How To Draw Female Bodies Ch 1

***Formatting this was a real pain so don't be afraid to ask me any questions about which line goes where! I'd be glad to help!***

PAGE 2:

1: Introduction
2: The bodies of females are covered with soft flesh, so it’s important to focus on emphasizing their curves when drawing them. But the softness can only be truly brought out when put in contrast with the hard bony elements from places like the clavicle and joints, creating a sense of presence and charm in their characters.

3: The elements necessary to bring out the texture of a woman’s flesh:
1 - Creating the outline of their body. Essentially the up and down undulations of the flesh.
...Mainly provided through the use of curved lines.
2 - Detailing areas such as the clavicle and joints.
...Mainly provided through the use of straight lines.

4: A girl’s body is made from bones and flesh ♥

PAGE 3:

1: Character Skeleton -
A model based on a human’s skeleton for the sake of understanding elements such as articulation, hardness, and posture.
2: These are my bones!
3: If you only draw the flesh, it’ll end up looking hard.
4: An Example of not Drawing the Bones -
Here’s what it’d look like without the representation of the clavicle, elbow joints, or knee joints. The outline is one of a “girl’s body,” but it overall leaves an impression of something made out of plastic or vinyl, straying far from the soft texture of skin.

(box in bottom right)
5: The Bones and Skin During the Drawing Process
6: (left side of box) The outline. It involves the general idea of the pose you want. It mainly focuses on the posture that would be taken, resulting in more of a silhouette of the entire body. It’s not uncommon for the spine or shoulders to be roughly drawn at this stage.
7: (right side of box) The rough sketch. It involves drawing things like the general hairstyle or pose over the outline. You can think of it as quite literally “fleshing out” the outline.
8: (asterisk) This doesn’t have to be a strict guideline to follow. Depending on how familiar you are with what you’re drawing, you can take on whatever process you want, whether it be moving to a rough sketch from an outline, starting straight off with the rough sketch, or drawing in expressions as you do the sketching.

(bottom left section)
9: X-Ray View
10: Clavicle
11: Elbow Joint
12: Knee Joint
13: Make sure you keep in mind the bone placements as you draw!

PAGE 4: (ignore this page, i’m going to fill it in when i finish the whole thing)

Table of Contents

Introduction 2
The Purpose of This Book 6

Chapter 1 - Understanding the Bones and Muscles of a Character
The Bones and Muscle Seen on a Character 8
A Look at the Bones and Muscle of the Whole Body 10
Front 10
Side 12
Back 14
Angles That Bring Out Dimensionality 16
45° Angle Front 16
45° Angle Back 18
Standard Body Part Lengths and Body Height in “Heads” 20
Body Part Lengths 20
Body Height in Heads 21

Chapter 2 - How to Keep in Mind the Skeletal Structure of a Character
Bones and Muscle 24
The Representation of Bones over the Whole Body 24
The Important Bones of the Upper Body 26
Drawing the Head and Shoulders 28
The Head and How it Connects to the Body 28
Neck Muscles and Clavicle 32
The Skeletal Structure of the Head and Shoulders 34
Head Presentation 38
Drawing the Lower Jaw 40
Drawing the Arms and Hands 42
Prominent Features of the Arms 42
How the Arm Connects 43
Drawing the Elbows 49
Drawing Hands 54
Drawing Legs 56
The Important Features of the Leg Lines 56
Bones and Muscle 57
Representing the Legs’ Bones and Texture 58
Bone Structure and Leg Lines 64
Drawing Ankles and Feet 70
Defining Characteristics of Feet 70
Drawing Feet and Ankles in Various Poses 71

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Chapter 3 - Body Texture Is the Key to Bringing Out the Softness in a Female Character’s Body
Texture and Curves 74
Texture and Roundness Representation 74
Drawing Breasts 76
Typical Representations of Breasts 76
Breast Features 78
Nipples and Areolas 82
Breast Representation 86
Drawing Bras 90
Drawing the Body 94
Stomach Representation 94
Various Body Types 96
Drawing Where the Legs Connect and the Region Between the Legs 98
Features Around the Base 98
Drawing Where the Legs Connect From an Upwards Angle 100
Drawing Where the Legs Connect in Action Poses 104
Drawing the Butt 108
Standing Pose 108
Sitting Poses 111

