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

5 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Add lines to render your form. Create a drop shadow under the nose.
This is another useful way to make the nose look more three-
dimensional. Don’t forget to draw the line at the bottom of the nose to
show the plane change. It is the line near the very bottom that curves

show the plane change. It is the line near the very bottom that curves
around the nose to create a highlight effect. That can be a style choice as
well, but it almost always makes the nose look more rounded.

Try Different Angles

Here are some more downward angle shots to practice. Just practice lots
of variations and you will become comfortable creating all types of noses
in no time.

Drawing Noses: Upward Angle

Now you will draw the nose in an upward angle. This is one of the
more difficult positions in which to draw the nose, but with some
practice it will become easy. Like any task that seems difficult,
always start with the basics.

1 BLOCK IN THE BASIC SHAPES

Draw the nose as a basic three-dimensional wedge-like shape. This
allows you to remember the perspective of the nose when drawing in
your details.

your details.

2 START ROUNDING THE FORMS

Add a ball at the end of the wedge to represent the tip of the nose. Also
draw a slight plane change at the top of the wedge to hint at the brow
area where the bridge of the nose changes shape.

3 CURVE AND SHAPE THE NOSE

Draw the organic shapes over your basics. Draw a bump on the top
bridge area of the nose to give it more character. Draw the nostrils larger
from this perspective. They are generally bean shaped from this angle.

4 DEFINE THE NOSE

Draw the plane change at the bottom of the nose. Remember that it
curves back and forth with the multiple shapes of the nose. You can draw
this with a thinner line so it will be less pronounced. Also draw in a few
thicker lines to show definition on the bump of the bridge area and the
ball of the nose. Then draw a few more lines under the septum of the
nose and near the nostrils to give them a bit of depth.

5 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Add your rendering lines to bring out the forms of the nose. The amount
of shading is purely up to you and your style, but try to reinforce the
shapes that you have already drawn. Curving the lines in the direction of
the rounded shapes will help with that effect. It is also a good idea to use
thinner lines than those used in the original drawing so they do not
distract from the overall shapes.

More Upward Angles

Here are a few more nose shapes to play around with. Experiment with
all of the basic forms to get a nice variety. No two noses are alike so feel
free to mess up and try again and again!

Drawing Lips: Male

Let’s focus on the mouths of our characters. First you will draw a
male mouth from the front and from the side. This is an easy one.
Well, it’s easy when the mouth is closed!

1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES

Draw a stretched out M for the front view of the mouth. Then place a line
below the M for the bottom lip. Then draw a Y shape turned on its side for
the profile view of the mouth. Notice that the line that separates the top
lip from the bottom lip tilts downward slightly. Draw the bottom lip just a
bit thicker than the top lip.

2 DRAW MORE ORGANIC SHAPES

Lightly erase your rough guidelines and draw over them with more
organic shapes. Focus on giving the lips a softer look than the previous
sketch. Add in a few more details for the top lip and a crescent shape
where the bottom lip connects to the chin. Do not add too much detail to
the top lip on the male or the lips will look feminine.

Three-Dimensional Thinking

Here is another example of trying to envision the forms in a three-
dimensional space. Practice studies like these to reinforce your
knowledge of the forms. Draw the lines bending around the lips and try to
imagine the subtle changes that the forms make.

imagine the subtle changes that the forms make.

3 REFINE THE LINES

Draw larger line weights to give the lips more defined shape. Also draw in
the shadows beneath the lower lip and on the edges of the top lip.

4 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Render the lines with crosshatching to round out the shapes even further.
Remember to keep these lines thinner and less pronounced than the
previous line work. When shading the lips, use fewer lines if you want
them to appear younger and use more lines to give the appearance of
age.

Keep Practicing

In these examples, notice that the top lip is usually a bit thinner than the
bottom. The top lip is going to produce more of a shadow due to the
plane change. Male lips generally are less pronounced.

Drawing Lips: Female

For this lesson you will draw the female mouth closed. The idea is
to use more pronounced curves to give them a more sultry look
than the male version.

1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES

Start with the same basic lines as the male lips but add a bit more curve
and more distance from the bottom lip line to the M-shape line. This will
leave room to make the lip more voluptuous. Also notice the angle
difference from the top lip to the bottom lip.

2 MARK GUIDES FOR THE FACIAL FEATURES

From the middle line that you just made to the bottom line that represents
the chin area, create another horizontal line at the halfway point. This will
be where the nose goes later. From this point to the chin, create three
sections evenly spaced by drawing two more horizontal lines.

3 CURVE THE LIP SHAPES

Gently erase your previous lines and draw over them with the curves that
you see in the lips. Notice how they taper inward toward the area where
they meet the cheeks. Keep in mind that they are compounding curves,
and they bend downward and back from this perspective.

