Learn to Draw Action Heroes_ An Easy Step by Step Guide to Drawing Comic Book Characters ( PDFDrive )

6 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Add crosshatching and more line weight. Draw these lines coming from
the shadows of the previous step and taper them as they get closer to the
light source. These lines are a great way to texture various materials as
well, a topic we will cover in more detail very soon!

Drawing Female Legs Standing

In this lesson you will draw the female legs in a basic pose—with
the weight shifted to one side. Characters often lean to one side or
another.

1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES

Draw out the skeleton. On a pose like this one we will tilt the hips a bit to

Draw out the skeleton. On a pose like this one we will tilt the hips a bit to
show the lean of the posture. Keep in mind that superhero legs can be
overexaggerated, so play with these measurements to find the best
option. Notice that I have made the front leg longer than the back leg.
This is to help reinforce the look of depth in the drawing.

2 BUILD THE LEG STRUCTURE

Draw the cylindrical shapes. Here you can draw a bit of curve to them to
help get the feeling of the natural bend of the legs. Draw the knee area

help get the feeling of the natural bend of the legs. Draw the knee area
as larger circles for now. Draw the feet using simple wedge-like shapes.
Always draw the feet pointing slightly outward. They will never point in
the same direction unless you are drawing a soldier at full attention.

3 SKETCH THE ANATOMY

Gently erase your lines and draw in the anatomy of the legs. Make sure
each segment of the leg tapers downward. To make the legs look longer
without redrawing at this stage, make the knees and ankles thinner than
the rest of the leg. This gives the work a unique style.

4 REFINE THE LINES

Refine the lines and add some additional lines for the flexing of the
muscles. We want these legs to be more fit, so we will add more
definition to the leg muscles. Then give her some suit markings so we

know she is truly a superhero!



5 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Refine the lines a final time and add in small amounts of rendering lines
by crosshatching. This helps to convey more style. Notice how it also
does a good job of bringing out the suit design.

Drawing Female Legs Jumping

Now to draw the female superhero legs in a popular pose. With one
leg up, the hero appears to take flight. This is a pose you will use
quite a bit when drawing comics, so practice it often.

1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES

Draw the basic skeleton of the pose, drawing circles for the joints and
lines for the limbs. Condense the leg that bends toward us to illustrate
foreshortening. Make sure to give a bit of tilt to the hips.

2 BUILD THE LEG STRUCTURE

Draw the cylindrical shapes over the guidelines. This time draw ovals at
the halfway point for the upper and lower leg. This is a helpful technique
for feeling out the three-dimensional form. It also helps to better convey
the direction of the limbs.

3 SKETCH THE ANATOMY

Gently erase the guidelines and begin to draw the muscles. The trickiest
part of this pose is getting the bent leg to look like it is coming toward the
viewer. You can rely on the cylinders to help you visualize tough
perspectives like this one.

4 REFINE THE LINES

Erase the rest of the guidelines and redraw the forms with more line
weight. Line weight can also help to convey depth for foreshortening. The
closer the object is to the viewer, the heavier the lines will be around that
part of the drawing.

part of the drawing.



5 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Clean up the work a bit more and add crosshatching and final line work.
Notice how the suit lines around the legs also help to show depth or
direction of the forms.

Drawing the Male Torso

Here you will draw the male torso. You have to give our characters
that strong upper body to hurl large objects at their foes, right?

1 DRAW THE UPPER GUIDELINES

First draw the upper chest as an oval with a line down the middle. Chop
the bottom off so we have an ending point for the chest. Then draw two
ovals for the shoulders. The dotted lines help you visualize how much the
one shoulder is covered by the upper chest mass from this angle.

2 DRAW ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES

Draw another oval shape for the rib cage with a centerline from the chest.
Then add another oval where the stomach muscles will go. Segment this
area into eight parts. Draw an arc on the top for the trapezius muscles.
Then add cylinders for the arms, though you will only focus on the torso.

3 DRAW THE TORSO STRUCTURE

Gently erase the lines in the middle chest area and redraw the shape of
the chest muscles for more accurate anatomy. They tend to taper inward
toward the middle of the chest. Now draw the lines to represent the lats
and obliques.

4 SKETCH THE ANATOMY

Gently erase the construction lines and start to draw in the anatomy more
clearly. Study bodybuilders to learn where the muscles go and also
where certain muscle groups start and end. Through repetition you will
start to make sense of it.

5 REFINE THE LINES

Gently erase the rest of the guidelines and draw more defined forms. Use
line weight to really push the shapes toward the viewer. By darkening the
lines on the lower parts of forms and using thinner lines on the top edges
you help to convey depth, size and shape to your line work.

6 DRAW THE SHADOW SHAPES

Add the shadows. Study from life. Remember that every object should
have a different size and shape of shadow. The shadows should look and
feel organic.

7 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Add your final lines with crosshatching and shading to further round out
the shapes. You can taper the lines as they move toward the light to
round out the forms.

Drawing the Female Torso

In this lesson you will be drawing the female torso. The same rules
apply as with the male counterpart but with different proportions.
The forms are more slender and elongated.

1 DRAW THE UPPER GUIDELINES

Draw a rounded box-like shape for the chest, much like you did for the
male torso. Draw a line down the middle along with an oval for the bottom
to show that this shape is rounded. Draw two more ovals for the
shoulders and notice the dotted lines to illustrate the overlapping shapes.