Chapter 4 - Let’s Master Bone Depiction and Flesh Texture
Drawing Poses With Movement 116
Key Points of Drawings With Movement 116
Facing Front 118
Facing Diagonally 120
Facing to the Side 123
Back Side 124
Sitting Pose 130
Drawing Different Kinds of Characters 134
Full Body Pose 134
Knee Shot Pose 136

Chapter 5 - Drawing Faces
Skull - Face Parts - Hair - Mouth Structure - Design
Differences Between Realistic and Stylistic Faces 142
Let’s Draw Some Character Faces 144
Take a Look at Some Examples 144
The Purpose of the Cross Mark 146
Drawing Various Angles 148
Facial Features 154
Basic Facial Features and Their Names 154
Mouth and Jaw Structure 156
Drawing Hair 160
The Relationship Between the Head and the Hair 160
Drawing Hairstyles 163
Let’s Draw a Variety of Different Faces 168
Drawings That Focus on Eyes and Hair 168
Drawing Characters With Their Personalities in Mind 170
Paying Attention to Balance 172

PAGE 6:

The Purpose of this Book

Girl characters usually do not have realistic proportions. Whether it comes to the face, hairstyle, body shop, or limb lengths, the character’s features are usually presented in a somewhat deformed or shortened manner.
Starting with the skeletal structure of a character as the foundation, this book aims to explain important points to keep in mind when drawing a character while using a special “character skeleton” I designed specifically for this purpose.

Chapter 1 will go over the skeleton that serves as the framework for a character’s body, as well as the muscle that covers it.
Chapter 2 will go over the bones most often represented in a character(clavicle and limb joints) while Chapter 3 will go over what kind of shapes the breasts and butt should take on.
Chapter 4 will go over mid-action poses and differentiating characters apart, as well as explaining how to keep in mind bone and muscle structure when drawing a character, while Chapter 5 will be going over what could be considered the most individualistic element of drawing a character, the face.

When drawing a character, you typically won’t be drawing something that would be considered a finished product right away.
You’ll proceed with an image in mind, but you’ll only reach that image through trial and error as you decide where to align all the pieces up together. To be honest, the work of a character designer often involves a lot of fumbling around.
By studying bone and muscle structure and overall body part placement balance, you’ll be able to reduce the amount of fumbling you do and ultimately get closer to creating something of high quality. While it’s true that blindly drawing whatever you want wherever you want can lead to discovering fresh and creative designs, it can also result in manifesting doubt or confusion towards the identity of your own work. By drawing your lines without doubt, even if they may have started out temporarily as a mistake, you’ll be able to grant confidence to your work.

I hope that the contents of this book will become part of the flesh and blood of your future work.

-Go Office Hayashi Akira

*The designs of the character-based skeletons introduced in this book are based on scientific skeletal diagrams, but they are ultimately designed in a way to help other designers understand certain bone structures and dimensionality when drawing characters. They differ from real-life skeletons, and are by no means meant to serve as a representation of them.

PAGE 7:

Chapter 1

Understanding the Bones and Muscles of a Character

PAGE 8:

1: The Bones and Muscles Seen on a Character
2: The final version of the image(the idea you had in mind) often starts off with a collection of very simple lines. Outlines and rough sketches are very simple drawings, but when drawn by an experienced artist, they often contain consciousness towards bone and body part placement.
3: Head. The direction of the face is demonstrated through a plus shape.
4: Upper line of the torso(Used to determine shoulder height).
5: A line drawn towards the center of the torso that demonstrates where the body is facing.
6: Lower line of the torso, drawn to determine the height of the crotch.
7: General idea of the legs.
8: The state of a drawing in its outline stage
9: This is an example of first drawing the silhouette via an outline.
It involves getting a general feel of the posture, arm and leg shape, and face direction of the final product.