4 DRAW THE SHADOW SHAPES

Now that the main shapes are in place, you can build up the definition.
Draw in the shapes of shadows or, in this case, the shape of the highlight
on the lips. Also draw in the more-defined lines for the chin and the
dimple above the lip.

5 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Render the lines with crosshatching to show the curves of the lips.
Tapering the lines and curving them in the direction of the forms will help
to make them appear more three-dimensional.

Keep Practicing

Here are some more examples to practice. Try creating multiple lip poses
with the same style. Try to envision as many closed lips studies as you
can. Exercises like these will help you to feel comfortable with a given
area of your drawings. Then, after you have the hang of it, try changing
something about the style and do the studies again!

Drawing the Mouth: Screaming

In this lesson you will draw the mouth screaming. You can’t have a
comic without someone screaming at least once. So let’s get
screaming, shall we?

1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES

Draw the opening of the mouth. Start angular and we will smooth out the

Draw the opening of the mouth. Start angular and we will smooth out the
lines in the next steps. Draw a curved rectangular shape for the top teeth
and the gums. From this angle, we are going to see more of the bottom
teeth so draw a horseshoe shape for now. The bottom front teeth are
thinner than the rest so draw the shape accordingly. Also draw in a line
for the bottom lip.

2 SKETCH THE TEETH

Start to draw the teeth with more detail. We will only see a few of the
front top teeth, but the bottom will be much more visible, so focus on
them more. The bottom front four are thinner and line up straight across.
Then you have the two canines, which are generally sharper looking.
Draw the rest of the molars straight back, getting larger at the back of the
mouth. Understanding the size and shape differences of the teeth from
one another can be tricky, but draw them enough times and you will
begin to understand it.

3 START ADDING DETAIL

Draw more detail on the teeth. Try drawing the separations of the teeth
from the top and bottom of each tooth but not fully connecting the lines. It
is better to hint at some lines than drawing them all the way through.
Draw the indents of the lower teeth. These are shaped like an X or a

Draw the indents of the lower teeth. These are shaped like an X or a
tilted Y, as I have drawn here. Draw in the shapes for the gums on the
bottom. Use a small A between each tooth.

4 DEFINE THE SHAPES

Gently erase the sketch lines and draw them back in with more definition.
Think about cleaning up the work but also about thickening the lines in
the right areas to give the drawing more life. Well-placed line weights are
very important in comics and drawing in general.

5 ADD SHADOW SHAPES

Fill in your shadow shapes. This will make some areas of your drawing
really stand out. Fill in areas like the back of the mouth to make the
tongue stand out more. Fill in the gums to make the teeth more visible,
and add a drop shadow beneath the tongue to give the appearance of
depth.

6 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Render the lines by adding crosshatching and more shading. Try to think
of these as gradients and use them to transition from the dark areas to
the light. Also use some thicker lines to contrast the smaller lighter lines.
If the lines become too distracting, then that defeats the purpose. Be
mindful of how you use them.

mindful of how you use them.

Try a Different Angle

Practice drawing mouths over and over again. When you are ready, you
can start drawing crazy creatures of the night like this one. It may look
quite different, but I assure you the same fundamentals apply!

quite different, but I assure you the same fundamentals apply!

Drawing the Mouth: Smiling

For this lesson you will draw the mouth smiling. We will approach
the smile at an angle to study the change in shape from one side to
the other.

1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES

Draw a bowed vertical line. The bow will help you to remember the curve

Draw a bowed vertical line. The bow will help you to remember the curve
that is present in the mouth from this angle. Now draw an M shape for the
top lip. The same shape will work for the lower line of the top lip, but it will
be more stretched out to meet the edges.

2 SKETCH THE TEETH SHAPE

Draw a block shape for the teeth. You can make it angular at first and
smooth out the lines later. Draw the divide for the top and bottom teeth,
but make sure to leave more room for the top teeth. Don’t make the
mistake of drawing the line in the middle of the teeth. You also don’t need

to continue this line all the way across. The missing part will look like a
highlight on the front of the teeth.

3 ADD THE BOTTOM LIP

Draw the bottom shape of the lower lip. It will be thicker toward the front
and taper inward toward the cheeks. Just remember that most of the time
the lower lip is thicker than the top lip. Getting the transition of the thicker
part of the lip to the thinner part can be tricky, but the more you study this
area the easier it will get.

4 ADD DETAILS

Draw the teeth. I like to add more of the visible details to the inner back
part of the mouth and omit the details at the front. Doing so helps to
convey depth and lighting. Drawing every tooth can make the mouth look
flat and overly detailed.

5 DRAW THE HIGHLIGHTS

Draw the highlights of the lips. I tend to do this only on the female lips to
help illustrate a glare or the effect of lipstick. This also helps to round out
the lips and adds another dynamic to them.

6 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Shade in the rest of the lips and add in rendering lines on the bottom lip
to round out the form.