2 DRAW MORE GUIDELINES

Draw additional ovals for the rib cage area. Notice that the stomach
muscles look like an elongated football at this stage of the drawing. Add
more curved lines for the lower side of the waist area. Then add a curved
line for the top of the shoulders and a partial cylinder for the upper arm.

line for the top of the shoulders and a partial cylinder for the upper arm.
Then divide the stomach into eight parts. This can all be very loose at this
stage. Remember these are just guides to help you draw the next stages
of the artwork.

3 SKETCH THE ANATOMY

Begin to draw in the anatomy and gently erase the guidelines as you go.
Use more curved lines when drawing the female body. Try to think of the

shapes as fading in and out of the other forms. That helps you to not
trace everything with the same line weight and intensity. Add areas that
are soft and less defined.

4 REFINE THE LINES

Now draw the shapes in with more clarity and line weight. Thick to thin

Now draw the shapes in with more clarity and line weight. Thick to thin
lines will help the artwork pop off the page with more dimension.

5 ADD SHADOWS AND FINAL DETAILS

Mark the shadow shapes. Draw some crosshatching but make sure to
use less on the female form than you did on the male form. Over using
the rendering lines here will make the forms look harder and therefore
less feminine. In this case less is more!

Drawing the Male Back

In this lesson you will draw the back of the male superhero. The
back is where much of the power in the figure comes from, so let’s
make sure we show it.

1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES

Since this pose will be drawn straight on, let’s start with a centerline that
represents the spine. Then draw a somewhat rounded shape for the
upper back, with a cylinder shape at the base to represent the waist.
Notice the V-like shape to the back even at this stage.

2 BUILD THE STRUCTURE

Draw the basic forms of the shoulders and a perimeter or outline of the
back. Also draw the half cylinders for the upper arms. Notice how the
latissimus dorsi, or lats for short, cover the arms from this angle. Then
draw in a rounded shape for the top of the shoulders meeting a tapered
cylinder for the neck.

3 SKETCH THE ANATOMY

Gently erase the construction lines and begin to sketch in your anatomy.
Study from life, but make sure you beef up the proportions and give it
your own style. At this stage of the drawing you can make all kinds of fun
style choices. Experiment to see what you like for your superhero
proportions.

4 REFINE THE LINES

Gently erase the rest of the construction lines and refine the work.
Further enhance the definition of the muscles using different line weights.
Use line breaks to keep the muscles from looking too segmented across
the back.

5 DRAW THE SHADOW SHAPES

Draw your shadows. Try to imagine where your light source is coming
from at all times. If it helps, draw a mark on the page to stay focused on
the placement of the light.

6 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Now add crosshatching to further bring out the forms. This is another
area where experimenting can be fun and is very important to finding
your style. Just try not to create distractions in your work. If it doesn’t
read well, get it out of there!

Drawing the Female Back

In this lesson you will learn to draw the female back. Although the
anatomy is the same as the male’s, the proportions are very
different.

1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES

Draw the basic shapes the same way you would for the male back. Draw
the centerline, the V for the upper back and the cylinder for the waist.
This time make the shapes a bit thinner from left to right to illustrate the
smaller torso of the woman.

2 BUILD THE STRUCTURE

Gently erase marks you made in the previous step and start to draw in
the basic shapes of the body. Notice the definition of the shoulder blades
at this stage. The trapezius muscle, a muscle extending over the
shoulders and back of the neck, is usually less visible on most women.
This makes the shoulder blades more visible.

3 SKETCH THE ANATOMY

Sketch in the anatomy with a bit more detail. Take note of the diamond-
like shape at the top of trapezius muscle, or traps for short. Also notice
how the lats muscle in the lower part of the back creates an arrow up the
back.

4 REFINE THE LINES

Erase again and draw in the anatomy with more clarity. Notice how the
hips are wider in this step. This gives the form a bit more of an hourglass
look that is more feminine. Don’t be afraid to make small tweaks as you
draw.

5 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Draw the shadows and add your line weight and crosshatching. When

Draw the shadows and add your line weight and crosshatching. When
drawing in the shadows and lines, don’t cover the entire form. This will
help to soften the form compared to the male back. Just like that, you
have drawn the female back. I knew you could do it!

Drawing the Male Torso Bending

We have covered the male torso from the front and back but now we
will create one with a bend. It is very important to stretch these
poses as often as possible and this is a great place to start. To
stretch the pose you want to extend the parts outward away from
the whole. In this case move the shoulders away from the torso as
well as extending the abdominal area, stretching on one side and
pinching on the other. Can’t draw that superhero punch without
some bend to the torso for maximum power!

1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES

Draw the torso as a bean-like shape with a flat bottom. Then draw a line
across the top to connect the shoulders. One side should be higher than
the other. This will help you to show the stretch and flexing of the
muscles in the pose.

2 BUILD THE STRUCTURE

Gently erase the lines you made in the previous step and draw the basic
shapes of the anatomy. Use an arrow shape pointing up for the stomach
into the rib cage. Draw the bottom of the chest muscles with a slight
upward bend from this perspective. The lats will be visible only on the
right side so draw them in with a large rounded curve under the arm
cylinder. Add a small basic cylinder for the neck area as well.

3 SKETCH THE ANATOMY

Now redraw in the anatomy a bit more clearly. Notice the pinch on the
right side of the inner torso and the stretched out curve to the left side.
This effect really helps to show the stretching muscles of the torso and
give the pose a more dynamic feel.

4 DRAW THE SHADOW SHAPES

Draw the shadows. Picture the light coming from the upper left of the
superhero torso.