PAGE 9:

1: Guidance Lines -  The Purpose of the Outlines and How to Use Them

(Section 2)
1: Clavicle (Bone)
2: Breasts (Flesh)
3: Elbow Joint (Bone)
4: Rib Cage
5: Thighs (Flesh)
6: (below 5) Rough Sketch
The drawing progresses through the rough sketch. The body’s image is more fleshed out at this point. The general silhouette of the hairstyle is drawn in.
7: (below 6) Reference
Here is an example of drawing the outline based on a skeleton. The head, central line, shoulders, and limbs are drawn using rods. You’d flesh it out in the same way, but since it can end up looking pretty plain, it’s not recommended for beginners. This method is recommended to those experienced with drawing while using things like photos as reference.

(Section 3)
8: (top right of page) Thoroughly draw what will serve to be the main outline of the head and body. This can be done by tracing over the rough sketch.
9: (below 8) The base of the breasts should be drawn like a bra.
10: (left of 9) The central line of the front torso.
11: (below 9) The lines that define the shoulders and arms.
12: (below 11) Waist section
13: (below 12) Shrunken
14: (below 13) The space between the elbow and wrist is drawn in a “connected” fashion.
15: (below 10) The line that defines the upper torso(rib cage).
16: (below 15) Waist is stretched out
17: (below 16) The line that defines the lower torso(pelvis).
18: (bottom right of page)
Guidance Lines - Lines that serve to help guide the correct placement of body parts.
Sketch Lines - Lines that serve to help shape out the body parts.
Main Outlines - The lines that will carry over to the final product. These are lines that are drawn with definitive purpose, typically drawn thicker and in a more pronounced fashion.

PAGE 10:

1: Bones and Muscle of the Whole Body
2: Front
3: (top right) Let’s take a look at the shapes and names of the more important areas of a character’s bone and muscle.
4: (below 3) The bones emphasized on the body’s surface would be the clavicle, knee, and ankles.
The flesh most emphasized would be the breasts and stomach.

(left diagram)
5: X-Ray View
6: Skull
7: (below 6) Clavicle
8: (below 7) Humerus
9: (below 8) Pelvis
10: (below 9) Pubis
11: (below 10) Femur
12: (below 11) Patella. Also known as the kneecap.
13: (below 5) Scapula. It’s also part of the back side.
14: (below 13) Rib cage. The chest is largely made up of this.
15: (below 14) Hip joint
16: (below 12) The ankle bones protrude in a way where the inner side is higher than the outer side.

(right diagram)
17: Top of head
18: (below 17) Head area
19: (below 18) Clavicle
20: (below 19) Breasts
21: (below 20) Upper arms. Region from the shoulder to the elbow.
22: (below 21) The lines here represent the hollow cavity of the ribs.
23: (below 22) Forearms. The region from the elbow to the wrist.
24: The vertical line representing the abs.
25: (left of 20) Torso
26: (below 25) Sides of the abs.
27: (below 26) Lower abdomen
28: (below 27) Thighs
29: (below 28) Knees
30: (below 29) Calves
31: (right of 30) Lower legs. Extends from the knees to the ankles.
32: The protrusion of the ankles. The inner protrusions are higher than the outer ones.

PAGE 11:

1: (top left) Muscle Diagram
2: (below 1) Nape muscles.
3: (below 2) Abs
4: (right of 2) Trapezius
5: (below 4) Deltoid
6: (below 5) Pectoral
7: (below 6) The gap between the abs is represented by a vertical line.
8: (below 7) External oblique muscle. These are muscles that cover a wide area around the abs.
9: (below 8) The region where the leg is connected is also part of the external oblique muscle. A tendon known as the inguinal ligament wraps around this connection.
10: (below 9) The kneecaps are usually represented in circular shapes(they are covered with tendon and skin).
11: (below 10) *The arm muscles have been omitted.
12: (below 11) Abdominal region
13: This is a line that represents the curved surface of the abdomen, the external oblique muscle.
14: This line would be used if you wanted to include the abs as well.

15: (top middle of page) Character Skeleton
16: (right of 15) Bilaterally symmetric. When looking at it from the front, the lines connecting the left/right shoulders, elbows, hip joints, knees, and ankles and such are all in parallel with each other.

