character over it. That way, your character will share the same pose.

Plus, you’ll be more familiar in designing body structures and poses. This will make an excellent practice!

Besides, it’s like playing the ‘Join the Dotted Line’ game. Only thing is that it won’t be a picture of a clown holding an umbrella but — a sexy manga character. (Laughs)

More examples:

Ok, sheep is done here. I hope I didn’t confuse anyone and that this tutorial will be of help.

Another thing I want to recommend:

If you want elite tutorials on how to draw manga girls, go to:

Xia’s a really great and talented artist. His tutorials will definitely take your drawing skills to another level.

My next tutorial will be on how to draw male characters. Perhaps it will be out by end of next month. <u_u>

Having that said, this is Ms.Aya who thanks you for being patient~♥