Drawing People

1Uwase draws her brother

Uwase laughs too. The arms she drew started in the wrong place. Today you will learn where every part of a person goes.

2First, feel your own body

You do not need a model. You are the model.

Put your hand on your shoulder. Feel it. That is where your arm begins — right at the top of your body, at the side. Not on your head.

Worked example: draw Byiringiro, step by step

Take a pencil. Press lightly. Follow Uwase:

1. Near the top of the paper she draws a small circle. That is the head. She leaves a little space above it for the hair.
2. Under the head she draws a short neck — two little lines.
3. Under the neck she draws the body: a long shape, like a tall rectangle with soft corners. She makes it about two heads tall.
4. From the two top corners of the body — the shoulders — she draws the arms hanging down. The hands come down to about the bottom of the body, so each arm is about two heads long.
5. From the two bottom corners of the body she draws the legs. She makes them about three heads long — longer than the arms. The legs are the longest part of him.
6. At the ends of the legs she adds two small feet, pointing sideways.
7. Last of all she adds the face and the hair.

Count the heads in her drawing: one for the head, two for the body, three for the legs. Byiringiro is about six heads tall. Count the heads on a friend one day. A real person is about six or seven heads tall — never two or three, like a doll.

3Where do the eyes go?

Most children put the eyes right at the top of the head. Look at a friend and check.

The eyes are about halfway down the head! Above them: the forehead and the hair. Below them: the nose, the mouth and the chin.

So draw the eyes in the middle. Then the nose under the eyes, then the mouth under the nose. The ears go at the sides, next to the eyes.

4Big shapes before small parts

5Make your person move

A person is not always standing still. You only need to change the arm lines and the leg lines.

• Standing: legs straight down, arms hanging down.
• Walking: one leg forward, one leg back.
• Waving: one arm goes up above the shoulder. Everything else stays the same.
• Carrying water on her head: both arms go up, hands touching the jerrycan.
• Playing football: one leg kicks forward, arms out for balance.

Keza draws her mother carrying a basket, her father waving, and herself running. Same three steps every time — only the arms and legs change.

6Check your person

When you finish, ask yourself three questions:

• Do the arms start at the shoulders?
• Are the legs longer than the arms?
• Are the eyes halfway down the head?

Try it yourself

Say each answer out loud. Then look below.

1. Uwase drew arms coming out of her brother's head. Where should the arms start?
2. Head, body, legs. About how many heads tall is the whole person?
3. Where on the head do the eyes go?
4. You want to show Mugisha waving at you. What do you change in your drawing?
5. Which is longer on a person — the arms or the legs?

Answers

1. At the shoulders, the two top corners of the body. Put your hand on your own shoulder and feel it.
2. About six. One head, plus a body two heads tall, plus legs three heads long.
3. About halfway down. Not at the top! The forehead and hair fill the space above them.
4. Only one arm. Lift it up above his shoulder. The head, body and legs all stay the same.
5. The legs. Your hands only reach down to about your hips, but your legs go all the way to the ground.