(diagram to the right)
17: On top of the shoulder joints are the deltoid muscles.
18: (below 17) Rib cage
19: (below 18) Underwear line
20: (below 19) Butt
21: (left of 17) Shoulders
22: (below 21) Elbows
23: (below 22) Wrists
24: (below 23) Ankles
25: (below 24) Form Model
26: (below 25) A simplified representation of the body separated into parts based on points of articulation abdominal regions.
27: (bottom left of 26) An outline of a standing pose. The points of articulation are represented through circles or sharp lines.

PAGE 12:

1: Side
2: (right of 1) The bones emphasized on the body’s surface would be the clavicle, scapula, elbows, and knees.
The flesh most emphasized would be the breasts, stomach, and butt.
3: (below 1) X-Ray View
4: (below 3) Clavicle
5: (below 4) Spine
6: (below 5) Hip joints
7: (below 6) The ankle protrusions are on the lower end.

8: (right of 3) Body Diagram
9: (below 8) Protrusion of the clavicle
10: (below 9) Calves

11: (right of 8) Character Skeleton
12: (below 11) Temporal region
13: (below 12) Clavicle
14: (below 13) Scapula
15: (below 14) Rib cage
16: (below 15) Pelvis
17: (below 16) Tailbone
18: (below 17) Pubis
19: (below 18) Kneecaps
20: (below 19) The line that shows where the lower body begins.
21: (below 20) An outline. The body is composed of blocks.

PAGE 13:

1: (top left) Muscle Diagram
2: (below 1) Pectoralis major
3: (right of 2) Deltoid
4: (below 2) Rectus abdominis
5: (below 3) The breasts rest on top of the pectoralis major.

6: (right of 1) A Representation of the Muscles Lying On Top of the Bones
7: (below 6) The deltoid muscles. They lie on top of the neck and back region.
8: (below 7) Latissimus dorsi
9: (below 8) External oblique muscle
10: (right of 7) The deltoid muscles make smooth lines between the shoulders and the neck.
11: (below 10) Form Model
12: (below 11) Shoulder joints
13: (below 12) Where the arm connects
14: (below 13) Waist
15: (below 14) Rib cage
16: (below 15) Ankles
17: (below 16) Heels

PAGE 14:

1: Back
2: (top right of page) The bones emphasized on the body’s surface would be the scapulas, elbows, and pelvis.
The flesh most emphasized would be the butt and calves.
3: (below 1) X-Ray Diagram
4: (below 3) Spine
5: (below 4) Scapulas
6: (below 5) This region of the spine is called the lumbar.
7: (below 6) The crevice in the pelvis shows up on the surface.
8: (below 7) A portion of the crotch can be seen.
9: (below 2) Body Diagram
10: (below 9) This line for the spine is sometimes omitted.
11: (bottom left of 10) Where the scapulas poke out.
12: (below 10) The line for the lumbar crevice should be clearly defined.
13: (below 12) The elbow joint connection is shown here.
14: (below 13) Behind the knees
15: (below 14) Calves
16: (below 15) Achilles tendon
17: (bottom of page)
Tendons -
Tendons are fiber-like bands that connect bone to muscle. Sometimes they’re belt-shaped, sometimes they’re tubular. The tendons in your palm and the achilles tendon are the most famous ones.
Alongside bones and muscles, there are some tendons that can end up visible on the surface.

PAGE 15:

1: (top left) Character Skeleton
2: (below 1) Upper skull
3: (right of 2) Back of head
4: (below 2) Jaw
5: (right of 3) Clavicle
6: (below 5) The clavicle connects with the scapula to make a joint.
7: (below 6) Tailbone
8: (below 7) The back of the knee is covered with muscle, so the bones won’t be seen.
9: (below 8) The muscles of the calves are tightly pulled up.
10: (below 9) Achilles tendon
11: (bottom right of page)
Form Model -
The scapula are usually represented via rhombus or triangle-like shapes.
12: (top right of page) Muscle Diagram (The muscles are laid on top of the bones.)
13: (below 12) Trapezius
14: (below 13) Deltoid
15: (below 14) Latissimus dorsi muscle
16: (below 15) External oblique muscle
17: (right of 16) An outline. The line for the spine runs perfectly straight down.

