Caroline
We’re all very familiar with the human form, as we see it every day! Even if you were to spend a day inside and not see anyone, you would likely still catch a few glimpses of your own image on some reflective surfaces.
Despite this familiarity with the subject, drawing human bodies is one of the most notoriously difficult subjects to get right in a drawing.
This can make learning how to draw a person’s outline a bit of a frustrating endeavor.
Luckily, if you have the right tutorial to help you, it can be made not only easier but also more fun as well!
This is just the place to be if you would like to know how it’s done, as this step-by-step guide on how to draw a person’s outline will show you how easy it can actually be.
How to Draw A Person’s Outline – Let’s Get Started!
Step 1
This guide on how to draw a person’s outline will begin with the head outline of the man that we will be drawing.
First, use a rounded line for the front of his face. Try to copy this line as it appears in our reference image, as this will help you to replicate the correct facial proportions for the outline.
Then, we will be using some more curved, wavy lines for the hair atop his head.
Finish off this step by using another rounded line for his ear at the base of his hair, and then we can move on to the second step of the guide.
Step 2 – Now, draw the start of his chest and arms
We will be moving down from the head and onto the chest and arms for this person’s outline drawing in this second step.
First, we will be drawing the neck hole of his shirt. First, draw a curved line across the base of his neck, and then draw another one close beneath it.
The neck hole will look a bit pointy at the base of it, as shown in the reference image.
Next, we will be drawing his shoulders. Extend some slightly sloping, curved lines down from the sides of the neck hole that you just drew.
Then, draw some lines down from the shoulders for the starts of his arms to finish off this step.
Step 3 – Draw some more of his arms
Now you’re ready to start drawing some arms in this step of our guide on how to draw a person’s outline. First, we will be drawing the short sleeves of his shirt.
Draw some curved lines coming down from the arms of the shirt, and then add some straight, horizontal lines at the ends of them.
Then, we will be drawing the arms. Use some curved lines to draw them coming don from the sleeves, and have them bent at the elbows.
You’ll see in the finished image that his arms will be resting on his legs, so try to keep that in mind as you draw them.
Step 4 – Next, draw the start of his legs and other details
Continuing with this person’s outline drawing, we will be starting the legs and a few other details.
First, draw the back of his shirt bunched up at the bottom by drawing some small, curved lines close to one another.
Then, draw a curved line for the knee on the right. This knee will fill in the empty space that was left at the bottom of the arm.
You can use some more curved lines for the knee on the other side and then extend the knees further down.
Finish off by drawing the back of his leg, and then you will be ready for some final details in the next step of the guide.
Step 5 – Add the final details to your person’s outline drawing
You have arrived at the fifth step of this guide on how to draw a person’s outline, and in this one we will be finishing off the final details.
First, draw the bottom of his trousers using some more curved lines with slightly curved edges at the bases. Then, draw the shape of his shoes beneath the trouser legs.
You can then finish off by drawing some straight lines to show the surface that he is sitting on. Once these details are drawn, you can then add some details of your own!
You could draw some facial features, add a background or even draw another person sitting with this man. How will you finish off this image?
Step 6 – Finish off your person’s outline drawing with color
The final step of your person’s outline drawing will be all about finishing off with some colors. In our reference image, we went with some greens for his shirt along with some blues for his trousers.
We made his hair and shoes black to finish it off, but the great news is that you have a lot of options for how you could color this man in!
Choosing your colors is just part of the fun, as you can also experiment with some art tools and mediums to bring the colors to life.
What colors and art mediums do you think would best suit this amazing drawing of yours?
Here’s how you can make your person’s outline drawing even better…
Create some great characters as we make this person’s outline sketch even better!
There are many ways you can customize this person’s outline drawing to make your own character. The first one we will cover involves changing the hairstyle.
We kept the hairstyle fairly simple in an attempt to make it easier for you to draw. That being said, you could create any hairstyle you like for this character!
You may want to use people you know or even celebrities as examples to help as you draw.
Next, you could make this drawing of a person’s outline more distinct by adding some facial features. We kept the face blank in our design so that the focus would be on the body outline.
Now you can change that as you decide on some facial features! They could be drawn in any style you like, and the kinds of expressions you portray can be really varied.
It’s another case where you could use a friend, family member or a mirror to help you as you draw.
People often express themselves with the clothes that they wear. You could give the character in this person’s outline sketch a makeover with some new clothes!
It could be as simple as adding a design to his shirt or you could create new clothes entirely. This could also include items such as hats and jewelry.
It’s up to you to determine this character’s style, so what kind of clothing could you add to this design?
Finally, you could finish off this person’s outline drawing with some background details. This person seems to be in a rather relaxed state, and it makes you wonder where he could be seated.
He could be sitting on a bench at a mall, on a chair in a park or maybe simply be relaxing in his living room. These are just a few of the ideas you could try, but you can probably think of many more!
Where do you think this character could be seated?
Your Person’s Outline Drawing is Complete!
We mentioned that drawing a human body is a tricky task to take on when we began this guide on how to draw a person’s outline.
In this guide, our aim was to show you that when you have the right steps to follow it can be made much easier.
When the frustration is taken out, it leaves room for more fun and creativity, so we hope that we achieved these goals for you!
When you have finished all of our steps, there is room for you to get creative with it as you add more features, background details and fun color choices into the mix.
Finishing this guide is just the beginning, as when you’re done you can find more drawing guides on our website. We have a huge selection with more on the way soon, so be sure to keep checking in!
Please also remember to share your finished person’s outline drawing on our Facebook and Pinterest pages so that we can see how it turned out!