Drawing the Ears: Front View

In this lesson you will draw a front view of the ear. This is the
easiest perspective of the ear to draw. It can still be a little tricky,
but with practice everything becomes easier. So let’s put in some of
that practice right now.

1 DRAW THE GUIDELINES

Define the overall shape of the ear by drawing a disk-like shape on a
slight angle. Make sure to start out a bit wider at the top. Then draw
another shape to represent the area that connects to the head. This is
similar to the larger shape, but tapers more drastically at the bottom.

2 SKETCH THE EAR SHAPES

Start to think about the depth of the shape of the ear. Draw a line to
create the inner ridge of the ear on the right side. Draw a smaller oval to
represent the opening in the ear. The shapes of the ear are more
complex than this, so give yourself plenty of guides to work up to those
more complex areas.

3 CURVE AND DEVELOP THE SHAPES

Gently erase your construction lines and begin to draw the more organic
shapes of the ear. This part takes time to get right so don’t rush and don’t
feel bad if it doesn’t work out at first. Study from life and just keep at it.
One thing to notice is how the inner part of the ear will actually extend out
past the ear ridge from this angle.

4 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Gently erase the rest of your rough sketch lines and draw in the shapes
of shadows. Add more line work to round out the forms. Use more or less
lines depending on the style you are going for.

Ear Variations

This example shows you how easy it is to take the existing ear and add
some variation to it. You don’t always have to start from scratch with your
designs. Recycling your work can save lots of time, and it’s better for the
environment! You can change an ear design by tweaking just one
element. Shorten or extend a piece, make it sharper or more rounded.
Experiment and practice.

Drawing the Ears: Side View

Now let’s learn to draw the ears from the side view. Although this is
a bit tougher to accomplish, there are still some fun ways to make
the process easier to achieve.

1 DRAW A VERTICAL GUIDELINE

Start by drawing the height that you would like your head to be. Then
mark the halfway point with a horizontal line. It doesn’t have to be perfect
but close to the middle is a nice place to start. This will also be the point
where we later place the eyes.

2 START ADDING DETAILS

Draw the Y-like shape in the top middle of the ear. Have the shape taper
in and almost connect to the bottom ear lobe area. Now draw in the
tragus which looks like the little bump on the left side of the ear. Think of
it like a cover for the opening to the ear. Add two small curved lines for
the shape of the opening to the ear.

3 DRAW THE SHADOW SHAPES

Draw the shadows. Using the guides that we have put into place, this
becomes very easy to do. Try to imagine how the shadows would wrap
around the forms in a three-dimensional environment. The more you
envision that concept, the better your drawings will get.

4 ADD FINAL DETAILS

Add crosshatching to further round out the forms. The ear has lots of

Add crosshatching to further round out the forms. The ear has lots of
curves and bends so feel free to show it in your line work. Curving the
lines around with the shapes you have drawn will add to that effect.

Changing the Shape

Once again you can take the existing ear drawing and convert it to a
fictional ear with just a few changes in shape. Practice drawing lots of

fictional ear with just a few changes in shape. Practice drawing lots of
variations of this same design to take your ear art to the next level.

Hairstyles: Defining the Hairline

In this lesson you will work on drawing hair. In order to do so you
must first figure out where to put it. Hair can get a little wild at
times, so let’s try to tame it a bit.

1 SKETCH THE HAIRLINE

When drawing hair, first define a hairline on your character. This helps
you to focus on where to put all those fancy lines you are about to draw.
This is a basic step, but it is a very important one.

2 DEVELOP THE HAIR

Draw the general hair shapes but keep them bulked together and
overlapping in various ways. Don’t try to draw each strand or the hair will
look like spaghetti. I love spaghetti but not in my hair! Think of the hair as
ribbons flowing in and out of one another.

Practice Drawing Texture and Shape

Practice drawing samples like this one off to the side of your work. It
helps to get the basics down before drawing your masterpiece. Practice
the shape and texture hair can have. Log in lots of these samples, and
your art will improve very quickly.

1 SKETCH THE HAIRLINE

Let’s try it again on this angled pose using the same concept. We will
make the hair a bit thinner and refine the line work this time. Draw the
hairline as before.

2 SKETCH THE DIRECTION OF THE HAIR

Start to think about the shape of the hair and also the direction that the
forms will be taking. The more you visualize before you start drawing, the
better. Make sure to curve the lines in and out of one another to avoid
hair that appears flat or plain.

3 DRAW THE HAIR SHAPES

Draw the general shapes and use quick curved lines to create the forms.
Then go back in with more lines to add to the texture of the hair. Avoid
short sketchy lines for this type of drawing. Smooth fluid lines work better
here.

4 ADD FINAL DETAILS

With all your line work in place, you can refine the hair with your shading.
Use the shadows to give your forms depth. Leave areas white to show
highlights and also to illustrate loose strands of hair flowing around the
larger shapes. Don’t forget to add little curves here and there at the ends
of your lines. It gives the hair more life.