PAGE 16:

1: Angles That Bring Out Dimensionality
2: (right of 1) Since the length of the body can now be seen, dimensionality comes into play.
3: (below 2) The bones emphasized on the body’s surface would be the clavicle, rib cage, elbows, knees, and ankles.
The flesh most emphasized would be the shoulders, breasts, stomach, waist, and thighs.
4: (below 1) 45° Angle Front

5: (below 4) Body Diagram
6: (below 5) Clavicle
7: (below 6) Shoulders
8: (below 7) A smooth line represents the abs.
9: (below 8) The left and right thighs are drawn with different widths.
10: (left of 9) Knees
11: (below 10) Ankle bones

12: (right of 5) Character Skeleton
13: (below 12) The lines of the rib cage make up the silhouette for the torso.
14: (right of 13) The top of the rib cage connects to the back by wrapping around below the clavicle.
15: (below 14) The shoulder bones are connected below the area where the clavicle connects with the scapulas.
16: (below 15) The torso line under the breasts help somewhat bring out the hardness of the rib cage bones.
17: (right of 12) X-Ray Diagram

PAGE 17:

1: (top left) Drawing Process
2: (right of 1) In the case of doing a rough sketch of the pose’s silhouette.
3: (below 1) The clavicle should be drawn connected to the shoulders in the rough sketch.
4: (below 3) The line representing the back.
5: (below 4) An idea of a central line.
6: (below 2) A line representing the crevice of the rib cage. You might want to include this if you want to emphasize the tightness of the skin against the bones.
7: (below 6) A line detailing the external oblique muscle in order to bring out the stomach’s roundness. It’d be connected with the legs.
8: (right of 2) Form Model
9: (below 5) Rough sketch. The entire pose is drawn as a silhouette.
10: (right of 9) The entire body is shaped out while keeping in mind joint placements.
11: (right of 10) The final outlines begin to be reached at this point.

12: (below 9) If Drawing Underwear
13: (below 12) By drawing the curve of the underwear line downwards, the roundness of the stomach can be pronounced.

(section in bottom right area, top to down)
11: Point of Notice
12: The Area Around the Neck and Shoulder
13: Where the neck connects
14: Where the arm connects
15: Shoulder joint
16: Deltoid
17: The deltoid muscle is what makes the shoulder round.

PAGE 18:

1: 45° Angle Back
2: (right of 1) The bones emphasized on the body’s surface would be the scapulas, spine, elbows, and heels.
The flesh most emphasized would be the shoulders, breasts, butt, and behind the knees.
3: (below 1) Body Diagram
4: (below 3) Shoulders
5: (right of 4) The line detailing the spine should be clearly made out when it comes to a diagonal angle.
6: (below 4) Breasts
7: (below 5) Elbows
8: (below 7) Butt
9: (below 8) Behind the knees. The muscles are tightly bound, making a ハ shape.
10: (below 9) Heels.

11: (right of 3) Character Skeleton
12: (below 11) The scapulas are laid on top of the rib cage.
13: (right of 11) Character Skeleton X-Ray View
14: (below 13) The clavicle that’s on the front.
15: (right of 14) The scapula here is part of the body’s outline.
16: (below 15) *The rib cage has been omitted.
17: (below 16) The heels have thin muscles covered over their bones.

18: (bottom left of page) Where the neck connects with the torso(trapezius)
19: (above 18) Where the head connects with the neck.
20: (bottom right of 17) Scapula
21: (left of 20) Clavicle
22: (below 21) Where the scapula connects with the clavicle

PAGE 19:

1: (top left) Drawing Process
2: (right of 1) In the case of starting off with a general outline of the pose
3: (right of 2) Form Model
4: (below 1) Outline. The body is represented with simple lines and shapes.
5: (right of 4) Rough sketch. The body parts are shaped out while keeping in mind joint placements.
6: (right of 5) Fleshed out.
7: (below 4) Slimming Down the Body
8: (below 7) The rough sketch would look the same.
9: (right of 8) When fleshing it out, the shoulder width should be shorter and the limbs should be thinner. I changed the head so that it’s looking back.
10: (right of 9) This is what the final linework would look like.
11: (below 3) Point of Notice
12: (below 11) How the Arm Is Attached to Shoulder
13: (below 12) Where the arm connects
14: (below 13) Shoulder joint
15: (below 14) Deltoid
16: (below 15) The portion of the breasts and torso that the arm covers up is drawn first before the arm is drawn.

PAGE 20:

1: Standard Body Part Lengths and Body Height in “Heads”
2: (below 1) Here we’ll look at ways to gauge body proportions and the concept of the height of the body being in “heads.”
3: (below 2) Character proportions can differ between artists, but there’s a traditional balance that most people follow.
4: (left of 3) Body Part Lengths

(skeleton diagram on left of page)
5: (starting from top right of the diagram) Elbow Placement In Terms of the Waist
6: (below 5) Elbow
7: (below 6) An arm hanging down usually has its elbow close to waist height.
8: (left of 6) Waist
9: (below 7) Wrist Placement
10: (below 9) The wrist is usually around the height of the crotch.
11: (left of 10) Crotch
12: (below 11) The crotch placement is usually around the very center of the body.
13: (below 10) Knee Placement
14: (below 13) You might find it a little strange for the knees to be in the very middle between the crotch and ankles, but feel free to make the region below the knees longer or thinner in whatever way you wish.
15: (below 14) Ankle Placement
16: (left of 15) This character’s legs are shorter than the upper body’s height.

(left-half of skeleton column thing, from top to down)
17: Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist
18: Shoulder
19: Upper arm
20: Elbow
21: Forearm
22: Wrist
23: The length of the upper arm and forearm are about the same(The elbow is just about in the middle).

(diagram with 3 skulls column)
24: Shoulder Width Guideline
25: (below 24) A girl’s shoulder width is about 1 and a half heads long.

(diagram at bottom right of page)
26: Head, Hands, and Feet
27: The hand is a bit smaller than the head.
28: The foot is a bit larger than the head.

PAGE 21:

1: (top left of page) Body Height in Heads
2: (right of 1) The length the body and limbs can be more or less measured by the vertical length of the head.
3: (below 2) Typical Chibi Characters
4: (below 3) 2 Heads Tall
5: (below 4) 2.5 Heads Tall
6: (top 2 characters in diagram) Head
7: (bottom 2 characters in diagram) Body
8: (bottom right of page) Tall characters(7 or 8 heads tall) have smaller heads, while short characters(2 or 3 heads tall) have big heads.
9: (bottom left of page) This character is 6.5 heads tall ♥

PAGE 22:

1: (top left of page) Examples of Body Height
2: (right of 1) Child characters have bigger heads with shorter bodies, while adult characters have smaller heads and taller bodies.
3: (left to right) Child
4: Elementary Schooler
5: Elementary/Middle Schooler
6: Teenager/Adult
7: (left to right) 3 Heads Tall, 4 Heads Tall, 5 Heads Tall, 6 Heads Tall
8: As you can see, making the faces bigger and bodies shorter give a more childish impression, and making the faces smaller and bodies taller give a more mature impression. The amount of hair and size of the head can affect this as well. In this example, their heads are all about the same size, with the differentiation being in the body sizes.

(bottom half of page)
9: (top left) Tips on the Drawing Process
10: (right of 9) Start by using roughly drawn circles to gauge head, body, and leg length.
11: (below 9) Draw a circle.
12: (below 11) Decide where the feet will be.
13: (right of 11) Complete.
14: (below 13) Figure out the crotch placement and draw the outline or rough sketch for the entire body.
15: (right of 13) An example of the head being a little smaller.
16: (below 15) Characters with smaller heads appear taller.
17: (below 16) Where Should I Decide Where the Crotch Should Be?
18: (below 17) Use a picture you like of a character standing up as reference. Draw a circle about the size of their head and figure out how many heads it takes to reach the crotch or legs.